I think I need to give up alcohol

[NYCfixie]

I have been dry for more than 6 years but I really was not a big drinker anyway. Literally, I think I have had maybe 5 beers in the past 6 years and no other alcohol. So obviously it did nothing for my weight.

For the 9 months before I left NYC/NJ in June 2015, I was on the bike 4-5 days a week (or in the gym doing cardio), weightlifting 2-3 days a week, but did not really change my diet (too much fried food and an occasional soda once a week). I lost a few pounds but dropped a ton of body fat; fat went directly to muscle (sort of).

Fast forward to Boston and the past 18 months, eating too much crap and not riding the bike enough (or going to the gym) basically reversed everything. I am about the same weight but the fat/muscle ratio reversed itself in a very bad way.

Over the past few weeks I have spoken with my NYC doctor, NJ trainer (gym/weights), Boston doctor, and Boston trainer (gym/weights), and they basically all said they same thing summarized:
- Trainers: 80% of your health and fitness is made in the kitchen and only 20% on your bike or in the gym. You cannot ride away the crap you eat. All bad calories (booze, fried foods, junk food, etc.) are bad calories so who cares which is worse just don't eat any of them.
- Doctors: Stop eating crappy food. Up your cardio because it has the most impact on your cholesterol besides what you eat. (thankfully mine is not high - it has always been on the low side)


So I cannot help with cutting out booze but I can share the other data points. I do not believe in New Year's resolutions but I did begin to cut out the crap in November after my annual check up and I feel much better. Even without heavey exercise the past few weeks I have dropped, on average, one pound per week.

And if anyone sticks with booze, we all know that on average beer has many more calories than wine so choose wisely.

[Vonruden]

If you step up your drinking game enough to where you throw up. . .it's like those calories never happened. :-)

True Dat

[billrick]

We'll see. There are two other real benefits: better sleep and more cash in my pocket.

Ditto on both of these thoughts. It is worth it.

I gave up all alcohol last May because I wasn't sleeping well and my work schedule had me getting up at 4am everyday. Fixed my sleep apnea. I'm so much better rested now that I feel turbo charged. And there are plenty of stupid little apps that will let you track how much $$$ you save over time. According to my "Quit That" app, I have saved $1000 over 270 days.

I miss Hardywood "Great Return" IPA, but an ice cold kombucha is not bad after a long ride!

[funcrusher]

my wife is pregnant so i havent been drinking much...and i've gained weight

everyone looks for a magic bullet (says the guy with a glucose monitor in his office)...discipline and accountability is the only thing that works...in that regard, eat like a sorority girl with a self image problem and and get a withings scale to chart your weight...tracking my weight has been the single most effective strategy for me...if the trend line heads up, i cut back

[coolberto hipsterdor]

I've noticed that drinking alcohol regularly increases my recovery time between workouts. Additionally alcohol is a source of empty calories, last year I was having on average about 2 drinks per night and was pushing 185lbs, I tapered off to one drink a week and have steadily been losing a couple lbs per month while retaining my strength. I sleep better when I don't drink as well. All in all I don't think alcohol is good for you except arguably red wine may provide health benefits in limited quantities. I think if one were a completely objective creature they would absolutely never drink alcohol if they had any sort of athletic ambitions, but alas we are human beings and for whatever reason seem to enjoy self destructive behavior sometimes.

Someone mentioned weed as an alternative... that's an option, there was a while when I would 'partake' regularly and simply never drink and yes I was the skinniest I have ever been and was still able to let loose and de-stress by using a substance. Ultimately though I think it inhibited me in many ways and I gave it up. I am convinced weed is less harmful to the body than alcohol, especially for athletes.

I guess it's all just personal, you have to ask yourself why you are doing what you're doing (what you're ingesting) and try to think objectively about the effect it has. It's completely possible to give up using or abusing substances, often difficult, but possible, especially if you know intellectually exactly why you're stopping or cutting back. On the other hand if everything is good in your life and you're not hurting the people around you, I don't see why it's an issue to drink or smoke whatever you please... but at some point you just have to decide how you want to live your life and what's important to you. Personally, I find self control very difficult but now that I'm getting older I am taking my health and fitness more seriously and I don't want to be at the mercy of my habits.

My suggestion to anyone that is trying to cut back is to begin by identifying situations or triggers, such as stress, that make you want to drink and go from there, because it seems like those are the times that really throw you off the wagon; for example when you overhear your co workers praising Trump's cabinet picks for a solid hour and you're at the grocery store after work with IPA and imperial stouts lined up before you... Or having a day full of obligations then coming home to kids and feeling like drinking is your only method of escape, or one of the only things you can control in your life. It's just food for thought anyhow. Drinking and drugs don't fix the problems that cause you to crave them to begin with, and they often exacerbate them, kind of like the vicious cycling-cycle of drinking then getting slower then drinking more because you're slow and you might as well (been there).

Sorry for the ramble, but the giving up drinking topic is something that's been on my mind a lot lately and it's something that I struggle with. Best of luck to anyone trying to make positive improvements.