Viewing 31 posts - 1 through 31 (of 31 total)
  • Quitting Drinking
  • Jamie
    Free Member

    Right….i have had enough of boozing. At the ripe old age of 30 i have decided to try knocking it on the head. I just always feel like crap the next day, not headaches etc just sick for some reason. Even if its only 5-6 pints.

    I have the feeling it is going to be harder than quitting smoking, 4 years and counting now, so any teetotallers have any tips?

    …and vice versa any booze hounds have any pressing reasons why i should stay on the sauce?

    bruneep
    Full Member

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    Only 5-6 pints?!

    bloody hell.

    try halves – you are man enough to drink them aren't you?

    last night: 3 halves of something beardy, and a bottle of belgian trapiste. A good night + no hangover.

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    xherbivorex
    Free Member

    drink so much that you have to have your stomach pumped.
    three times in the space of 6 months.

    that's what did the trick for me. i've not had any booze for over 20 years now.

    Jamie
    Free Member

    ?!
    bloody hell.

    try halves – you are man enough to drink them aren't you?

    Mad innit? It is not like i am leathered either.

    I guess i should clarify it is not like i am hanging off the toilet the next day, more like bad acid indigestion i guess. Either way a bit uncomfortable.

    M6TTF
    Free Member

    I'm not surprised you feel ropey if you're sinking 6 pints. DehydrTion will be making you feel crap for starters! Just try drinking less? You can't beat the first ice cold beer after a long week

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    Not sure if there is a trick other than believing your reason to quit – my wife and I went through IVF in 2008 so I just stopped dead – didn't have a drop for about 6 months (normally a 'binge' drinker in that I would have 5-6 pints every Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

    Can honestly say I didn't see any benefits though – weight didn't go down or anything!

    Jamie
    Free Member

    Can honestly say I didn't see any benefits though – weight didn't go down or anything!

    🙁

    yunki
    Free Member

    I drank heavily for a number of years and was totally immersed in drinking and pub culture..
    but
    like you… my stomach finally decided that it had had enough..

    just stop… it's quite easy.. but don't tell yourself that you'll never drink again.. that's just being a bit of a martyr in my opinion.. just stop making yourself ill..
    if you want a pint or two… then have them.. even get pissed occasionally still…

    still go to the pub if that's your thing.. I drink bitter shandy these days because I can still keep up with my mates but I'm only consuming a fraction of the alcohol..

    I don't go out with the lads even 10% as much as I used to.. because they are quite boring and overbearing company when I'm sober..

    it's not that hard..
    just don't be too fanatical about it..

    nickc
    Full Member

    Just stop. I was never a really big drinker, but I realised I wasn't enjoying the wine I was drinking each night so I just packed it in.

    chop
    Free Member

    don't do it. pouring fluids down ure neck is a perfectly normal a natrual thing to do… u were right to quit smoking though nothing normal about enhaling smoke.. i'm trying to quit at the moment 😥

    judy-rockshox
    Free Member

    If it's costing you more than money……………

    Marge
    Free Member

    I stopped because I wanted to lose some weight initially & a mate was doing the same.
    Then I found that I felt better generally, seemed more resistance to colds.
    After a few months it seemed quite normal & I don't really miss it.

    badnewz
    Free Member

    The success of giving up booze (and there are two good reasons, money and your stomach), depends on your lifestyle. Do your friends all drink? Do you work in a drink-friendly area like law? If so then I find it's tough to give it up permanently. I'm largely going for moderation this year, but think I could knock the whole thing on the head by the time I'm mid-30s.

    GaVgAs
    Free Member

    I have just quit drinking due to illness,the hardest part for me is the way a conversation goes once your mates have "had a few",I tend to go out later,or leave early.
    I dont mind doing the driving though,and its easier to not drink if you have that job. 🙄

    badnewz
    Free Member

    Good point GaVgAs, I gave up the booze when I was out of work; found I could get pretty smashed off three pints for a while after that.

    pedalhead
    Free Member

    It's amazing how you get used to drinking large amounts. It used to be at least a bottle of wine a night for me. I knocked it on the head some years ago and these days I'm just careful about how much I buy & drink. Tend to try & stay dry during the week and the night before riding. A few glasses over a weekend & that works for me now. No need to give up 100% imho if you enjoy a drink. Once you've broken the "habit" of drinking a lot, drinking a little is easy.

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    I keep the fridge stocked with non alcoholic beer these days and just treat myself to a few proper scoops when we're out. I'd miss alcohol too much if I cut it out completely.

    EDIT: it's true that it's the breaking of the habit of regular drinking that's the hard part.

    boblo
    Free Member

    I gave up completely over 5 years ago and I was an 'enthusiastic drinker'. I usually stopped for a month or so after Xmas and New Year, this time I kept extending to see if I could.

    You need to be clear about your reasons otherwise you won't be able to hold your nerve. I was getting out of hand and recognised the top of the slippery slope…

    The benefits are: more money (unless you start a crack habit instead), less weight variation (probably nto a prblem in your early 30's but can be later. A lot of real pi$$ heads don't eat so their food is alcohol and they don't put weight on) and lastly, you feel fantastic the day after the party/get together/pi$$ up when everyone was rolling around. This is priceless 🙂

    The downside for me; if I don't feel sociable (like being dragged to the Wife's Xmas do), I can't get into it when alocohol would used to help get me going. In these cases, I stay away and avoid functions I don't want to go to. Oh and lastly, pi$$ed people do go on a bit which can be both irritating and amusing.

    jonb
    Free Member

    Don't stop if you like drinking, just don't drink as much.

    I drink very little (I feel I drank enough for a lifetime in 4 years at uni). Try drinking less of more quality stuff. Enjoy, drink slowly and if you need a drink in your hand in a bar then have a lemonade occasionally.

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    Even if its only 5-6 pints.

    ie about as much beer as I've been able to neck in my entire life 🙂

    My observation is that people go to pubs to drink and socialise, but in fact the socialisation is most of the fun, but they can't charge you for it 🙂

    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    in fact the socialisation is most of the fun

    Not if you're stuck having to listen some boring old fart talking complete shite. In which case, getting drunk like a skunk might prove to be more fun.

    Like boblo I decided to see how long I could go without a drink – which was over a year. I now very very rarely drink. You won't regret it ……. you'll never think, "I wish I'd got drunk last night"

    Well, not unless maybe you spent the evening with SFB 😉

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    Not if you're stuck having to listen some boring old fart talking complete shite.

    in which case, why would you be there ?

    Well, not unless maybe you spent the evening with SFB

    why would *I* want to do that ? At the risk of being sexist I don't often enjoy the company of men off bike…

    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    I don't often enjoy the company of men off bike…

    And yet, you don't mind spending a lot of time hanging around here 🙄

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    And yet, you don't mind spending a lot of time hanging around here

    luckily I don't have to look at you lot 🙂

    but you have a good point, the difference being that people who know me are immune to my conversational gambits 🙂

    _tom_
    Free Member

    I could easily give up alcohol. At uni it's a bit harder not to drink (although I'm in 3rd year so its slowed down a lot) but at home I very rarely drink. Do people really find it that hard to go to the pub and just have a coke or something?

    Bunnyhop
    Full Member

    I gave up drinking years ago. It always made me ill, cost too much ( back in the 1980' and '90s).

    Give yourself a sort of goal, say try 4 weeks dry and see how you get on.

    GJP
    Free Member

    Like others above I am not teetotal but very rarely have a drink, perhaps 2-3 times a year and even then very little.

    I didn't have any specific reasons for giving up per se. Got to an age when it wasn't any fun to go out midweek and have few with work the next day, and at weekends I would rather be out riding than out late and feeling a little bit rough the next day. So there was very little opportunity to drink.

    In my experience once the first couple of months were out of the way I never even really thought about having a drink again. I also find that being able to drive wherever I want to be when out socializing it a great benefit.

    In terms of health benefits they are probably very subtle. I didn't lose weight and I can't say I was any fitter as a result. Although now if I have a single small bottle of beer 330ml at 5% then I do not sleep that well and can tell I have had drink the following morning.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    Do people really find it that hard to go to the pub and just have a coke or something?

    Don't underestimate the power of peer pressure. I used to get hassle from fellow reps at monthly sales meeting for drinking coke, before driving home. 🙄
    After a couple of months I changed from coke to alcohol free beer, disgusting stuff but the pi55taking stopped.

    Nowt wrong with giving up alcohol, give a go and see what happens.

    Daisy_Duke
    Free Member

    We're (were)regular pub goers. Not had a drink in over three months now. I've alway drank and enjoy(ed)a glass or two every evening. It's not easy, but I sleep better and have a better unstanding of how my body is feeling and working. Best of luck.

    Hairychested
    Free Member

    Moving to Ireland has stopped my drinking. Why? In London I had a pint at 1.79 at Weatherspoons. Here it's around 4.25 Euro per pint of Guinness. Also, a bottle of Grouse is approx. 13 quid in UK whilst here more like 25 Euro. Easy to give up.

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