Have you considered switching the 2-3 beers during the week to non-alcoholic versions? Less calories, no hangover, same dopamine hit from drinking a beer and they seem to taste a lot better than they used too. I started doing this recently and its made me question why I didn't do it sooner if I'm only having a beer in the house. Will still have an actual beer if I'm going out for a particular occasion but cuts down a lot of the unnecessary alcohol consumption.

In some ways I think it would be easier if it were to just become a "hard no". i.e., I don't drink.

I've gone long periods without, 15-20 years ago when I was just thinking about bike racing all the time. During that time I didn't find it difficult at all to be around people drinking and not feel tempted. Once I start, it's pretty easy for it to be habitual. Not excessive, but habitual. I imagine everyone's a bit different in that regard.

That's why I like this experiment -- whether January or otherwise -- because it can trigger you to really look at your habits.

Big thing for me is really noticing how different I feel every day. What's better ... having that feeling or the (temporary) enjoyment from the couple glasses of wine? Also rhetorical. At a minimum ... I think it's beneficial to keep those questions open and keep asking them. Maybe there aren't hard answers, but at least by asking the questions we are raising the awareness.

Yup, that's exactly what I have been doing too. A lot of them kinda sucked. But I found a few IPA and Hazy Pale Ales that are halfway decent. The Coors one isn't bad either. And at 5-40 calories a piece, it's been a nice low cal alternative too

THREE. MORE. DAYS.
Ninety percent of the way there. The chute is in sight! The roar of the crowds grows louder!

Lest you thought I was done ;) nope, just fell asleep in the couch last night and zombied my way to bed. I will be grateful when my spate of 14-hour workdays is done.

Get after it, y’all! Enjoy the finish glow from these last few days. And share your plan for the rest of the year if you haven’t already!

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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

Yep - it is all about habits and I guess a lot of people don't really understand the implications, especially with the addictive aspects of alcohol in play. I recently read Charles Duhigg's "The Power of Habit". If you want to change your drinking habits, give it a read.

For what it's worth: I did dry January last year (first time in over 40 years that I did not drink for a month). I then fell back into my old routine of 3-4 drinks a night. My plan this year is to stay dry for 2 months (actually I will give myself one drinking day in the middle) and then attempt to modify my habits to cut back to 2-3 days a week.

Thanks for doing this again this year I have followed these threads in the past and like to read the stories and other peoples experiences we all seem to have a lot in common. I never followed through with dry January until this year.

I had a good month without alcohol, lost 12 pounds, missed less workouts, way better sleep and over all more productive with feeling much more positive. Much easier to lose wt when you don't drink a bottle of wine with dinner and raid the pantry for junk food at 10 pm!

I have always been concerned about my alcohol consumption as my family has had some pretty bad issues with it in the past. I really enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner after work or a beer in the garage when I am out there working on a project on weekends. Add in social events and Friday nights with the neighbor, who loves bourbon and has an extensive collection, and it can quickly get out of hand.

The month went well, I made it through a few social events. I replaced Friday night bourbon with my neighbor with ginger ale and still had a good time. I did skip the Italian imported wine tasting at my buddies new restaurant on the 27th lol! I think I am going to keep going with it, I have given it up for Lent in the past which is coming up soon so I may just continue through till April or even June when I have my race. I still have another 8 pounds to go to make my goal for wt loss and this will help.

Congrats on the weight loss. It’s certainly a great byproduct of the challenge. I’m waiting until Saturday for my final tally.

Only one more Friday night!

Dude that’s awesome! Way to go!

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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 love this. I probably dink/drank more than the average drinker... Was pretty active until we had kids, then Found myself about 50 pounds overweight and pretty much not doing anything. About 2 years ago I told my wife I wanted to get into running. She signed me up for a 5k the next week, a 10k the next month, then a half marathon at the end of the summer. Then the night before the half marathon my dad told me he'd buy me a new bike if I did the IRONMAN with him. At that point the furthest I had run was 7 miles and wasn't even sure I'd finish the half marathon. Well I finished and 2 years later found myself training for my first IRONMAN. Last July 1st totally gave up alcohol and never looked back. Had a few drinks over Christmas and decided its not for me. So sign me up!!!!

mental analgesia is mostly what I'm after..

what I do, is count my breathing, backwards from 100, and do yoga breathing using the diaphragm rather than chest expansions. The counting gives my squirrel mind just enough to do to distract it from other random thoughts. I still have to refocus on the breathing or the counting or both quite often, but apparently that is standard meditation practice.
Some nights I don't get down to 1, other nights take several rounds of 100-down to get calm. But eventually it always works, so far.

---

"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

As folks consider what the next steps might be, I have used all y'alls dedication to motivate me to cut back -- I was having 2-3 beers a night. In January weeknights, I started have one non-alcoholic beer, then a real one and then another non-alcoholic. For me, it's all about the ritual of pouring something frothy into a frosty mug while I unwind from the day/workout and make dinner. (Plus, I live in Portland, which is awash in fantastic boutique breweries.) Then on the weekends I have two real beers if I want to. Which I usually do.

I've done just a touch of experimenting looking for craft NA beers. Most are pretty decent (after the first sip). So far I really like Bravus Oatmeal Stout --- thick and creamy and probably not entirely healthy but doing the trick for me. Congrats to you all for an inspiraional month.

Unlike eating clean, where Id eat like a monk for 6 days then on the 7th binge on burgers fries, chips chocolate, bacon and cheese tosties with chilli aioloi.... Where was I? Oh yeah.... This no alcohol thing seems to get easier each day.

There was a smoking app that reminded you how much you were saving... Like day 15, you saved 90euros and your blood pumps 20%easier.... Then after 3 months, it says you saved 540euros.... This time I kept track of coffees, snacks, lunches, drinks, wines that I skipped so I could aim for a new computer monitor... I got a 3 month swim membership instead at the nicer local pool, so will keep going at least feb, probably march, maybe april. Happens to coincide with a new job role oppurtunity at work coming up so its motivating to be my best for the learning curve too

FORTY EIGHT HOURS. WE ARE DOWN TO HOURS!

Today was my toughest day. It always is, because it’s the anniversary of my mother’s death. Talk about wanting the mind to black out. Instead I had a hard double workout and a good, rewarding day of volunteering and now I’m off to bed for my early wake up call.

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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 had a planned one-night "off the wagon" event last night, as I'd volunteered back in December to organize a wine/cheese pairing event for a group of neighbors/friends

I have to say, I wasn't really looking forward to it. But it was fun, and interesting to taste wine again. Wasn't a lot - 5x2oz glasses. But it was still enough to have a super shitty sleep last night and to wake up feeling groggy. I mean, if I ever had any question that even moderate amounts have an impact, this answered it.

Like others have noted, I feel like I want to make some permanent modifications. Sometimes it's going to be worth the tradeoff to wake up feeling a little less than optimal. But I'd rather that be the exception than the rule.

LOL, that's where I ended up too. I gave up 'strong' drinking years ago; its just too hard, shots are stupid, I'm no 20 years old, etc. I still enjoy a good beer and every once in a while I enjoy quite a few good beers. I also go stretches with no drinking. most recently I abstained for 14 weeks as I was trying to maximize weight drop prior to a run.


the funny thing is, every time I'm dry, people ask me if it makes a difference. 'you don't drink much anymore, does it matter?" and sadly, I can tell them it does. if I was "smart", I'd probably give it up. but life is too short to be smart all the time.

I'm late to this non party thread, but I've been dry this year. It wasn't just a dry January thing, it was a change I wanted to make indefinitely. Some thoughts:
It hasn't been hard, even after the past year or so of not denying myself anything diet wise. Since not bike racing, I haven't cared about the extra 7-10 pounds and stepped down fitness. And drinking became an almost daily thing at night 2-3 glasses of wine usually, and not just a social or special occasion thing.
Initially it was just a matter of breaking the routine of red wine at night. That was new and different, but I really like not drinking. I do other stuff like use my brain, be productive. I wake up with a clear head, deal better with stress, am less anxious (see stressed by stressors) have dropped 5 lbs without any other change and no real raining routine, more methodical and detailed, more energy, more positivity, less impatient, and reactive.
I like drinking some times, but don't want to just drink as a matter of course. I have a boys ski trip end of Feb will involve some beers and wine. So be it. The real challenge is not to not drink at all, but rather to keep it a non habit, and live a generally arid way of life with moderate social occasions, a glass here and there but no consistent presence. As the guy said to Kevin the Goat, "There's no need for it, mate!"
Sort of out of the blue, or over time, drinking becomes a bigger part of one's life than before even if it isn't a "problem". But there is a certain groove/mindset/rut that comes with it. It's nice to step back from that, maybe change the pathways a bit.

So out of curiosity, tomorrow at midnight will be February first. Anyone staying up to enjoy a February first drink? I won’t, midnight is way past my bedtime but was curious

Seems to be a common theme running through many of the postings here: step back, evaluate, be more mindful going forward. If that's the result, that's a big accomplishment in my mind. Kudos to all who took the challenge.

ONE. TINY. DAY. TO. GO.

God I love seeing the finish line :)

Another long day and about to crash quickly into sleep.

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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

Yes.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I won’t. I have parkrun on Saturday morning!

I'm going to be pre-emptive and say, WE DID IT!

Thanks again to our hostess and kudos to all those that played along.

I've stopped drinking twice in the past, primarily for weight loss. This started that way but became much more mental as I really focused on my relationship with booze (craft beer primarily).

In 31 days without alcohol I:

1. broke the daily, post work IPA habit;
2. realized that drinking alone (& justifying it) is really the little booze devil on my shoulder whispering demonic, habitual thoughts in my ear;
3. generally felt better and better about myself and;
4. lost 9 pounds ( I did eat better and began exercising regularly again, but they seem to go hand in hand).

I'm not going to place any hard rules on myself. I was contemplating no drinking Sun-Thurs but I think that sets myself up for failure. I still may have the occasional weeknight beer or a couple on the weekends but it's going to be more social and not habitual. As others have noted, I'm just going to be more self aware and make sure old habits don't return.

So, I won the no alcohol battle but my war on cancer continues with surgery and one time chemo blast next Thursday, 2/6 to hopefully eradicate this shit from my bladder.Thank you all for the positive vibes you've sent.

Keep on fighting the good fight(s). I will.

WE.
DID.
IT!!!!!!!

If you’ve made it to the end of the month, serious kudos to you. I hope it got easier as time progressed, and also you learned more about yourself and your relationship with alcohol. I also hope you reaped some physical benefits that will help you stay motivated to make this a healthy habit.

For those continuing into February, KEEP IT UP! You’re doing a great job and your benefits from this prolonged dry spell will achieve new heights. Feel free to keep posting, you’ll find a large cheering section waiting for you!

I hope you found it helpful to post and stay accountable. We had a great group of people checking in and providing encouragement to others, and it made me so happy and proud to be a part of this community.

For me, my spell ends tomorrow. I am expected to give a toast at a function for my cycling club tomorrow evening, and I’m looking forward to it immensely. But I am going to bust out a 12-month wall calendar and a cute rubber stamp to mark the dry days to visually track my habits, and adopt a meditation practice to help shut off my brain. I want to move strictly to the enjoyment of the taste of alcohol and away from the desire to use it as a muffler for my brain.

Well done, all!

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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

Cheers to that!

Party tonight then back to business for Feb... Maybe not weekends... But loving the results... Thanks and well done everyone!

What do you (and others) think about creating a new "Alcohol Mindfulness 2020" thread? (or maybe can edit the thread title?) to help encourage those who so desire to keep posting? It's been really interesting and helpful to read peoples' experiences during Jan.