It's a bigger control problem on the eating side, isn't it? We still gotta eat when going without booze. Maybe start a Starvation February thing? It's a short month. People might find it easier to deny themselves if they know there's an end date to their suffering. Maybe the experience of strict limits during Feb. could help them be moderate for the months afterwards. I don't know, maybe.

There is indeed; it is called Overeaters Anonymous. Their web site it https://oea.org

I am a great believer in the opposition between connection and addiction. Computer strategy games are my addiction, and I definitely find a trade-off between connection time with friends and family, on the one hand, and computer game time, on the other.

It also helps to treat addictive substances or activities (e.g. eating cake) as a "social activity only". Just as drinking alone is a sign of a problem, so eating treats alone shows an imbalance.

I lost 20 pounds when I retired, and have kept it off. I am still a little bit overweight, but I love getting comments about how I am "looking good," etc. The key was getting enough sleep. Research has showed that insufficient sleep leads to more impulsive behavior.

An Irishman walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness and sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finished all three, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.

The bartender says to him, "You know, a pint goes flat after I draw it; it would taste better if you bought one at a time." The Irishman replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in America, the other in Australia, and I’m here in Dublin. When we all left home, we promised that we’d drink this way to remember the days we all drank together."

The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there. The Irishman becomes a regular in the bar and always drinks the same way: he orders three pints and drinks the three pints by taking drinks from each of them in turn.

One day, he comes in and orders two pints. All the other regulars in the bar notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don’t want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your great loss."

The Irishman looks confused for a moment, then a lights dawns in his eye and he laughs. "Oh, no," he says, "Everyone is fine. I’ve just quit drinking!"

Best joke I've heard in a while. Thanks.