Anyone else gave up Alcohol?

P

papervalue

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On 21/05/09 I will be alcohol free for 5 years.

Never made the decision to give it up, just happened. At time I don't think i even had a drink problem, I would have considered myself a social drinker. Also gave up the fags and coke(mineral) which i drank a lot of, before this.

I do miss it, nothing stopping me from having a drink in due course. Now if I started drinking again i would be afraid to be pulled for drink driving the morning after being out the night before.(no real idea how long it takes to fully leave your body, everyone is different)

What is the hardest thing to give up? Could other social drinkers on the site go on the dry for the next six months just for the challenge and money saving from it?
 
I usually give it up for about 6-7 months of each year yeah! ie. Mon-Thur I'm off it & back on it at the weekends..... does that count?
 
papervalue said:
Could other social drinker's on the site go on the dry for the next six months just for the challenge and money saving from it?
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I could, but I don't want to.

Fags on the other hand - I know I could give them up and should give them up, and I will. Quite soon I'd say - at this stage I don't even really enjoy them any more except when I'm having a drink.
 
I gave up alcohol once, was the worst hour of my life . No seriously, I was on medication last year for about 3 months while going through a back problem and the stuff I was on meant drink was out. After it was all over, one weekend I had a couple glasses of wine and was like I'd consumed Chateau Lafitte's entire cellar. The system obviously adjusts to it when you're drinking and then when off it, the system can't take it again until presumably it gets used to it. I would never drink during the week and weekends are some vino with a nice meal @ home. I suppose over a year you'd save a bit by stopping, but don't smoke, gamble, or run a Ferrari so I count it as one of "life's little pleasures" after a week at t'mill. I reckon it would be harder to give up AAM for 6 months than booze
 
papervalue said:
What is the hardest thing to give up? Could other social drinker's on the site go on the dry for the next six months just for the challenge and money saving from it?
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I'm in my very late twenties and have a night or two out every weekend. I wouldn't give up drinking because I enjoy it and I think that in later life, I would regret not going out when I was able to (no kids etc.).


I know that in theory you can go out and have fun without drinking - but I really don't think it is as much fun!!
 
Probably very few people give up drinking to save money,more for health reasons i'd think. I tend to drink more at home than out socially,mainly because not near a pub,gave up the smokes 3 months ago and piling on the weight,specially the belly,that will be the reason i give it up very soon(hopefully)
 

Giving up the smokes was one of the best things I ever did. 30 Rothmans a day was the job! It was probably my 4th or 5th serious attempt but I was at the stage that I wasn't enjoying them as much as I used to and I was playing soccer at a fairly serious level and that made it easier that final time.

Saying goodbye to the Beamish would probably be a bigger challenge though.
 
I was always a social drinker but never a heavy drinker. I suffered badly from hang overs no matter how little I drank. I have noticed over the last few years that my appetite for alcohol has waned completely. I have absolutely no interest in going out and drinking, either socially or to get drunk.
In fact, whenever there are work night outs (that sometimes have a free bar) I find I make excuses not to go. I would never say I would never drink again but right now I just have no interest.
Thankfully I never smoked but I do (did) drink a lot of coke. I have make a concious effort to stop and I have really cut down lately. In fact I don't think I have had one for about a month but to be brutally honest I miss it every day and I find myself craving it. When I see advertisments on TV I can practically taste the stuff. Hopefully I can stay away from it.
 
Wow - that's two former coke addicts!

Seriously though, never would have thought the stuff could have so much appeal.

Is it not easy enough to replace though with something very sweet (but reasonably healthy) mixed with fizzy water maybe?
 
I'm off the Cigs since Mid January this year. First time I really tried it. I done it cold turkey and if you get through the first two weeks or so the hard work is done. I had great motivation though as my second child is due in the next two weeks and my first really wanted me to stop smoking.

I don't think I'd give up the drink I enjoy a pint. I never drink at home though and I don't really drink in other peoples houses at parties. I don't know why that is but I kinda only enjoy a drink in a pub.
 
Lex Foutish said:
Giving up the smokes was one of the best things I ever did. 30 Rothmans a day was the job! It was probably my 4th or 5th serious attempt...
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TheBlock said:
I'm off the Cigs since Mid January this year. First time I really tried it. I done it cold turkey and if you get through the first two weeks or so the hard work is done.
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Well done guys. I think I'll set a date for stopping.
 
Caveat said:
Well done guys. I think I'll set a date for stopping.
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Thanks Caveat, it's worth it I can't believe how good some of my wifes cooking actually tastes . I would have saved a few quid too but for the emergency budget.
 
Heavy smoker and drinker here, last year of my twenties. I've kind of set my 30th birthday as the 'cop-on' day. I live in the sticks with a great little local (no TV in the bar, which leads to great debates and conversations), I'm single as are my friends and there is very little to do in the evenings so we often end up going for a few. I'll find it hard to cut down on my attendance there but I will do it. Was never addicted to coke or any other fizzy drink, I don't have a sweet tooth. Fair play to anyone who has given up the fags.
 
Feardorcha said:
I tend to drink more at home than out socially,
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Same here. I dislike the social aspect of drink. I prefer to sit alone in a darkened room shouting at the telly.

Seriously though, I wouldn't give up drink for the sake of it. I enjoy a drink in company and find it helps me to unwind. I think most people though have an uncomfortable relationship with alcohol in that they're not sure who's in charge in the relationship. I'm not convinced, however, that giving it up for any set period of time would necessarily settle the issue.
 
Staples said:
I think most people though have an uncomfortable relationship with alcohol in that they're not sure who's in charge in the relationship. I'm not convinced, however, that giving it up for any set period of time would necessarily settle the issue.
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I like your logic!

I drink at home 90% of the time too.

Pubs are too expensive, have too many annoying people in them, shut too early, don't play the right music and have a poorer choice than the offie.

My nearest pub is 4-5 miles away anyway so for me it's inconvenient on top of everything else.
 
It's not that I prefer drinking at home,I work in a golf club bar so it can sometimes feel like a busmans holiday when it comes to going out. As for the smokes the main reason I gave them up was that I wasn't enjoying them as much,seemed to be doing it just for the sake of it.
 
I gave up the fags (20 silk cut purple a day) on January 26th 2009 at 12.50pm, cold turkey. Had a little help from Allan Carr (but it is all pure willpower really). I gave up because I couldn't afford them, plain and simple. I have had 2 drags in total since I quit, one each at house parties. My husband, who gave up the same time as me, never really quit, I found this out a month ago. He is smoking but not in front of me. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss them, I think for most, you probably will, it is after all a drug addiction. But, I will never smoke again and that is great, the best part about not smoking is I can go on a plane or a cinema, meeting in work and not worry about when I can get my next fag and also knowing, if I have €40 left until pay day which is 10 days away, I can survive, I don't break out in a cold sweat because I have to buy fags.

It's Friday and I can't wait to get home tonight and pop open the nice bottle of white I have in the fridge. You have to have some badness in life, some treat to look forward to. It's deserved after all!
 
I can see the headlines now.

Do you want to quit smoking, drinking, coke....join AAM .
 
callybags said:
Where do you get time for housework?
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You should see the 'beer back pack' with tube going to my mouth that I use - it's brilliant.

BTW, unless I had a serious health scare, I can safely say I will never give up alcohol - I just wouldn't want to. I enjoy it too much.
 
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