Giving up /reducing booze ....

Also, what me and my other half do in order to justify having a couple of drinks is this: We'll go to a pub. BUT it has to be at least a couple of miles away and we have to walk there and back. A couple of pints (genuinely) a bit of a rest, then set off back. 

It's our way of balancing it out. 

3 hours ago, The Masked Poster said:

That is unusual and very tragic, sorry to hear that. I have never smoked, cannot stand it but I have relatives, 2 cousins. One never smoked (maybe experimented as a kid) and the other like a chimney since 15/16. One of them died of lung cancer in their early 50's. 

It's not as unusual as you might imagine. IE healthy person drops dead instead of self abuser. 

There are always outliers such as alcoholic cigar smokers who live until 100 but it still doesn’t change what the researchers advise: if you want to improve your odds of having a long healthy life, you should adopt a healthy lifestyle. Healthy life doesn’t mean boring life either, life can be amazingly fun, rich and fulfilling without lashings of unhealthy stuff. 

17 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Yep...been on the Guinness zero...it's excellent 

These days I add non/low alcohol beers to my overall beer intake and I have found it extremely beneficial in many ways 

I highly recommend the Erdinger low alcohol as one to try if you have haven't already done so. 

2 hours ago, Copa said:

There are always outliers such as alcoholic cigar smokers who live until 100 but it still doesn’t change what the researchers advise: if you want to improve your odds of having a long healthy life, you should adopt a healthy lifestyle. Healthy life doesn’t mean boring life either, life can be amazingly fun, rich and fulfilling without lashings of unhealthy stuff. 

We note the outliers because they are outliers.

More common is a very good friend who died last year before her 55th birthday. A life well lived, no one would deny. But she would have traded some of that booze, and all of those fags, for a few more years with her daughter, who is still devastated.

4 hours ago, Copa said:

There are always outliers such as alcoholic cigar smokers who live until 100 but it still doesn’t change what the researchers advise: if you want to improve your odds of having a long healthy life, you should adopt a healthy lifestyle. Healthy life doesn’t mean boring life either, life can be amazingly fun, rich and fulfilling without lashings of unhealthy stuff. 

I agree with you, I would not advocate a lifestyle of not giving a toss and doing things to excess.

As I said earlier, the key is to strike a decent balance. If you smoke 60 a day, live off takeaways and down 3 bottles of wine every day, the chances are you won't live to a ripe old age - in fact the odds are certainly against you.

At the same time, having a few drinks on a weekend won't kill you either, even if it is over the safe drinking limit. It's all about being a little bit sensible. 

I've been doing a bit of a tot up and the ratio of people who died younger but healthy, versus people who overindulged and died is really not that great. I'm not talking the odd anomaly here either. It's also a bit like a fair few people I've known who have saved huge pension pots, planning to retire at mid 50's or so, only to drop dead and never get to see any of it, leaving a devastated partner. Of course, this doesn't mean you don't plan for your old age, just that you need to appreciate today as well. Because as Sir Cliff once said, "Tomorrow sometimes never comes".  

7 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

I agree with you, I would not advocate a lifestyle of not giving a toss and doing things to excess.

As I said earlier, the key is to strike a decent balance. If you smoke 60 a day, live off takeaways and down 3 bottles of wine every day, the chances are you won't live to a ripe old age - in fact the odds are certainly against you.

At the same time, having a few drinks on a weekend won't kill you either, even if it is over the safe drinking limit. It's all about being a little bit sensible. 

I've been doing a bit of a tot up and the ratio of people who died younger but healthy, versus people who overindulged and died is really not that great. I'm not talking the odd anomaly here either. It's also a bit like a fair few people I've known who have saved huge pension pots, planning to retire at mid 50's or so, only to drop dead and never get to see any of it, leaving a devastated partner. Of course, this doesn't mean you don't plan for your old age, just that you need to appreciate today as well. Because as Sir Cliff once said, "Tomorrow sometimes never comes".  

Chatting to my accountant a few weeks ago , essentially his opinion , " if you've worked for the public sector or a large company all your life , then retirement on a healthy pension is quite likely , if you've been self employed for the bulk of your life , don't retire , because you'll probably be dead a couple of years later " 

I fall into the second category

13 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Chatting to my accountant a few weeks ago , essentially his opinion , " if you've worked for the public sector or a large company all your life , then retirement on a healthy pension is quite likely , if you've been self employed for the bulk of your life , don't retire , because you'll probably be dead a couple of years later " 

I fall into the second category

Yes, the people I'm thinking of were SE too. One only this May, own building firm, made quite a lot of money.....hadn't quite retired but was planning to within the next year. Fell over....complications....dead within a week. 

9 hours ago, Copa said:

Earlier this year I cut back to 2 or 3 drinks a week and only on Fri-Sun.

One drink can be a pint or a half pint… in my system it’s all one drink regardless of size and I won’t go larger than a pint (ie jug).

I’ll also now ensure it’s a quality brew so as to not waste my 2 or 3 drink quota. If I drink a rubbish beer I’m annoyed with the waste.

It was hard to start with but I’ve been pretty stubborn and have stuck with it.

My health has improved, my weight has dropped, my bank balance has improved and I no longer feel like I need a drink to relax. I’m no spring chicken these days and the path to a healthy older life is starting to narrow.

Interestingly, the urge to drink no longer buzzes my mind. It’s now a pleasant treat rather than a necessity.

Best of luck with it!

Cheers Copa ....pretty much where I want to be....3 or so drinks at weekend 

Good shout on quality beer but.....I've deliberately bought cheap rubbish beer so that I didn't want much!!! Maybe you are right though 

ITS THE WEEKEND! if u cant have a few drinks at the weekend after working all week then WTF?  can you do these days?

3 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

ITS THE WEEKEND! if u cant have a few drinks at the weekend after working all week then WTF?  can you do these days?

It is YOUR life , live it as you wish.

I've never been a big drinker and have never really drank during the week.

However, it has concerned me in the past how much I enjoy a drink and whether I might have some small issues with it. I was at the point where I felt like I needed a few beers on a Friday. Almost as if it was the only way I could properly relax and switch off after a hard week. Also, if there is drink in the house we can't keep it in, we'll just drink it. I'm still at the point where if I found out I could never drink again, I'd be proper gutted. 

That said, I decided just before Xmas that I was going to get out of the habit. Not only was I historically the heaviest I'd been, but I'd noticed it affecting my sleep.

So you can imagine my mixed emotions when the missus got me a PerfectDraft Keg machine for Christmas! I've ended up trying to only use it at half-term and it has had the bonus of making normal cans/bottles taste like low-quality beer. 

I've managed to kick the habit of drinking every weekend, but I've not kicked the enjoyment of beer. I just count down the weeks to my next keg.

On 06/07/2023 at 20:30, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

My Saturdays were not just a few cans...more like a full bottle of spirits or 2.5 bottles of wine.........doing just 3/4 cans now (last 5 weeks) but worried it'll slip back 

I have a fairly stressful job and youngish kids so have the normalised worries....but I think the big binge drinking was making my anxiety abnormal longer than just the day after hanxiety...last 5 weeks that has reduced a fair bit

If I can stay at a few cans at weekend it'll be ok I guess....

Stick at it. It does get better after first few weeks. Can only talk from personal experience but I feel loads better in both mind and body. Best of luck 

I'm advised to avoid alcoholic drinks owing to the medication I'm on, so essentially I'm 100% teetotal, something the Band of Hope advised when they came to talk at infants school around 1953. It only took 65 years for me to follow their advice.  No chance of ever being over the limit for driving now. Ditto my wife, who also gave up the demon drink in case any medical episodes required a drive to the nearest A and E, 30 miles away. 

I don't miss it, have more disposable income, and am even more boring than ever at parties.

13 hours ago, JohnM said:

I'm advised to avoid alcoholic drinks owing to the medication I'm on, so essentially I'm 100% teetotal, something the Band of Hope advised when they came to talk at infants school around 1953. It only took 65 years for me to follow their advice.  No chance of ever being over the limit for driving now. Ditto my wife, who also gave up the demon drink in case any medical episodes required a drive to the nearest A and E, 30 miles away. 

I don't miss it, have more disposable income, and am even more boring than ever at parties.

 

Incredible that something from 70 years ago still resonates in life......childhood casts a long shadow 

2 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Incredible that something from 70 years ago still resonates in life......childhood casts a long shadow 

I've got the Certificate somewhere. Will check 

On 07/07/2023 at 09:58, Vambo said:

These days I add non/low alcohol beers to my overall beer intake and I have found it extremely beneficial in many ways 

I highly recommend the Erdinger low alcohol as one to try if you have haven't already done so. 

Edinger is v good. Also the Bavaria 0% lager.

1 hour ago, Pen-Y-Bont Crusader said:

Edinger is v good. Also the Bavaria 0% lager.

I can't say I agree, I've tried a fair few and not found one I'd describe as actually drinkable rather than being passable. 

They all taste too much like wort from my old brewing days. If I'm not gonna have alcohol I'd rather have a shandy or a glass of coke.

One thing I honestly can't understand is non-alcoholic gin or other equivalent spirit. How you can justify paying that much for what is basically a fancy cordial I'll never know.

Ironically, I had a few last night to celebrate getting back under 13 stone and had a horrendous disrupted sleep for my only lie in of the next few weeks.

1 hour ago, Maximus Decimus said:

I can't say I agree, I've tried a fair few and not found one I'd describe as actually drinkable rather than being passable. 

They all taste too much like wort from my old brewing days. If I'm not gonna have alcohol I'd rather have a shandy or a glass of coke.

One thing I honestly can't understand is non-alcoholic gin or other equivalent spirit. How you can justify paying that much for what is basically a fancy cordial I'll never know.

 

The non alcoholic gin is pointless I agree...and the lagers a bit insipid 

Having a Brew dog zero now and Gunniess zero later ....stronger taste works better

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

The non alcoholic gin is pointless I agree...and the lagers a bit insipid 

Having a Brew dog zero now and Gunniess zero later ....stronger taste works better

My first taste of the guinness I thought was horrendous, but it did start to grow on me a tad.

Not enough to buy it again mind!

Since reading this thread I've been pairing a can of Guinness with a can of Guinness 0.0

5 hours ago, Maximus Decimus said:

My first taste of the guinness I thought was horrendous, but it did start to grow on me a tad.

Not enough to buy it again mind!

Got to be ice cold (in freezer for 15 mins) and don't angle the pint glass....gets a better head. It's my favourite though the Leffe one is very good too

ironically normal beer never gives me a headache next day but 4 bottles of the zero per cent stuff does!

On 08/07/2023 at 16:46, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

The non alcoholic gin is pointless I agree...and the lagers a bit insipid 

Having a Brew dog zero now and Gunniess zero later ....stronger taste works better

Leffe and Hoegaarden both do 0% versions that are very decent.

52 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Leffe and Hoegaarden both do 0% versions that are very decent.

Yep had the Leffe ...very nice though 100 cals a tiny bottle ....will give the Hoegarden a go