It feels great ... enjoy it...

The concept you "just quit" makes it a better victory.

Enjoy the better sleep and Merry Christmas.

John

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I wouldn't call 1 or 2 a day = "a ton" but in general it is healthier not to put your liver through it.
Nothing wrong with that.

Honestly, if I’m being honest. Most nights were more than 1-2. Probably more like 3-4. My thing was to grab a decent shot of vodka and a glass of water and make dinner, sit on the couch, etc. but I’d honestly have several. I’m definitely downplaying the amount in my first post if I had to be honest with myself and you guys.

Weekends I’d have plenty more. Enough that I’d feel pretty terrible some mornings.

I commend you my friend, no matter the reason.
I am coming up on 17 years myself. At the time I did it for a strictly monetary reason.
To be honest I don’t miss it at all. I never really enjoyed it to begin with but drank a lot, too much.
The only drinking I enjoyed was in college we go shoot and then have a gentleman’s evening as we called it.
We’d drink Sapphire & Tonic as we cleaned our guns. But that likely did not even make up 5% of the drinking I was doing.

A little or a lot, quitting or at least genuinely and seriously scaling back is still a good thing. Congratulations on what you’ve accomplished all ready.

One day at a time, Brother!

Be 25 years for me 2/19/23, one day at a time.

quote:

Originally posted by myrottiety:
Honestly, if I’m being honest.

That's quite a bit different than what you wrote originally.

I'd say you're making a very wise decision and are to be applauded for recognizing you have a problem and taking steps to deal with it.

I twice in my life found myself drinking far too much, far too often. My father was an alcoholic and I'd seen what it did to him. I'd made up my mind, long ago, I was never going down that path. So when I found myself heading in a bad direction I cut myself straight off.

I quit all alcohol in April 2020. I think I've only had about 2-3 glasses of wine since then on special occasions. I think I'm one of the lucky ones that I don't feel that I miss it, or have urges.

For the last few years leading up to me quitting it all, it just wasn't enjoyable anymore. My body didn't handle it like I used to and made me feel like crap afterwards, but did it out of routine because "this is what I always do".
Planning my drinking around days off really made me miss out on a lot of stuff. Always postponing or telling people that I'll be busy on this or that day, but not telling them that it's because I plan to spend my day off at home drinking.

Nice work!

I quit drinking for 5 years (1,856 days, to be exact) and reintroduced it into my life just this past July.

I stopped drinking because I, too, was drinking too much (never sloppy, but it was daily) and the hangovers were just awful … and I had two really young kids at home, which isn’t a good mix. I was in my mid-thirties and ready for a change.

What started as a “cleanse” turned into a full blown lifestyle .. complete with notable improvements in every single area of my life … I was a better husband, friend, dad, son, and brother. I was way healthier. My career improved. Everything got better. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you experience the same thing.

After a five year break I decided to see if I could do it again (responsibly) and, to my surprise, its been good so far. I pretty much only drink on the weekends and when I do it’s not too overdone. I’ve yet to have a true hangover 4+ months into it this trial. It’s early, but so far so good.

If I can maintain this, that’ll be great. If not … I’ll shut it right down again. I went over five years without a drop and it was amazing, so I’d get right back on the saddle if needed.

Good on you for recognizing that alcohol may be taking a toll on your body. That takes a lot of willpower and vulnerability.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
but did it out of routine because "this is what I always do".

Man. This hit me in the feels. Seems like what I got stuck doing. Didn't really need it. It was just part of my routine.

First few days I'd find my self in the kitchen standing in front of the counter. Where I'd normally keep a bottle. Not because I was consciously looking for booze. It was like I was on autopilot because it was part of my routine.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:
That takes a lot of willpower and vulnerability.

Vulnerability. A word I have a hard time with. My role models growing up father & grand fathers were always very stoic in nature. Seems like it's always made me suffer in silence. Same with the wins.

I'm working on it.

Keep doing what you're doing, myrottiety.

I'm happy for you , my friend. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable opens you up for self honesty and then TRUE growth. That leads to TRUE strength.
Being open and honest with your shortcomings is like taking your soul to the gym.
Stoicism is about being at peace with the things you cannot change while having the courage to take action with the things within your control.
Your drinking sounds eerily reminiscent of mine. Still functional, the ability to take a few days off to "prove I could do it", and still knowing there was an issue if I paid any attention to my honest thoughts.
I had a few events come to a head with it and was given the gift of desperation.
I got a glimpse of who I was becoming and I was terrified of that person. Didn't recognize him and wouldn't ever want my children to be around him. That realization allowed me to finally be honest and surrender my emotional walls I had been building for decades. I asked for some help and discovered it was available in spades along with a proper education about drinking (not a definition of alcoholism) and the fire I was playing with.
You don't have to be a black out every night, live under a bridge type of drunk to get great things from AA. You will find people who took things further than you and others that took them way less. You can learn from each of them and feel support if you choose to.
Good luck man! You will be in my thoughts.

Good on you.

On doctor's visit, I get asked how much do you drink. I feel embarrassed because my answer is maybe once every three months if that much. I'm embarrassed because I have some fine single malt whisky bottles that are feeling neglected.

If it concerned you enough to make you take action then you obviously did the right thing . I don't drink . Not a morality thing , I just don't like the taste of any of it . Hang in there .

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I'm embarrassed because I have some fine single malt whisky bottles that are feeling neglected.

After one of my best friends passed away his wife gifted me a bunch of his top-shelf single malt Scotch. Problem is: I drink far less whisky than I did even just a few years back. (Wasn't purposeful. I just don't.)

It's probably going to take me the rest of my life to work through my stash

Myrottiety,

I had a similar situation to yours. I was drinking 2-3 rum and Cokes a night, more on Friday and Saturday. This was over maybe 10 years. One day I woke up wondered how much better at my job (software engineer) I might be if I just quit drinking for a month. After deciding to go a month within two weeks my mental clarity definitely improved. Programming tasks that used to take 30 minutes suddenly became 15 minutes. That downhill progression went unnoticed until I stopped the booze. I haven't had a drink in almost two years (?). I just quit because I liked it that way. Pretty nice way to stop as compared to some of my friends. I wish you the best of luck in you future endeavors.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Good on you.

On doctor's visit, I get asked how much do you drink. I feel embarrassed because my answer is maybe once every three months if that much. I'm embarrassed because I have some fine single malt whisky bottles that are feeling neglected.

I can fix that for you. Send them my way.