As cliché as it sounds – I don’t think any amount of advice or reason from others will ever serve as sufficient enough of a motivating factor- it has to come from within – plain and not necessarily so simple ..

Great to hear you are wanting to cut back. You may want to do a bit of root cause analysis too. Why are you drinking this much, at 12 pints its gone beyond liking the taste. If you can mitigate that you reduce the risk of relapse or the problem manifesting itself in another more harmful way.

Its hardly an uncommon problem as myself and most of my mates drink too much. I’m now 55. However its those winter evenings I always found the problem, open a bottle of wine and a couple of hours later its all gone.

Now I set myself exercise targets, plus really try and avoid alcohol Mon-Weds to at least have a break.

Its been a while. Thought I would let you know how I’ve got on.

Week days I do not drink at all. Weekends I can take it or leave it but If I fancy it I might have 2 – 4 bottles of ale.

The ale has been the decisive factor. Rather than smashing beer back I have found I quite like to just slowly sup away and enjoy it instead which has lead to a happier outlook on everything. Certainly a lot more active.

Just wanted to come back and say thanks for all of the input. Really really helpful. I’m hoping I have now turned a corner.

It sounds like you have – well done! Has your missus noticed?

Great work spooked !

oh

Well done!

Good effort!

So all that time you were craving quality over quantity 🙂

One thing to remember, if you are getting through 10-12 beers on a Friday and Saturday night, then no doubt you are technically over the limit to drive on Saturday and Monday, which is a thing a lot of people do not consider, if you just feel “rough” on a monday morning, you probably shouldn’t be driving.

I replaced quantity with quality, trying to seek out interesting and really tasty beers and as you say above, just sipping them and making 1 or 2 last an evening.

Helps also if you have your bike kit laid out where you can see it and an alarm set for 6am to get out on the bike, less likely then to tuck into a large quantity of beer?

Top effort, well done, that’s a serious improvement, you should be very pleased with yourself.

There is a lot to be said for drinking good beer/spirits/wine. I find the same as you that, as I enjoy it, I take my time drinking it. I can now make a 100ml measure of good Port last the whole night, but only if it’s good stuff!

Nice one.
Certainly a good approach to go for quality.

I can easily, and often do, slip into beer drinking whilst watching films alone. I think the key is to not aimlessly watch any old crap, as that will lead to another crap film. Instead – target the one you want to watch and that’s it. Go to bed after.

The other thing I do, as Scud does too ^, is plan a long ride early on a weekend morning. So prep the bike and have my kit laid out ready to go. Then I know that anymore than 1 beer will ruin that ride. And if I miss that slot, that might be it for the day.

Thanks guys. Yeah she has. Hasn’t stopped me being moaned at and hen pecked though…. 🙂

I’ve found doing stuff rather than sitting around and watching films like you say Yak helps.

Been taking the little one swimming in the morning and then we go on a bike ride in the afternoon so overall I think its been pretty positive.

Excellent!

I had the wisdom passed down to me a few years back, that whatever I did, I would always get moaned at for something, so do what I enjoy and take it on the chin! The subject of the morning is never the real issue, so giving it up is futile!