LanDroid wrote:Anyone want to try the "Dry January" Challenge starting in a few days? (Tee-totallers or those drinking only 2 beers/week not welcome. Ni!)

Are you saying "Ni!" to that old woman?

I gave up alcohol in August 2015.

Robert Tulip wrote:

LanDroid wrote:Anyone want to try the "Dry January" Challenge starting in a few days? (Tee-totallers or those drinking only 2 beers/week not welcome. Ni!)

Are you saying "Ni!" to that old woman?

I gave up alcohol in August 2015.

What has been the difference, Robert? And would you mind saying why you quit?

LanDroid wrote:Anyone want to try the "Dry January" Challenge starting in a few days? (Tee-totallers or those drinking only 2 beers/week not welcome. Ni!)

I'll give it a try.

Although I should mention I gave up alcohol more than 25 years ago, so I reckon I'll make it through this January.

NOTE: Oops, I just saw the note about teetotalers.

I'm not going to participate but I applaud those of you that feel doing so is the right decision. For whatever reason I have never been a big drinker. I've got a pretty nice liquor cabinet and I do enjoy drinking, but the responsibilities of being a husband and father keep me from imbibing more than a few times each month.

Let me make a quick edit. I spent many years drinking almost every weekend. And I got plastered and acted nutty like most drunk guys do. But that was in my twenties.

DWill wrote: What has been the difference, Robert? And would you mind saying why you quit?

I have never been a big alcohol drinker, although in the last few years I got into the habit of drinking one or two glasses of wine most days, and also drinking spirits and beer now and then.

I gave up alcohol during a holiday at Uluru in Central Australia in August 2015, as part of a broader effort to improve my health. Since 2012 I have lost 18 kilograms (40 lb) in weight, from 91 kg to 73 kg. I ride my bicycle about 100 km every week, and do not eat between 8pm and 12 noon, intermittent fasting for sixteen hours every day.

My main reasons to give up alcohol were as a test of personal focus so I can concentrate on ideas, for health reasons, and because I do not like the way alcohol is promoted as a universal sedative.

Interestingly, I gave up tobacco for 25 years from when I last visited Uluru in 1983, although I did start smoking again occasionally in about 2008.

That occasional smoking--I could never do that. It would be a pack a day if I ever smoked again. Alcohol's status as a universal sedative with high social cost seems to be the basis for the widespread movement to give marijuana the same legal status in the states. It now seems perverse to ban a substance that by many accounts is less destructive than the one that adds many billions to the economy. I'm halfway with the libertarians who advocate broad decriminalization of recreational drugs.

Without substances, what do you do to alter your consciousness? It seems to be a human need to have that sensation at least now and then.

I find meditation to be a mind-altering activity which has many benefits. Also the endorphin hit when your heart rate is above 150 beats per minute for a sustained period is better than drugs, leaving you with a clear mind. The comment about alcohol as a sedative led me to a page with links to many interesting articles on alcohol dependency - http://www.bma-wellness.com/addictions/Alcohol.html

Alrighty then, looks like we have two people on board for the Dry January Challenge. I did this last year and found it rather easy for about 3 weeks, then a little tougher. This was very good for me - I was afraid I'd have serious cravings but didn't. That indicated the amount of drinking I was doing (I track it meticulously) was just a bad habit or lack of willpower, not an addiction. I've been able to control it better since then as the article up top indicates. My parents and siblings have had serious addictions, so that insight has been reassuring. I expect this time the challenge will be more difficult because craft brews just keep getting more creative and delicious!
Until then:

I've also attempted to build a meditation and yoga practice. I think this is finally getting stronger because I've been able to handle stress a little bit better. (I'm getting too old for my stressful career.) I'm not good at developing solid daily habits, but that's what I need to do on those two. I've gotten away from exercise for a few months - thanks for the reminder of the endorphin buzz, that should get me back into it...

I took a class once on addictions, but am not all that knowledgeable despite that and working in a mental health agency. It surprised me to read in Robert's linked article that physical dependence can be separate from addiction. Now I'm really interested to see if I might have withdrawal Sx, even though I'd say I'm about a 10-drink per week type. That's not that much, is it (he asks hopefully)? It did occur to me, also, that I can't remember a week of my life in the past 40 years where I haven't imbibed. When I retire in about 5 months I plan to go off on a 5-week hike, during which I don't plan to drink (and won't find much available, anyway). I'll do this January abstinence first to make the dry walk not so much a trial.

I already exercise quite a lot, so I'm a bit unsure what I will end up doing for activities to replace the slight buzz that I've enjoyed for so long.

Now I'm really interested to see if I might have withdrawals, even though I'd say I'm about a 10-drink per week type. That's not that much, is it (he asks hopefully)?

Sounds like you'll do fine. According to general guidelines, moderate alcohol consumption means up to four alcoholic drinks for men and three for women in any single day ... and a maximum of 14 drinks for men and 7 drinks for women per week. That's a bit confusing, but means you should not drink every day. It also involves how quickly you consume that alcohol. Drinking those amounts quickly or higher quantities could put you in the danger zone.

Here are two problem areas: binge drinking and heavy drinking.
"The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which conducts the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), defines binge drinking as drinking 5 or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion on at least 1 day in the past 30 days."

"SAMHSA defines heavy drinking as drinking 5 or more drinks on the same occasion on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265799.php
http://www.moderatedrinking.com/home/de ... md_defined
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-healt ... e-drinking