(01-14-2015 11:02 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

(01-13-2015 06:55 PM)Monxp Wrote:  Just dropping a message to tell I joined to the challenge two weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how I feel after a month or two. Keep up the good work guys!

Monxp, I assume you are in for the full year? If so please post your official start date.

My official start day is the 01/01/2015. I drank my last drink few minutes before the year changed.

I believe in moderation rather than stopping. You never know when you will be invited to dinner with wine, or be in a social context where you need to dirnk. Of course you can always say no, but it may create ankward moments. I haven't drank for over 2 weeks, but next weekend I have a party and will. It doesn't make me an alcoholic.

Just my 2 baht.

1 month and 5 days without drinking. Still smoking though. I think I'll wait until I'm off drinking for 3 months before I give up smoking.

(01-18-2015 03:15 PM)alex3948 Wrote:  I believe in moderation rather than stopping. You never know when you will be invited to dinner with wine, or be in a social context where you need to dirnk. Of course you can always say no, but it may create ankward moments. I haven't drank for over 2 weeks, but next weekend I have a party and will. It doesn't make me an alcoholic.

Just my 2 baht.

You can have your 2 baht back.

37 pages and you don't think the idea of "drinking in moderation" has been entertained and rejected at least a dozen times already by every single guy who made the decision?

Hey, I got an idea about how you can contribute to the forum. How about stepping into a thread full of guys who are having enough of problem with drinking (and that's a pretty dangerous problem to have) to consider quitting for good, or a year at the minimum, make it clear you didn't bother reading it, and put doubt in their mind about their decision to take control of their lives?

I see your 2 baht and raise you a million. Is "over 2 weeks" supposed to be an impressive length of time to abstain from alcohol and prove that you don't have a problem? If you didn't have a drinking problem, you wouldn't feel that was worthy of mention in the first place, and you wouldn't feel the need to take time off.

We've all been there and done it - everyone has their own pace in the journey of life. So no judgement.

But if you're going to rationalize your way into continuing your behavior, start a moderation thread. Your statement of "I am not an alcoholic" almost makes it seems like other people quitting drinking threatens your identity or something.

Do your thing, Boss. Meanwhile, let us do ours.

dupe

(01-18-2015 02:59 PM)Monxp Wrote:  My official start day is the 01/01/2015. I drank my last drink few minutes before the year changed.

Monxp, welcome aboard as of 1/1/2015, and hope to hear more from you here over time.

(01-18-2015 03:15 PM)alex3948 Wrote:  I believe in moderation rather than stopping. You never know when you will be invited to dinner with wine, or be in a social context where you need to dirnk. Of course you can always say no, but it may create ankward moments. I haven't drank for over 2 weeks, but next weekend I have a party and will. It doesn't make me an alcoholic.

Just my 2 baht.

alex3948, as Beyond Borders pointed out, this has been discussed a number of times earlier in the thread, so it may be worth going back to some of those posts.

Briefly -- there is indeed absolutely nothing wrong with being a true moderate drinker, someone who rarely if ever oversteps the boundaries of what anyone would consider moderation and for whom the thought of alcohol as a problem to contend with would seem self-evidently absurd. Such men exist; they should go on doing what they do; and this thread is not for them.

This thread is for guys who have drunk hard enough and for long enough that they have started to take some real damage from drinking -- both damage of the obvious physical kind, and of the more subtle but maybe even more devastating spiritual kind, the peculiar draining away of the interest and zest for everyday life that befalls a man who has gone to the well a few times too many.

For these men, there is no better way to begin the process of reversing the damage than by taking a complete and extended break from drinking. Only by throwing away the crutch of alcohol completely, and going without it through a complete cycle of all four seasons, all different contexts, holidays, birthdays, the long days and long nights of different times of the year, that a man who has leaned on the sauce too hard for too long begins to reverse the damage that was done, and to acquire the new habits that will serve him well for years and maybe decades to come.

That is the purpose of this thread, and I think it has served this purpose well for quite a few guys, and will continue to do so.

I'm definitely in on this.

I have some anxiety/ocd issues that I've had for most of my life, and just recently, after a night of drinking (just a little bit, probably 4 or 5 beers after our show) I had a nervous breakdown in the middle of the night, crying hysterically, all this nonsense, was a nervous wreck the whole day after drinking that one night.

I probably started drinking back in middle school with friends, we'd have people go on runs to the store and shit, get us 30 racks, smoke tons of cigarettes and get wasted. I'm actually kind of relieved I got that out of my system early, because I haven't had any desire to go out and get 'wasted' for quite some time now, I don't like feeling like I don't have control (anxiety).. As for speeding up the aging process... MAN! I have a friend who drinks all through the week and he has that bloated, soft and just unhealthy look to him as you were describing.. Really fucking weird. Oh and the weirdest shit is when people look at you like you're some kind of fucking weirdo if you deny a drink, that's always nice.

I've gotta give it up to Owen Cook for putting it pretty simply (not verbatim) "If you have any mental issues, be it anxiety or depression, don't even THINK of drinking, it is absolutely not an option for you." And I totally agree with that. Based on my own experience, it does accelerate all the stress the next day. Yeah hey, no more hangovers that's pretty fucking sweet. I'm sure if I was exercising, doing everything I needed to be doing to move forward in my life everyday, I wouldn't need a drink to feel adequate in a social situation.

Anyways, I've got a friend who's on the sober train for what he claims "the rest of my life", so I'll be going in that same direction too. Shouldn't be too difficult since I really don't enjoy drinking anymore, but I know it only takes that one night when you're out and everyone is drinking and you have that little *junkie* moment with yourself, and you're rationalizing everything, one beer, one drink, the same old sad shit story we all know.

Nice thread.

I hope this is not off topic, but I read this story and thought it might be a good motivator to help you guys. It's about a rock drummer who overcame his addiction issues:

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/20...dicts.html

Pinch, that was a great honest and felt post. And you're exactly right: alcohol is terrible for guys who are starting from a substrate of depression or anxiety. It's pretty much the very last thing the depressive or anxious brain needs, but of course -- very appropriately -- it's one of the things that this kind of brain most craves because it provides what is experienced as a change in the moment.

If you are in for the full year, please post your official start date here.

Losing a great opportunity due to the drinking challenge. This one girl would really like me to come to her birthday party to drink (and fuck) with her. It would be easily rationalize, "just this once", but I already know it would be a bad idea. I will stay strong and not let the succubus ruin my one year of teetotalism.

(01-22-2015 03:00 PM)Monxp Wrote:  Losing a great opportunity due to the drinking challenge. This one girl would really like me to come to her birthday party to drink (and fuck) with her. It would be easily rationalize, "just this once", but I already know it would be a bad idea. I will stay strong and not let the succubus ruin my one year of teetotalism.

There is no reason you can't be sober and fuck her. Don't be ridiculous.
What she really craves is dick, not alcohol. And you can fuck better and harder while sober.
As long as your frame is strong and you don't think not drinking is weird or unmanly, she won't care at all. In fact, she may even respect you/want to fuck you more because of it. It all comes down to your inner game/vibe/attitude.

(01-22-2015 03:00 PM)Monxp Wrote:  Losing a great opportunity due to the drinking challenge. This one girl would really like me to come to her birthday party to drink (and fuck) with her. It would be easily rationalize, "just this once", but I already know it would be a bad idea. I will stay strong and not let the succubus ruin my one year of teetotalism.

Not drinking for 1, 2, 5 years is a much greater opportunity then fucking some broad. Fuck rationalization. Maintain frame. YOUR sober frame. Laugh in her face, and tell her you prefer your woman feminine and sensual and that she can only be that way sober. . . . If you can be sober for more then a few days, call me.

Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate them. I'm gonna let her wait for my D for another occasion. I know she craves for my attention since I'm different from her beta orbiters.

The creeping feeling of alcohol induced depression hit me about 2 weeks into a bender and I just kept drinking. 2 weeks later, the depression/regret melted away and regardless of how hung over or shitty I feel the next day/night, I know I can kick on and get in the party mode that very evening.

This is what scares the hell out of me. I know I didn't "beat it", I know that my body is adapting to me having alcohol inside it for 2/3 of the day and the very fact that I can drink 4+ Vodka "Buckets" (That's included 20 shots of vodka) for fucking "pre-drinking" leads me to label myself a god damn alcoholic.

The fact that I have picked up, in the last 4 weeks, no less than 5 girls whilst blackout drunk yet I've only been able to score 3 sober should say something righ now. I'm a mess. I'm going to be flushing this shit out of my system and going on the wagon for 1 year.

Cody, thanks for the post, and I would agree that a long break might be in order.

If you have an official start date for your 1 year wagon, please post it here and I'll welcome you aboard.

(01-20-2015 07:51 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  Pinch, that was a great honest and felt post. And you're exactly right: alcohol is terrible for guys who are starting from a substrate of depression or anxiety. It's pretty much the very last thing the depressive or anxious brain needs, but of course -- very appropriately -- it's one of the things that this kind of brain most craves because it provides what is experienced as a change in the moment.

If you are in for the full year, please post your official start date here.

Right, well I haven't had any alcohol since Jan 10, so I guess that Jan 11 was my official start date.

Pinch, welcome aboard as of 1/11/15 and please post some updates here as time goes on.

9 months done, 3 months more to go, I have nothing more to update beside my lust for my neighbor's daughter who I know since childhood which makes no sense.

Nice going, Felix. Entering the home stretch now.

Just because you knew her since she was a wee thing doesn't mean you don't badly want to stick it in her now... lust always makes all the sense it needs to.

Over a month now. There has been easy days as well as hard days. Most of the cravings are gone now tho

I think I caught a case of oneitis for the neighbor's daughter, she didn't object me touching her but I couldn't get farther, meh. Thinking clearly it's just that looking at her remind me of the time I was in high school as a lonely fatass, I am just try to make up for the memory of 'school romance' I will never have. (she went to the same school as me)

Good thing I detected it early. Will keep on the wagon and go for younger things.

Update:
Had my first drink a little over 13 months in. 2 beers after my first real motorcycle ride. Enjoyed the taste, walked back to my hotel, and enjoyed the night.

I've been watching this topic for a few months and have been sober since 1.1.15. I am committed to spending every second of this year without drinking. Sign me up!

I was close to 3 months before heading out the bar the other night (Saturday) and getting fucked up.

This was similar to last year's challenge as well: I'd go a couple months and just be like "fuck it."

It's been 1 yr 3 mos since the original challenge and I'm still in the same boat. I'm going to step away from this because I think there's some real underlying shit that I need to work out. I don't want to stay off the proverbial wagon and I'm not planning on drinking, but I need to address some underlying demons that guide me to the bar.

^ I swear this isn't to attention whore or anything, just need to step away. If anything, I'm thankful for this challenge because without it I'd still be quite oblivious.

Best wishes to everyone taking the challenge. I'll be back.