Battling the bottle.

[Wendy]

Diet Coke is rank - but sugar is worse, so full fat Coke is out, and booze...well, this thread says it all really...

LOL, that's what I used to think too.  After 6 months of drinking diet coke, it's normal coke that tasted rank.  Like root beer, actually.   

[border-rider]

American diet Coke tastes of chlorine 

[Hummers]

Slimline Tonic 

I was DJ Marky Mark last night at a friend's party and this tincture seemed to do the trick..... and is cheap.

Aren't pissed people rude. 


H

P.S.

Health observation - Have more energ in the mornings and I am not getting the horrible hot sweats I was getting before. It could be because it is getting cooler and sleeping better or is it the lack of booze....

[Chris S]

So, I'm into the third week of weekday sobriety. It's going well.

I was determined to do last Saturday's Audax "clean", so eschewed the bottle on Friday evening; that was quite hard - it was a busy week at work last week, and I fancied a drink come Friday. I did rather make up for it Sunday evening, and polished off a bottle of red.

I've found that 10 units a day, day in day out, and I start to forget stuff. I think one becomes chronically pissed and you're never clear of it. That feeling has gone now, and I feel much more upbeat and positive about things.

I'm still drinking diet coke in the early evening as a substitute, and that seems to work OK too.

[toekneep]

Limiting myself to one bottle of beer on weekdays seems to be the trick for me at the moment, it's made a massive dent in the cost of booze each week already. The mistake I was making was drinking wine during the week. Once that bottle is open the ideas of control and measured drinking seems to go out of the window. The next step is getting more control at the weekends.

[Sergeant Pluck]

...you're never clear of it. That feeling has gone now, and I feel much more upbeat and positive about things.

That was my early (and ongoing) experience. Glad it is going well.

[Jaded]

Limiting myself to one bottle of beer on weekdays seems to be the trick for me at the moment, it's made a massive dent in the cost of booze each week already. The mistake I was making was drinking wine during the week. Once that bottle is open the ideas of control and measured drinking seems to go out of the window. The next step is getting more control at the weekends.

Likewise!

[peliroja]

I don't drink and never have so can't empathise at all, but good luck to everyone trying to give up/cut back. This brings home to me just how hard it must be.

[Jezza]

Interesting article in The Graudina today about a binge-drinking housewife.

         Mum's a binge drinker |
            Life and style |
            The Guardian
   

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I'm not generally much of a drinker, but last night I was out with two friends and between us we had 3 bottles of champagne and a bottle of wine and then I had at least 2, possibly 3, vodka & tonics and somewhere between 2 and 5 Smirnoff Ices, plus a couple of pints of water. I can confirm that drinking that amount can cause

1) a hangover comprising of a headache and a puking session
2) a compulsion to gatecrash a wedding reception and join the guests on the dancefloor
3) a further compulsion to go clubbing til 3am

The clubbing session will lead to further health problems, namely

1) a sore neck from head-banging to 80s hair metal
2) a broken nail from doing metal devil finger salutes too enthusiastically
3) very sore feet from dancing too much in unsuitable shoes
4) severe injuries to one's dignity when one remembers one was dancing to PJ & Duncan's Let's Get Ready To Rhumble - psych!

I feel like shit today, and I look worse.

On the other hand, if you happen to find yourself in Harrogate on a Saturday night and your idea of a good club comprises cheesy 80s pop interspersed with cheesy 80s hair metal and occasional Queen songs, I heartily recommend a place called either The Carrington or Carrington's.

[Sergeant Pluck]

1) a hangover comprising of a headache and a puking session

Are you sure you didn't just have a "bad pint"? 

[токамак]

Yeah, it'll be those pints of water you had - you got to stay away from that stuff.

[Greenbank]

Yeah, it'll be those pints of water you had - you got to stay away from that stuff.

Water is full of Dihydrogen Monoxide which is particularly evil. See Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division - dihydrogen monoxide
info

[токамак]

Are the Daily Mail and Sunday Telegraph aware of this?!

[velocipede]

Could be the mixers.....??

[Hummers]

11 days to go and I am doing fine.

Have found my form socially and can be just as 'Hummers' sober as with a drink in my hand. I'm fine in Pubs and can still appreciate a good one.  It is a strange thing but I feel people drinking are the odd ones, not me.

It's my last day cycling in the South West before setting off for France. The people I'm riding with are going to give me some stick but there you go.

H

[Sergeant Pluck]

11 days to go and I am doing fine

Good stuff, H 

[Tiger]

11 days to go and I am doing fine.

Have found my form socially and can be just as 'Hummers' sober as with a drink in my hand. I'm fine in Pubs and can still appreciate a good one.  It is a strange thing but I feel people drinking are the odd ones, not me.

It's my last day cycling in the South West before setting off for France. The people I'm riding with are going to give me some stick but there you go.

H

I am impressed.

[mossy200]

Keep going Hummers.
I worked for a brewery company for many years where the drink was free so the temptation was there.
Nowadays, working in education  I am just down to the weekend drink and unwind but a bottle  of wine can go quite quickly.
You guys are impressive and as I am under pressure from my other half to lose weight I think I may need to follow your example.
Drink less (or none) for a few weeks and increase my riding.
(I could then spend what I did on wine on the bike ).

[Hummers]

Back from France after my yearly cycling trip with 3 chums and am now nursing a stinking cold. 

No real moments of beer yearning as the stuff over there is usually fizzy pisch and apple juice was a fair replacement for wine when we ate. I only had one envious moment and that was when the huge measures of single malt turned up. It smelt good.

Interestingly, my chums were less than happy about my abstinence. It seems that I normally push the pace on the drinking side and apparently this was missed as a facet of the trip. The net result that they were slightly inhibited.

Ho hum.

H

[Sergeant Pluck]

Interestingly, my chums were less than happy about my abstinence. It seems that I normally push the pace on the drinking side and apparently this was missed as a facet of the trip. The net result that they were slightly inhibited.

Ho hum.

H

'Tis what I found.

Here's how I came to see just that issue: the people around me were not so much interested in "me" but in the confirmation or reassurance that their own behaviour was OK that my companionship gave.

[gonzo]

Someone I know has been drinking ridiculous amounts recently (about 15 units spirits/ night + beer as well). He had a liver test a while back (2 yrs) and that came back healthy, the cost isn't an issue for him and basically, he sees no reason not to.

Does anyone have a reason I can give him to stop drinking?

[bobajobrob]

Show him the story of this guy, a brilliant engineer who killed himself through alcoholism:
The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz

Works for me!

And on that cheery note... 

[Sergeant Pluck]

Was he drinking a lot when he had the liver function checked 2 years ago?  

If he doesn't want to stop in himself he'll not be the slightest bit interested in potential hazards to his health. There is not much you can other than to point out any negative effects on others, if any while he continues to enjoy himself.

[velocipede]

Try this: linky

Best not to wait until yr liver functions off: by then you can be down to minimal function sadly.
Hope that's not Sarahs problem, but she doesn't look to well at the moment IMHO.