On The Wagon... then in 'ere!

[Orangeade]

How tall are you? How much do you sleep? You may need to complete the puzzle to get the gains you were anticipating.

I'm a bit over 1.9 meters (194cm I think?) Sleep is usually around 5 hours a night

 

[Orangeade]

I've always found that when having a month off i end up feeling lousy and never really any different. I once had ~12 months with no booze, and again felt very little impact.

The main thing i notice is during exercise. The knock on effect is large and so is the main motivating factor to drink less. When i'm doing nothing though its pointless not drinking!

Glad I am not the only one. So many things implied it's a huge difference etc. Oh well.

 

[Martynt74]

Yeah. Whether prolonged excess drinking has negative effects that can't be felt immediately is probably another thing, and i'm sure the consequences of long term drinking are fairly well publicised.

To be honest i don't drink much these days anyway due to enjoying running and wanting to spend my weekends on long 20 mile runs in the hills which is difficult after a night of drinking

 

[dlockers]

I'm a bit over 1.9 meters (194cm I think?) Sleep is usually around 5 hours a night

I'd suggest fixing diet (unless you're tanked) and sleep. 5 hours is really poor.

 

[phonemonkey]

I find it hard to describe. I felt better pretty quickly - the absence of the near perpetual hangover and jitters made me feel better fairly quickly. I thought I felt well at that point, perhaps because I had become so used to feeling so rubbish that any improvement, even very rubbish to slightly less rubbish, felt massive.

It was months though, before my energy levels returned to normal, before my thinking really became clear, and before I was able to sleep properly through the night. It was years before my motivation and willpower returned to something like usable levels. I developed a sweet tooth as my body looked to replace the sugar it used to get from alcohol with other sources, and I rolled with that for a time. I also are, not necessarily better food, but more normal quantities of it. As a result i didn't immediately lose lots of weight.

Looking back the effects of my drinking, beyond those fixed by the immediate absence of alcohol, took much longer than I realised to resolve. The progress was enough to keep me on track though. Of course your mileage may vary. More moderate drinkers than I will see less profound changes perhaps. Though I doubt most will see significant improvements in a month. I suspect it simply isn't long enough

 

[Freefaller]

I'd suggest fixing diet (unless you're tanked) and sleep. 5 hours is really poor.

With his job I doubt he'd spend that much time at the gym!

Sleep is a funny thing, but you're right the standard deviation for most people should be between 6-8hrs of "good" sleep. That said you can get 5hrs of good sleep, but for people who drink a lot the brain doesn't actually achieve the right stages of sleep enough to really recover/fix/etc...


One thing I've noticed as a non drinker (well I say non drinker, I can count on 1 hand the number of times I have a drink per year) is there's a lot less stigma attached to it now than there used to be. My industry is still quite drinks oriented (engineering / infrastructure / civils) but it's certainly less "teased" about than it used to be.

 

[Orangeade]

I'd suggest fixing diet (unless you're tanked) and sleep. 5 hours is really poor.

Realistically that isn't going to change. Too much on in a day to sleep more.

Diet I'm not eating breakfast anymore and I'm either lunching externally or dining externally and won't eat outside of that.

Tbh I think freefaller hit the nail on head. Drink (and drugs and prostitution) is absolutely rife in this industry. I'm not really a fan of drugs and have contempt (albeit hidden!) for prostitution. So not drinking makes it pretty boring. So I need to get more comfortable being sober like this or...I don't know what really!

 

[Voltar]

I enjoy sobriety. When I do it it feels like it’s something I do for me and that I have more control.

I miss high quality wines but that’s it.

People will peer pressure, so called friends or people who want to show off that you’re in their sway in particular. You can always say no. Alternatively if it’s too hard to not drink whilst out - missing social occasions is liberating as lockdown showed.

you’ll also see which of your friends are actually your friends and which are just drinking buddies.

 

[haaammit]

I've popped in and out of this thread over the journey, and was behind the (now sadly gone) thread that inspired this one and I never thought I'd be at this point, but that is now 52 weeks since my last alcoholic drink. Well, technically yesterday was 52 weeks, but today is actually 12 months. 1 year. 365 days without a drink. Go me. Guess my location is finally correct!

The only real sticking point is one of the reasons I managed it so far this time around (I think) is that my best mate and drinking partner is now no longer with us. His terminal cancer diagnosis back in March 2021 was a huge catalyst for this and has both been a huge motivator and also the greatest temptation. Unfortunately he succumbed to pancreatic cancer April 18th 2022

I hope everyone else who is moderating or abstaining is doing well too.

 

[R.P.L]

I enjoy sobriety. When I do it it feels like it’s something I do for me and that I have more control.

I miss high quality wines but that’s it.

People will peer pressure, so called friends or people who want to show off that you’re in their sway in particular. You can always say no. Alternatively if it’s too hard to not drink whilst out - missing social occasions is liberating as lockdown showed.

you’ll also see which of your friends are actually your friends and which are just drinking buddies.

That's kind of how I feel about it. Regarding missing certain drinks, I think for the most part I miss the idea of drinking them rather than the reality. When I think about what it actually feels like to consume alcohol, it no longer appeals. I sometimes think to myself that I'll no longer be able to go out and have fun with my mates, but I went for a curry with them last week and only drunk non-alcoholic beer and it was still fun - just meant I didn't feel like crap afterwards. I thought that they might give me a hard time about it but to be fair, they just asked why I wasn't boozing and when I told them they were fine with it.

 

[DirtyJester]

Can't help but feel a tinge of pride seeing this thread still going strong. Well done everyone!

Me, I still have the odd drink. Beer mostly but seldom more than one or two at a sitting, in fact it's quite common for me to pour one down the drain rather than care about wasting it.

 

[khemist]

It was Three years this May since i've had a drink although i still get the urge to drink at times when the weather is nice or i'm not at work.

I'm glad i had the scare that put me off drinking, i just wish it happened Twenty years ago, keep up the good work everyone.

 

[Malevolence]

Coming up to five and half years for me now. Have just had an ice cold beer to celebrate.

 

[DirtyJester]

Gratz dude! Well done you

 

[steve45]

Quoted from a post I've started in GD, I guess this is a better place for it.

Spoiler: Original Post from my Alcohol thread in GD

I guess this is just more of an outlet or a way to sound out my thoughts. However, recently I've been thinking about myself and my "relationship" with alcohol.

I've always been a drinker, ever since my mid teens. It started off as a social thing, but some time in my later teens lone drinking became somewhat normalised. Now this was never really a drink to get wasted situation. I have just used it as a way to wind down after work or chill on a weekend, few beers whilst playing games or watching films etc, that remains the case to this day thankfully, even whilst being in a job with a massive drinking culture.

I would say my intake can be excessive and is definitely well over recommended limits, but never to the point of being an issue. I still have plenty of drink free nights and rarely two nights on the bounce.

On the nights I do drink 4-6 cans/bottles is normal, or a bottle of wine and I don't do spirits. If doing so socially that can double although that is rarer these days and becoming increasingly so as my friends/peer group dwindles.

I've never been in bother with it either legally or financially, or professionally for that matter.
When I drink I'm reasonably well behaved and sensible for the most part.

I've never had an issue in the past with stopping for periods of time where it has been necessary, over the years I've been deployed on operations/exercises that have been dry.
However on return I've always just fell back into my old ways.

It was only recently that whilst being with physio for an injury that my diet and my alcohol intake was highlighted, and whilst not being a factor in the injury it did make me conscious that what has been normalised to me is not in fact normal... I don't feel like I have an alcoholism problem but my usage is not healthy.

This has really spurred me on to severely reduce my intake, replace alcohol where possible. At the moment I have no intention of cutting it out altogether. I just want to have a healthier relationship with alcohol, still be able to enjoy it for special occasions without reverting to casual lone drinking.
I've reduced from what was recently mostly every other day, to once a week.
I am now planning to reduce it even further with a plan to abstain for the next month and see how I get on with it.

Has anyone else had experience with severely reducing intake whilst still having a moderately healthy relationship with alcohol? How did you handle it? Has anyone tried and failed?
I want this to be a permanent life change not just another temporary break.

Keen to hear others experiences.

I guess this is the start of my journey. Primarily to make my relationship with alcohol healthier. I havnt set out to quit altogether, I still want to leave the door open to enjoy the odd drink. However, if thats the road it leads me down then, so be it.
As I have grown older I've become more aware of my health and want to give myself a decent chance later in life. I've already massively improved my eating habits, time for my drinking ones to improve also.

The reduction in alcohol intake recently has already made a noticeable impact on my general wellbeing and motivation levels. However the biggest thing I've noticed is sleep quality has improved drasticly and dreams are more vivid.

 

[radderfire]

The reduction in alcohol intake recently has already made a noticeable impact on my general wellbeing and motivation levels. However the biggest thing I've noticed is sleep quality has improved drasticly and dreams are more vivid.

Yes, you will quickly see a major improvement in health once you cut down.

Just to say ... go for it ... it's a great idea and you will be 100% better off with low to no alcohol.

 

[Beef Burger]

This is a good thread. I've been battling with the booze for too many years now and wish I could quit it as it's probably going to kill me soon.

 

[azazl187]

This is a good thread. I've been battling with the booze for too many years now and wish I could quit it as it's probably going to kill me soon.

Never too late to start my friend. I stopped drinking 2 weeks ago and it's starting to make a difference.

It wasn't actually me that wanted to stop, I was fine with drinking every night but my wife really started to struggle with the amount we were both drinking so we made a pact and both stopped.

I'm glad I did and I don't think I'll be t totals forever but I am for the next few weeks.

My aim is to detox and lower the amount I'm drinking, maybe just save it for Friday nights or something.

 

[Beef Burger]

Never too late to start my friend. I stopped drinking 2 weeks ago and it's starting to make a difference.

It wasn't actually me that wanted to stop, I was fine with drinking every night but my wife really started to struggle with the amount we were both drinking so we made a pact and both stopped.

I'm glad I did and I don't think I'll be t totals forever but I am for the next few weeks.

My aim is to detox and lower the amount I'm drinking, maybe just save it for Friday nights or something.

I drink 5 days a week (during the day and in the evenings) and only take a break 2 days a week coz quite literally I get pains in my stomach and can't even manage to eat some days. My brain is totally frazzled for most of the week too and I always feel terrible. It affects me financially, mentally, and socially, and I've become very reclusive and withdrawn from society.

It's hard for me to change coz my office job makes it so easy for me to drink and I haven't got a boss either. I can do my job online and don't even need to physically interact with my colleagues and customers. I never actually get really drunk though so I'm probably what most people would label a functioning alcoholic.

It's a regular occurrence for me to wake up in the mornings and the first I thing I do is neck a 35cl bottle of gin or rum. I'll do the same thing again either later in the afternoon or in the evening and this is 5 days a week/every week. I've even had days where I'll neck a full 70cl bottle in one go and then waste the rest of the day messing around on the internet and watching movies etc.

 

[azazl187]

I drink 5 days a week (during the day and in the evenings) and only take a break 2 days a week coz quite literally I get pains in my stomach and can't even manage to eat some days. My brain is totally frazzled for most of the week too and I always feel terrible. It affects me financially, mentally, and socially, and I've become very reclusive and withdrawn from society.

It's hard for me to change coz my office job makes it so easy for me to drink and I haven't got a boss either. I can do my job online and don't even need to physically interact with my colleagues and customers. I never actually get really drunk though so I'm probably what most people would label a functioning alcoholic.

It's a regular occurrence for me to wake up in the mornings and the first I thing I do is neck a 35cl bottle of gin or rum. I'll do the same thing again either later in the afternoon or in the evening and this is 5 days a week/every week. I've even had days where I'll neck a full 70cl bottle in one go and then waste the rest of the day messing around on the internet and watching movies etc.

Although I am not as bad as this I kinda get it. I'll pick up a bottle of whiskey and it will be gone within 2 days along with a few beers. If I'm thirsty after being at work I'll drink a beer and not water.

You get stuck in a cycle that becomes very hard to break.

I can see you are far into that "functioning alcoholic" hole and it may well seem really bleak for you but can I make a couple of small suggestions?

1. Take it slow, make little steps to try and break the habit. Say for example, give up the spirits and stick to the beers, or even save the spirits until after lunch. Small victories are 100% better than no victory at all. After plugging away at these seemingly small little aims you'll look back and realise you have come a long way.

2. Think about the money you are spending. I came to the conclusion that I'm drinking 300 quid a month of alcohol and that actually is a fair bit of cash that I could spend on something else at the end of the month. The plan for me is to save up a few months worth and spend it on some new computer bits to enhance my hobby. Is there anything you would like to get into or are already into that you could change your focus to?