Too much alcohol and I know it.

you have an amazing understanding of the obvious.

Well, it sounds like you know the score. You've got two choices. You can relax and enjoy your drinking, or you can decide to quit and just do it. That is really all it takes. You have to mean it and then do it. If you leave the door open halfway, then you might as well just quit playing games with yourself and drink like a man. Posting about how weak willed you are on LRC is not a good look...

This is a great suggestion. I gotta wonder if the higher alcohol beers in large containers are subtly turning people into addicts. The definition of one drink is a 12 oz beer that is 4%-5%. now the IPAs are 6.5%+ and come in 20 oz cans. In your mind, you are having 1 drink when that would be the equivalent of like 2.5. I also wonder why alcohol doesn't have a nutrition label. Seeing the 'servings per container' might wake people up.

My previous comment was overly harsh and I apologize for being rude. Everyone who deals with addiction does things in their own way. In the end however, it comes down to making the hard choice and meaning it. Good luck to all who face this dilemma.

At various times in my life I have quit using cocaine, meth, benzos, and opiates, and of course cigarettes. Of all these, cigarettes were the hardest to give up. I stopped drinking for a few months at a time occasionally, but I never quite shut the door on booze until now. I always thought of it as a good thing in moderation, something I would absolutely hate to have to quit entirely. That is the mindset that must go. It really is not much different than any of the other drugs I mentioned, just more pervasive.

Someone complimented you on doing all that you have done despite the booze, but the thing you REALLY need to be complimented on is the fact that you recognized you have a problem...because you do.

Playing with fire is what you're doing there. You are drinking enough to have liver failure if you keep this up. Beyond that though, alcohol is NOT good for you. It's a carcinogen.

I am going to challenge you a bit on being a good father though. Sorry, but at a minimum, you are setting a horrible example to them with the amount and frequency of your drinking. You burden them as they get older with potential co-dependency behaviors.

Find a way to stop this. AA, or some other kind of group that has the values you need/require in order to stop.

I am no teetotaler. I have 4 beers in my refrigerator right now. They are the remains of a 6 pack that I bought in early July. I am the one who drank the two that are missing. That's about how often a person should drink...if at all.

I have never had a problem with alcohol, so I can not direct you there. Go find professionals who help with this. It's no joke. You need to stop the drinking.

Good luck!

I actually am a little jealous of your experience - with chantix, cigarettes were not that hard to give up and I haven't ever wanted to start smoking cigs again. My main drug of choice was meth, and it I've had one relapse since seriously trying recovery about 4 years ago. I still crave it and want it regularly - I think because it was often tied up with sex as well, for me. With booze, I rarely think about it. Once in a while I'll see someone drinking something classy or nice and I have some nostalgia, but it's really a low level type of craving. But I do know if I do drink again I'll just go straight to meth.

The vast majority of participants in the online Smart Recovery meetings are women.

Taper! I was in same boat. Quantify what you drink now in terms of oz of alcohol. Switch to beer so you dont feel compelled to finish a bottle. Drink equivalent alcohol volume in beer. Over the course of a 6 week period remove one beer each few days. You dont really notice. Worst one is the last one. First day without alcohol but no withdrawal because of the tapering. I thought it would be impossible but it really wasnt that bad. 18 months

Have you seen the movie Beautiful Boy? Really illustrates just how hard meth is to break away from. Great movie about addiction for anyone looking for one.

I have previously posted about how my college exploits (100 beers / 100 miles in one week- a classic letsrun thread btw, wasn't me but it was the original inspiration for myself and a buddy to try it) was an obvious prelude to more serious alcoholism. As adult life set in I drank more and ran less, quite predictable in hindsight. Functional alcoholism is myth and you have to address this thing with the utmost seriousness before it totally ruins your life/ or even kills you. I was still running about 30mpw when I registered elevated liver enzymes (very bad sign, typically seen in alcoholics). I was using the exercise as an excuse to drink more (how can i be an alcoholic if i'm fit?). Quitting can be more that just 'hitting bottom' or willpower.. you may need to taper your use down in a medical setting. It is possible though, i've been sober for years now and running well again for mid 30s. I wish anyone going through this the best, it really sucks and those around you most likely do not understand, addiction is very tricky, but you will be a stronger person coming out the other side.

have not read any replies but what started me to quit drinking was I got stuck at work and my drinking buddies had a head start. I looked at them and realized I must look and act like them when I was drinking.

Assuming you aren't lying that is a LOT of alcohol. Unfortunately to change a behavior/habit you will need to change a lot of the triggers that put that in motion.

If you are killing a bottle during dinner, then moving on to #2 while "winding down" for the night with some Netflix you are going to need to change your routine completely.

I drink too much on the weekends and it's just a few margaritas with friends on Fridays then I usually have a few beers on Sat. I can't imagine functioning on your amount of intake.

Good luck

i actually started reading the book but honestly it was wayyyy too triggering because i had just got out of rehab when I read it. maybe some day i'll give the movie a try

This is very good advice. As silly as it sounds, socially you want something to do with your hands, holding a beer is comforting, taking a sip between conversations. You need a replacement to stand in and help eliminate the nervous energy.

One more vote for NA beer. My wife and I always do dry January and it usually ends up bleeding into February because once you get out of the habit of drinking, it’s easy to just stay sober. We just crack the NA beers (there is some decent NA wine too) and it completely replaces post-work wind down ritual of drinking alcohol.

Also, OP should try to start running at 4:30am instead of 6am. If you have to wake up that early to run, you literally cannot drink or you’ll sleep through your run every time. I have to wake up that early to get my midweek 10+ milers in before the kids wake up and that keeps me honest during the weeks.

Most bars now carry at least one NA beer and it makes it much easier being social while not drinking.

Oooh, big man here. No problems with vices, not this guy. Do you know what that means? It means this guy, this guy right here, it means he is better than us.

I quit cold turkey. Switched to a candy habit. Broke that ten years or so back.

Weed now, but I'm long past competing, and old enough that who cares?

You know what's interesting is Beautiful Boy is a book written from the father's perspective. But the young man going through the addiction also wrote a book from the perspective of the one actually going through the addiction. It's a much more interesting book than Beautiful Boy. Check it out.

I think there are much better movies about addiction in my opinion. Watch Trainspotting. Watch Panic in Needle Park. Watch Requiem for a Dream.