Giving up alcohol, any advice?

[kathy88]

Why does alcohol cause weight gain? Simple : it's carbohydrates, aka sugar. Sugar is sugar whether you get it from sweet sucrose, fruits with glucose, high fructose corn syrup, or honey, oh wait, there's also starches and grains (wheat and rice). If you can watch your calories and carb intake, that'd be key to losing weight.

Ice cream, what a luxury. And I definitely don't want you tied up with anything like a DUI. Hurting of others? What kind of libertarian does that?

we are indeed blessed to have such a perfect being typing amongst us.

 

[Tpoints]

we are indeed blessed to have such a perfect being typing amongst us.

who said anybody is perfect?

 

[KevinR]

Move to Colorado

 

[TheGrinch]

who said anybody is perfect?

The guy calling others "losers" for falling into the woes of life, and in this case trying to pull himself back out away from an addiction: So maybe this thread can return back to it's original purpose of helping him take personal responsibility for something that I know from personal experience becomes incredibly difficult.

Demanding personal responsibility does not mean an absence of empathy and support for those trying to better themselves, or even those who should, so TIA for not turning his thread into whatever it is your agenda is. Time and place if you want to call us all losers besides his "I'd like to stop drinking" thread.

 

[Tpoints]

The guy calling others "losers" for falling into the woes of life, and in this case trying to pull himself back out away from an addiction, so maybe this thread can return back to it's original purpose of helping him take personal responsibility for something that I know from personal experience becomes incredibly difficult.

Demanding personal responsibility does not mean an absence of empathy and support for those trying to better themselves, or even those who should.

Just because I'm an asshole doesn't mean I think I'm perfect, at all.

 

[TheGrinch]

Just because I'm an asshole doesn't mean I think I'm perfect, at all.

Nobody cares, but it'd be greatly appreciated if you stopped acting like it. Looks like you responded before I added this last sentence, and I hope you'll take this advice:

so TIA for not turning his thread into whatever it is your agenda is. Time and place if you want to call us all losers besides his "I'd like to stop drinking" thread.

 

[BamaAla]

Good for you! New Years Day was the 3 year mark without alcohol for me; I too made a resolution to quit the drink.

Obviously it isn't one size fits all, but I'll give some of the highlights for me.

The hardest part for me was the social situations where I usually drank: parties, bars, ball games, etc. I just quit going to these for a while until I was far enough away from my last drink that I was confident I wouldn't cave to the social pressure.

Also, I hope that you're lucky enough to have good friends who will support you, but don't be surprised if you have some that resent your decision. I had some that were cool to start, but ended up saying things like "you're no fun now" or "just drink tonight with me" etc. I'd just ditch these people; they aren't worth it. If you can't ditch them, just explain to them that it's important to you and that you need them to help you.

Other than those pitfalls, it just boils down to your will. I had the tendency to become a mean drunk and was alienating myself from those I cared about. I knew that I had to quit not just for myself but for those that cared about me. If you have a good reason, you will be able to make it.

There is always AA, but I really didn't want to give alcohol the power over me and decided to just be stronger than the urge to drink. The AA route is always there for you if you have trouble though. I wish you the best of luck and you can always in box me if you have any questions about my journey.

 

[Tod]

No, I think that's a Honda.

Sure it isn't an Isuzu?

 

[jmdrake]

Oh, but it sure sounded like people were asking for sympathy and understanding. AA is a good suggestion if the alternative is enabling continuous drinking. I think I started in here when somebody was saying that alcohol and heroin are comparable, and/or it's impossible to choose not to continue consuming it. (You explicitly said that choosing isn't working, not sure why)

A) I explicitly said I'm not talking about alcohol WRT myself twice now so I'm not sure why you don't get that.
B) If you studied the science of habit you'd know that's not how addictions work. You can "choose" not to do something, try really really hard, then find yourself doing it anyway before thinking about it. The "choice" you have to make to break an addiction is to break the habit loop before it gets going well. Joining a support group is one way to help with that.

Really, if it were as simple as "Just choose not to" do you think someone would go to the trouble of posting a thread on the subject? Do you think people would go to counselling or therapy or support groups? If you don't have any addictions, great! I'm happy for you. I hope you don't have to go through any of this. As for the heroine comment, "Confederate" was pointing out that Danno's "people who abuse alcohol have the power (in themselves) to stop and just chose not to do so" is asinine. If it was that simple, groups like AA wouldn't exist. Is alcohol as addictive as heroine? I don't think so, but that wasn't the point. It's that in either case sometimes folks need to do more than just say "I choose not to do this anymore" to actually stop.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

Why does alcohol cause weight gain? Simple : it's carbohydrates, aka sugar. Sugar is sugar whether you get it from sweet sucrose, fruits with glucose, high fructose corn syrup, or honey, oh wait, there's also starches and grains (wheat and rice). If you can watch your calories and carb intake, that'd be key to losing weight.

Ice cream, what a luxury. And I definitely don't want you tied up with anything like a DUI. Hurting of others? What kind of libertarian does that?

You sir, are a fucking idiot.

 

[VoluntaryAmerican]

Going to stop drinking alcohol. Has anyone here done something similar in the past? Are there any supplements that help with this process? Does anyone have any tips or advice? Thank you.

I've quit drinking and smoking cigarettes.

Just forget it.

Move on, do better things with your time. Remind yourself of this when you're doing other things you enjoy or things that make you a better person.

And when drinking pops in your mind, push it out as calmly as it first appeared.

 

[muzzled dogg]

lol you should have seen keith's facebook posts this weekend

but seriously man message me if you need advice. i was sober for like 18 months while concurrently being a liberty activist

 

[cjm]

Some people have asked why. It's a legitimate question. Wasn't sure how this thread would turn out so gave very little info at first. Don't want to get into all of the reasons but there are many. For example, could stand to lose 15+ pounds of fat. Beer, liquor with mixers and wine all cause weight gain. Especially when drunkenness sets in and overeating starts. At a party, maybe cookies or cheese. At home, woke up to find a 1/2 gallon of ice cream gone once. Didn't remember having it. Should quit for medical reasons also. Have GERD and alcohol makes the problem worse.

Really just tied of the downward spiral. The physical pain. The hurting of others. The excessive misspelling of words on this forum. Don't want to end up with a DUI or worse like some people. Could be a better, more productive person. Seems like for that process to start, alcohol needs to go.

WRT fat, I will repeat the exercise/sports suggestion. If you find it's too difficult to make yourself exercise in the evening when you might otherwise be drinking, sign up for an organized league of something (basketball, kickball, soccer, whatever) so that you can't say, "well, I'll just put this off until tomorrow" and end up never doing it at all. If you want to shed some pounds, exercise will naturally be a part of that anyway, so schedule the exercise so that it interferes with your normal drinking schedule (which is the evening for most folks), and kill two birds with one stone.

Don't drink when you are thirsty. If I spend all day in the yard doing yard work, a cold beer sounds like the best idea in the world when I'm done. But if I'm thirsty, that first beer will be gone in 5 minutes and a second one started before I know it. Take time to have a few glasses of water first and that post-yardwork beer is one beer instead of three.

Don't drink when you are hungry. Similar to the post-yardwork beer, the after work beer would often disappear before I knew it and I'd be on my second beer at dinner time. If I wait and have that first beer with dinner, it's one beer, I enjoy it more, and I'm often still working on it an hour later while cleaning the kitchen. If you're thirsty at dinner time though, drink a glass or two of water first, otherwise that dinner beer can be gone in 5 minutes too.

Substitutes help. I used to drink a ton of soda and just switching to water didn't quite do it for me. Iced tea, however, was flavorful enough that it was an acceptable substitute and I was able to cut the soda consumption way back. I've never found a good substitute for beer personally. Some folks I know who have quit entirely will drink the NA beers out there. I tried them and to me they are not very good. Like NCGOPer_for_Paul said about the macrobrews, I would rather not drink them at all, but they seem to work for some folks.

As for the late night or all night events, you need to go to bed. Join an evening basketball league. It'll wipe you out and you won't be up until 3am. In the absence of physical exhaustion, Melatonin works pretty good. At any rate, step away from the screen and read a book. The light from computer and TV screens will keep you up at night and prevent you from getting the sleep you need for a healthy lifestyle, regardless of alcohol consumption.

Who said 12 or 16 ounces were the only serving sizes? It won't always be on the menu at a restaurant, but most places that I've been will sell you a half-pint and only charge you half-price. This is great for when you are out and have had a beer with a long dinner and might want a little bit more but don't want to commit to a full drink. If you're drinking from a bottle or the restaurant doesn't want to give you a half-pour, maybe someone in your dinner party would be willing to split a beer with you. I have even done this at home on some occasions. On a yard work day I might want to have a beer with my lunch of grilled bratwurst but if I have to continue with the yard work after lunch, I will sometimes pop the cap on the bottle, pour half into a glass, put the cap back on the bottle and put the bottle back in the fridge. If the bottle makes it to the lunch table, all 12 ounces will get consumed, believe me but if only six ounces are in front of me, that's all I will drink (and you can't have bratwurst w/out beer, right??). The re-capped bottle will hold the carbonation until later in the evening.

If you drink wine, you need to get those rubber stoppers with the vacuum pump. Just shoving the cork back in doesn't keep the wine and the frugal among us can sometimes be tempted to have a little extra if we think what's remaining in the bottle will go bad and it will be "wasted." With the vacuum seal, I don't have any qualms opening a bottle and pouring one glass and sealing it up for some other day.

Anyway, these are my tips to help you reduce your intake. If you want to target 2-3 drinks a day and you're currently at 8, you need to wean yourself off. Shoot for 2 drinks maybe, but allow yourself 6 per day that first week so that you're not a failure if you have 4-5 instead of the 2. Most heavy drinkers I have known got there over a long period of time and it'll take a bit of time to reduce the intake too. My personal experience is that an active lifestyle is incompatible with regular heavy drinking, so sign up for a church or rec league that plays in the evenings and disrupts the drinking habit.

Ultimately, you have to find something that's more important than the drinking. I have been to Saturday night cocktail parties where you would think that I would allow myself a little extra intake because of the special circumstances, but the reality is I have one or two beers and then at 10pm I switch to water because I am hydrating for the 12pm Sunday basketball session. I don't leave the party or anything like that, I just put the basketball at a higher priority than the beer and act accordingly.

The last suggestion, wrt to your DUI concern, is that there are personal breathalizers out there that you can pick up and keep in your car. I have a buddy who I wouldn't call a heavy drinker, but not a lightweight either. He picked one up and swears by it. It's a nice objective measurement of your status instead of, "I feel ok to drive." If he blows over the limit, he picks up the kindle and just reads in the car for a bit. I'd post an amazon link but I don't know what make/model he uses and I don't have one myself to recommend.

Sorry for the wall of text, Keith, I hope there's something useful in here for you.

Cheers,

CJM

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

Going to stop drinking alcohol. Has anyone here done something similar in the past? Are there any supplements that help with this process? Does anyone have any tips or advice? Thank you.

Nyquil PRN (PRN is medicalese for "as needed"). The store brands are cheaper. It works wonders for weaning people off narcotics and will put you to sleep. It's also great for anytime you are recovering and need bed rest too.

You can get a Rx for something called antibuse(sp?). It will make you barf if you drink any ETOH.

Mix up drinking clear hard ETOH, dark hard ETOH and beer. That combo will have you singing ralph to the porcelain god and with repetition instills a negative desire.

Use a trick used to quit smoking: Have a timer and set it so that every time it goes off, you take a shot or drink a beer or whatever. Increase the time between drinks over time. The point is that you get to drink when the clock rings, not when you want to drink. You will find it's kind of like getting a second wind trying to get to sleep and not being able to. Basically, you want a drink, you want a drink, you are over wanting a drink... like wanna sleep, wanna sleep - can't sleep - staring at the ceiling time...

Eat before you drink. It slows absorption and you will get used to being less drunk.

Take a vacation that involves physical exertion to the point of being exhausted and someplace remote where ETOH is not available. I've gone cold turkey off cigs and a heavy coffee habit (several pots a day) this way. Didn't even miss um! 2 weeks min!

If you are into beer, try non-beer. It's non-alcoholic but gives you the taste. I would suggest mixing with actual beer in a decreasing ratio till you are drinking nothing but non-beer. If you are into wine, try cider.

Find a hot GF with a really, really high sex drive who doesn't drink. You may have to check into SA (Sexaholics Anonymous) if she dumps you, though...

Hang out and develop a social life with people that don't drink.

Get a job in a bar. I'm serious! Most places let you have 1 drink a shift, after they close. Plus you get to see what a bunch of drunk assholes look like and behave like when you are sober. Then if there is no ETOH at home... Well, you get one drink a night.

AA (and all 12 step programs) are supposed to be pretty cultish, but some people like them. NA welcomes alcoholics and I'm told you are more likely to get laid via a NA meeting than an AA meeting. You are also more likely to contract a STD and will learn all sorts of things about the hard drug culture and where to obtain - so that could backfire in a bad way.

Some rehab programs are on the inexpensive side - if you can take a month off... They are generally 12 step based.

Do relief work in a country where ETOH is banned. There are a number of opportunities available. Ask at your local church.

Develop a relationship with Mary Jane...

Alcohol depletes your body of Vitamin B. Get supplements or develop a liverwurst sandwich habit.

Physical activity. X-country skiing, hiking via a outdoor club, etc. or even a active - most nights - lifestyle via Meetups, yoga classes, etc - whatever. Just get out and do stuff regularly and get yourself away from the couch. Kill your TV. DO NOT join a gym! They will lock you into a 1 year contract and you will go a few times and get stuck with the bill.

All I can think of right now. Hope it helps!

-t

 

[BucksforPaul]

Going to stop drinking alcohol. Has anyone here done something similar in the past? Are there any supplements that help with this process? Does anyone have any tips or advice? Thank you.

I drank through college and there was a time when I was drinking heavily six nights out of the week. Binge drinking is the best way to describe what I was doing back then. However, I have not had a drink since 2005 and what helped me quit was that I did not like how I felt the next morning and I don't just mean the hangover. Hope that helps and I wish I had the same will power to quit smoking.

 

[RickyJ]

My advice for stopping anything, "Just stop it."

Similar to Nike's advice about exercise, "Just do it."

 

[jkob]

Best advice is just to not keep in the house and stay away from it all together. In my experience, trying to "diet yourself" and drink in moderation does not work well for me. I'll have one drink and then another and another and another and so on.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

You could put a shitload of spices and random shit in your liquor bottles so it tastes awful

Or you could not do that and just quit. I think you'll find it becomes just as hard to put shit in your beer as it is to stop drinking the beer.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

I've been sober for over a year now, and you know what? I never had an addiction. I feel almost the same now as I did when I was drinking. Sure, there were emotional reasons for me to drink, but I really did it because I stopped caring so much about my health. I went through everyday life, went to classes, did my homework and drank to the point of sickness on weekends. When I got out of school, I just stopped drinking. I didn't feel any need to drink because I was out of those social situations where drinking was encouraged. I seriously don't know why it's so hard for some people to quit because I've never experienced an addiction even though I went on a 3 month binge. This was after I quit the track team for unrelated reasons. My teammate who had quit before me had spent his summer drinking alone in his home when he should have been training. He came back to school with the team out of shape and slower. Shortly afterward, he freaked out and quit, then promptly moved back home.

What makes me feel bad is that he was my roommate, and I was largely the one who got him into drinking. We were both doing it for the first time, but it never seemed to have an effect on me like it did for him. I suppose I will never understand. My dad supposedly had a drinking problem as well, but he swears up and down that he never needed the alcohol. He just wanted it. He quit cold turkey after he got arrested for DUI. It seemed like he was never going to do it at first, but he still claims to this day that it was never an addiction, and now I know what he means. I never experienced the need to drink throughout the few years that I did drink and party.

My advice is to just stop doing things that lend themselves to drinking. Don't buy it, have it around, or hang out with people who do it. Sure, that's easier said than done, but I went through it very abruptly and found after those situations were taken out of the equation that it was easy to quit. It's just a matter of changing your lifestyle.

 

[tmg19103]

Nyquil PRN (PRN is medicalese for "as needed"). The store brands are cheaper. It works wonders for weaning people off narcotics and will put you to sleep. It's also great for anytime you are recovering and need bed rest too.

Terrible suggestion. Nyquil is loaded with acetamenophin. People who have tried this technique to stop drinking have loaded up on the Nyquil (and thus high doses of acetamenophin) and STILL drank heavily because they are alcoholics and have gone into acute liver failure and even died from this.

High doses of acetamenophin with a lot of alcohol will shut down your liver and could kill you.

Not that I ever trust the government, but this source is right on.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2929565

I know a guy who was hospitalized for acute liver failure for trying exactly this while not being able to control his drinking. His eyes remained yellow for months after he got out of the hospital from the jaundice. Told me he almost died. After that he went into AA and has been sober since, though AA is no cure-all unless a true alcoholic really wants to stop.

The OP does not strike me as addicted to alcohol from what has been posted, but I still would not try this.