Quit Drinking?


 

Clint

TVWBB Olympian
I've tried to reduce or moderate my alcohol consumption for the last ~10 years. I could always take it or leave it but I always seemed to overdo it - that's just how we did it when I was coming up.

I had a hangover day on Saturday, & then again felt like crap on Monday, and I finally said I'd had enough. I've told 6 friends & family so far. I've never told anyone I was going to quit drinking before so this is a first.

I quit smoking 10 years ago on my birthday, cold turkey with no slips.

I wonder if this will stick. Wish me luck.
 
Both Friday & Sunday I wasn't planning to drink but Friday my cousin stopped by. "I'm not drinking" I say, Oh really, he said (he rarely drinks) as he pulled out a thermos of gin & a jar of vodka filled with pineapple.

Then Sunday I have friends come over before we went out. "Got any beer?". No, but there's a pint in my bowling bag. I smelled the booze, and an hour later we were splitting it.
 
If you feel like you need to do it, do it. I'm like you in that can take it or leave it but I tend to overdo it when I do. I'm 43 but my hangovers are BAD. Since I have a 3 yr old, a hangover is not an option. Good luck! I think you'll do fine.
 
Clint, you are the only one that can pull that trigger if you feel it's time.
Good luck to you with this.
 
Good luck with quitting!

I drank some when I was a teenager, but a drunken binge cost me a job promotion, so I gave up booze for good.

Alcohol is not really good for the liver anyway, and people can become chemically addicted to the stuff if they drink enough it. Booze actually affects the brain in ways similar to some drugs, like benzos.
 
Yep, I cut WAY WAY back and went from my nightly martini (or other some such cocktail i.e. Scotch) and 2 or 3 glasses of wine with supper to now maybe 1 or 2 per week, a VERY occasional beer and occasionally a 1/2 glass of wine with supper. Never hung over or anything, really nothing more than a little nudge from my Dr about liver function not being what it should be, and the fact I am on a statin drug. No longer getting warnings from Dr, though still too fat :D weight is becoming a big issue and hard as I try the best I am able to to do is hold the line. Trying to lose about 50 lb. Not obese at 6'2 and 225 but 50 lb over where I feel comfortable.
 
Good luck Clint
I like a good glass of wine or beer.
Luckily I am not keen on the hard stuff.
No issues with hangovers either.
I decided to quit for 2 months last year and did so without a problem (it was just to know if I can and to loose some weight). Peer pressure is probably the most difficult to deal with!
 
I'm sure you'll do fine, Clint.

I quit smoking cold turkey like you. 13 years ago. My wife said she wouldn't marry a smoker. I was ready, and she was all the motivation I needed.

I make wine, and have quite a bit of it in the house. I have wine most nights - probably more than I should. The last several years, I give up booze for Lent. Not so much a religious thing, but a good opportunity for me to take a break. I say if it becomes a challenge, I know it's time to go longer.
 
I'm always the DD on the weekends, but I used to have a glass of wine or bourbon - just one - most nights during the week. It became a habit. I've cut way back and I'm glad I did. Good luck. Reducing or quitting your drinking is never a mistake.
 
Good luck Clint, like you I quit smoking cold turkey 36 years ago, I didn't miss it at all. I drink more than I should but the liver and kidneys are fine. I would quit drinking but that damn reality starts coming back. I have a drink or two every night and don't have any hangovers or side affects, guess I'm just lucky.
I've been concentrating on weight loss taken, off 40+ pounds since last August need to get another 20 off. I'm sure if I cut back on the booze I could loss it faster.
 
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If I just had a drink or two I wouldn't be concerned.

After my grandma went thorough her earliest bouts of chemo, my mom put a bag-in-a-box of wine in her fridge for her to have a small glass each day. Might be a good idea for Barb (and you :) ).

...and thanks everyone for your reflections and well wishes.

I feel a little silly saying anything about it. Part of me thinks I should've waited 30 days or something. Another part of me is happy to get it out there.

My cousin came over again yesterday evening for a few games of chess & bowling. We got to the alley and I have an empty flask in my bag, and in the shoe compartment I saw a couple of beers from Sunday. When we got back to my house I said here take these, but put them outside and don't drink them in front of me. I don't want to be an anti-alcohol nazi, I just want to see if I can get off to a good start before I fail.
 
Good for you Clint. I'm 18 years sober. I quit after a horrific alcohol related car crash. The key (for me anyway) is to focus on the goal. Why did I quit drinking? To save my life.
I have been overweight most of my life. I finally got on a weight loss program 17 days ago. I'm down nearly 30 lbs. Why did I decide to finally do something about it? To save my life. Neither of these things were difficult for me simply because I know what the end result would be if I continued down those roads.
Best of luck to you.
Lewis
 
Good for you.

I drank a lot in college and when single.

Rarely since married. Very rarely.
Like a glass of wine at a party or such.

Drinking was a way to loosen up around women and meet them . I never saw the point when married. And never at home. And never around my kids. My wife is same as me.

When my daughter was 1 she had a birthday party. Several parents thanked us after for not having alcoholic beverages there. It never occurred to us, but apparently at a lot of toddler parties the parents drank, then drove their babies home . Unbelievable.

My parents were both alcoholics , it was how they were raised. Guess i saw that and knew i didnt want to be like that. Grandparents were too.

Besides, its extremely bad for you.

According to the World Health Org. , There is no safe level of alcohol consumption. It is major risk factor for every kind of cancer. My dad died of esophageal cancer, only seen in people that drink and smoke. Horrible way to die, not being able to eat for years, pouring your food into gastric tube. He quit smoking at 29. But not drinking. He eventually had to stop that for medical reasons. Cancer showed up at 45. They removed that. Came back at 66.

All my grandparents, and parents , died from alcohol and smoking related things, and all pretty young, in 60's. I figure i dont have best genes, so do my best to NOT do those things.

However if they decide coffee causes cancer I'm screwed
 
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Good for you, Martin. (and Lewis)

I never had alcoholic parents (well, my father used to see bootleggers and beer joints when I was little, but he never drank that much, and later stopped altogether). However, I had some friend's parents that had to deal with it.
 
I quit smoking cold turkey in 69. Or 68. I quit drinking for 14 years when I turned 30. Then I went back to drinking but not like I used to. But after awhile I realized I needed to quit. So I did. Now about 15 years later I basically don't drink. A beer a month is no problem. Otherwise a non alcohol beer once in a while is also ok. But basically I just give it no thought. It will be tough but if you just tell yourself no more then it means no more.
 
Good for you, Martin. (and Lewis)

I never had alcoholic parents (well, my father used to see bootleggers and beer joints when I was little, but he never drank that much, and later stopped altogether). However, I had some friend's parents that had to deal with it.

Ive always taken note of alcohol issues that people have.
Friends parents drunk often when i was a kid.
My own mom would pass out at dinner sometimes, head into plate when we were young. Scotch and water all day long.

Ive got fishing buddies that crack first beer at 730 am, then mixed drinks after get back to dock.

I live near convenience store in upscale area. About half the customers in afternoon on way home are getting 6 pack or 12 pack......every day.

Its a pretty widespread thing when you step back and look at it. Many dont realize they have some sort of problem.

My daughter played travel softball on an elite team. We travelled around country with the group of parents in summer. A few couples would really drink on friday evenings, leaving their 14 -16 yr old daughters as the responsible ones, to take care of them. Great people, and they had a good time, but it was bad to see the daughters get embarassed by the parents. Once the daughter could drive.....she was their dd.
 
And another positive note to this Clint is if you are able to stop, the weight will start to melt off as well.

I started an 18/6 fasting diet Feb 1. Fat was not coming off as fast as I hoped so I called it quits on my 1 (or 2) pre-dinner drinks as well as the fasting part. Lost 12 lb in 4 wk. doing this fasting diet.

It's hard in the beginning--breaking old habits, but it gets a "little" bit easier as time goes by.

Keep up the good work. It'll all be worth it.
 
This might sound weird but since I began homebrewing beer I drink a LOT less than I did when I bought beer. There was a commercial a while back that said “Drink like a Brewer”. I guess that’s where I’ve landed.

However, we’re all wired differently and I can certainly understand that some folks can’t do that. For those folks, if it is getting in the way of health, elimination from the diet is probably best. I wish you the very best in your personal decision.
 
This might sound weird but since I began homebrewing beer I drink a LOT less than I did when I bought beer. There was a commercial a while back that said “Drink like a Brewer”. I guess that’s where I’ve landed.

However, we’re all wired differently and I can certainly understand that some folks can’t do that. For those folks, if it is getting in the way of health, elimination from the diet is probably best. I wish you the very best in your personal decision.

Thanks Dwain! (and everyone else :) )

yesterday was day 18, and I feel like I'm coming out of a funk, even though I caught a bit of a cold last Thursday. I've had zero withdrawals unlike some of my friends (one quit when I did after seeing a minor mention in a text....he's back at it tho). My problem was just like "now what do I do".

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to drink as responsibly as I want, and I might relapse, but I'm enjoying this.
 
Yesterday was day 53 & I got a couple audio books: Alcohol Explained, & the Alcohol experiment (gonna return this one, didn't like the first hour or so).

These authors I believe drank much more often than me, and I'm having second thoughts as I'm telling my friends to come get my home brew equipment. I just poured 20 gallons down the sink ((60 minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, & 2 ciders)).
 

 

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