Quitting drinking

asdffdas wrote:

I gave up the booze the weekend before Thanksgiving (2015). It was starting to make me depressed and, sometimes, anxious. I started to look forward to my typical Friday and Saturday night drinking too much, to the point where I'd skip out on doing things with my friends and my wife.

My dad went through AA (sober for almost 40 years, I think) and, I just learned that my brother broke up with his long-time girlfriend because of his drinking. We chatted briefly about this the other day and agreed that addictions run in our family.

Having one drink wasn't good enough for me. I wanted more. If I have one, I don't think I could stop. So, abstinence was the only option for me. When I decided to quit a few weeks ago, I dumped out my booze.

Best of luck to all that are trying to kick it. Stick with it.

krispy kremlin_._._ wrote:

I'm not quitting but I'm cutting back a lot. I started a few weeks ago and have only drank on Christmas with family and NYE with friend (ok, and then on Saturday too). But they've all been fairly limited.

Since I've started doing this, I've lost weight, gotten several early morning runs in, sleeping better, and feeling motivated to get stuff done around the apartment. I've picked up the guitar and piano again after months (years(?) off). I read before going to bed now (Trump's Art of the Deal currently) and I've taken up a challenge from a friend to learn some basics of a new language.

Last night I cracked a beer and got through maybe half - and even just that screwed up my sleep and I missed my jog this morning.

I'm giving myself one weekend night and one floater per week and with the rule that they have to be for a purpose/with friends/date. No more six packs till midnight on a Wednesday alone in the apartment.

Good luck to all. See you on the start line.

here we go wrote:

trying again wrote:

Another poster said he quit on December 8th. I quit yesterday.

Anyone else?

I am already starting to feel anxious but I am drinking a lot of tea (different herbal infusions) and at least I don't feel the thirst.

Last time I stopped I saw great results in my running after about 8 days.

That was me.

It was strange, but I had a switch in my brain where I came to the point that I HATED alcohol. I actually journaled how I felt while drinking & timed my buzz. After 4 drinks the actual good buzz only lasted 19 minutes. After that I was still buzzed but a slight headache settled in along with a mixture of nausea and hunger that wasn't pleasant. I journaled how I felt during the good buzz & even that wasn't that great. I wanted more alcohol to take me higher, but more alcohol only made me sicker.

In the past I tried cutting back numerous times with no long term success. I tried cutting out all beer or all liquor to see if that would help, but it didn't. I always tracked the # of drinks on an app, & tried to drink as little as I could, but once I got 1 drink in me it was/is almost impossible for me to stop at 1 or 2. So I knew I had to quit cold turkey.

Nobody knew I had an alcohol problem. My wife thought I had a beer a night. She didn't know I had a large shot of vodka before it, & several drinks of vodka mixed with water after the beer. She thought I was drinking water all night after the beer.

I really do think this is it for me. I think I'm done with alcohol, & hopefully I'm not over confident or delusional right now. Again, it was a switch in my brain & I'm going on an all out war against it (personally). Like running on "pure hate." I have had my moments though that I've craved a drink. We made tacos one night & it was my habit to always have tacos with Pabst. Eating tacos by themselves felt very odd & I craved an ice cold PBR.

The hardest part is how much of a habit in my life I made alcohol. So many things gave me a reason to drink. Practically every night it was a habit to come home from work & grab a shot of vodka followed by beer. I always found an excuse to drink -- My teams playing on TV... It's Friday...It was a bad day at work...it was a boring day at work...it's Sunday night & the work weeks ahead...I'm anxious etc

Adding replacements or more activities has helped a lot. The first week was awful, but I planned daily outings outside of my home after work. Checked out local libraries, went to coffee shops etc. I started exercising more, & do it after work. Drinking coffee has helped a lot. I drink 2 cups each night. Ya, I know coffee is still a drug, but it ain't alcohol. Today I'm going shopping to look at some coffee supplies like a bean grinder & an aeropress to get more involved in the coffee side of things. Putting my alcohol money elsewhere.

seems like a lot wrote:

I didn't read all the posts, but I am surprised at the number of people who are big drinkers/have a problem with alcohol/are quitting/cutting back etc. This is just on a runners forum, where I had assumed that most people's drinking would be pretty limited because they prioritize their running. I agree with the one guy/girl, running and drinking (for me) generally don't go well together. I know I drink less than I may otherwise drink because I have to run in the morning etc. I'll leave early or only have one drink on a Friday night because I'm thinking about my workout in the morning.

However, my point is, if drinking is a much bigger problem than I imagined it would be among this group (assume actual runners), it kind of freaks me out to think about how much of a bigger problem it likely is in society. Makes you wonder how many people are out there drinking and getting drunk every night. It seems lie it would be a pretty awful existence. Makes me never want to drink again.

Ring You Up, Sir? wrote:

seems like a lot wrote:

I didn't read all the posts, but I am surprised at the number of people who are big drinkers/have a problem with alcohol/are quitting/cutting back etc. This is just on a runners forum, where I had assumed that most people's drinking would be pretty limited because they prioritize their running. I agree with the one guy/girl, running and drinking (for me) generally don't go well together. I know I drink less than I may otherwise drink because I have to run in the morning etc. I'll leave early or only have one drink on a Friday night because I'm thinking about my workout in the morning.

However, my point is, if drinking is a much bigger problem than I imagined it would be among this group (assume actual runners), it kind of freaks me out to think about how much of a bigger problem it likely is in society. Makes you wonder how many people are out there drinking and getting drunk every night. It seems lie it would be a pretty awful existence. Makes me never want to drink again.

I worked in a grocery store all through high school. Bagger and then a cashier. You would not even believe what people buy. Think about the guys in the construction or painter's van who all jump out at 5pm and grab a case of beer... now think of that but substitute lawyers and doctors in scrubs and businessmen, etc. This was in MI so we could sell hard liquor. You see the same guys buying handles alongside cases of beer multiple times a week. Just insane amounts of alcohol.

another drinker wrote:

To echo everyone else, this is a great thread and I hope it keeps going.

I had my last drink on January 1st.

In my twenties I was a binge drinker, but once I got married in my thirties I became a consistent drinker. Drinking less in a session, but more days of the week (20 to 30 beers/week). The more I drank, the easier it became to find excuses to have a drink most days. I'm pretty mellow when I'm drinking so my wife usually doesn't mind.

It's never really impacted my career, but it's now starting to affect my health. I've been getting frequent bloody noses and can barely run the day after drinking five or six beers. I cut back quite a bit the last couple months and my running improved dramatically. I also felt happier, healthier, and more clear headed.

I started drinking more around the holidays and using the old excuses again. I want to get back on track in 2016, but I don't really want to cut out alcohol completely. I'd still like to have a couple drinks after a big race or when meeting up with old friends, but I now know that if I can't control my consumption on those rare occasions, I'll need to cut it out completely. For now, I'm committed to tracking my consumption in 2016 and making more drastic changes if I need to.

another drinker wrote:

To echo everyone else, this is a great thread and I hope it keeps going.

I had my last drink on January 1st.

In my twenties I was a binge drinker, but once I got married in my thirties I became a consistent drinker. Drinking less in a session, but more days of the week (20 to 30 beers/week). The more I drank, the easier it became to find excuses to have a drink most days. I'm pretty mellow when I'm drinking so my wife usually doesn't mind.

It's never really impacted my career, but it's now starting to affect my health. I've been getting frequent bloody noses and can barely run the day after drinking five or six beers. I cut back quite a bit the last couple months and my running improved dramatically. I also felt happier, healthier, and more clear headed.

I started drinking more around the holidays and using the old excuses again. I want to get back on track in 2016, but I don't really want to cut out alcohol completely. I'd still like to have a couple drinks after a big race or when meeting up with old friends, but I now know that if I can't control my consumption on those rare occasions, I'll need to cut it out completely. For now, I'm committed to tracking my consumption in 2016 and making more drastic changes if I need to.