Post: #326

Quick update:

Im exactly three weeks in today. It hasnt been as bad as I thought -- I still go out, but just go out and get a redbull or a juice. The best thing is spending all night partying sober and having a great time, and then waking up the next morning, opening your eyes, and realizing that you feel refreshed and are hangover free. Its an amazing feeling -- I used to open my eyes every weekend and feel horrible -- Now I open my eyes and feel like I have a whole new day ahead of me.

It was a little tough thursday / friday night though, because my body is used to me binge drinking at least once every seven days, so I did feel a strong psychological urge towards the end of the week -- I felt like I needed to "reboot" by getting completely plastered and rebuilding over the weekend. I got through that. I realized I am strong enough to handle everything that life is throwing at me, I do not need to reboot.

Also, I just feel all in all that I have more "purpose" because I let go of drinking, and I am constantly reminded of this every time that I say no to myself or when somebody else offers.

Post: #327

(01-12-2014 02:30 PM)hun73r Wrote:  Coming up on day 10 and it hasn't been as hard as I thought. There have only been a couple of times I wanted to drink and that was to make insufferably boring people tolerable. I found that drinking club soda and lemon or seltzer is good for the cravings though.

Definitely sleeping better, not taking any sleep drugs now. I have found that lifting heavy or lots of cardio + an audible fiction book at night helps.

Quote:This is not going well for me.

I hear ya. I'm headed to SD on the 15th, and I imagine that is when the real test will start.

These Presidentes taste so damn good. They're so cold there is frost on the outside. I don't know the spanish phrase but because the frost is white, it's called something like "The bride's dress".

Lizard, I'm going to get to it.

Post: #328

Fisto, when you're loving those Presidentes so much that you can talk with real tenderness about their frost... I think it's because you sense that they're on short time -- and you want to take it all in before you let it go.

Post: #329

(01-13-2014 10:13 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  Fisto, when you're loving those Presidentes so much that you can talk with real tenderness about their frost... I think it's because you sense that they're on short time -- and you want to take it all in before you let it go.

Yes, yesterday was my first day without drinking since I was working.

Priorities in this order Get Fit, Write/Film, Learn Spanish, Bang Girls.

Yesterday THC and I went cruising around the city filming and learning about SD. Went to Gold's gym and they have an area to do "cross fit" (pathetic) but we did a good workout.

Ate nothing but Yucca, Avacado, Plantains, Chicken, Eggs, Ceviche, and the like all day. Went to bed at 12.

Post: #330

Bride's dress = vestida de novia

I am on day 10. I just flew back from the DR. Usually I have a few drinks on the plane, and a few more during the layover. I drank tonic water and felt fine.

Post: #331

I can't imagine not drinking in the DR

Post: #332

Unfortunately I broke the 12 day streak.

Fell off the wagon two days in nyc, banged a cute russian girl. Yesterday, arrived in the DR, drank again and banged a local chica.

Drinking definitely seems to make approaches/escalation easier - I know its all mental but drinking seems to give me the patience to listen to these young girls inane stories.

I was doing well before too, drinking only club soda with lemon at clubs. Time to start again.

Post: #333

Delete

Post: #334

10 days today and have zero desire to drink. It actually feels good to say 'I don't drink anymore'

My sleeping has already improved at least 50%, only problematic when I drink my pre workout too late in the afternoon.

So far so good.

Post: #335

DickDastardly, welcome on board as of 1/3 and hope to hear more from you on the thread over time.

Some guys find the early period to be easier and some harder, but almost everyone finds it difficult at least at some point over the course of a year.

Post: #336

(01-16-2014 12:41 PM)hun73r Wrote:  Unfortunately I broke the 12 day streak.

Fell off the wagon two days in nyc, banged a cute russian girl. Yesterday, arrived in the DR, drank again and banged a local chica.

Drinking definitely seems to make approaches/escalation easier - I know its all mental but drinking seems to give me the patience to listen to these young girls inane stories.

I was doing well before too, drinking only club soda with lemon at clubs. Time to start again.

hun73r,

Yes, the thing to do if you fall off the wagon is to start a new one right away. You get a new start date, and a new 1 year count.

Now you know that when things seemed so easy in the beginning it was deceptive, because you ended up going back to drinking on pretty much the first real occasion when you wanted to. So maybe things seemed easy because you hadn't actually made a sufficiently serious decision.

If you really want to do it, restart, but realize that it means you are committed to not drinking at any point, day after day after day, for 365 days. You stake your pride on being sufficiently disciplined to resist the inevitable temptations.

In a sense, it's not that hard at all -- it is obviously within your power to decide whether to drink or not. But you have to make a decision and stick to it.

And yeah, some things like approaches or dates may feel harder at first. But you have a whole year to figure it out -- you can't just give up as soon as there is any difficultly.

Anyway, there is no need to be discouraged. Just think about it again, and if you really want to take the challenge, start from a new date and do it -- day after day after day for 365.

Post: #337

(01-16-2014 04:33 PM)Biz Wrote:  10 days today and have zero desire to drink. It actually feels good to say 'I don't drink anymore'

My sleeping has already improved at least 50%, only problematic when I drink my pre workout too late in the afternoon.

So far so good.

Biz, what is your pre-workout drink?

If it's anything caffeinated, yes best not to drink it anytime late. I would say 3pm should be the absolute cutoff for any caffeine if you're having any problems with sleep. And ideally you just have your caffeine after your main lunchtime meal and then you're done with it for the day.

Post: #338

Yes it def has caffeine in it lol.

If I take it after 3-4 I usually have trouble sleeping but I don't normally go to the gym that late so it shouldn't be an ongoing problem.

Post: #339

3 weeks in, I find drink a lot of water help a lot

Post: #340

I'm still hitting the bars in Sydney, its fine. My buddy drinks alcohol and I just get diet coke or lime and soda. Get it in a small glass and it looks like you're drinking anyways.

Also means I can park my car out the front of the bar. Drunk bitches love exotic cars (mine is cheap but looks much more expensive).

Post: #341

Shit, I saw this thread too late. I just back home with a mag of bourbon. Oh well, maybe next year.

Post: #342

(12-01-2013 05:17 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  I've been reading cardguy's binge drinking thread and certain comments there and in other threads inspired me to suggest this 1 year drinking wagon challenge for 2014.

Why do a 1 year drinking wagon?

I'm all for cutting back if you indulge too much, but Benjamin Franklin said something to the effect that God loves us because he made beer, and that guy was a President back when this country had men.

Going cold Turkey is fine for some things, like heroin, but for other things it seems it could be just be another example of going to the extreme. Kind of reactionary.

The key is not to be extreme, but to be balanced. Interestingly, I wonder if it would be harder to have just one drink a day than nothing at all.

Post: #343

737pilot, I'm not sure if you're on the wagon for the year but if you are please post your start date on the thread if you're so inclined.

Post: #344

(01-17-2014 07:33 PM)Onto Wrote:  

(12-01-2013 05:17 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  I've been reading cardguy's binge drinking thread and certain comments there and in other threads inspired me to suggest this 1 year drinking wagon challenge for 2014.

Why do a 1 year drinking wagon?

I'm all for cutting back if you indulge too much, but Benjamin Franklin said something to the effect that God loves us because he made beer, and that guy was a President back when this country had men.

Going cold Turkey is fine for some things, like heroin, but for other things it seems it could be just be another example of going to the extreme. Kind of reactionary.

The key is not to be extreme, but to be balanced. Interestingly, I wonder if it would be harder to have just one drink a day than nothing at all.

Onto, this has been discussed repeatedly in the thread -- including in the OP starting from where you cut it off.

Moderation is fine for true moderate drinkers but for guys who have drunk long enough hard enough to take some real damage -- both of the obvious physical kind and the subtler spiritual kind -- there are very good reasons why a rigorous 1 year wagon is the way to go. Rather than repeat them, I'll refer you to the OP and subsequent posts in the thread.

Post: #345

I haven't been drinking since earlier in December, but today was the first day that I was really challenged. It's the first free night of the school year, and the group of kids that I'm studying abroad with all just went out.

Obviously the excitement level was at an all-time high for everyone. I'm not going out tonight because I am tired, and I have to get up early tomorrow.

We were all in the common room, and they were pre-gaming. Everyone but me had a cup in his hand. After a while, I personally felt a little weird, and rather than remain uncomfortable, I got a cup and just drank some water the whole time. Having the cup to hold made me feel a little less self-conscious.

Another thing that helped was maintaining a comfortable, confident body posture. I was leaning in my chair like I was a king watching his subjects commiserate at a party. Replayed that image in my head over and over again.

But regardless, it was still pretty uncomfortable. People were asking me why I wasn't going out, and I tried to sidestep it by saying ridiculous stuff like "I have a game of checkers to finish". I thought my tone was sarcastic enough, but they continued to egg me on by asking me shit like who I was playing against, and I wasn't quick enough to think of a response. Next time I think I'll just tell the truth and say that I'm tired.

No one asked me why I wasn't drinking, though. This'll probably be the next question I get when I go out tomorrow.

It was also weird having the girls on the trip throwing me way more IOIs than usual. Very uncomfortable.

But I am proud that I did not succumb to peer pressure (even if it was nonverbal) and drink alcohol tonight. I feel good about this little triumph. Tomorrow will be harder since I'll actually be going out with them, but I'm confident that I will handle it well.

Good luck to everyone else that's still doing this.

Post: #346

BasketBounce, the social situations are not nearly as bad as they seem because people ultimately don't care that much about what you do. They may get in your face about it for a while, but if you're calm and polite but completely firm about it, they'll accept it surprisingly quickly and move on. And as long as you're not trying to lecture them about what they do, they'll be fine with it after a while.

So there is no need to worry about how you will handle it -- you've made your decision so that's that. If people really sense that your decision is irrevocable they'll resign themselves to it.

Post: #347

@LoOz: Hey, don't post much on rooshv, long time lurker. I started Jan 1 this year before finding this thread, but I'm looking at doing the full year or longer.

Booze was making my game stagnate, I'm actually doing better sober. I've never gone more than a few weeks without a drinking binge, but now that I've got a reason to do it things are much easier.

Here's to a sober and productive 2014!

Post: #348

(01-17-2014 07:25 PM)Onto Wrote:  Shit, I saw this thread too late. I just back home with a mag of bourbon. Oh well, maybe next year.

Too late?

LOl dude, you can start whenever you want. Everyday is a good day to change something about yourself.

EDIT: Just read your second post. Really don't understand why anyone would bother popping into something like a quit drinking thread and try to put doubt in everyone's mind - this goes for any type of self-improvement, but especially for something that's proven to be as destructive as alcohol. If it's not for you, that's cool, but for some guys it's pretty life-changing.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #349

You're right BB, thanks for calling me out on that. There have been times where I've stopped drinking for a little while when I see it becoming a habit. My Father was an alcoholic and he got sober through AA and it did change his life around completely for good.

For some, moderation isn't an option and that's ok.

Post: #350

(01-17-2014 07:33 PM)Onto Wrote:  

(12-01-2013 05:17 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  I've been reading cardguy's binge drinking thread and certain comments there and in other threads inspired me to suggest this 1 year drinking wagon challenge for 2014.

Why do a 1 year drinking wagon?

I'm all for cutting back if you indulge too much, but Benjamin Franklin said something to the effect that God loves us because he made beer, and that guy was a President back when this country had men.

Going cold Turkey is fine for some things, like heroin, but for other things it seems it could be just be another example of going to the extreme. Kind of reactionary.

The key is not to be extreme, but to be balanced. Interestingly, I wonder if it would be harder to have just one drink a day than nothing at all.

Which President was he?

This whole post makes no sense. So is no heroin extreme or should one just try for one dose a day? Strive for a balance s to speak.

This thread is for those who have enjoyed enough alcohol enough and want to see what the other side of the fence is like.

I heard a quote contributed to Winston Churchill towards the end of his life that his only thing left in this world he would like to try is going through it one time sober. Irrelevant of if he actually said it or not. That is my stance. In my mid thirties I've seen everything the booze has to offer and want to see what else there is.

Almost a month now. Not my longest stretch but I am loving the way I feel and not drinking has made marked improvements on almost all areas of my life.