I’m having to go tee-total on health grounds while I recover and finding it really boring not even having had one sip in the last two weeks. Feeling loads better for it but, god damn, do I miss a drink down the pub or with a curry.

Got some friends coming round this weekend and we’d normally go down the pub for beers. I know if I do then I’ll get all weak willed and end up thinking **** it and putting a few down me, which will no doubt put delay my recovery and my return to riding bikes uphill.

Anyone been through the same? How did you cope? Any tips? What should I do to take my mind off it? Missing the taste.

There must be some decent no-alcohol lagers by now surely ?

I got pretty drunk and had a horrendous hang over last friday so have stopped since, have been meaning to quit for a while – but now I cant stop thinking a joint at the weekend would be better for me????? I’t wouldn’t give me a beer belly – but it might make me slow on the bike, anyone toke and ride?

Been straightedge for about 25 years now. I find it quite easy.

😛

About 13 years ago B

Thing is I had an advantage over you, I can’t bloody stand the taste of the stuff!

Funnily enough I was a proper straight edger when I was around 18. Youth Crew!

I don’t drink and haven’t done for a few years, doesn’t make a blind bit of difference to my life, I don’t understand why it should be a big deal…

As above, it all tastes horrible. Much rather have a glass of juice etc than an alcoholic drink of some sort.

If I was going to have some sort of intoxicant, I’d much rather have a few lines, though I don’t really even bother with that anymore.

I’ve stopped drinking Monday-Thursday which has been quite easy.

Recover from what? It’s interesting to know how much alcohol has a grip on ya till it’s taken away!

I stopped about a minute ago….

nah, didn’t like it. Best get another 🙂

I’ve stopped drinking Monday-Thursday which has been quite easy.

Yes, that’s my rule*. “School nights” are no booze nights.

* caveats apply 😉

I used to drink scrumpy literally every waking hour for quite a number of years.. with bottles of spirits if finaces allowed..
predictably it got to my stomach and started causing problems.. so I switched to blackcurrant and soda so that I could continue with the drinking scene..

no problemo.. until you realise that very drunk people are actually fairly boring company..

I stayed dry and changed the company.. now I just drink when I feel like it..

bavaria wheat beer alco free 0 percent in aldi at the mo. 1.99 for 8 x 330ml cans. Reccommended. Tasty!

Been t-total for around 7 years – I retired at the top of my game! Still find it odd that if you give up smoking people praise you’re will power and resolve; give up drinking and you get asked if you’re an alcholic. Did find I missed out on impromtu socials to start with took a while for mates to get they’re heads round stopping drinking didnt mean I’d stopped going out.

People will always try to get you to just have one.

Dont miss being drunk do miss fine post ride ale by a log fire during an autumn storm.

Ginger beer just doesnt come in large enough bottles.

Drugs are not for losers BTW. Unless you like literature, music, comedy, films, or any kind of cultural input!

gotta lot of respect for that oldagepredator.

I stopped drinking alcohol last May to try and get fitter, I lost 2.5 stone in 4 months by diverting my drinking time to biking time and eating less.

Since Christmas I started drinking again and have put the weight back on. I find that I am an all or nothing drinker, if there is a 4 pack in the fridge the other three are getting lonely after the first one has been drunk, so they all go.

I found that the first couple of weeks of quiting were the worst, as soon as I quit drinking there were birthdays and parties galore. My alternative tipple is either lime cordial or Red Bull light (not too many or you can’t sleep!!)

My best rewards were the loss of weight and improved speed on the bike. I was riding to work a couple of times a week and my time was improving each week which helped me stay focused.

I have just stopped drinking again (day 2) with a plan to knock it on the head for good.

Good luck with staying off the booze. 🙂

and putting a few down me, which will no doubt put delay my recovery and my return to riding bikes uphill

uplift days is your answer

interesting ibaa. I toy with the idea of giving up the booze completely.

I drink sometimes, I don’t drink sometimes. Not really something I think about. I did, however, drink copious amounts as a youngster and did some silly things.

Gave up booze for 2 months for fitness reasons. Not long, but my point was it was made a lot easier with the satisfaction of getting up the next morning nice and early after a social, feeling great while looking at all the hang overs around you.

I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.

I gave it up about 3 years ago for 6 months and found that I enjoyed it too much to give it up completely, so I am back drinking again, but just have to be careful not to overdo it.

You don’t have to stop going out if you stop drinking. Of course as above you might find your piss-head mates aren’t as fun. Just hang out with people who don’t get so wrecked instead 🙂

Its strange resisting the temptation…

Tried and loved low alcohol cider, but I’ve got to steer clear of sugar and wheat at the moment so can’t even enjoy that 🙁

Don’t miss the hangovers or the price of pints but do miss getting slowly pissed with mates and talking more shite than normal.

sounds sensible ho-hum

i have been off the booze since october………and caffeine.
dont feel any differant to be honest tho.
not a big drinker either before i stopped.
i will be having a few pints next weekend tho………cant **** wait too.

Jesus. Why torture yourself? Everything in moderation. I don’t like getting shit faced anymore but why give up a glass of wine with a meal, post ride pint or nice evening whisky?

You can go out, drink, and not get pissed you know!

Nice Gigondas tonight, 2 glasses won’t kill me (hopefully).

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy – Benjamin Franklin

I stopped drink and drugs at 21( I was caining it at the time). Woke up one morning and stopped, that was 15 years ago. It did impact socially and I dont get invited out where a session is likely anymore. Does not bother me. I cant go into pubs anymore as the smell of booze makes me feel sick! that and I’ve never eaten meat or fish! Flip, realized how boring that makes me sound!

I was tee total for nearly ten years while xc racing, after spending the previous ten years mostly pissed.

I now enjoy alcohol again, probably too much 😉

I’m a bit of an all or nothing kind of guy.

I quit for 7 months last year, then started up again—found I was quickly back to the same level as before.
Quit again 5 weeks ago and hope to stay that way. I do miss my Jack Daniels and wine with a meal, but overall I feel better, lost some weight and sleep much better.
Like some said, the first few days is the hardest and it just keeps getting easier the longer you go.

I pledged a year with no beer on new years eve, & I haven’t touched a drop. Only miss it a bit.

Stopped drinking in the first year of uni’, so about 9 years ago now. Main reasoning was my consumption was ridiculous, even by student standards. Not to mention the money I could be spending on bikes and going riding. As an added bonus, girls looked just as good the morning after as they did when you met them the night before rather than transforming into horrendous monsters whilst you sleep.

oldagepredator has it pretty well summed up. People will encourage you to drink, but they get used to it. Really not an issue anymore, people know that I won’t have a drink, the same as I won’t eat jaffa cakes.

what graham said.

oh, and oldagedpredator, fentiman’s ginger beer comes in 750ml bottles as well as the 250ml ones. that’s plenty big enough!

bushwacked, i was about to suggest that erdinger alkoholfrei is by far the best alcohol free beer i have ever had, but it’s a wheat beer so sadly your follow-up info rules that out for you i’m afraid.

but yeah, if you go out be prepared for your mates to make more of a big deal of you not drinking than you do yourself (and also be prepared for them to be not funny when they’re steaming and you’re sober!)

Seems as though those who give it up are incapable of drinking in moderation, that is a pint while out for an evening ride or a Sunday afternoon ride, or a couple of pints of an evening with a couple of mates. Why does drinking alcohol have to mean getting totally hammered? I love the taste of a good pint or a single malt, but I drink it because of the flavour; getting shitfaced isn’t part of the agenda, and I truly fail to understand the mindset that says it is. As for alcohol-free or low alcohol lagers, there is no such thing as a decent one, it’s the alcohol gives the flavour, take that away, and all you’ve got is insanely overpriced coloured water.
Off down the pub in a little while for a couple of pints of proper quality ale that tastes wonderful. Mmmmmmm.

Cheers feel a bit more normal now.

So, if you go down the pub you just on the soft drinks?

Been completely alcohol free for a bit over a month now, and before then it was very rarely that I drank. Nothing changed really, I just finally decided it’s not worth the disadvantages. If I do drink again though, it will only be binging. But right now I feel fast and healthy, and I don’t really miss it. Although I guess I miss the memories it creates.

As for the drugs is for losers thing, I don’t quite agree with that, but the people who seem to either spend every day intoxicated or recovering don’t really have much else going on in their lives. I definitely drink more when I’m injured, gets you through the boredom. So I think if you’re struggling to stay off drink, just ride more, or pick up a new hobby or something.

What is the disadvantage of drinking sensibly?

Certain alcoholic drinks are good for you in moderation.

we drink to remember
we drink to forget
.
beer is just too nice to pass up, and there are so many nice beers in the world that I haven’t tried yet, I will continue my search for the ultimate pint
.
I’ve made more friends through alcohol than I have without, plus the only way to really get to know your workmates is to get pissed with them 😀

Certain alcoholic drinks are good for you in moderation.

That’s a messed up statement though. It’s not the alcohol that makes them good. Alcohol is a poison. I know if I cut it out completely I feel better, mentally and physically – it may just be a placebo effect, but it works all the same.

I’ve started drinking more ever since work started pushing on the pressure.. Really need to stop drinking tbh.

I’m only 24, and been in my job 8 months in a mid – higher management position (For a company with over 500k employees), and i had to deliver something from 10 sites today. Talk about getting put under pressure, had the CEO of the company phoning me asking where the work was and moaning for the first time even though i delivered today when the deadline is tuesday next week.

Still, sat here with a couple of bottles of hobgoblin, and i rekon a nightcap of some Jamesons is in order later on.