Giving up the booze

Morning everyone

Have looked into a home spa thing and found someone who could come and do it although she wanted to take an hour each for a manicure or pedicure!   Don't want to loose four hours in the afternoon doing that so I've emailed her back and said we don't want nails painting and stuff and could she do a sort of shortened one of about 30 minutes each.  My other option for the afternoon is to go snow tubing at the dry ski slope!  These are the medals I'm going to get, I thought they would be symbolic of coming out of my old life and into my new one.  What do you think?  They're not cheap by the time I've got them engraved and got ribbons, but I didn't want a really cheap one as I want it to be a special day. 

 Oh, and just so Mr TST doesn't feel like I don't appreciate him too I'm getting him something I know he wants for his motorbike   I've sneakily registered as a member of the bike forum he's on so I can find out exactly what to get to make sure I get the right thing for his bike - I'm getting him braided brake hoses - and he has no idea it's me!!   I'm having to do a bit of bad spelling and grammer and rephrase the way I would usually say things so he doesn't twig, but I can't wait to see his face when I give them to him!

Sounds like you are making good use of your new juicer SL - is there a guarantee against wearing it out?!    Glad KC is feeling much better, although having to deal with her bouncing about all day is going to be tiring!

Hope work has gone ok Cinders, although I'm sure everything will be fine

SL - have you rec'd your number for Titsey yet?

The medal looks lovely sneaky old TST - hubby's going to be thrilled too 

I made sure I got a guarantee with the food processor.  Today's creation was a banana/cherry ice cream, 5 frozen bananas and a pack of frozen morello cherries from Tesco - I urge you all to try it, the only word I can think to decribe it is ORGASMIC 

No HTF, I haven't received my number yet - whens the race?

KC crashed a bit this afternoon and started looking poorly again, I managed to get her to lie down on the sofa for a couple of hours but she kept bending over, hanging off the side or sticking her head down and her arse up - she doesn't really do 'still' 

Now that sounds delish SL, am def going to try that, I love cherries.

Work, well, least it's Friday tomorrow.  See how it fares next week. 

Are you doing Titsey HTF?  It's 14th October SL.

Medal looks fab TST and a lovely idea too re Mr TST and something for his bike.

Hi all,

I just thought I would just say that giving up booze completly is extremly difficult.

I am only going out once a week, from every day, and that was Wednesday, when I should have gone for a jog. It's getting to stage where are feel guilty if I missed any type of jog.

yet thats not the hardest thing, what is is the fact on how much of a pain some people can be when drunk most days. You just don't know how bad you are, as you have done it for so long, that its hard to realise what are your own thoughts and speech, when your drunk so much of the time.

Hope you have great runs this weekend people.

My problem is that I do get terrible, awful hangovers and not off all that much sometimes too.

My other problem is, I absolutely love beer.  Proper beer.  Wine too. Oh, and gin.  In fact, all my favourite things to drink are alcoholic.

I do run hangovers off these days and it's the best cure there is.  Not sure how good it is for you mind.....

Hi  Strangely Brown,

I have just read your post. It is stopping doing something you enjoy. Do you want to stop, or just cut down?

It can be done slowly, the professionals say cut down slowly, having a pint of water inbetween each drink. It depends on what you to do though. Good luck, keep up the running though.

I'll always be running sinbad and i'll probably always enjoy a drink too.  I don't drink half of what I used to.  I would probably get through 60-70 units a week and nowadays it's more like 20-30 and the odd spike if there is a big night out/in for some reason.

It was the hangovers that did it for me in the end but I still get them, even off the reduced lifestyle.  Sound advice about the water.  When I remember to do it, it does help - a lot!

hi,

good for you enjoying a beer and still train.

I just want to try and ccut down to once twice a month, I drank and the same as you about the 60-70 units. But I feel guilty now even if I go once a week.

I'm thinking of doing these park runs on a Saturday, they look like fun.

Hi Strangely brown,

Wow thats a great time, I would probable come in last lol.

I can't get to one for the next few weeks, but will get to one regularly after i been to boat for the last time this season.

Watch out for Monday meant to be strong wind and heavy rain.

Even at school i couldn't get close tothat sort of time, but im impressed.

Gosh, I badly estimated that.  My Garmin had a wobbler at the start and I didn't sort it out until a minute into the race so I only had half a clue how i'd done.  Turns out it was 19.24.  A personal best mind (from my first 5k last week) but I did feel I could have gone quicker.  Looks like this running lark is harder than I thought!

Anyway, you'll have a ball when you get around to it, they're fabulous events

I've seen that forecast for Monday and have already decided that it's going to be my rest day this week.  I really do not fancy running in that crap

Welcome Strangely brown and hi again Sinbad.

Giving up booze can be really difficult Sinbad, it took me years but it was more the social aspect than the not drinking part I found difficult.  You really have to want to stop - or cut down to a point where it's not a) killing you or b) affecting your everyday life.  Personally I think giving up all together is easier than cutting down - cutting down almost always leads to it creeping back up again - there's always an excuse to say 'well it won't matter - just this once!'

sinbad113 wrote (see)

Hi all,

 

yet thats not the hardest thing, what is is the fact on how much of a pain some people can be when drunk most days. You just don't know how bad you are, as you have done it for so long, that its hard to realise what are your own thoughts and speech, when your drunk so much of the time.

That is so true - it's one of the things that makes it so much easier to not have a drink when I do go out.  What's worse is the people tend to have the same conversation over and over again......

Not everyone who chats here wants to stop drinking completely, some are teetotal and have been for years.  Some have no intention of stopping but just want to cut down to improve their running, some of us have been affected by other people's drinking.  

Oh the hangovers Strangely, I used to get them soooooo bad, I was always a useless drunk, a couple of glasses of plonk and I'd be suffering for days   Fantastic running for the parkrun by the way, I couldn't run that fast 25 years ago, no chance of it happening now!  There aren't any parkruns round my way - the nearest is 30 miles away.

I had a really good food day yeserday right up till I had a small bowl of spag bol - that didn't do my stomach any good at all 

Good running SB   Got to ask though.... why "strangely brown"?

Nearest parkrun here is about 15 miles I think.  Did register ages ago but not got round to doing one yet.

Are you feeling better now SL? 

Feelling fine now thanks Cinders, it was just the after effects of the spag bol - I've been 100% raw today and doing fine.  Need to buy another bag of frozen cherries, I want some of that ice cream tomorrow.

Your nearest parkrun is in Whitstable by the way - best you check it out - we've got a race soon 

Hello again Sinbad, and welcome along Strangely Brown

sinbad113 wrote (see)

I just thought I would just say that giving up booze completly is extremly difficult.

Oh it is indeed Sinbad!  I stopped going out altogether when I quit; I couldn't stand being in the pub, couldn't stand drunk people, couldn't even stand people drinking around me really.  I rarely go out now although I cope better now when I do, but I simply don't enjoy being in a pub any more and I have found I enjoy doing different things with my time now, like my new allotement   Everyone has a different journey though and you may find that after a while you don't mind people being drunk and jibbering on a bit!

Strangely Brown wrote (see)

It was the hangovers that did it for me in the end but I still get them, even off the reduced lifestyle. 

Must admit I never got hangovers unless I'd had a spectacular session, but then I'd be really ill for the whole of the next day   That sure as hell is one thing I don't miss!!    Fantastic park run time too, that's the sort of time I only get in my dreams!

So, saw the dietician again on Friday, she is very pleased with how my eating has been and that I basically have the binging under control now and now we can start on the weight loss   But on the down side I had put on 2lb, which takes me to 12 stone, somewhere I've never been before, and means I'm now 2 to 2 1/2 stone overweight   Still, I feel focused like never before, ready to do it and ready to put in maximum effort.  I am spending this next week really looking at how much I'm eating - apart from the binging she is more than happy with the nutritional side of what I eat - so that means weighing and calorie logging, which is a phaff but I need to know how much I'm actually consuming and therefore how much I need to cut and where that can be achieved.  I also got given a £25 Amazon voucher by a company we do business with so have decided to get myself HRM so I can monitor the calories I burn at things like circuits and when I'm down the lottie doing lots of digging as calories expended are going to be just as important as calories consumed. 

Glad you are feeling better now SL   We went to Whitstable when we visited my brother in Canterbury the other week, had some lovely fish and chips there!

Sunluvva/TST/Cinders - Many thanks for the congrats.  I am chuffed with the times i've done but I have a proper training plan in place now so i've got to keep focussed on improving them.  Talking about times in an open forum is a weird thing because we are all at different stages and there is a tendancy to feel a little like you're gloating at the people slower than you but it's the most relevant element of racing to discuss unfortunately.  I have been reading the forum and seen many runners at 16.x and 17.x for 5k so I know i'm a very long way from being a good 5k runner right now but happy to have laid down a reasonable marker for myself.

Dilligently rose at 7.30am to do my "LSD" this morning, 12 miles after some lovely "Brewdog" 5am saint last night.  See, booze and running can coexist

TST - I'm very envious of your allotment.  I grow a fair bit of veg in the garden but never have room for winter veg.  I'd love to have all year round freshly grown goodies to enjoy

Cinders - My favourite TV show of all time is Blackadder and Strangely Brown is a nickname of a former uni chum mentioned by George in "Goes Forth".  It's also because both my parents are very pale yet i'm really olive skinned and tan up something rotten when I see sun.  They both assure me that I do belong to both of them but i've stopped short of the DNA test

Hi all,

Unusual way of getting a nickname Strangely Brown, but it works. Cinders, Sunluva and Two-Stroke Tart, all relevant comments regarding beer.

I'm  not sure if I want to stop drinking completely yet, as there's a place and a time for it. But I in particularly associate with the fact that its a lot of repeated conversations and humour happens all too frequently. That's one reason why i bought my boat, and started jogging again. You can take it too whatever level you want to.

Hope you have all had good run out this weekend.

Lol strangely brown - my sister has olive skin and dark hair, looks nothing like me with my white blonde (greying) hair and paper white skin.  She needed a kidney transplant and I offered to donate mine if it was a match.  All the tests were great but then we had to have a DNA test and we actually asked my mum if she had anything she wanted to tell us - like was I the milkmans or similar.  Turned out we were a perfect match but I couldn't donate as I only had one kidney!

ps - a bit of booze and running can mix - it's a matter of quantity and frequency 

Crikey, that would have been some gift if you donated your only kidney to your sis

Hope shes ok and found a donar.  Sounds like one hell of a tough time for her.

You're right about the balance of course and by and large, I am happy with the one i've struck these days.  Giving up my only vice is a step way too far just to run a few seconds quicker here and there.