I've stopped drinking

…for 13 days, 17 to go. Felt an urge to take a break and see if I can do it. I’ve never tried before, it’s about as hard as I expected - especially at dinner or on a Friday/Saturday evening. The first week was physically difficult, this past week was mentally difficult, as work was very stressful, and I usually would ease that with a drink in the evening. But I made it through.

Feeling confident I’ll make it now, but looking forward May 1

Congratulations!

Congrats.

I’m at 19 days but it’s because I got a small touch of food poisoning and then got this massive cold I can’t shake. I’m not going for any record though.

Scott - have you dropped any lbs as a result?

Fun thing to chat about!

I find it is easiest not to drink anything when life is hard, and harder to not drink when life is great.

Plus, some weeks I simply forget to have something to drink.

I have felt a compulsion to have alcohol twice.

First time was after work had kept me awake and busy for 36 hours. I got done and I was so wired, I went to a local “fun” drinking place an had a thing called “Electric Lemonade.” It was blue and had vodka, I think. It was weird, I was exhausted, but felt I need a drink to get past the wiredness of it."

The other time was after I went to an AA meeting as part of a class. All the people at the meeting did was smoke, drink coffee, and talk about drinking. It was eye opening. I didn’t really know how to process it at the right level (which was the point of the class) and when I left, I simply had to go have a margarita.

Life is amazing.

I wish you a happy remainder of your project!

I made it through January

Quitters.

Baller

As a matter of fact, yes! I’ve been meaning to do so, but haven’t found too much success, then this month I feel it melting away!

The first week was physically difficult, this past week was mentally difficult, as work was very stressful, and I usually would ease that with a drink in the evening.

I don’t know about the reason for not having something but I always thought that if there was a reason, there was a problem.

Here, wine has nothing at all to do with stress or happiness.

It’s with dinner. What else to drink?

Coffee and tea are for the morning or mid afternoon, milk is disgusting, soda is disgusting, juice is for a snack after going running, and water is for when you’re thirsty. Beer is bloating and liquor is for the alcohol and I don’t like it. That leaves wine. If I’m really stressed, I might just skip dinner, and that also means skipping wine.

Dinner can be an elaborate production or a burrito or take-out sushi like last night, but you need a beverage with it. Although Petite Sirah and wakame might not be the best pairing.

That was my plan, but January is Liz’s birthday…and Feb is our anniversary, and March we had a vacation planned to Belize…and then I ran our of excuses…damn.

Yes, that was also in my mind. A coping mechanism I wanted to change. So, a good exercise for me.

It’s amazing how quickly one can gain and lose weight from drinking. I cut back on 1-2 wine dinners a month and have lost 5 lbs in 3 months.

Crazy, huh?

Me too. It’s an enjoyment and quality of life thing.

A few years ago my wife decided to “paleo” us for Lent (40 days). It is very strange to eat until you’re stuffed, all the time, and watch the weight just melt away. The only problem is: no alcohol; no sugar; no dairy; no grains; nothing processed. I expected to be thirstier, but honestly I was more hungry than anything, which seemed to subordinate my usual desire for wine. I didn’t get on a scale, but moved over two belt notches and fit perfectly into a 25-year-old gabardine suit. The thing I remember most about this period of abstinence, though, is going to bed very early every night to remove the temptations.

I’ve also been going to bed an hour earlier. At first it was to resist temptation, but now I am enjoying getting 8.5 hours of sleep

Scott, good on you. I did not do 30 days straight, but did about 27 days of the 31 in January. It was the only time I’ve tried something like that since I was probably 20. I found that while there was no physical dependency, the routine of making a cocktail or having a glass of wine or a beer with dinner was a tough one to shake, initially. Then it wasn’t so bad, though Friday nights were not fun. It’s a good exercise, and one I’m glad to be done with. I did find out that my desire to drink more than one or two drinks lessened even after I started drinking again.

Cheers to the pounds falling off. Alcohol is a bitch. Your body stops the active digestion and processing of other intake when alcohol is present and focuses almost exclusively and first on the alcohol. That means all that other crap you’re eating as you have your second and third glasses of wine take a back seat, and have more time to convert to fat. Add to that the surplus calories with no nutritional value (130 per small glass of wine to up to 450 for some beers and 600+ for things like bad margaritas) and it’s no surprise there probably aren’t too many washboards on this board.

Thanks John. Yeh, the habit is/was the hardest part, I just got used to ending each night with a drink or two. The goal is to come back with different habits.

I’ve stopped drinking, too. But just during the week.

I don’t need all the calories and I sleep better without it.

But then I make up for it on Friday and Saturday nights. Or when we have people over. Or go out to dinner. Or have our wine tasting group.

I, too, quit for a month many years ago to see if I could do it. I’ts not easy but time goes fast.

What is the first bottle you plan to open when your wine fast is over?