Planning to give up drinking in the New Year?

[Spijed]

Been teetotal for over three years now.

[maidenover]

Even though people have been drinking alcohol for thousands of years the liver has refused to learn to live with it. Once alcohol is consumed, the liver's first task is to get rid of it before attacking other sugars in the bloodstream. One pint of beer takes on average, and depending on ones' metabolism, general health and the alcohol content, between three and five hours to remove. Then it turns its attention toward other sugar processing, such as carbohydrates and other items high on the glycemic index. Imagine the livers task when ten pints are consumed. One or two sessions no big deal providing there is recovery time between them, otherwise blood sugar will eventually lead to serious liver and pancreatic problems as well as diabetes.

Take it seriously guys, I am flying back to England today because my brother passed away doing this.

[fatboy47]

If I drink....'appen once a fortnight...I do it to get drunk...I've honestly never seen the point of drinking for any other reason.

If I go out and just have 2 or 3...all I get is sleepy and an urge to be getting up for a slash during the night..at least if I get legless I get a decent kip.

[Sutton-Claret]

Sounds like you need to stop stuffing your fat Face rather than giving up drinking. 3 stone overweight!

I'll be posting an eating topic just after Christmas

ps - You're a prick.... I can diet

[BleedingClaret]

Probably not the best site to bring up this topic...

I'm seriously considering giving up drinking in the New Year, and I don't mean just doing dry January.

I wouldn't say I'm an alcoholic - I only ever drink weak lager (Carling / Fosters etc) which doesn't tend to get me drunk, however I drink pretty much every night. Last night I had 8 cans of Carling and never normally have less than 4. I could probably do to lose about 3 stone and would like to do the Great North run again in September.

Anybody else with similar resolutions? Anybody else given up drinking? How did they do it? What did you replace alcohol with? (I hate fizzy sweet diet drinks)

At home,
Start by not drinking on school nights
Just drink on Friday and Saturday nights
You'll start to look forward to it and in my experience you eventually drink less on those nights too and enjoy it more.
When out,
Don't get in rounds with proper drinkers

[bfcjg]

I drink less but better beers.

[Sutton-Claret]

Haven't touched a drop so far......

[THEWELLERNUT70]

Going back well over a decade I used to drink every single night of the week ( usually a full bottle of red). But over time I reduced it right down to where I only drink 1 day per week (usually a Saturday evening). The festive period is slightly different imo opinion where I will have back to back days of drinking, but now that that period is over I shall be back in to my normal routine.

The best thing I would suggest is a gradual reduction over a period of time. Instead of 4 cans per night have 2, then 1 then every other day and so on and so forth until you get to the level of consumption that you are comfortable with and want to be at

[FactualFrank]

While not an excuse to drink more, for anybody who drinks often, consider taking Milk Thistle.

I have regularly blood tests due to medication I take and time after time the liver enzymes have dropped after taking Milk Thistle. Even the doctor admits its helping the liver but cant give thoughts as its not had long medical trials so he cant advise me to take it. It definitely helps though.

[houseboy]

Cutting out drinking in the house would be a good place for me to start - good advice

We normally ONLY drink in the house - it's far cheaper. I probably drink more than I should (mainly wine) but I've done far worse in my life and at my age now I'm not too bothered. I think too many people decide to stop in the new year as some kind of resolution. Stopping wouldn't make me happy and I keep myself fit anyway so my advice is do what you actually ENJOY not what you think you SHOULD do.

[Blackrod]

Everything in moderation. If you can't go a night without booze you have a problem. It's a shame if people can't enjoy a drink without having to get completely drunk. It's also a shame if people have to stop altogether if they can't control it.

[Fretters]

It's harder to give up drinking at home than to give up going to the pub, for obvious reasons (the main one being that you can't stop going to your house!)

The best advice apparently is to make sure you still have a (non alcoholic) drink in your hand. Your brain misses the habit of holding a glass and supping from it more than you realise. It's not a bad idea to keep drinking from a pint glass, just fill it with water or sugar free cordial.

[cricketfieldclarets]

If I drink....'appen once a fortnight...I do it to get drunk...I've honestly never seen the point of drinking for any other reason.

If I go out and just have 2 or 3...all I get is sleepy and an urge to be getting up for a slash during the night..at least if I get legless I get a decent kip.

Drunk sleep is not proper sleep. Its bad for your body.

[HatfieldClaret]

"I wouldn't say I'm an alcoholic"

A common phrase.

There are many different types of alcoholic. Those who need a drink to start the day; those who need a drink in the evening to be able to relax, those who don't normally drink but when they do just don't know how to stop; as well as those who physically need the booze or they get the shakes etc etc

Good advice to take it slowly with short term targets and see how it goes.

[ŽižkovClaret]

Probably not the best site to bring up this topic...

I'm seriously considering giving up drinking in the New Year, and I don't mean just doing dry January.

I wouldn't say I'm an alcoholic - I only ever drink weak lager (Carling / Fosters etc) which doesn't tend to get me drunk, however I drink pretty much every night. Last night I had 8 cans of Carling and never normally have less than 4. I could probably do to lose about 3 stone and would like to do the Great North run again in September.

Anybody else with similar resolutions? Anybody else given up drinking? How did they do it? What did you replace alcohol with? (I hate fizzy sweet diet drinks)

I'd say if you cut that lot out, and don't replace it with sugary pop, that 3 stone will bloody fall off you

[ŽižkovClaret]

Not unrelated, the thing that always gets me about Sanctimonious Dry January ideas, is do bar staff not have mortgages to pay in January etc? I'm uncomfortable with the wider country backing dry January when some pubs struggle to make ends meet, although you would hope that Xmas would cover them through the quiet start to the year.

I can imagine what any publican's view might be on the matter.

[Vintage Claret]

3 years ago I read an eye opening and very scarey article about how bad drinking alcohol on a regular basis is for you so I vowed there and then to give up reading articles.

Joking aside, although I usually have 3 or 4 dry days a week (except holidays) and don't really 'cane it' when I'm out I am definitely going to cut down and drink less in the house but can't see me giving up completely just yet.

[karatekid]

The question you need to ask yourself is not what do I drink, but why do I drink. Find the answer to this and you are off to a good start.