Timely for me that @Smashter just revived this thread; DW and I stopped drinking a couple of weeks ago and I doubt we'll go back save for the occasional half-hearted drink socially when appropriate (e.g., a wedding toast, visiting a family member with a $$$$ bourbon collection who wants to offer me a tasting flight comparing Pappy at different ages, etc.).
We'd been drinking at least one drink pretty much every day for a few years: the after-work cocktail was an almost every evening occurrence during which DW and I would sit in our living room and discuss our day. And then that martini would often get topped off or there would be an after-dinner beer or a glass of wine (or 2 or 3). I believe Huberman (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkS1pkKpILY) would call us heavy drinkers and/or chronic drinkers.
We quit drinking earlier this year just for Lent, and DW and I were talking this morning about how different that experience of quitting was from this current one. With Lent, it really was and felt like a sacrifice, which is as intended of course from a religious perspective, and it was quite difficult to make it through the 40+ days. But this time it's been a cakewalk, because there has just been a complete mind reset wrt alcohol for both of us.
It is reminiscent for me of when I quit smoking (cigarettes that is, I still enjoy a tobacco pipe on occasion). I smoked from probably 15 until 31, and for much of that time I was smoking at least half a pack a day. I'd thought about and tried to quit many times and it seemed like an insurmountable thing to do; but then DW got pregnant with our first and it was clear that me being a smoker with a pregnant wife wasn't going to work, and quitting was the easiest thing ever and happened over night with hardly a second thought.
It's been the same with alcohol. DW and I came to the idea to stop drinking separately and independently, interestingly enough. For me, what prompted the idea was, and apologies for the TMI, I was starting to have some ED issues, and so I started looking at ways to deal with that issue that didn't involve pharmaceuticals. And what came up over and over again as a "solution," in addition to the usual culprits of more exercise and better diet, was abstaining from alcohol. That sent me down a rabbit hole during which I watched and/or listened to tens if not over a hundred videos/podcasts about alcohol (the Huberman one was especially good and eye opening), and on a recent road trip for work I listened to an audiobook of Alcohol Explained (
https://www.amazon.com/Alcohol-Explaine ... 1516997190), and all of that coupled with my own increased self awareness has just completely changed my mindset about alcohol; I see it as a poison now and am frankly a little pissed that I deceived myself about alcohol for so long.
Anyway, having been a heavy drinker for a number of years it feels like I've gained some new superpower by having stopped drinking, even after only a couple weeks: MUCH better sleep; no brain fog; clearer skin; I'm not missing any morning workouts; I've already dropped 5 pounds; higher energy levels; increased clarity of mind; improved memory; less stress; better judgment; less unnecessary eating; better emotional balance and less irritability; better sex.
Also, as this is ERE, the money savings are quite nice.
[edited to remove the paragraph about quitting not being hard; see below]
