On The Wagon For January - Page 10 - Clubhouse

Peter Ward 5

04/01/2007 at 10:05

Beginning of February I think. Huge, I play rugby as well but am going to make a conscious effort to stick to soft drinks after matches till then and probably watch the 6 Nations at home till I go to Murrayfield in March. (I'll be back to backing long runs and matches, so hangovers don't do me no favours...:-)). Just hope my resolve holds.

Pete

Huge

04/01/2007 at 10:15

Cheers Pete, sure you'll cope, I just have to avoid pubs and bars, so this basically mean not going out but it sure is a great way to save money.

jason X

04/01/2007 at 10:28

well thats 3 days now without any alcohol that must be my longest teetotal run in many many months.

(heavy drinking at the weekend mind but thats because Im away for a short break)

I am resolutely determined not to regularly drink in the house anymore. Not just for Jan but for good.

I have been thinking about this a lot and I think the key in succeeding long term is to find your own balance.

We definately shouldnt feel guilty about a few pints down the pub a couple times a week, nor should we feel guilty about occasionally getting completely plastered on a night out. These are things that add to my existence not detract from it so cutting them out does not make sense.

whatever teetotalers might say a social evening out with the right crowd is greatly enhanced by alcohol.

It is home drinking that is the slippery slope for me, drinking in front of a film night after night, grabbing a can of lager when you get home instead of making a cup of tea or having a glass of orange juice.Its no good, its drinking for the sake of it and its stopping from here on in.

Medals

04/01/2007 at 10:38

Couldn't agree more Jason.
Home drinking is my biggest problem too and I'm determined to cut it down. I've done two nights now alcohol free. Last night was bl**dy hard though!

I reckon if I can do 3 nights a week, off the booze, I'll be happy with that and see how it goes from there.

m.itten

04/01/2007 at 10:43

I'm planning on doing this too......

Mainly just cutting down on the random mid-week drinking. I said I'd allow myself to drink when we're doing something, but that only really gives me excuses.

Want to have a good run at not drinking first! But I've got soooooo much wine in the rack :-)

jason X

04/01/2007 at 10:46

Medals Its great to hear that someone has a similer outlook (especially on a running forum)!

Huge

04/01/2007 at 10:46

Its just a day at a time folks, and, lets be honest, no one is making you do it.
You want to have a few pints? Fine by me.Jason, a night out is carp wthout booze as you say, that's why I won't be going anywhere. Had a couple of weeks off just before xmas and it really wasn't that bad so set your own pace, guys.

LittleGopher

04/01/2007 at 10:50

Hi All,

This is day 4 sober for me.

So far, all is going well - I was a heavy drinker - at least a bottle of wine per night, then the big 2 week Christmas and new year binge. I knew last year I had to stop - was getting raised blood pressure and 'holiday heart' and I'm only 32, but I just found it *sooooo* difficult with a full time job (stressful), 2 kids, house, partner etc.

In the end I talked myself into running the FLM. Once I'd been accepted and committed to the charity to raise 1500, I knew I couldn't back out gracefully. I'm more scared of not completing that and letting down my charity than I am of facing 16 without the booze.

I guess everyone on this forum has found thier own 'key' - I wonder if the fact that mine had to be so extreme (1st mara) means I actually had/have a pretty strong alcohol addiction.

I just hope I don't a) slip up,and b) go back to my old ways after April 22nd.

jason X

04/01/2007 at 10:53

"But I've got soooooo much wine in the rack :-)"

mitten, I gave away a crate of 24 Kronenbourg I had hanging around. Plus 14 odd bottles of Grolsh that where in my Fridge.

As I dont drink wine, the bottles of that hanging around are not a problem. The bottles of baileys are a big temptation but my other half would probably have a sense of humour failure if I gave those away to.

Peter Ward 5

04/01/2007 at 10:55

Couldn't agree more Huge and JasonX! Love my nights out. I am just doing it for 3 reasons really:

1. To save money (that I can then spend a bit of on kit, going away, that sort of thing)
2. To see if I can cut it out to that degree even with the temptation of the clubhouse and socials.
3. I did it a while back and my fitness improved beyond recognition. This I think I need for the Marathon so will stick with it for that.

No doubt post Marathon I'll be back to my weekly outings!

Pete

Sweetest Thing

04/01/2007 at 11:17

Mitten, wine keeps.

Mid Life Crisis

04/01/2007 at 11:19

Been reading this thread as I was really beginning to feel I'd been drinking too much over Xmas. Not had a drink since NYD now, and will abstain tonight too.

A couple of years ago the Mrs and me realised that we were drinking far too much. We got into drinking wine with every evening meal late 1998 I think, and it had got to the point where you could probably count on one hand the number of days in a whole year when we didn't drink anything. For me it coincided with starting to run, when I noticed that despite starting FLM training I wasn't lsoing any weight. As soon as I cut down the booze I got slimmer.

We do have the odd week where we have a bottle of wine with dinner midweek if its been a particularly good, or bad, day, but generally we try to avoid alcohol during the week now. When I look back to the old days I can't believe that we would go for months without a single dry day.

I found its good to replace the booze with something else you like - whether its a hot chocolate or a nice soft drink. After a while you begin to look forward to these things as your "treat" in place of the booze.

Good luck!

Huge

04/01/2007 at 11:24

I noticed a real diffrence in the two weeks I had off the booze before xmas and having dreaded getting on the scales this week find that I have lost half a stone. OVER XMAS!!!!

KKD

04/01/2007 at 11:35

Day 4 - no booze so far. It is hard but I find it frightening that my bod REALLY wants a drink, but the fact that I can and WILL not take a drink means that I have more control over drink than it has over me.

Well done everyone so far - keep it going folks!!

Medals

04/01/2007 at 13:05

KKD Know what you mean. My body still wants a drink after 6.00 / 7.00pm.
Suppose it's willpower really isn't it.

What I found helped last night was hot chocolate, but it wasn't the sweet stuff. I got it from Thorntons and it's dark chocolate flakes. Not cheap mind, £3.99, but I suppose I'd pay that for a bottle of red, or a 3lt bottle of cider and this'll last a lot longer!

DavidB

04/01/2007 at 13:10

I'm doing this too, although in truth I didn't even make it through New Year's Day as there was an opened bottle in the fridge that I just couldn't let go to waste. I've done this before - longest was 6 months - and it's surprising how much your body seems to need a drink. I don't know how much is psychological but it is scary. A similar thing happens if you stop all caffeine.

Corinthian

04/01/2007 at 13:12

I stopped all caffine 12 months ago - agree, very scary; especially the first few weeks

Huge

04/01/2007 at 13:32

I guess its a whole body reprogramming thing and will take time, Think it is psychological AND physiological.

DavidB

04/01/2007 at 13:38

Now if I could just get off the smack...

DavidB

04/01/2007 at 13:40

but it's so moreish