So, its been a month now and I think this was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. 4 weeks ago tomorrow I woke up on a deflated lilo in a strange flat in Croydon wondering if I was going to throw up all over the carpet. I can't imagine ever doing that again and I absolutely never want to do that again. I'm still not certain if I will ever drink again or whether I might have one or two on special occasions. There is a movement called the 99% sober or something where they only drink on special occasions. My concern with this is that I might start to backslide, and besides it seems a bit pointless when the benefits are so obvious and alcohol free drinks are so good.
The best alcohol free beers so far are Big Drop and Guinness, both of which genuinely tasted like the real thing. Brewdog was far too sweet for my tastes. Proseeco 0% varies between ok-ish to utterly undrinkable. The benefits so far include better sleep, better skin, more energy and concentration and - excuse the TMI - an end to vaginal dryness. I also find myself liking being sober in social situations. I think my tendency towards anxiety and depression is somewhat improving as well (doubtless at least in part due to sleeping better) although its still early days for that. I am not expecting it to go entirely, but the brain can apparently take up to a year to fully repair from alcohol consumption (at least according to some studies) so hopefully I will continue to improve mentally.
By a strange coincidence
Amy just informed me she has also given up alcohol, following a binge drinking session which ended with paramedics. I was amazed. All she needs to do now is loose 50 pounds and she'll be transformed into a new person.
Turkey continues to be great, we might road trip to Istanbul next week. It would be nice to see more of the real Turkey outside the tourist areas. Wondered around a nice mosque this morning and seen lots of Greco-Roman stuff, amphitheatres and such like. I am not big on archaeology but in small doses its nice. Its mostly sunny, although gets coat wearing cold in the evenings. I think I am going to do the cosmetic surgery. I was speaking to a lovely Turkish women who recently had a similar operation and the results were very clearly positive. I could get it done much cheaper in Turkey but I think it would be preferable to get it done back home where there is better assurance of quality and legal recourse if something went wrong.
@7w5 - putting 'trained massuse' on a tinder profile might be worthwhile. Surprisingly I have never seen anyone do that.