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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [roubaixman] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for sharing your story. You remind us that the long road of alcohol use/abuse can end up with more than a lampshade on your head. The list of complications associated with this behavior includes several that are fatal. Sorry about your brother. I would suspect more than one poster in this thread has experienced similar loss. All the best for 2018.

John

John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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I only drink 2 or 3 beer/wine a week, but I’m in anyway for the challenge.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [orphious] [ In reply to ]
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orphious wrote:
cartsman wrote:
We have a special family occasion on 5th January, so I'm shifting my dry month to run from 6th Jan to 6th Feb (as luck would have it, 7th Feb is also my wife's birthday). Thanks for the thread, I generally aim for moderation throughout the year rather than going completely dry, but for various reasons this is a good year for me to do a full dry month (even if I'm not quite doing it on the right dates!).

Can we add it to the training log?!


But isn't the point of the thread to abstain from Jan 1st for 1 month? Being able to resist alcohol in such situations as family occasions?

Sure, but 1st January is an arbitrary date that suits most people just great because it falls right after 2 of the biggest celebration days of the year, and then January is typically the quietest month of the year socially with very little in the way of temptation. January is the easiest month to do this by far. If the point was being able to resist alcohol during family occasions then you'd start this right before Thanksgiving or Christmas, in which case I suspect there'd be a lot fewer people responding to this thread, and a lot of those that did would fall at the first hurdle.

In my case, Christmas this year was extremely quiet as we've just moved overseas and we had no family around (I had a couple of glasses of champagne on Christmas Day but other than that have had a pretty much dry December), and we have a bunch of family out celebrating with us through to January 5th. January 6th for me is the same as Jan 1st for most people, so I'm going along with the spirit (non-alcoholic spirit of course...) of the challenge if not the letter of it.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [cartsman] [ In reply to ]
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cartsman wrote:
January is typically the quietest month of the year socially with very little in the way of temptation. January is the easiest month to do this by far.

Unless you're a huge football fan, and your team has gotten into the playoffs, the weekends are filled with gatherings around the TV, with snacks and adult beverages all day

YMMV

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [RandMart] [ In reply to ]
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I'm a huge rugby fan, as luck would have it the 6 Nations (international tournament between the big European rugby-playing nations) starts in February, so January is normally pretty temptation-free for me! Only real challenge is Burns Night on 25th January which is something that we normally celebrate with copious amounts of whisky and reading of poetry with dodgy Scottish accents.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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Although this will be difficult for me, I am going to do this!
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [cartsman] [ In reply to ]
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My first IMWI in 2014 I gave up EtOH for the whole year training. It was difficult in social situations. I went to bars, went out for NYE and just pounded seltzer/Pellegrino. I now have a slightly unhealthy addiction to La Croix!

I love good beer and wine, but the effect it has on metabolism, recovery and motivation make it difficult to train at the level needed for positive gains. I'm training again for IMWI in 2018 and am trying to take a more practical approach: no self purchases or drinking at home. Not only trying to gain health, but to save money too! It's amazing how much it'll save ya.

I guess I see it as my love of fitness and training outweighs my love of good wine/beer, but I'm not an abstinence kinda guy.

That being said, I will join in as well as the holidays have added so many other training barriers that January is a great "reset" month. That and I have my second boy coming around January 23rd, and I start back up in nursing school on January 22nd! Sooooo I'll have plenty of great things going on and even more limited training time!
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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I'm in on this as well. That does mean that I'm gonna have some serious work to do...uh....cleaning out....the fridge before the new year.

_________________________________________________
When all is said and done. More is usually said than done
Ba Ba Booey

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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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for those who find this challenge to be particularly difficult, i wanted to share a resource that many people find helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/

in addition to a very active posting community there is an irc room that always has folks around who like to chat.

you will be shocked at the number of cyclists on irc there. shocked i tell you.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [buzz] [ In reply to ]
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I will be joining in. This is going to be very difficult for me but I need to show myself I can do it. I live around a heavy drinking culture and I partake in this on a weekly basis. I could easily and have drank a half-fifth of alcohol at night and get up at 5am to hit the pool or soul crushing bike trainer sessions. I do this on the weekly. I think most people on this board based on the drinking thread couple weeks back would label me a high functioning alcoholic. That may indeed be the case. Wish me luck!
Last edited by: FairDestroyer: Dec 28, 17 11:03
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [FairDestroyer] [ In reply to ]
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Good luck FairDestroyer. I am trying to decide whether to join you all. Did 2 months before my first IM in 2016 and found it easy, but lately I really enjoy the wine in the evening...
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [FairDestroyer] [ In reply to ]
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Good luck, man!

I found myself in a similar position when traveling 80-90% of the time for work and the light finally hit me in 2014 that it was no good, after around 3 years of throwing it down daily (at least a good 4-7 drinks on weeknights- god knows how much on Saturday’s), and then waking up to get a morning run in every day. Scared the crap out of myself, actually, when I started reading the negative effects the excessive booze has on the internal organs. Luckily, for all of us that put in lots of training volume, endurance activity does prevent/delay some of the negative aspects of alcohol compared to a sedentary lifestyle. I’ve since moderated it big time, because I know I’m well capable of going down the negative road.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [spot] [ In reply to ]
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spot wrote:
h2ofun wrote:
This one is easy. I do not drink, smoke or take any drugs, period. Why so many waste their money, and time on this stuff which adds zero value to ones life is beyond me.


Ah Dave, another “holier-than-thou” post. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but to many of us, a nice glass of wine with dinner or enjoying a nice beer most definitely adds value to one’s life. Don’t for a second assume that just because it’s not your cup of tea that it’s “zero value” to everyone. Good lord man, it must be difficult climbing on that high horse every damn day.

Reminds me of a Frank Sinatra quote: "I feel sorry for people that don't drink because when they wake up in the morning, that is the best they're going to feel all day."

_________________________________________________
When all is said and done. More is usually said than done
Ba Ba Booey

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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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ChrisM wrote:
Might want to do some reading on what a glass of red wine can do for health and blood circulation


Sorry to bust that bubble.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/red-wine-is-not-good-for-you-after-all-says-chief-medical-officer-a6800296.html
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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HuffNPuff wrote:
ChrisM wrote:
Might want to do some reading on what a glass of red wine can do for health and blood circulation


Sorry to bust that bubble.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/red-wine-is-not-good-for-you-after-all-says-chief-medical-officer-a6800296.html

Actually, your link does nothing to “burst his bubble.” It would appear that this study was biased from the get-go: https://health.spectator.co.uk/...at-who-drafted-them/

To save you the time: The conclusions of that report appear to have been written before they even did their “study.”

Also, any study that purports to link causality to anything that is merely a correlation makes me immediately question its scientific rigor. The scaremongering of saying that any alcohol boosts your chance of breast cancer by 13% reminds me of the assertions that eating any smoked meats like bacon increased your chances of cancer. A woman’s chances of getting breast cancer at any age is about 12%; increasing that chance by 13% is really pretty miniscule, but of course, that wouldn’t generate headlines.

___________________________________________________
Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [spot] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, and studies on cigarettes didn't meet scientific rigor for decades either. I'm not going to convince the winos that they should cut back, but the Brits aren't the only ones who have backtracked on the old canard that a glass a day is good for you. Booze away if you like, but for those who are trying to meet the challenge, here's some more evidence.

http://www.cbc.ca/...art-health-1.2640505
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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Wasn’t aware I had a bubble

Don’t even drink red wine
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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ChrisM wrote:
Wasn’t aware I had a bubble

Don’t even drink red wine

Good start for January!
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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Just don’t go looking for cites as to how bad beer is and we’re good
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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I'm in! I struggle with drinking in social settings (I drink too much) and could use a break.
Quick question: am I disqualified if I have a drink at say, 12:01 am on 1/1 :)?

I know this is not in the spirit of the original post but I am trying to keep it real.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [h2ofun] [ In reply to ]
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h2ofun wrote:
This one is easy. I do not drink, smoke or take any drugs, period. Why so many waste their money, and time on this stuff which adds zero value to ones life is beyond me.

This post makes me want to drink, smoke and do drugs.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [dualsport] [ In reply to ]
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Every Friday at work we have a function called "Beer Friday." It is great weekly networking event but it also creates some social pressure to drink. Needless to say there were quite a few requests for a non-alcoholic alternative for those who wanted to attend the event but didn't want to drink.

We introduced H2Ops Sparkling Hop Water to the event and it was a hit! It tastes like an very light beer but with no alcohol and the same hoppy taste. You can find it at Whole Foods or any specialty wine shop (https://h2ops.com/).

Obviously I'm a big fan and it has helped me to cut way back on my consumption and helped with my training.

Cheers!
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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ChrisM wrote:
Just don’t go looking for cites as to how bad beer is and we’re good

I have 2 bottles of various international beer in my fridge ... left over from the 6 pack I won in a white elephant gift exchange last Dec. At this rate, I might finish them by July 2018. Confession: I had a 1 mimosa this month at our annual end of year pool party...which occurs at the end of morning practice...and a donut too. The latter was probably a lot worse for me. Anyway, the no alcohol challenge is just too easy, so I'm on the support crew to harp on the rest of you.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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I’m in. Two years ago I cut way back on my beer consumption and ran a massive PB in the marathon. Then, I got into the craft beer scene, and my beer drinking went way up (4-5 a week). I haven’t run a good marathon since.

I figure that if I combine this with the 100 runs challenge, it’ll go a long way to getting back into good shape, losing weight, and starting to run fast again.
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Re: Join Us for No Alcohol 3.0, January 2018 [bcc594] [ In reply to ]
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I monitor resting heart rate, estimated deep sleep and heart rate variability stress estimates on a Garmin Vivosmart 3.

Don't drink a lot but had excessive caffeine intake. Have stopped all caffeine, even green tea, and notice a big drop in RHR and stress levels. Funny enough no difference to sleep.

Had several beers on Christmas day, and stress and RHR went through the roof.

So count me in.

Hamish Ferguson: Cycling Coach
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