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

[Bry Nylon]

Good luck. I replaced booze with diet / zero sugar lemonade plus a bit of ice and lemon if I fancy a cool drink in the evening.
Apart from a few drinks this time last year I’ve been AF for around 18 months now. Best decision I ever made was packing up booze. Wish I’d done it years ago and genuinely don’t miss it.

 

[Happy Exile]

Saw this podcast being promoted and thought of this thread. I've enjoyed the way Sam Delaney talks about his addictions and subsequent sobriety for a while, and this is an interesting conversation (even if, as they say, you don't agree with all of it and I personally don't agree with all of it!).

https://podfollow.com/1549232020/episode/d389b54a5a6e47580f02e8582d770baaba476e22/view

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

My last alcoholic drink was several years ago, cannot do the hangovers any more. I got a pint glass out of the cupboard this morning, added a teaspoon of turmeric, one of black pepper filled it with water and drank it down. How times have changed!

Don’t get old!!

 

[BN9 BHA]

I haven’t had an alcoholic drink now for just over 7 months, I planned to just have a break from drinking for a couple of months and haven’t started again.
I’m definitely not missing the hangovers and having really bad headaches after binge drinking.

 

[Knocky's Nose]

I've often thought about resurrecting this thread over the last 12 months. I did about 6 months alcohol free and loved it, then started drinking again in the evenings. Before I knew it I was back to a bottle of wine a night, and sometimes more. I then switched to 3-4 strong beers, and sometimes more..

Boredom and monotony was the driver, even though physically I was very busy. It's that old case of getting home, or sitting in the bath, cracking open that first can - or filling that first glass and... "aaah" the day is over.

About 2 weeks ago I had my (usual) epiphany and decided to taper off. I've now replaced my evening drinks with absolute gnats piss 2% lager, and the cravings have now subsided. Once they're completely gone, I'll switch to soft drinks of an evening and take at least 6 months off.

I think I could be classed as a "Yo-Yo Drinker"

 

[MJsGhost]

One of the big things for me is seeing the direct correlation between my resting heart rate (according to my Fitbit) and the days/periods where I do or don’t have a drink (not big amounts either - usually 1 or 2 330ml cans)

The drops are 3 or 4 day abstinences:



June 2020 for me was almost completely dry:


With life being tricky at the moment for a number of reasons, I’ve got into the bad habit of having a can or two every night unless I make a concerted effort not to.

No beer currently in the house though, so unless I start on the wine or spirits (psychologically easier for me), today should be day 3 dry.

 

[Insel affe]

The summer was hectic, the white wine and beer was flowing...
The autumn nights are closing in, the red wine and craft beer will keep me warm....

damn....

 

[Happy Exile]

I've often thought about resurrecting this thread over the last 12 months. I did about 6 months alcohol free and loved it, then started drinking again in the evenings. Before I knew it I was back to a bottle of wine a night, and sometimes more. I then switched to 3-4 strong beers, and sometimes more..

Boredom and monotony was the driver, even though physically I was very busy. It's that old case of getting home, or sitting in the bath, cracking open that first can - or filling that first glass and... "aaah" the day is over.

About 2 weeks ago I had my (usual) epiphany and decided to taper off. I've now replaced my evening drinks with absolute gnats piss 2% lager, and the cravings have now subsided. Once they're completely gone, I'll switch to soft drinks of an evening and take at least 6 months off.

I think I could be classed as a "Yo-Yo Drinker"

Well done, and good luck. I don't think anyone finds it easy but for many the hardest part is starting to stop and you've done that. If it helps then one day at a time worked for me rather than setting a target. I'm now just over 2 years without drinking and don't imagine I'll ever go back. I know lots of people find it helps thinking each morning "today I'm not going to have a drink" until they no longer need to think it anymore. Perhaps it's less daunting than setting a target date or helps create the habit. I also found that helped with events where there was going to be temptation, like a summer bbq or something. Making my mind up fresh each morning meant that when I went places I didn't have to make a decision or give myself the justification of "just one or two, it's a special occasion" because I'd already decided what I was going to do on my own terms before environment or peer pressure or context or anything else had a chance to influence.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I haven’t had an alcoholic drink now for just over 7 months, I planned to just have a break from drinking for a couple of months and haven’t started again.
I’m definitely not missing the hangovers and having really bad headaches after binge drinking.

Batting away the job from you know who next door probably helped with keeping you off the drink mate

My apologies for that one!!!

 

[BN9 BHA]

Batting away the job from you know who next door probably helped with keeping you off the drink mate

My apologies for that one!!!

Funny enough I was really busy that day/week/month

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Funny enough I was really busy that day/week/month

He told me! A brief conversation apparently!

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

I've been off the booze for about two and half years now. I genuinely don't miss it any more. And I was known to love all the crafty beers and had a lot of white wine stored up. I tried alcohol free beers way back and they were terrible, but the technology has moved on massively and there are some really passable beers about. I don't drink them often, but I keep them in just in case I fancy something that feels more celebratory or fancy a beer on a sunny, Summers evening.

I highly recommend The Coast Beer Company - their centennial IPA is lovely. More widely available is Ghost Ship from Adnams and that's decent. It's worth experimenting with Big Drop beers too. If you prefer lager, Brooklyn Special Effects (widely available) is worth a try.

Quick word about 0.5% beers. There are lots of reasons why there are so many (not least that producing 0.0% is way more expensive and a complex process, limiting production) but anything at 0.5% or below still constitutes alcohol free. That's because your body processes that volume of alcohol more quickly than you can absorb it. So in theory (some science here - https://steadydrinker.com/articles/can-you-get-drunk-low-alcohol-beer/) and seemingly in practice, you cannot get drunk on it. Also, there's often more alcohol in food like a ripe banana than an 0.5% AF beer. So if you are going alcohol free, 0.5% shouldn;t be an issue for you. And if you accept that (as I do now), then there is a HUGE amount more choice in AF beer.

 

[Bozza]

Running - 431 days and counting, including some days with injuries where, frankly, I shouldn't have run.
Not drinking - 97 days and counting.
10,000 steps or more in a day - 451 days and counting,

Update:

Running - 588 days and counting.
Not drinking - 0 days.
10,000 steps or more in a day - 608 days and counting,

On that booze-less streak earlier this year, I think I had a drink again on what would have been day 101. I've largely been in drink-like-a-fish mode ever since, which also had me in eat-like-an-utter-pig mode too. Despite averaging c9 miles running per day and another 4-5 miles a day walking, when I weighed myself at the beginning of last week I found I'd gone above my "danger weight", which is the most I want to weigh, so I've cut right back on the booze again.

I won't say that drinking won't become more frequent again as my record clearly shows that I do slip back into habitual drinking, but I'll keep trying to find the right balance for me.

 

[Mr Banana]

Funny this thread re-emerging before Brentford away. Going to games tends to cause me impressively bad anxiety, and my pitiful noggin isn't quite ready for an away yet. Already looking forward to being wracked with self-loathing and regret after probably pursuing the traditional remedy of skulking through every pub in Kew.

Tip-top respect to the more disciplined. That resting heart rate chart is cool.

 

[chaileyjem]

I've been off the booze for about two and half years now. I genuinely don't miss it any more. And I was known to love all the crafty beers and had a lot of white wine stored up. I tried alcohol free beers way back and they were terrible, but the technology has moved on massively and there are some really passable beers about. I don't drink them often, but I keep them in just in case I fancy something that feels more celebratory or fancy a beer on a sunny, Summers evening.
.

Good stuff. I'm now just over 3 years and feel the same. Absolutely spot on re: AF beers which have improved in range/taste/availability massively over the last few years and still something i have from time to time. Although i now rely on either Coke Zero, or citrus/soda water type combinations . If i'm really going for it i'll make a virgin mary and endless cups of tea.
And agreed about the 0.5 point. My current favourite is Lucky Saint (available from Tesco and lots of other suppliers).
https://luckysaint.co/

 

[essbee1]

Funny this thread re-emerging before Brentford away. Going to games tends to cause me impressively bad anxiety, and my pitiful noggin isn't quite ready for an away yet. Already looking forward to being wracked with self-loathing and regret after probably pursuing the traditional remedy of skulking through every pub in Kew.

Tip-top respect to the more disciplined. That resting heart rate chart is cool.

Mr Banana, I'm not taking the piss. Far from it. That is a beautifully and poetically written post. Seriously mate.

Harry Wilson's tackle - beware of a New Pretender to your Crown.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Over two years dry for me now.

At home I have loads of sugar free drinks options - ice tea, ginger beer, green cola (a stevia based drink) and there seem to be a lot of kombucha options as well.

Interesting seeing the comments above about alcohol free beer. I've never been tempted as I really don't miss beer but I have found that in some pubs, the choice of soft drinks outside of Coke and fruit juice is pretty limited.

Strangely, the best pubs for choice of soft drinks are usually the craft beer pubs as they tend to have some of the more interesting, if expensive, soft drinks from the likes of Karma or Dalston.

 

[Bry Nylon]

A few years ago the thought of a Friday evening at home without a few beers was completely unimaginable and frankly, pretty horrifying. But I have just started my third year AF (apart from a minor lapse about 18 months ago) and I honestly don’t even think about - or indeed miss - drinking these days.

I always said I wasn’t stopping drinking altogether but just that I ‘wouldn’t have a drink today.’ But it’s just rolled and rolled to the point where I really can’t see myself drinking again. I do occasionally find myself think a cold beer or a nice glass of red would be nice, but not enough to tempt me. The health benefits have been extraordinary but then I used packing up booze as a reason to spend far more time in the gym and have shed a growing beer gut (my waist measurement is back to what it was in my early 20s) and packed on a decent additional amount of lean muscle.

If you think all of this makes me sound very dull and not a little smug then you’d probably be right, to be fair. Anyway, cutting out booze entirely isn’t for everyone - but even if you are thinking of just cutting back a bit then I’m sure you’ll feel the benefits.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Well done, and good luck. I don't think anyone finds it easy but for many the hardest part is starting to stop and you've done that. If it helps then one day at a time worked for me rather than setting a target. I'm now just over 2 years without drinking and don't imagine I'll ever go back. I know lots of people find it helps thinking each morning "today I'm not going to have a drink" until they no longer need to think it anymore. Perhaps it's less daunting than setting a target date or helps create the habit. I also found that helped with events where there was going to be temptation, like a summer bbq or something. Making my mind up fresh each morning meant that when I went places I didn't have to make a decision or give myself the justification of "just one or two, it's a special occasion" because I'd already decided what I was going to do on my own terms before environment or peer pressure or context or anything else had a chance to influence.

I guess it varies from person to person but in my experience, for anyone looking to cut out booze for a while, the above post by [MENTION=36757]Happy Exile[/MENTION] is excellent advice and will almost certainly help you to quit temporarily and probably lead you to stopping drinking altogether - if that is what you want.

To be perfectly honest, I was quite afraid at the prospect of stopping altogether as I felt I would be missing something I really enjoyed and it would leave a huge, empty hole in my life and routine. Good day? Have a beer! Bad day? Have a beer! Wednesday night? Ah, Thursday tomorrow - that’s almost the weekend… have a beer! Monday evening? Oh god, time to reward myself for getting through the start of the week. Have a b….well, you get the picture.

So how do you break a cycle like that? Well, for me, telling myself that I can tomorrow but just not today helped to remove the fear factor. Even as I write this I know that if I want to, I can have a beer tomorrow. But I probably won’t.

One day at a time.

 

[BN9 BHA]

I guess it varies from person to person but in my experience, for anyone looking to cut out booze for a while, the above post by [MENTION=36757]Happy Exile[/MENTION] is excellent advice and will almost certainly help you to quit temporarily and probably lead you to stopping drinking altogether - if that is what you want.

To be perfectly honest, I was quite afraid at the prospect of stopping altogether as I felt I would be missing something I really enjoyed and it would leave a huge, empty hole in my life and routine. Good day? Have a beer! Bad day? Have a beer! Wednesday night? Ah, Thursday tomorrow - that’s almost the weekend… have a beer! Monday evening? Oh god, time to reward myself for getting through the start of the week. Have a b….well, you get the picture.

So how do you break a cycle like that? Well, for me, telling myself that I can tomorrow but just not today helped to remove the fear factor. Even as I write this I know that if I want to, I can have a beer tomorrow. But I probably won’t.

One day at a time.

As I have mentioned on this thread I didn’t plan to stop drinking forever, but I’ve got to the stage where I don’t feel like starting again.
I did think I would start when the football season began, I have been to both home games and also 2 Newhaven games and haven’t felt like drinking.
I haven’t avoided pubs though, I recently went to Kent for a week and stayed in the countryside, we went on walks and stopped in country pubs for lunch and i still didn’t feel like having a pint.