Alcohol moderation

[Salathor]

Still feel a brief urge for a cocktail when I close the computer at the end of the workday, but it's short lived and gets replaced by walking the dog or doing some work around the house or playing a game with the kids. I've been consuming LOTS of hot tea, which seems to scratch the itch to drink something a little more interesting than water in the evenings.

I also go heavy on hot (and iced) tea drinking when I'm abstaining. Good luck going forward!

[Salathor]

I'm six weeks without alcohol at this point and feeling great (and saved a bit of money). Is everybody still doing this?

[Dave]

Nice @Salathor!

I didn't comment upthread, but I've been avoiding alcohol since last October. Wasn't drinking much before that, but decided to completely stop the pattern of having several drinks every few months. The benefits discussed upthread apply for me. So far, no desire to resume.

#teetotal2023

[Hristo Botev]

I'm six weeks without alcohol at this point and feeling great (and saved a bit of money). Is everybody still doing this?

We are mostly still doing this. We drank NYE and then have had a couple cocktails and a couple beers thus far in January. But definitely no longer a daily drinker; probably 6 drinks total for January. It's been good to break the daily drinking habit. Also as I've gotten more used to not being a daily drinker I've become less dependent on needing to consume multiple mugs of hot tea a night as a distraction; not that there's anything wrong with drinking hot tea, but I was feeling the need to drink multiple glasses a night at the beginning.

[Western Red Cedar]

I'm six weeks without alcohol at this point and feeling great (and saved a bit of money). Is everybody still doing this?

I went 6 weeks AF which was my plan. I drank on NYE and a couple times with friends in January. I've been much more conscious about reintegrating alcohol after this experiment than I was when I abstained earlier in 2022.

I'm not sure that I plan on giving it up entirely, but I may take more periodic breaks (1-3 months) in the future. I'll see where that leads. It is easier for me to set up a hard rule and not think about it much. Some of that is likely the result of my social circle.

[mountainFrugal]

I significantly reduced the frequency of my alcohol consumption last year after that Huberman Lab podcast dropped and talking with @theanimal. Now I have a few standard drinks per month, usually planned in advance to increase the anticipation. I think Athletic Brewing is available in most places in the US (I see it in the grocery store in my small town and they have an Amazon page). As far as NA beers go, the IPA and Stout that they make taste like the real thing. This definitely helped me initially deal with any beer cravings. Occasionally one with dinner and done. Might be of use if you have a beer budget. Tea is a better replacement though.

[AxelHeyst]

I always take January off, and often stay off till late April. I'm 90% decided to go the whole year off, which would be a first. Toying with going fully straightedge...

[ertyu]

I always take January off, and often stay off till late April. I'm 90% decided to go the whole year off, which would be a first. Toying with going fully straightedge...

afaik you already don't consume sugar but would caffeine be included in that?

[Salathor]

afaik you already don't consume sugar but would caffeine be included in that?

I don't know about everybody else, but I personally am definitely no caffeine and highly recommend it. No negative effects (after splitting headaches quitting) and after like two weeks I have just as much energy all the time as I used to have on coffee. Been several years and have no desire to go back.

[Salathor]

It is easier for me to set up a hard rule and not think about it much.

This was how I've felt. Alcohol was such a part of my routine (that I enjoyed!) that it was hard for me to only drink on the weekends, etc. But just choosing not to have any has been much much easier. And I sleep like a baby now (a big baby, not a tussling newborn).

[AxelHeyst]

afaik you already don't consume sugar but would caffeine be included in that?

I don't go out of my way to avoid sugar, but that's because there's very little in my environment. Around the holidays I eat cookies and pies, and if someone gives me a jar of honey I put it on my rye pancakes until the jar is gone.

Also - nah, I doubt I'll give up coffee. I did two weeks without once. It sucked. I realize I didn't give it long enough for a fair trial, but honestly I don't care.

By straightedge I just meant no alcohol, nicotine, or weed. For some reason people keep offloading their weed on me, even though I typically smoke like twice a year. Never been my thing. An old timer on the bus a few days ago advised me to take it easy on weed on the PCT - apparently a lot of people bake the whole way. He said it's fine, but you won't remember most of your experience, and risk blunting transformation. His comment made me think - hm, maybe I'll just go 100% SE for the rest of the year, why not.

[2Birds1Stone]

This was my experience. DW and I were part of the same club. It's been 75 days since I watched his podcast episode on YouTube, it's also coincidentally been 75 days since my last alcoholic beverage......it wasn't even difficult, it's like something inside me woke up and said, "wtf were you actually thinking".

And today will be the start of month five with 0 alcohol.....one of the best choices ever.

[Humanofearth]

4 weeks without smoking. Very good decision. Was a bit of a last moment decision and then I sent off my herbs and aromatic device to another county so it's harder to access.

Alcohol? Had some almond extract with alcohol in my low kcal ice cream, tasted bad. Felt drunk on eating too much bbq/fat calories today but I don't drink alcohol much. Last drink drink was a shot at a bar for some event in the 1st or 2nd quarter of last year. Before that, idk, years for sure. Not into it much.

[SouthernAlchemy]

I had a few drinks here and there around the holidays and a some this past weekend. Although a couple of drinks with friends and family at the holidays was nice, a couple of times drinking just because -hard day, stress, whatever- reminded me why I quit back in September. Being conscious about alcohol consumption seems reasonable, but I just can't do it. I am better off not consuming, so that's my stance for the rest of the year.

[Salathor]

Being conscious about alcohol consumption seems reasonable, but I just can't do it. I am better off not consuming, so that's my stance for the rest of the year.

I find I just don't LIKE to moderate very vigorously. I don't ever drink enough to get drunk, but one drink here and there just aren't fun for me--I'd rather have two or three, and I'd rather do it every day. Quitting entirely was easy, but limiting myself to like one drink on the weekend is impossible.

Overall, I think I'm with you--no more drinking at all. Besides, it's always been the low-hanging fruit of health improvement, so I'm sure it's great for many reasons.

[ertyu]

I find I just don't LIKE to moderate very vigorously. I don't ever drink enough to get drunk, but one drink here and there just aren't fun for me--I'd rather have two or three, and I'd rather do it every day. Quitting entirely was easy, but limiting myself to like one drink on the weekend is impossible.

+1. Not having the urges >> indulging partially and denying myself one more, regardless of substance. Anna Lembke (Dopamine Nation) on Huberman was discussing how the urge for "one more" is due to how when one gratifies an urge, dopamine spikes, but then eventually drops below the initial, pre-use level. So if you start at -2 dopamine and this creates the urge to seek a given behavior or substance, when you indulge, you peak at, idk, +7, but then crest and you drop down to -4, below the initial value at which you started. That -4 is the "one more" urge. If one gratifies it, one will again crest and drop to even lower this time, say -6.

The numbers are completely made up but neuroscience is clear that one is better off not starting, and that if one starts, one is better off not having "the next one."

[PhoneticNachos]

I don't drink much, or have a sweet tooth, I guess my trigger foods are more salty and savory.

So to eat healthier instead of buying chips I have a small bowl of granola for breakfast and carrots when I want a snack.

I also buy unsalted almonds and keep them in my car to curb the drive home from work fast food stop.

Diets never work, it is about lifestyle change. You have to fundamentally change and commit yourself to being a new person.

And this is a parenting trick, where you reframe a kid and give them two choices to appease them, but you can use it on yourself too:

When you feel tempted to indulge and imbibe, tell yourself "You know you can't have alcohol, but you can have one of these two healthier options instead".



And never take setbacks and defeats harshly. Life is messy, none of us are getting out of it alive.

As the song goes: "Enjoy yourself! It's later than you think!"

[Scott 2]

I think Athletic Brewing is available in most places in the US (I see it in the grocery store in my small town and they have an Amazon page). As far as NA beers go, the IPA and Stout that they make taste like the real thing.

Seconding the recommendation of Athletic Brewing. I tried their IPA with some pizza last night. It was the normal "pizza and beer" experience, minus any buzz or hangover today. The price is comparable to a craft beer. So expensive for a seltzer, but it hits the spot. Also low calorie, if you're managing that sort of thing. 65 calories a can and far better than a typical lite beer.

More and more, I'm finding the physical costs of intoxication are too high. Even two drinks ruins my sleep and leaves me dragging the next day. I have stuff I want to do.

[Frita]

+1 for Athletic Brewing This summer I volunteered at a brewfest serving mostly local beers. I limit myself to 3-4 pours, so equivalent to a couple cans, for the day. Usually, I just drink a lot of water while pouring for others, but this year AB was there. Their hazy IPA and lite are both good. Would I chug these for four hours of volunteering? No, but they are significantly better than Guinness’ NA Caliber that I drank while pregnant.

As a sidenote, AB was next to our tent. It had zero lines. Many people, especially college students and young adult never-leavers, seem to attend brewfests to try to drink their money’s worth. (This is based on leaving by 5 PM with the event continuing another five hours!)

[Gilberto de Piento]

I even find many of the NA macrobrews like PBR, Budweiser to be good enough for me. I also have some NA beer available from local craft breweries that is as good as AB in my opinion so maybe another option depending on what is available.