Who am I to tell you what to do? No one important. But I did recently discover I have colon cancer, perhaps related to my great fondness for beer. And now I'm awkwardly figuring out my final exit strategy. 0/5 stars not recommended.
Oh, and schedule that colonoscopy you've been putting off. Better to catch it early when more treatment options are on the table.
Counter to OP's experience, I've actually found sweets to be more impactful than alcohol. That is to say eating dessert after dinner will impact my sleep more than a drink or two, and the periods where I lost weight have been more closely correlated with the periods where I was eating very few sweets.
Of course with both, the delta between low/moderate consumption and a baseline of zero consumption is low - it's the excessive consumption that causes trouble.
Like OP I found the daily ritual to be pretty easy after a couple weeks, but like OP I also missed the social aspect (and this is why I've sort of settled on the opinion that giving up drinking completely is not worth it, at least for me). If I felt like I was experiencing a step function improvement in life quality I'd keep it up... but for me it just hasn't been the silver bullet it's made out to be.
I'm not really one to label one food ingredient as the cause of all health problems, but if I had to choose one I would choose refined sugar long before alcohol.
There are many people who would consciously love to stop drinking but can't find alternative to stop the storm in their heads. This could be caused by many things, from trauma to ADHD.
The best quote I heard about addiction is: "I only have control over my first drink".
The worst part is that alcohol and drugs have a strong stigma, but for people who are suffering anything that can turn their mind off is viable, gambling, binge watching tv or playing video games. The latter are often overlooked and ignored by relatives.
My sleep has gotten so much better. I really didn't realize that alcohol didn't affect just the night after I had a drink, but even the next one or two nights..
“I didn’t notice any changes, so I’m quitting for another year.”
I have been doing no-soda januaries and septembers for 15 years now, as a way to avoid kidney stones, something my family has a number of cases of.
Everyone told this to reacted as if it was a novel concept and thought of doing it for smoking or coffee. I never heard of damp januaries before.
Now I would love to tell you about all the amazing magical healthy benefits that have come with that, but unfortunately there are none. I feel no difference at all.
But Caffeine... oh man that is a tough one.
My main wish is for non-alcoholic craft beer to become much more widespread and cheaper. In Australia alcohol is taxed at a ludicrous rate, but non-alcoholic drinks are not, however they often attract the same price - which is disappointing.
One thing that I'd miss is the taste though, I don't drink soda or sugary drinks, and I can't think of a replacement for the taste of good wine, beer or spirits. (there's good dealcoolized beers nowadays but it feels like cheating). Not that I guess one absolutely needs it, but is still part of the culinary experience. It's probably because I never looked though, is there anything non alcoholic that "grown ups" drink?
I think what made it stick for me this time is cycling. If I want to be up and hit the road, even one drink the night before will totally derail that, so the calculation completely shifted.
Drinking is really fun, being up to no good until 7am on a bender is really fun, but I much prefer my early mornings with a coffee and cycling nowadays.
On my ON years, I felt compelled to drink, every night I had at least a beer, if for no reason other than, I wanted to make the "most of it".
On my OFF years, I didn't feel the need to drink, and generally slept better, lost weight and was more focused.
Stopped drinking completely after that.
Whoa! That's not healthy at all... ;)
I've found non-alcoholic beers are actually pretty tasty these days, moreso the longer its been since having a real beer. They definitely scratch the itch to "have something" while out socializing. I don't miss the alcohol at all.
This means that at most, I tend to consume no more than 1-2 drinks per year, usually if I'm curious about how a particular beverage tastes and there's no alternative drinks available to have with my meal.
Every restaurant shoves alcohol menu in your face and your always being asked if you want a drink. Idk why I felt weird just having water for so long.
I think the only I miss about drinking is mostly being 20. Alcohol is a little painful now hangovers and heartburn and bloated feeling.
Sure alcohol is ingrained in society, sure Americans tried prohibition and all that but its not gloom and doom. Muslims who are about 2 billion choose not to consume alcohol and go about their lives without it.
They just do fine without it. How does that work for them? ?
I mean I have never consumed and never will so why is it that your society finds it acceptable?
Isnt tobabbo going down in consumption because it is being taxed shit out of?
Why can't you voluntarily try to influence your alcohol consumption by paying a "alcohol tax"?
There are benefits of not consuming alcohol, there are problems associated with alcohol, and people who try to convince alcohol is good for you are generally lying to themselves.
