Quitting alcohol

[Grudge]

Hey guys, I told myself to quit alcohol. My consumption was on average 3 beers a week, and it was usually on a Friday or Saturday. It's been about two and a half weeks and I already feel the urges but I'm fighting them off. Unfortunately, I gave myself some bad habits, like there are certain activities I do at the end of the week that are chores like cooking or sitting down to write a long essay, and to make them tolerable, I would drink the beers. So now those activities are associated with beer drinking and when I need to do those activities I also am reminded about beer drinking. Like even a Friday or weekend is associated with beer drinking so that when it's that time of the week I'm reminded about it. So I need to break these associations as part of the giving up process. I'll try.

[zim]

it's a tough road but you're on the right track recognizing those urges and not giving in. it will take a long time to get past those associations but eventually they will weaken. the most important part is not giving in.

[Ryeknow]

. My consumption was on average 3 beers a week

[jawn galliano]

yeah, the behavioral conditioning/associations are really the main thing to get past if you're trying to bust up an unwanted habit. but with your consumption down that low already, it's at least fortunate you're clearly not dealing with any kind of physical dependency. have you tried substitution/counter-conditioning? perhaps there's an activity you could do whenever the urge arises or in preparation for sitting down to do whatever you normally do when drinking. could just be going for a walk around the neighborhood to clear your head, meditation, who knows.

i've had to do a lot of that over the last yearish and i've had a lot of success with it

[Ryeknow]

Pick up an instrument and jam

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

I am forever a binge drinker. I can go weeks and weeks with zero booze intake. But if I get past the 2nd or 3rd beer, I'm going till I can't anymore.

[Mesarthim]

I am forever a binge drinker. I can go weeks and weeks with zero booze intake. But if I get past the 2nd or 3rd beer, I'm going till I can't anymore.

This is also me. I just went well over a month without drinking (mostly out of sard) but then went out with some work colleagues and got absolutely shit faced. It was fun but did I pay for it the next day. It’s been a week and haven’t had a beer since. I find that switching it up with NA beer helps, as I don’t really drink soda and want something besides water or juice.

Really though, I think the physical addiction part comes down to genetics whereas for everyone else it’s more psychological than a physical addiction. If you have a family history of alcoholics you’re in for a bad time.

[Grudge]

You know that kills brain cells though right?

[Grudge]

yeah, the behavioral conditioning/associations are really the main thing to get past if you're trying to bust up an unwanted habit. but with your consumption down that low already, it's at least fortunate you're clearly not dealing with any kind of physical dependency. have you tried substitution/counter-conditioning? perhaps there's an activity you could do whenever the urge arises or in preparation for sitting down to do whatever you normally do when drinking. could just be going for a walk around the neighborhood to clear your head, meditation, who knows.

i've had to do a lot of that over the last yearish and i've had a lot of success with it

I might have to try that. I don't know what to substitute for it though. Coca cola? The fizzy drink feels similar when it goes in the gut and maybe the sugar rush may curb the inclination.

[jawn galliano]

in my own case, i avoided a more direct substitution like that (sodas are unhealthy and also formulated to be addictive, though less directly so than your typical psychoactives) - it's not an entirely bad idea, but i think as a general matter it's best not to substitute a bad habit with a less-bad one. the flipside of that is it requires a lot more creativity, and in my case a lot of introspection and honesty around what was driving those bad habits to begin with. and a lot of experimentation to figure out what did and didn't work and why. basically it's a simple idea whose execution can be very fraught and vexing. shit is hard

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

I am forever a binge drinker. I can go weeks and weeks with zero booze intake. But if I get past the 2nd or 3rd beer, I'm going till I can't anymore.

This is also me. I just went well over a month without drinking (mostly out of sard) but then went out with some work colleagues and got absolutely shit faced. It was fun but did I pay for it the next day. It’s been a week and haven’t had a beer since. I find that switching it up with NA beer helps, as I don’t really drink soda and want something besides water or juice.

Really though, I think the physical addiction part comes down to genetics whereas for everyone else it’s more psychological than a physical addiction. If you have a family history of alcoholics you’re in for a bad time.

I very much have an addictive personality. If I find that I really enjoy something, its fucking on. There is no amount of money or time that I won't pour into it. It's fucking incredible I haven't absolutely ruined my life in some. Luckily I got hooked on collecting vintage toys instead of something like heroin

[slugbait]

Over a year-and-a-half with no booze for the I

[Ninny]

Alcohol while cooking

[User]

i drink for work, i drink as a hobby, i drink for pleasure. i drink heaps but i drank every single day of that recent three-week ireland UK trip, so i haven't had a beer since i got back six days ago, just to balance it out.

with that said, fellating lover's birthday party tomorrow, and i'm supplying the brews

[Grudge]

I don't think I could physically handle drinking every day. I think I would get ill pretty quick.

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

Drinking everyday and getting loaded everyday are 2 wildly different things. I can't handle the first either because it always leads to the other.

[Grudge]

When was the last time you drank at all?

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

Wednesday. Me and some folks do trivia every week at our local watering hole.

[User]

i would enjoy me some baltimore trivia with nick

[User]

i'll answer all the questions about australia

there has to be some right

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

i would enjoy me some baltimore trivia with nick

You've got an open invitation if you really want to fly all that way to see how dumb we are

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

i'll answer all the questions about australia

there has to be some right

Why the fuck does everything have a nickname

[zim]

yeah nah, stop gasbaggin' mate

[Dr. Gonzo]

Been there done that. I think the hardest part is dealing with the delirium and the repetitions associated with heavy drinking. All i can truthfully say is if you want it bad enough you'll find a way to overcome. Once you do , you'll see the bright parts of life and find enjoyment in it.

[brandonfromohio]

Im 5 years sober believe it or not. Alcohol sucks dick

[shadowalk]

i'll answer all the questions about australia

there has to be some right

what is the national dish of australia?

[User]

i'll answer all the questions about australia

there has to be some right

Why the fuck does everything have a nickname

we abbreviate cos it's easier, struth

what is the national dish of australia?

white australia: meat pie
post-ww2 australia: chicken parma
post-1970s australia: N/A, too many cultures/cuisines

[User]

with that said, fellating lover's birthday party tomorrow, and i'm supplying the brews

reporting back that a very fine time was had, and i consumed six or possible seven beers. i saw many people i had not seen for a while and i met several new people, some of whom i had long heard of but not met, and others i had communicated with online. i attended this party with my wife and she approved of my drunkenness, evaluating my obnoxiousness ratio as sub-1%, a feat i attest to the preceding week of sobriety

[Abzu]

yeah, the behavioral conditioning/associations are really the main thing to get past

This was the biggest hurdle when I quit smoking

[Verbal]

i never drink alcohol

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

On my 2nd beer in this period.

[User]

i got fuckeyed last night, it was commemorative drinks for my boss who died age 87

[User]

i wrote his obituary. it is the third obituary i have written since 2020 covid times for mentors or bosses of mine that have died. i am becoming an obituary hard-on bearer

https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/mour ... f-myanmar/

and stormy, jim also gave up information to the CIA in indonesia later, possibly contributing to the kill lists and the mania that followed. i know you found the jakarta method revealing

[jawn galliano]

fuck, sorry for your loss luke. he sounds like a remarkable hard-on bearer. your obit actually made it into naked capitalism's daily roundup today, which is a very odd crossing of my own little internet streams

the kill lists and ensuing mania are obviously fucked, but that's a 'many such cases' scenario if ever there was one. to the extent one considers the people doing the lead-up groundwork 'collaborators,' i don't believe much if any of that was witting (need-to-know basis and all).

[User]

glad you won't shit on his grave

[jawn galliano]

it is true that i am an unreasonably hateful person, but i reserve my enmity for the people who actually deserve it. and it is only intensified by their cooptation and corruption of the fruits of well-meaning peoples' efforts

[deckard]

didnt read the thread but i drink quite a bit on fri / sat

should maybe dial it back, but hard after a week at work, i just wanna jam