alcohol and cutting down. ****.

Hands up, I’m struggling. Since Christmas Ive been drinking everyday- not excessive. Of course sometimes abit more at the weekends but moderate during the week. On Sunday I realised my body needs a break and since Ive not had a drink but last night I was struggling. WTF? That is a tell-tale sign of a addiction?

I remember around Christmas time a fair few STW’ers took a sabbatical from drinking- how did you/do you feel?

Drinking every day seems excessive to me. But I suppose thats what personal choice is about?

I drink on average about 3x a month…

I have still not had anything since September time. I found stopping altogether (due admittedly to mediocation) much easier than just cutting down a bit. 🙂

Just post all of your bottles of wine to friends and family that live some distance from you, then you won’t have any booze to drink!

Problem solved, and I won’t charge you for that.

I was thinking of only having a drink the after a ride/that night as like a treat otherwise abstain

Don’t buy any or cut back slowly to reduce withdrawl.

I haven’t touched a pint since 1995.

Ok I’ve had the rare conference red wine.

1 glass and I was laughing all night.

Just have a goal to work towards.

Similar situation some years ago
You need to get rid of all the booze out of the house to start with

I now drink once a week – Saturday, so I guess I’m a binge drinker now

What’s Binge like? I’ve never tried it. It looks awful, I have to say; that bright blue colour is not natural.

zaskar, Im not going to abstain completely. I need some sort of a vice otherwise it’ll have to be prozzers/ciggies and marching powder! 😉

I guess just either two nights at the weekend with nothing on schoolnights.

What’s Binge like?

One of the beers last week could easily be described as bilge

I’m a student and found myself drinking a little too much each week so I’ve cut down to Wednesdays (when all the sports societies go out) and a couple on Saturdays. Generally, I try to plan rides on Thursdays and Sundays as I really, really hate riding hungover (and quite often have to drive to where we’re riding so can’t be over the limit anyway) and that deters me from drinking much on either night.

I cut out drinking on school nights since a couple of years ago. Much easier to get up in the mornings and more energy. I think you will find it is more about breaking routine and habit than an addiction.

chvck- thats what prompted me. Sick of trying to ride with a thumping headache, sometimes dicky ass and lack of concentration etc.

ditto, i’ve been drinking pretty much every night since last year. i don’t feel ill, but need to cut back. Just moved to north east london and spotted some local races on offer so will use that as goal. let me know how you get on.

Well if you need any further reason, yesterday in the supermarket and old boy in front at checkout didn’t have enough money for what he was buying, so put back milk instead of his bottle of whiskey. bit sobering to see.

cragrat73 I should be alot fitter than I am at the moment- plus my concentration isnt what it should be. I’ve done abit of research and I think I am (possibly) suffering from iron overload ontop of a sluggish liver not being able to store glycogen effectively ready for rides.

I’d recommend doing the same- **** its difficult though. As motivation for you, just think how ridiculous it is being dependent on booze to get by.

Alcoholism is a nightmare mate. Get a grip before it grips you. Some tips to pick and choose from:

1) confine drinking to a set session or pattern e.g. just beer Friday night, or just post ride or 1 small wine with dinner, occasional whisky with a mate
2) restrict sessions to shorter periods e.g. 2 hours or less, and then you wont have time to slip into binging sessions
3) avoid keeping booze in the house.
4) dont drink alone
5) avoid mixing with bingers
6) NEVER drink if feeling stressed, lonely or depressed because it becomes a medication and habitual.

Good luck

Gave up alcohol 20 years ago had to find another vice so canabis was my drug of choice. Caned that for about 12 years and realised I had to stop. Physicaly and mentaly impairing, just quit overnight didn’t sleep for a week but then the craving went away. If you are feeling dodgy from headaches and the like then just quit completley. The cutting down never works you just fall back into the same way of doing things. You may need to change your lifestyle a bit. Come over to the self righteous nominated driver side. 😉

Everything in moderation-you’ll be fine.

Just don’t over do it until your liver says “Help me help me!”

You recognised you’re feeling off from over doing it, you’ve taken action-sorted!

Mmm beer…

Oh and I never drank heavily before just woke up in bed with the brother in law! 😈 I had my underwear still on but what happened? what happened!!!

yep, around christmas-time (well, new year’s eve to be precise) i took a sabbatical from drinking alcohol and to this day i’ve not touched a drop.

new year’s eve 1988, i should add…

Mmm beer…

Stop it. Im going to the gym tonight to get rid of this excess frustration energy 😐

I stopped drinking for 6 days once. At no time did I wake up feeling any fresher or with more energy and what I had always assumed was a hangover was just what I am like in the morning.

Sounds like a warning shot.

I have been sober for years, one thing about being an alcoholic is that really only you can make that judgement although others will most likely have already decided if you are. An easy test is whether anyone close to you has had any reason to question your excess drinking, if they have it’s a clear signal you need to make better choices.

Everyone is different, you might well be able to cut back and be OK. If you find that once you start drinking, there is no easy point to stop then you have to look at whether you should quit for good. Although it is difficult to think of not drinking at all, you might be a lot happier sober.

I should add that AA can be daunting and there are other alternatives to AA which might help, some are on-line based (google brighteye for example). I have issues with the religous side of AA so although I support the work and have attended meetings, I am more comfortable with secular support.

Spot on Hora, i’m not as fit as i was ( once a top 20 national sport cat finisher ) and my mental ability is definately not as sharp as it has been, but i just put that down to being a bit of a dullard.
I agree a change of lifestyle is needed, i now it won’t be easy, but hell we all ride bikes up steep hills for fun!

Don’t struggle to give up drinking, just make yourself really busy in the evenings instead. Like some people mentioned it’s all about changing your habits and routines. I used to drink at least half a bottle of wine everyday, go out once or twice in the week and really go for it from friday through to sunday morning. Just trying to not do it anymore never worked.

At the moment I work til 6, walk home for an hour, go to the gym, have a shower, spend time cooking and eating decent food, chuck a film on and then its bed time. Sometimes now I even buy beers on the way home and then forget about them before getting round to drinking them.

steve-g spot on. I’d have half a bottle of wine and end up doing **** all in the evening.

cragrat73- exactly. Come on. Do it. My best rides have been when I didnt drink the night or a couple of nights before as well. It isnt even rocket science ffs! Liver tired, overworked and trying to work under stress etc…derr 😆 🙄

Right.

Im not going to abstain completely. I need some sort of a vice otherwise it’ll have to be prozzers/ciggies and marching powder!

if you have to have some kind of vice, maybe you should investigate this ‘need’ first/concurrently.

steve-g – Member
Don’t struggle to give up drinking, just make yourself really busy in the evenings instead. Like some people mentioned it’s all about changing your habits and routines. I used to drink at least half a bottle of wine everyday

Hmmm I’m always busy but seem to manage to drink while being busy 😕 I have given up alcohol for lent (I’m not religious though) and have lost exactly no weight despite riding more I don’t feel any better and I’m bored with it.
But I know usually I drink too much, I can easily drink a bottle of red wine & have a couple of whisky’s most nights!

Have a cup of tea instead of alcohol. Sounds a bit daft and gay but it does work (I’ve found). Everything sorted.

Of course, you become completely addicted to tea which gives you kidney stones.

MrOvershoot thats too much and this is coming from someone who can also cane a bottle of red and a couple of beers. Its not logically common-sense or wise.

I’m going through this at the moment. Whilst I’ve never considered myself anything nearing an alcoholic, I was finding myself drinking a couple of pints a night (with perhaps 1 night off a week), rising to 7 or 8 on Friday and Saturday nights. I am trying to cut back to allow myself a couple of beers one midweek night, drinnk what I want on Fri / Sat nights and no booze on sunday.

I must admit, i am finding it a bit hard, but I think the best idea is to replace ‘not drinking’ with something, because there are lot’s of things which you can do when you have not had a drink, which you can’t when you have.

I’m still miserable as shit though 😉

I found it quite easy to take a sabbatical from drinking, even when still going out to pubs with the mates. The hardest part is the conversation about not drinking that comes up every time. In terms of weight loss, you just have to stop substituting the beer for soft drinks as the sugar in these is almost as bad for weight!

Picked up the new car yet FG?

True, Ive had apple crumble two nights this week already!

Nope not yet – I’ll pick it up in an hour or so!

Hora, been through the same thing as you, but probably not drinking quite to the same level. Found it was really difficult not to have at least a couple of glasses of wine every night. I would suggest that unless you are craving a drink at lunchtimes or cannot function without a drink it is probably, like most people, ingrained habit rather than addiction.

For me giving up is simply not an option as I just enjoy the taste of wine and beer too much. Our local night ride is Thursday, so am limiting myself to drinking Thursday through to Sunday. Max 3 pints on Thursday, max half bottle for other three nights. This just about hits the guidelines or a bit over. Not easy but get through to about 8:00pm without a drink and for me the craving goes.

Another point if drinking wine. I am buying more expensive wine and learning to appreciate it more by actually tasting each mouthful. Sounds silly, but I do drink noticably slower now

There’s varying types of alcoholism.

Some people find they cant unwind after a day without alcohol, obviously the more extreem you take this the worse it gets, untill you can get ut of bed without a pick me up.

Others habitualy binge drink, cant go out into town without gettign off thier tits.

First sign is trying to prove to yourself that your not dependant on the alcohol. Do not say “i’m not drinking fo a week/month/year” ether quit entirley, or work out what your going to do to moderate it properly (and stick to it!).

Me, no drinking on week nights, and on nights ou i make a concious decision a the start if its going to be a heavy one or not, and stick to it!

My armpits turned yellow the other day, scared me shitless for a few hours, then went back to normal overnight. hopefully it was just a combination of change in diet, heavy saturday night and just getting out the pool form a heavy training session.

5) avoid mixing with binners

I’d say that’s half the problem. He bullies you, encourages/coerces you to drink more than you really want to, and lowers your self-esteem, which makes you depressed, and you end up drinking more.

You need to find a way to gain more confidence, so you can stand up to him.

Next time he gives it the biggun, smack him in the mouth, give him a Chinese Burn, and say ‘who’s the daddy now, slaag???’

Trust me; he’s probbly soft as shite really. All mouth. I bet he won’t even try to fight back; he’ll probbly be crying like a little girl, and peeing his pants.

I’m currently taking bookings for my Anger Management class. Sign up now, while there are still places!

did three months alco free, I’d recommend Henney’s vintage 07 still cider now. 😉

i rad somethink that said alcoholics can stop completly but they can’t limit themselves to 1 or two drinks then leave it. see if you can cut back to a one.