Teetotalism

[steve jobs' pancreas]

I'm sure there are some abstainers out there, I'd be interested in hearing some stories as to why, how its been etc etc.

I sometimes wonder if my life would be better without the sauce, February is looming fast and I'm seriously thinking of giving it a crack at least for a month (nice short boring month). Just wondering about the difference between the two lifestyle choices, there are no recent acts of dog or health concerns (that I am aware of) that are driving this. However I must admit to being a bit concerned I'll like it.



I guess this could have gone in the nutrition section however reasons for giving away the grog may not necessarily be for health reasons.

This may have already been a thread, if so, Knuckles, you know what to do :eyebrows:

 

[moorey]

Used to drink lots. Never liked taste. Then couldn't afford to drink while studying, and hated the hangovers. Just easier and smarter for me not to drink. Had 2 beers and a Moët in last 25 years. Both tasted like arse.

 

[Zam]

Im the opposite, i love the taste, and love a drink, so have really put in a big effort not to have a beer or 2 most nights.....

 

[SlowManiac]

I'm not 100% teetotal but I very rarely drink and have not been drunk in about 6 years. I still have the odd light (low alcohol not low calorie) beer and even with these usually have a light beer shandy!

I don't miss it (used to drink a fair bit) most of my socialising is done on the bike. I don't really like being around drunk people. I'd never go back, I love never having hangovers (I used to get the most evil ones!).

I kind of just drifted away from boozing due to doing a lot of training. I now have such a low tolerance to alcohol I can't really even handle a full strength beer.

and I am used to people laughing at my light beer shandies now!

I now kind of see boozing as being like smoking - bad for your health, expensive and kinda dumb. I do get the social aspect though and I understand it has it's place in moderation.

 

[scblack]

Im the opposite, i love the taste, and love a drink, so have really put in a big effort not to have a beer or 2 most nights.....

I love a drink. No problems ever, but can easily drink WAY too much.

I have at least three AFD's a week. AFD = Alcohol Free Days. Gives the body and liver a rest. Doctor tries to make me drink less, but my general health is excellent so I'm not bothered really.

 

[Dales Cannon]

... Both tasted like arse.

You are doing it wrong.

 

[moorey]

You are doing it wrong.

Even the smell of beer makes me want to wretch these days. Prefer smelling my daughters rancid lentil farts.

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Have not had a drop since 93, woke up in a random flower garden, spent some time at the local ED, best thing that ever happened. Complete aversion to the taste and smell of alcohol.

All that money saved, all those hung over days missed and all I have to do is deal with is peoples stupid questions.

The uni students, blow 200 a weekend... all the bike parts they can't afford, the tragedy of it.

 

[moorey]

The uni students, blow 200 a weekend... all the bike parts they can't afford, the tragedy of it.

This. So many unemployed people, and students I know, go without everything, just to be able to piss up big on the weekend and feel shit/sleep all day after. Just baffles me.

 

[Mywifesirrational]

This. So many unemployed people, and students I know, go without everything, just to be able to piss up big on the weekend and feel shit/sleep all day after. Just baffles me.

The problem is they give me the same strange look when they realise I'm not spending 200 per weekend on grog :noidea:

We do have a alcohol based society, not that I thinks its a bad thing with the exception of binge drinking and king st king hits.

 

[frenchman]

I used to be with it, but then they changed what *it* was. Now what I'm with isn't *it*, and what's *it* seems weird and scary to me.

Don't drink much now but used to. It's a bit of fun and an easy way to meet people and make plans that'll never eventuate.
Never needed to save the booze money for bike parts because I just made do with the bucket that I had.

Can go a few weeks without booze easily enough, but do enjoy it every now and again. Depends on who I'm socialising with and what we're up to.
Can't beat a few post ride beers and smack talk though. Giving each other shit after a ride is one of the best bits about riding in a group!

 

[JTmofo]

I'm sure there are some abstainers out there, I'd be interested in hearing some stories as to why, how its been etc etc.

I sometimes wonder if my life would be better without the sauce, February is looming fast and I'm seriously thinking of giving it a crack at least for a month (nice short boring month). Just wondering about the difference between the two lifestyle choices, there are no recent acts of dog or health concerns (that I am aware of) that are driving this. However I must admit to being a bit concerned I'll like it.



I guess this could have gone in the nutrition section however reasons for giving away the grog may not necessarily be for health reasons.

This may have already been a thread, if so, Knuckles, you know what to do :eyebrows:

I'm following this with interest! We've recently had a bub, and after the shoulder Recon last year my fitness and interest in being fit has waned significantly.
Finding it all too easy to sit on my arse and drink a beer (or 4) most nights. Not out of the "need" for beer, more for the familiarity of it.

I'm also seriously contemplating going dry for Feb.... maybe we should have a "Beer Free Feb" thread to offer support for those tempted by the demon during the dry spell!!!! :thumb:

 

[Knuckles]

In the heady days, I drank a lot, a fucking lot. Like a slab and a half every 2 days, and blew >$150 on a Saturday night (back when you could get a bourbon and dry for $4)

Few things led to me stopping:

1. Six month removal of liberty
2. Was working 16-18 hours a day during tomato season and my limited free time was spent in a blurred haze
3. Came too one day to find I was married
4. Went out one night as DD and realised what a pack of twats we were

That last one was the straw that broke the alcoholic's back. Went 15 years without a drink, even now, I only have a beer when it's stupid hot, and a carton of foreign beer can sit for 6-8 months in my shed, before I leave it out for the bin man to take.

Only regret I have, is having to listen to Mrs Knuckles whilst stone cold sober...but I actually remember shit now, and my kids don't look at me with the slight expression of disgust they reserve for their mother as she vomits into the mop bucket, yet again.

 

[Moggio]

I never drank, I think mainly because I hated as a kid, seeing the adults I respected become complete shit heads when they were drunk. I also hated the smell of the stuff (so I assumed the taste as well)

When a teenager and in my 20s this was very alienating and frustrating because people don't like someone who doesn't drink. The social rejection and constant attempts to trick you into drinking just gets exhausting.

Once your in your 30s and above no one cares anymore and drinking is not front and center in peoples lives in the same way, unless they have a problem.

So can't say I have felt I have missed out on anything as far as the effects. Seeing the drawbacks of cost, the morning after, stupid behaviour (especially in the era of some arse inevitably filming your embarrassing moment for posterity) and health issues it really seems to have few benefits unless one can really just enjoy those one or two drinks every so often.

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

If I could show a bit more restraint with the grog it would be better. I usually don't drink on a school nite (except Sunday), but on the weekends I sometimes have what I would classify as too many.

Sunday night is the worst for me as I try and ward off the feelings that another work week conjures up, so the week ultimately starts with dread, anxiety, lack of sleep and a hangover, a sensational mix, you should really try it sometime.

Aint it odd, you can easily find the destination on a map and have no idea how to get there.



edit: I'm conscious of the timing of this thread and that it may seem like a belated New Year's Resolution, or convenient given it is Feb Fast soon. It is a question I have asked myself for a while now and now is the time I felt I could throw it out there.

 

[moorey]

I used to have a job like that. Didn't drink, but ended in depression and anxiety. Fucked that job off, thst was 2010. My current job, only 7 months in, is emotionally a very tough gig, but I love it, and hours are family friendly and not long. Happy to take a pay cut for life benefits any day. I see my kids every morning and night and all weekend. I get to ride the shit out of my bike, often with my kids, and I walk out of work, usually before 4, and don't think about work again till the second I walk in the four Monday.
That's nothing to do with alcohol, it wouldn't have helped when things were shit, and wouldn't improve my already good situation.
Is fucking off your work an option, if not a short term inconvenience? I remember you're also studying pretty hard?

 

[scblack]

edit: I'm conscious of the timing of this thread and that it may seem like a belated New Year's Resolution, or convenient given it is Feb Fast soon. It is a question I have asked myself for a while now and now is the time I felt I could throw it out there.

Its a damn good question, and as JTMofo says, the familiarity is a major reason why I drink.

You may have prompted me into a dry February. Don't quote me on that though.

 

[FatMuz]

Stopped drinking just over 14 years ago when my son was born. I don't miss it one little bit.
I grew up with an alcoholic father who was then replaced with an alcoholic and violent step father. It was never a clear cut decision to stop drinking, I just realised one day several months after my son was born, that I hadn't had a drink... and didn't feel I needed to have one.
Funny how similar experiences can affect people differently... my sister grew up under the same conditions as me and she is quite a heavy drinker.

 

[moorey]

You have definitely prompted me into a dry February.

ok captain.

 

[Dales Cannon]

According to my GP my alcohol intake classifieds me as a 'non drinker'.

Taking a month off is good but how about overall? Cut back and enjoy an ocaasional drink rather than cut out for a few weeks and then get back into it as hard as ever.

A mate did a whole year alcohol free. He would drink a carton of beer, three or four bottles of wine and at least half a bottle of scotch a week. In the dry year he started running and swimming and hiking and was fit and healthy. The day after his dry year he celebrated by getting rolling drunk for three days. And then resumed his old ways and cut the exercise. He went from someone great to work with and have a chat with to someone to avoid.

It's the area under the curve that is important!