Great news on the testing and low resting HR. Nice work.
I'm 31/31 + 6/6.

Fancy dinner with friends on Saturday where I was the only one who didn't drink. I explained the No Alcohol January to everyone at the table and they were most intrigued by the sleeping benefits. Dinner and wine with neighbors last night. I brought the wine but only had water.

Not really missing my old fashioneds yet, but a few times in January, I mixed up ginger ale with old fashioned mix in a nice cocktail glass, using proper ice. It was a nice treat.

I'm going to keep on going. For how long, I don't know. It just feels right for now.

I was listening to Beer On The Run podcast the other day and it was mentioned that some vegan people don't drink "Hazy IPAs" or "Milk Stouts" because of the lactose which is added

We might need Triingtotrain to confirm that?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Made it to feb 17. In the past, i have done dry feb, since it is a shorter month.
One work event, stuck to na beers.
I may lean into the sober curious / low acohol trend.

WAY TO GO! That is a fantastic streak. Check in with us on your journey!

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Level II USAT Coach | Level 3 USAC Coach | NASM-CPT
Team Zoot | Tailwind Trailblazer
I can tell you why you're sick, I just can't write you an Rx

Okay, as promised and yet slightly delayed, the title of the thread is going to be changed to "Your 2023 Relationship with Alcohol".

I hope you all continue to check in and support each other throughout the year! When the going gets tough, we got you.

(and if you have any wild dreams, DEFINITELY share those)

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Level II USAT Coach | Level 3 USAC Coach | NASM-CPT
Team Zoot | Tailwind Trailblazer
I can tell you why you're sick, I just can't write you an Rx

I made it to 14 Feb. That gave me 31 continuous days from my one lapse. Convenient, since that was also valentine's day. Wife and I went out for sushi and I ordered Sake. I haven't had anythimg since... Well, I had a half glass of wine this morning after the "run now, wine later, 5k". 🤣🙄

We recently moved to a hot country for work. Alcohol is available here, but not easily. You can't just buy it in the local store.

We made a decision to embrace the local culture and go alcohol free, so I have not had a proper beer since 1st Feb. Alcohol free beer is available in the local supermarket, so have been enjoying that instead. It's not the same, but it's OKish.

Its too early to say if I feel better for it. The weather is warmer, so I have been exercising outdoors everyday and maybe just feel better because of that.

Noted - and reflected above the line

Nothing out of the ordinary dream/wise - getting lost, finding myself in the middle of running & cycling races I didn't know I was in, high bridges, broken cars, inoperable tech

Sometimes all in the same dream

The usual

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

A British friend/colleague spends half her year in Dar es Salaam, where alcohol is similarly hard to come by. So her neat solution is that when she's "home" in the UK, she participates freely in British pub culture (and relevant to your "three beers" comment: there's a great joke by British comedian Jack Whitehall about how in California four glasses of wine with dinner means you're an alcoholic but "four glasses of wine in Britain means you're the designated driver"). And when she's "home" in Dar the other half of the year, she doesn't drink at all. It sounds like a great compromise. So best wishes to you in your new home and enjoy your beer-free lifestyle!

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[what Yoda said about trying]

I'm coming back with a March 1 update and front door brag because as of this morning I've lost exactly 20 pounds (205-185)!

I'm not keeping the IPA's in the fridge which has kept drinking alone at bay. Overall, I'm just drinking a whole lot less even when I do imbibe. I also maintained the habits I started in January namely, intermittent fasting, low carbs/sugar, riding the trainer 3x a week and hiking on the weekends.

On Saturday I head to Whistler on a family ski vacation with at least a chance of keeping up with my adult kids. All attributable to the start I got here.

I hope others have had their own measures of success to date.

Nice! Well done.

I made it to Valentines before my first drink, and now I'm having 1-2 drinks once a week or so (generally only before a day-off from training). I haven't lost as much as you, but I'm down to 164-5 from 178.

I plan to maintain the same 1-2 one day per week for the foreseeable future.

Still going into March a new record for me at least.

Excellent work, friends! I too had 1 drink (glass of champagne) on Valentine's Day, but nothing else since 12-31-22. I'm going to keep rolling as feels right. My training is way better and I'm more motivated in the early morning training sessions. Have a great day, all.

i've leaned all the way in to non alcoholic spirits/wines and don't miss liquor at all. i'll have a cocktail or a glass at wine when the wife and i go out to dinner every other week or so, but other than that my night cap is usually a non alcoholic amaro with sparkling water.

Do tell? I've become a big fan of various Armaro. Some suggestions would be very welcome.

The stuff Lyre's makes I'm really enjoying lately. Currently sipping on the Italian Orange with soda water and an orange twist. That's the bottle I'd suggest starting with from their selection.

New here, but figured I'd chime in.

I quit alcohol sometime mid-November, partially in response to my wife's excessive drinking, and partly in response to one of the Huberman lab podcasts. I've had a few glasses of Athletic Free Wave Hazy NA, outside of that not really even a craving. My sleep is off the charts better, and have been saving a bunch of money which has been successfully rerouted into new tri gear (and will continue to be).

Cheers to everyone that's cutting back in one way or another!

I am LOVING. all of these updates! Well done, everybody!!

Has anyone taken a different path? Experiencing reversion? Want to talk about it? We’re here for you!

My update-
I went back to drinking about once a week for a bit - had beers with the Thursday crew (actually mostly singular, not plural). And recently I’ve been splitting a bottle of huge red with someone on the weekends. Both bring me joy, and aren’t hindering sleep and workouts much if at all due to the timing of these. I’m still crushing it, in fact I did a self-supported birthday tri today and loved it.

Tonight will be a few glasses for birthday festivities. Tomorrow is definitely a rest day though.

Keep up the good work everyone!

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Level II USAT Coach | Level 3 USAC Coach | NASM-CPT
Team Zoot | Tailwind Trailblazer
I can tell you why you're sick, I just can't write you an Rx

Was it this one?


How did you do? Sorry I forgot

I can make you a bib for a b-day present LOL

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

2020, dry for 4 months, since then drinking on Fri and Sat only. That worked fine for a couple of years.
These days any drink at all after 7pm will leave me wakeful from 2am until morning.. it's starting to seem hardly worth it ;-)
Mostly a glass of wine Fri night, Sat lunch, and the odd daytime beer, seems to be tolerated.

But there's two bottles of good Scotch left, I haven't been able to bring myself to day-drink Scotch..

IT IS! Squee! So, here's what I did:

42 minute swim. Ended up being 2350m
27.42mi ride, including a fun photo shoot with a towel down at the Lincoln Memorial, plus a cupcake handup on the way home.
4.2 mile run (since I hasn't cleared to start training for a marathon, or anything really, until a month ago) at threshold.

All in all a good day!

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Level II USAT Coach | Level 3 USAC Coach | NASM-CPT
Team Zoot | Tailwind Trailblazer
I can tell you why you're sick, I just can't write you an Rx

🤩
🏆

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Thanks for this thread.

I didn’t used to ever drink as a regular thing, even though my bar was full of all kinds of booze. My husband worked in show biz, and sending bottles is a popular gift, even though neither of us had a habit of drinking. We would put on a big New Year’s Eve party every year when some of it was consumed by our guests but generally they brought and left more liquor than we all drank.

During the pandemic lockdown, when he was home all the time, I got into the habit of having a beer at night while we watched a movie or show on TV, and he would have a fancy root beer.

He died in late 2020 of a stroke and I ended up continuing the beer a night habit most nights. I don’t think anybody would consider that a problem. But I was putting on belly fat and had difficulty losing four pandemic pounds. Again, most non-triathletes would not consider that a problem.

So I stopped drinking Jan. 1 and have kept on not drinking ever since with the exception of a Modelo beer at a company gathering. I still haven’t lost those four pounds. I’m still waking up stupid-early in the day. But I subscribed to the Athletic Brewing monthly delivery and am really liking their non-alcoholic beers.

I’ll probably continue with the NA beer for a while. It gives me the refreshing fizzy kick of a beer that I like without the intoxication, and that’s fine.

Again, thanks for the folks sharing their experiences in this thread.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

I received an email today from Athletic Brewing, announcing their new Orange Schwarzbier

I'm guessing that is gonna taste something like this holiday treat?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

So sorry about your loss.

Sounds like you have found a groove that works well for you! Keep up the good work.