Could you give up alcohol for a month ?
I've given-up booze from the day after Thanksgiving (a.k.a, the 4th Friday in November) till Christmas Eve, the past two years. The first year I did it because we had such a blowout at Thanksgiving that I felt I needed some detox time. The second year I did it ... for the same reason.
How was it? Well, it's boring. It makes parties difficult - and there are always a lot of parties in December. It takes a lot of the fun out of going out to eat - a steak and a Coke just isn't the same as a steak and a Cabernet. But it saves a lot of money! I don't really notice any physical or mental changes; I don't feel better, or smarter, or livelier. I just wake up a bit earlier on weekend mornings. It does lower my tolerance for alcohol tremendously, though; once the month ends, the first beer will give me a serious headrush.
So basically, it's a challenge: a test of willpower and stick-to-it-iveness. Worth it? I dunno.
I have given up alcohol for Lent a couple of times. My wife and I also gave it up for a couple of weeks once when we went on the South Beach diet.
Like you, there was no dramatic change, although the first drink afterwards was pretty heady.
Although I haven’t done it in a couple of years, I think it’s a good idea to give up the booze for while, every once in a while. Thanksgiving to Christmas is a good interval. Some folks don’t drink on school nights, which is something I’m actually considering.
Alcohol is a pretty congenial drug unless you have an intolerance or an unusual susceptibility to it. It’s legal, widely available, and fun to consume in social settings.
But it’s basically poisonous, and in amounts greater than, say, two or three drinks a day, can be pretty toxic. It’s helpful to your body to have a little time off.
I never drink alone, never drink on a school night and very rarely drink at home (it just isn’t the same as being out with friends).
I go out drinking maybe 3 times a month, and usually end up consuming 4 or 5 pints of beer followed by 4 or 5 shorts – Vodka or Jack Daniels. Occasionally I will take it a bit too far and end up doing shots (Sambuca was the shot of choice last year) which I _always_ regret the next day.
Compared to how I was in my 20s, I’m tee-total. I used to have a flat opposite a pub and would spend 5 or 6 nights a week in there. That was also back when it seemed everyone from the office went to the pub at lunchtime, and when you walk to work, this could be deadly. A typical day in 1994 would of been:
Pub at 12:30 with work colleagues for food and a couple of pints. Back to pub at 6PM with work colleagues for a 2 or 3 pints and perhaps some food.
Nip over the road to my flat to get changed. Back to pub for another 4 or 5 pints before heading home about 11.
My tolerance for booze back then was pretty high. My local shut for 6 weeks for a refit and I was the first in the door when it reopened (I took the day off work especially). I sank 13 pints that day and fell asleep at the bar.
:)
I’m a happy drunk though – I don’t get morose, and I never, ever get punchy. I get quite animated after a few sherberts and always end up putting the world to rights. My wife hates it when I drink JD as I *stink* like an old tramp the next day, hence my recent move to Vodka.
Some folks don’t drink on school nights, which is something I’m actually considering.
my biggest rule is : nothing after 9PM on school nights. that keeps the hangovers away. i also try to keep to two or less on school nights. i’m much better with the former rule; the latter is tough because i hate leaving a wine bottle unfinished (hate the taste of leftover wine). of course Mrs C helps with the wine – we’re a team.
I hear, man. I hear. Every time I’ve quit reefer I’ve sat around for days waiting to get all smart and it just doesn’t happen. Music and food just become boring and I get a weird voice in my head telling me to buy some shitty crap or go and get some sort of tech degree so I can purchase a quality wife.
I see no point in it. Back in m’mid twenties I quit for years so I could be a sharp projectile aimed at the bullseye of my own brilliant success. That’s so embarrassing and stupid I can hardly confront it.
Let’s none of us, possessing as we do th’ perspective of maturity, make any of these mistakes again.