[Drinking] I’ve gone off Alcohol

[NorthstandRacoon]

Strangely over the last couple of years for no particular reason i’ve been drinking less and less alcohol to the point where i’m quite happy with soft drinks when i go out.

I’m 54, touchwood in good health and i use to love slamming the booze down. I’ve have never been told to knock it on the head and i use to feel quite worried many years ago if there was a possibility i couldn’t have a drink. Nowadays I’ll have one beer before a dinner out, somehow make that last the entire sitting and have water or coco cola for the rest of the night. I’m just not that fussed anymore.

For some reason almost like someone has flicked a switch i really don’t get excited or even enjoy drinking alcohol now, i know some people who struggle with the amount they drink would love this conundrum but i wondered if anyone else has crossed this pathway.

YES! I'm 31, so still technically young, but I just don't enjoy it as much. My hangovers have always been bad, but this last year, they are awful. It probably helps that I have taken on my family genes of high blood pressure, which was diagnosed in Jan, so naturally, I know I needed to drink less and have implemented this to just once a week. (bar this last 7 days as I've been on holiday).

I've also realised that drinking 3 days over the weekend, one of those days being a big session, (football etc), just isn't and wasn't sustainable. So, since the turn of the year, I've really ramped up my fitness, to the point I'm the fittest I've been in 10 years. I've always kept fit, but I wasn't challenging myself enough until now. (Worthing half marathon next month!).

I had 2-3 opportunities to drink this weekend, I didn't. Today, I am out on the lash as it's the only day of the Easter weekend I wanted to drink. So rather than drinking for the sake of it, I just drink when I want to and not just because it's the weekend.

Good on you for realising it just isn't for you.

 

[Chicken Run]

YES! I'm 31, so still technically young, but I just don't enjoy it as much. My hangovers have always been bad, but this last year, they are awful. It probably helps that I have taken on my family genes of high blood pressure, which was diagnosed in Jan, so naturally, I know I needed to drink less and have implemented this to just once a week. (bar this last 7 days as I've been on holiday).

I've also realised that drinking 3 days over the weekend, one of those days being a big session, (football etc), just isn't and wasn't sustainable. So, since the turn of the year, I've really ramped up my fitness, to the point I'm the fittest I've been in 10 years. I've always kept fit, but I wasn't challenging myself enough until now. (Worthing half marathon next month!).

I had 2-3 opportunities to drink this weekend, I didn't. Today, I am out on the lash as it's the only day of the Easter weekend I wanted to drink. So rather than drinking for the sake of it, I just drink when I want to and not just because it's the weekend.

Good on you for realising it just isn't for you.

Well done on the fitness, I would say though that it wasn’t down to me making a conscious decision or being advised to it’s hard to describe but it was like one day a switch was switched off by someone else and i stopped enjoying alcohol

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I’ve not tried any no- or low-alcohol beers and don’t feel any desire to do so. If you’ve managed to get rid of the enthusiasm for beer it seems risky to drink anything that resembles its taste. Mind you, the selection of non-alcoholic drinks in pubs and restaurants is absolutely shocking. So much sugary, chemically crap. Would it be too hard to stock a few smoothies or freshly squeezed juices?

I find this an issue in the mainstream pubs, especially as I try to avoid the diet drinks with Aspartame as it acts as a diuretic in my body. I often go for mixers with ice, the fever tree spiced orange ginger ale is good.

The micro pubs / craft pubs usually have a better selection of soft drinks with interesting flavours and less crisp, for example Square Root have a cola without additives and the natural sugar content is quite low.

 

[jessiejames]

Dont really drink in the week when out tramping. Use to have a couple of beers in my fridge in the truck for when im finished driving. Nowjust a bottle of red or a bottle of white in the fridge. No more than 2 glasses per evening, twice a week, check my Breathaliser in morning to make sure im ok.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

But can you pin it on anything? I went from being a fairly regular drinker to losing interest quite quickly for no apparent reason?

Not really. Just a gradual and growing feeling of not being arsed about drinking booze. I was never a massive or regular drinker, but enjoyed it when I did.

 

[BLOCK F]

Always loved a drink, especially ale in my younger days, wine as well, usually with a meal.
Age has done it for me, 76 in July and now my capacity is much reduced. I still enjoy a very occasional pint, but wine with food is my main pleasure. The odd glass of port, whisky or cognac, I still find enjoyable, but too much and I know about it the next day.
I love my tea and have become a bit of a coffee addict over the last couple of years.
Shame the bladder isn’t as robust as it was in my younger days!

 

[swindonseagull]

Number 1 ......cant handle a hangover anymore.
Number 2 .....Drink 1 piss 3!!!!!

never have more than 1 a night anymore..

After 30 years in the RAF my liver and kidneys needed a rest.

 

[Simster]

I'm 52 and I've made no active decision to avoid alcohol, but I just do not drink that much of it anymore. This weekend (Easter with family) I've had one single malt whisky, one half glass of prosecco and one pint of pale ale when we walked to the pub. That's all, and that's more alcohol than the last 3 weekends put together.

I don't dislike alcohol, I just don't see the point in drinking it. I have no desire to get smashed even semi-regularly anymore, no desire to screw up my day to day routine, and no desire to inflate my shopping bill by adding it to my weekly shop.

On the face of it, and from reading this thread, I am concluding this is a fairly normal evolution in drinking behaviour.

 

[Bry Nylon]

…from reading this thread, I am concluding this is a fairly normal evolution in drinking behaviour.

Seems to be that way. I last had an alcoholic drink in the summer of 2019. It was never intended to be forever but right now the benefits of not drinking far outweigh any pleasure it ever brought me and I can’t see any good reason to ever start again.

Quite happy and relaxed being around people drinking and equally happy to politely decline the offer of an alcoholic drink. It’s far from uncommon to not drink these days.

 

[Chicken Run]

I'm 52 and I've made no active decision to avoid alcohol, but I just do not drink that much of it anymore. This weekend (Easter with family) I've had one single malt whisky, one half glass of prosecco and one pint of pale ale when we walked to the pub. That's all, and that's more alcohol than the last 3 weekends put together.

I don't dislike alcohol, I just don't see the point in drinking it. I have no desire to get smashed even semi-regularly anymore, no desire to screw up my day to day routine, and no desire to inflate my shopping bill by adding it to my weekly shop.

On the face of it, and from reading this thread, I am concluding this is a fairly normal evolution in drinking behaviour.

Again the above pretty much describes me

 

[Hamilton]

I’ve recently cut back a lot. I did dry January and afterwards have been sticking to my allotted units each week, with ease. There are so many great alcohol free beers now that I find myself ordering those before the alcoholic ones.

I still like a nice wine and a whisky. I still love an odd Harvey’s. But by doing one pint instead of five, I find my sleep is so much better and I feel more alive and awake. I’ve also cut out sugar, saturated fats and salt. Together with the cut in alcohol they led to me losing a stone in weight.

 

[Stat Brother]

YES! I'm 31, so still technically young,

"Technically"

This is NSC at 31 you're the youngest here.