More or less quit alcohol

Haych

About two months ago I decided for reasons best left unwritten (nothing to do with me personally) to drastically reduce my alcohol intake.

For the last year or so I noticed that I was drinking rather often, most nights in fact.  Probably no more than two or three bottles of Sol at the most but it always seemed to be there, and if it was there I'd probably partake.

I started worrying I might have a dependency problem so decided to stop for a while to see how I felt.

Two months on and I find myself rather uninterested in alcohol of any kind.  I have been out on a couple of occasions in that time and decided to have a couple of drinks but I can't say I was that bothered about it, nor did I enjoy it that much.

Instead I've developed a dependency on tonic water.  It's amazing!  Why didn't I know about this stuff years ago?  37p a litre too!

The only problem now is, that I realise how loutish people around me are after they've had a few - I don't think I was ever like that but I could probably suffer the now intolerable behaviour of others if I'd peviously had a couple of drinks!

octatonic

Welcome to my world.
My life is much better without booze, but it does somewhat isolate you if most of your social circle are still drinking.

I have some alcohol free beer, tonic water or just plain old sparking water.
After 2 hours in a pub though I am done and people get annoying.

darthed1981

Well done, should probably think about doing the same myself!

midlifecrisis

i never drunk much and this year i virtually stopped. I did enjoy a gin and tonic but discovered it was the tonic i was into and can happily drink that with ice. Only thin is ive learnt that tonic water has as much sugar in it as coca cola

munckee

I had a discussion recently which came up about quitting meat or quitting booze.  I decided if I had to I would quit booze of the two.

I did a 6 week alcohol with missus munckee in Sept/Oct which I found absolutely fine, went to the pub a few times and drank coffee, lime and soda even tomato juice.

I have been drinking again since but less overall.

I agree after several pints people become loud and blunt and basically just start shouting cr'p.  Couple of hours is enough.

stimpsonslostson

I'm in a similar boat- I quit after a friend completely messed up their life by being dependant on alcohol & I was determined not to go down that path.
 I average 2 units a week. I occasionally fancy a beer or a glass of wine and don't worry about it but generally I don't drink at all. I've not been over the "drink, drive" limit in about 10years (bear in mind I live in Scotland where the limit is even lower).

I really struggled initially as going to the pub lost its appeal but that was what my friends all did.
Plus when I did go I got annoyed by all the idiots around me. I also found there was strong peer pressure to "indulge"- as time has gone on my friends accept that I won't drink more so this has faded. 

I found I lost quite a bit of weight when I quit, not to mention the money I saved. Now I'd rather have one REALLY nice pint/dram than several rubbish ones- quality over quantity.

Haych

midlifecrisis said:

i never drunk much and this year i virtually stopped. I did enjoy a gin and tonic but discovered it was the tonic i was into and can happily drink that with ice. Only thin is ive learnt that tonic water has as much sugar in it as coca cola

I get the low calorie flavoured stuff from ASDA.  It has about 3 calories per glass.  I'll probably die of aspartamine poisoning now though!

octatonic

Haych said:

midlifecrisis said:

i never drunk much and this year i virtually stopped. I did enjoy a gin and tonic but discovered it was the tonic i was into and can happily drink that with ice. Only thin is ive learnt that tonic water has as much sugar in it as coca cola

I get the low calorie flavoured stuff from ASDA.  It has about 3 calories per glass.  I'll probably die of aspartamine poisoning now though!

That would be surprising as it is made with sucralose, not aspartame.

Haych

octatonic said:

Haych said:

midlifecrisis said:

i never drunk much and this year i virtually stopped. I did enjoy a gin and tonic but discovered it was the tonic i was into and can happily drink that with ice. Only thin is ive learnt that tonic water has as much sugar in it as coca cola

I get the low calorie flavoured stuff from ASDA.  It has about 3 calories per glass.  I'll probably die of aspartamine poisoning now though!

That would be surprising as it is made with sucralose, not aspartame.

Damn, I'm gonna feel pretty stupid when I'm lying in a hospital dying of nothing!  There's not even enough quinine in it anymore to be harmful.

octatonic

LOL.

CloudNine

Yep, me too. I gave up for a year in 2017 as I thought I really needed to try and live without it. Was drinking at least 3 or 4 nights a week in the house, and had started to buy fancy whisky and adding that alongside the regular beers. And usually a few heavy drinking weekends out with friends per month thrown in too. After 30 yrs of pretty steady drinking, I won't lie, the first few months were quite tough for me, but after a year I started to clearly see the impacts alcohol had been having to my life and others around me, how everything was centered around it, and the way it was driving certain behaviours. I don't want to give the impression that my life was in ruins, it definitely wasn't, it never affected my work, I was never horribly drunk, homelife good etc, but I knew it needed to change. 

I drank a bit in 2018, just a few glasses of wine here and there, but by this stage my relationship with alcohol had definitely been redefined and I knew the best way for me personally was total abstinence, so packed it in completely. Although I did drink at a family wedding In August this year, can't really explain that one, but have not had a drop since.

I mentioned this before in a similar thread, but my view is that you need a very long time away from alcohol to fully understand your relationship with it. Not a month, or even a few months. It is like the lessons are delivered in very small increments over time and once you have a really long distance it all becomes crystal clear, and at that point you really find it hard to believe that you were stuck in those cycles, and it all seems quite ridiculous.

The term alcoholic seems to mean different things to different people, and it is just a word, but I wouldn't really try to argue that I was not one. 'Too much' is different for each person anyway, and there is a real danger in comparing yourself to those around you as there is always someone drinking more than you, and in your mind thinking that therefore you must be ok.

And there endeth my preaching for today. Nothing worse than an ex drinker eh?

LuttiS

Well done matey,

I don't drink at home, and on the rare occasions i go out with mates i will usually enjoy a couple and then call it quits. 

I think the trap people fall into is when it becomes 'normal' to have it everyday, to get home after work and just grab a beer 'because'. 

stimpsonslostson

LuttiS said:

Well done matey,

I don't drink at home, and on the rare occasions i go out with mates i will usually enjoy a couple and then call it quits. 

I think the trap people fall into is when it becomes 'normal' to have it everyday, to get home after work and just grab a beer 'because'. 

Very much so. "there's not much left in the bottle, we may as well finish it"... It can be a slippery slope.

Heel

I love the booze, but I think my body and mind have had enough of it now.

WiresDreamDisasters

I love booze, but I am starting to feel it more. Not hangovers but general body rejection symptoms - huge messy shits, acid reflux, annoyance with children, etc.

But I genuinely do love it. It's a problem.

scrumhalf

I gave up alcohol three years ago, on medical advice.

I've had my fill of lime soda.

There are more non-alcoholic beers on the market. Most are fairly repellent but i find that Heneken Zero is okay for when I msss the taste of something not lime-and -soda-ry. It's not great, but neither does it taste like deodorant mixed with fizzy water, as so many do.

As for non-acloholic cider, well that's just blindingly expensive apple juice.

spark240

I Posted a thread about this a while ago, I stopped in Feb this year for no particular reason , I wasnt a big drinker anyhow. I find the zero % stuff fine, Im not interested in getting lashed or heavy heads in the mornings.   

stimpsonslostson

scrumhalf said:

I gave up alcohol three years ago, on medical advice.

I've had my fill of lime soda.

There are more non-alcoholic beers on the market. Most are fairly repellent but i find that Heneken Zero is okay for when I msss the taste of something not lime-and -soda-ry. It's not great, but neither does it taste like deodorant mixed with fizzy water, as so many do.

As for non-acloholic cider, well that's just blindingly expensive apple juice.

Flat Tyre, Nanny State & Punk AF are all good (& not just yeasty water). 

beed84

It’s called the devils drink for a reason. It robs you of money, time, health, and mental wellbeing. There are literally zero benefits.

scrumhalf

stimpsonslostson said:

Flat Tyre, Nanny State & Punk AF are all good (& not just yeasty water). 

Some of those are very low alcohol (0.005% or something like that), not alcohol-free. And I may nick "yeasty water" for our quiz team name.

Fishboy7

I could never give up the booze.  One of Life's few remaining pleasures.  But I have cut down from 6 or 7 days a week to 1 or 2 drinking days. 

 However the drinking days, do tend to be a bit bingey.