[Drinking] Alcoholic/like a beer or two too much?

[Questions]

For most people, Stopping can be fairly easy - you just don’t drink. The sweet spot is having a healthy relationship with alcohol where consumption is occasional and doesn’t creep up. This is more of a grey area and one I haven’t mastered yet

Keep drinking...... you’ll master it ,,,,

 

[Happy Exile]

I’m doing Dry January, only tried it once before in my life, 9 years ago. Days 3 and 4 the withdrawal was pretty tough, jittery, disoriented, slightly unbalanced, and unfocused. Today, day 5, those symptoms seem to have gone, hopefully I’m through the dark tunnel of withdrawal. I’m still counting HOURS without a drink, 118 hours as I write. I was consistently doing between 8 and 14 units per day, every single day, without exception. To think I’ve already foregone about 60 units, in just 5 days, really brings it home. Anyone else trying DJ, good luck, stay with it.

Nicely done. You're through the hardest bit I reckon, and then it's as much a battle of changing habits as anything else. Taking it one day at a time and thinking "today I'm not going to drink". Well done.

 

[Wilko]

I’m doing Dry January, only tried it once before in my life, 9 years ago. Days 3 and 4 the withdrawal was pretty tough, jittery, disoriented, slightly unbalanced, and unfocused. Today, day 5, those symptoms seem to have gone, hopefully I’m through the dark tunnel of withdrawal. I’m still counting HOURS without a drink, 118 hours as I write. I was consistently doing between 8 and 14 units per day, every single day, without exception. To think I’ve already foregone about 60 units, in just 5 days, really brings it home. Anyone else trying DJ, good luck, stay with it.

Well done. Great effort.

 

[pauli cee]

I do like it when these threads come up, (having started one myself a year or 2 ago, in which I got amazing support).

It does remind me of my ongoing battle, but I do find reading some of these posts redresses things a lot.....

Good luck to all those working on their alcohol relationships!

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I followed the lead of my travelling companions.

 

[Guinness Boy]

An experiment that I did on myself that you may or may not find interesting.

As I put on my first post on this thread I run a fair bit (30 odd miles a week). I have a Garmin 735XT Tri watch and that comes with an inbuilt heart rate monitor. One of the bits of data I regularly check is my resting heart rate (RHR) which is stored as an average per day in my Garmin Connect app. Basically (and sorry if this is teaching you all to suck eggs), the lower the RHR, the fitter you are (to a point, obvs).

Over Christmas I noticed my RHR was raised compared to normal, which normally indicates tiredness or illness. I checked it regularly and it was around 67 / 68 bpm. I'd had a couple of pints of APA and two glasses of wine on Xmas Eve. a rum and coke and bottle and a half of wine on Xmas Day and on Boxing Day I had 4 small cans of porter, another couple of rums and the rest of the wine. On 27th I didn't drink but 28th was football and I had three pints before the game and two after. I noticed the average above before my morning run on 29th. At no point did I actually get ill or sleep for longer.

I have now not drunk since 2nd Jan and noticed my RHR dropping on the 3rd. Yesterday it was 58BPM before my run. Today 57 and I have been on the train to London and doing 8 hours of work. No exercise and a fairly stressful day.

So drinking can raise the resting heart rate of a healthy runner by over 10BPM. Not drinking brings it back down. At least on me, anyway.

 

[vegster]

I have rather been overdoing it since about a week before Christmas and well in to New Year, so, thought I should have a break so not touched a drop since Friday 3rd of Jan. Had no trouble going without despite Mrs V still slurping white wine. Not planning on giving up for the month, will be having a few pints Wednesday evening at my local pub quiz. However, saw a worrying article the other day that suggested virtually ALL alcohol consumption is a BAD THING, even a couple of pints a YEAR does damage of sorts to the human body so it genuinely seems its abstinence or accelerate your visit to the crem however much you drink.

 

[jakarta]

. However, saw a worrying article the other day that suggested virtually ALL alcohol consumption is a BAD THING, even a couple of pints a YEAR does damage of sorts to the human body so it genuinely seems its abstinence or accelerate your visit to the crem however much you drink.

You may live longer without Booze, I'm sure it will seem like it...

 

[Iggle Piggle]

An experiment that I did on myself that you may or may not find interesting.

As I put on my first post on this thread I run a fair bit (30 odd miles a week). I have a Garmin 735XT Tri watch and that comes with an inbuilt heart rate monitor. One of the bits of data I regularly check is my resting heart rate (RHR) which is stored as an average per day in my Garmin Connect app. Basically (and sorry if this is teaching you all to suck eggs), the lower the RHR, the fitter you are (to a point, obvs).

Over Christmas I noticed my RHR was raised compared to normal, which normally indicates tiredness or illness. I checked it regularly and it was around 67 / 68 bpm. I'd had a couple of pints of APA and two glasses of wine on Xmas Eve. a rum and coke and bottle and a half of wine on Xmas Day and on Boxing Day I had 4 small cans of porter, another couple of rums and the rest of the wine. On 27th I didn't drink but 28th was football and I had three pints before the game and two after. I noticed the average above before my morning run on 29th. At no point did I actually get ill or sleep for longer.

I have now not drunk since 2nd Jan and noticed my RHR dropping on the 3rd. Yesterday it was 58BPM before my run. Today 57 and I have been on the train to London and doing 8 hours of work. No exercise and a fairly stressful day.

So drinking can raise the resting heart rate of a healthy runner by over 10BPM. Not drinking brings it back down. At least on me, anyway.

My typical week is no alcohol sun-tue, a couple on Wednesday, nothing Thursday and then on the smash Friday and Saturday to varying degrees.

If you look at my heart rate it is always lowest on a Wednesday before it starts ramping up as the alcohol gets put away and slowly gets better again.

Booze definitely impacts heart rate and blood pressure.

 

[vegster]

You may live longer without Booze, I'm sure it will seem like it...

True indeed, saw some of the Giles Coren programme the other day about extreme diets, bloody miserable way to live.

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

I have rather been overdoing it since about a week before Christmas and well in to New Year, so, thought I should have a break so not touched a drop since Friday 3rd of Jan. Had no trouble going without despite Mrs V still slurping white wine. Not planning on giving up for the month, will be having a few pints Wednesday evening at my local pub quiz. However, saw a worrying article the other day that suggested virtually ALL alcohol consumption is a BAD THING, even a couple of pints a YEAR does damage of sorts to the human body so it genuinely seems its abstinence or accelerate your visit to the crem however much you drink.

My now elderly dad pulled out many years ago from frequent trips to the pub with his mates. He's the last one standing.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

True indeed, saw some of the Giles Coren programme the other day about extreme diets, bloody miserable way to live.

The brilliant thing about the Alcohol Experiment is that it's just that, an experiment. You spend 30 days learning to understand about alcohol, and your relationship to it. You are the experiment - you observe yourself and learn so much. It's fascinating, I promise. Give it a go (and it's free).

https://www.alcoholexperiment.com/

 

[marcos3263]

I think this is my 4th year of dry January and so far this is the easiest yet. People know I do it so less comments or persuasion, it’s more common and acceptable plus I know I can do it.

I have a full bar inc single malts and the many ingredients needed for a Black Russian (my current favourite tipple) but no issues.

I will do this month but fear I will slip into familiar routines and daily drinking again after, work and wife are too stressy

 

[big nuts]

An experiment that I did on myself that you may or may not find interesting.

As I put on my first post on this thread I run a fair bit (30 odd miles a week). I have a Garmin 735XT Tri watch and that comes with an inbuilt heart rate monitor. One of the bits of data I regularly check is my resting heart rate (RHR) which is stored as an average per day in my Garmin Connect app. Basically (and sorry if this is teaching you all to suck eggs), the lower the RHR, the fitter you are (to a point, obvs).

Over Christmas I noticed my RHR was raised compared to normal, which normally indicates tiredness or illness. I checked it regularly and it was around 67 / 68 bpm. I'd had a couple of pints of APA and two glasses of wine on Xmas Eve. a rum and coke and bottle and a half of wine on Xmas Day and on Boxing Day I had 4 small cans of porter, another couple of rums and the rest of the wine. On 27th I didn't drink but 28th was football and I had three pints before the game and two after. I noticed the average above before my morning run on 29th. At no point did I actually get ill or sleep for longer.

I have now not drunk since 2nd Jan and noticed my RHR dropping on the 3rd. Yesterday it was 58BPM before my run. Today 57 and I have been on the train to London and doing 8 hours of work. No exercise and a fairly stressful day.

So drinking can raise the resting heart rate of a healthy runner by over 10BPM. Not drinking brings it back down. At least on me, anyway.

I’d agree with this. My typical resting heart beat tracks between 38-41 BPM. I had an almighty 5 day lads trip to Cape Town in November and drunk somewhere in the region of 4 bottles of wine per day plus the odd beer thrown in too.

My resting heart beat increased massively to between 59-62 BPM and took a good few days after to get anywhere close to normal.

Drinking in moderation I don’t notice a huge difference but drinking excessively creates massive health changes. Thankfully those kinds of sessions are incredibly infrequent but I used to drink like that every weekend.

 

[dazzer6666]

The brilliant thing about the Alcohol Experiment is that it's just that, an experiment. You spend 30 days learning to understand about alcohol, and your relationship to it. You are the experiment - you observe yourself and learn so much. It's fascinating, I promise. Give it a go (and it's free).

https://www.alcoholexperiment.com/

I did this last year, found it a generally worthwhile and interesting thing to do (you don’t need to be planning to go off the booze permanently but it’ll almost certainly make you think about your drinking a bit more carefully). Some of the videos are a bit preachy mind and the barrage of emails needs unsubscribing from (long after the experiment has ended).

 

[Palacefinder General]

You may live longer without Booze, I'm sure it will seem like it...

Pretty damning indictment of your life if that’s the case. Do you honestly believe that?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

From The Observer:

Help is at hand if you’re thinking of kicking the booze this month: BrewDog has announced the launch of its first ‘alcohol free’ bar, on London’s Old Street. It will stock 15 low or 0% abv craft beers. They insist it’s not a pop-up but ‘a pilot concept bar’. Which is a phrase the English language has been waiting for (brewdog.com).

 

[sydney]

failed again.....

 

[Bozza]

From The Observer:

Help is at hand if you’re thinking of kicking the booze this month: BrewDog has announced the launch of its first ‘alcohol free’ bar, on London’s Old Street. It will stock 15 low or 0% abv craft beers. They insist it’s not a pop-up but ‘a pilot concept bar’. Which is a phrase the English language has been waiting for (brewdog.com).

They seem to be claiming it's the world's first AF bar, which seems a bit of a stretch.

Redemption in London has been going for yonks - https://www.redemptionbar.co.uk - and I'm sure I saw a few in NYC when I was there in the Summer. I can't be arsed to search for them now though.

I'm now seven days into my 2020 dry streak and I think I'm finding it easier than when I started last year, although I've had unusually rubbish sleep thus far.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

From The Observer:

Help is at hand if you’re thinking of kicking the booze this month: BrewDog has announced the launch of its first ‘alcohol free’ bar, on London’s Old Street. It will stock 15 low or 0% abv craft beers. They insist it’s not a pop-up but ‘a pilot concept bar’. Which is a phrase the English language has been waiting for (brewdog.com).

They are stretching the truth here in a big way.

They are not alcohol free beers

Alcohol-free beer = no more than 0.05% ABV
De-alcoholised beer = no more than 0.5% ABV
Low-alcohol beer = no more than 1.2% ABV
Alcoholic beer = contains more than 1.2% ABV





You will see on the board a number of beers above 0.05% so by law they are not alcohol free