Alcohol. How can you resist?!

Well like it or not your behavior is equal to a 14 yr old who is rebelling and is always right. You definatly have an addiction to the alchol and the "buzz" it gives you. Now choose to get help or not is up to you, but if you have ever seen anyone die of liver failure its not pretty.

If he's being honest about his intake, then he's probably not addicted. My brother is a recovering alcoholic. He went through a fifth of whiskey a day. The OP is talking about a couple glasses of wine in the evening. BIG difference!

Anyone who is willing to give up food for alchol is not talking about a couple of glasses of wine at night. I have seen and been assigned as patients many of alcholics. Withdrawl can physically kill you. He needs help.

So is there an alternative to alcohol? Something perhaps stimulating but not so calorific? I'm sure most evenings I drink 'cos I'm bored but deep down I know I'd rather not be drinking. I'll have maybe 1 booze free day a week but usually weekends are all dayers so large quantities are consumed. So what can give you a buzz that isn't alcohol?

Crack.

I love alcohol. Especially after a bad day at work. If my bf is visiting, that's when I tend to have more than one drink. I'm not addicted, the stuff just tastes good and helps take the edge off. So yeah, I drink socially. If I start drinking alone all the time, then I'll really have a problem.

When I was very much younger and also got my driving license I found an interesting thing. If I started a social evening with an alcoholic drink and then switched to soft drinks that seemed enough to relax me and enable me to have a good time with friends who were getting quite drunk and it was almost like I was drunk too until we stepped outside where I found I could "snap out of it" and be sober enough to drive while they were plainly still drunk. For me this seemed like the best of both worlds - let your inhibitions go with some good friends and have fun, not have to pay for a taxi home and avoid the hangover the next morning.

After this discovery that is what I would normally do on a social evening - I almost never got drunk and still had fun. I did develop a taste for some drinks and would sometimes treat myself to a single malt or a beer in the evening even on some of days I didn't go out to socialise and so I continued for over 20 years, all the time pretty much staying within the UK government safe drinking limits.

During that 20 years I met my partner and we have two young children and then suddenly I had to go to hospital with excruciating pain on more than one occasion and stay there as an inpatient for several weeks. Although in my case this was not a classic drinker's problem (i.e. not any form of liver disease or stomach ulcers) and I was not drinking enough to cause such a problem I was advised by my consultant that I should avoid alcohol to avoid a recurrence so that is what I have done. I enjoy time with my partner and children too much to want to risk spending my time in hospital instead.

Having made that decision I find it easy to avoid alcohol. Occasionally I see an advert or spot the hand pumps in a pub and reminisce and there is a slight temptation but one I find easy to resist. I still socialise with friends and still enjoy it.

It is up to you if you want to replace the buzz you get from alcohol with something else whether that be a high adrenaline sport, roller coaster rides or standing on the stage somewhere but with anything like the effect only lasts so long and then it is over. For me genuine happiness comes from the love of my partner and our children, from my friends and in the form of satisfaction and respect in my job and some other voluntary activities I am involved in.

Sorry if this is not quite 'food & nutrition' but it kind of is in my mind. Without doubt, my biggest downfall is alcohol. I dont really eat much but I reckon about half of my calorie intake comes from booze.

I take supplements for things like fibre, protein, vitamins etc and if there was a magic 'meal in a pill' I'd take it rather than having to eat actual food! Needless to say, if I stopped drinking then I'd probably lose some weight but I'd rather be able to drink & go to the gym to cancel each other out (in calorific terms at least).

So is there an alternative to alcohol? Something perhaps stimulating but not so calorific? I'm sure most evenings I drink 'cos I'm bored but deep down I know I'd rather not be drinking. I'll have maybe 1 booze free day a week but usually weekends are all dayers so large quantities are consumed. So what can give you a buzz that isn't alcohol?

Why avoid it? Just work it into your diet. Calories are calories. Just burn them up.

Alcohol is about the last thing I plan on giving up. If I have to stop living in the name of healthy eating I choose NO to healthy eating.

Aren't beer and BBQ the proper combo?

This makes a lot of sense. Thankyou. Though to get rid of an unnatrual high, does that mean there are natural highs? (bearing in mind I dont seem to produce endorphins from things like exercise, sport etc.)

You're right though, I would like to drink less but I dont plan my day around it.

Take today for example. Had the day off work & my plan was to go to the gym & maybe do sone tidying in the garden. Instead, I read stuff on the internet, did some washing then went for a 30 minute walk (to the pub), had 3 beers, bought some food to cook for dinner then walked back. And here I am. So this was more of a spontaneous beer than a planned beer.

However.....I'm not going to have any booze at home tonight & I may trudge my way though to Thursday without any. One step at a time......

You're very welcome, and I wish you luck! It might take time, but believe in yourself. If you have a day where you stumble, just keep on going. As for the planning your day around it, I see what you mean. A lot of it is spontaneous, I'm sure, but you still expect it to happen, right? You even went out of your way to walk to a pub today. I'm not pointing fingers at you or anything, I'm just saying... sometimes we do things out of habit and don't realize it, and in a way that's planning, since you expect it to be in your day and, subconsciously (or not), make it happen.

Natural highs though... I would say, find something you love and become passionate about it. Something interactive, something you can read up about, something you can spend time with and invest into. Maybe volunteer. Do sports, if you can after your injury. Take up running — I know you said you don't enjoy it right now, but how good are you at it? If you get better, you'll probably like it more, but that can take some time. I'm not there yet either, but I slowly feel it coming on. What about things like biking? Hiking? Camping? Amusement parks? Find something you've always wanted to try, and give it a go. A little passion for something new is a great thing, and who knows what'll happen?

Again, good luck.

There are some good substitutes for alcohol out there - Becks Blue Beer is pretty good or try mixing sparkling water with a nice organic cordial.

I haven't drunk alcohol for quite a few years now but understand what you mean by feeling bored. In my experience giving up opened up a whole new range of experiences that meant that I wasn't bored for long.

I'm 30 days sober today. It's possible. I used to be like you. I couldn't imagine. And the social pressure. I just say no and carry on. You don't need a buzz, you just think you do. I feel better than I have in the past 30 years. I feel clear of mind, never groggy, more energy than you can believe, it's amazing. Nothing beats the kind of buzz I have now. I now view alcohol as poison. You don't see it now and probably think that ridiculous, but it's amazing how your perspective can change.

Next time someone offers a beer or booze, just say no thanks, but hang out and chat.

I fel 100 smarter right now, quicker with wit, able to hold conversations. But, I also don't sit around for 4 hours doing nothing. That is what you do when you drink.

"WOW. Are you kidding?? Crazed AA converts?? You say you lost a friend to AA but you do you have any idea how many friends/family members have been SAVED because of AA? Just because your husband was able to "just quit" doesnt mean that everyone can. Some people do not have that type of control on their own hence why they are in the program to begin with and it takes A LOT of courage to admit you have a problem and allow the program to help you! It saves lives. Please don't discourage anyone who has a drinking problem from approaching it."

Thank you. :-)

Ummm no, I'm not kidding. If you do some research you will see that AA has ZERO effect on keeping people from stopping the drink for life (or at the least going back to drinking in moderation like people who don't NEED to be told what to do by a bunch of verbally abusive and controlling looney-tunes do). ZERO... that means that people have just as much success (or lack thereof) with or without AA. So some people either figure it out and quit or drink in moderation because they figure out that they need to change their needs and wants or NOT. It's that simple. Fact is that anyone in AA just swaps their alcohol addiction for another one. AA is NOT supportive and it does NOT WORK. The people who end up drinking in moderation or decide to quit altogether would have done it without the verbal abuse and degradation of regular AA meetings. Also... if you want to find drugs... go to an AA meeting.

And you are quite welcome. Thanks for stopping by!

PS - I used to think that AA was a positive, necessary support system for people who were at death's door struggling with serious problems. That is, until I did my research... This is just ONE link: http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-not_good.html

My research was prompted by watching my dear, kind, once-loving friend evolve into a nasty-verbally abusive and toxic individual once she "found" AA and they got their meat-hooks into her.

Have you ever been to an AA meeting? Maybe you should go to one and see if what you are reading is the norm on an aberration. I've been sober in AA for coming up on 5 years and I have seen NONE of the antics that you describe. It is a positive, loving, caring environment. What you found in your friend was probably that, once the alcohol was removed, her character defects had nothing to mask them any longer. Some are sicker than others.

AA works for millions of people around the world. I don't know how or from where you draw your conclusions, but you are just dead wrong. Period.

Totally agree. Saying that AA is bad is just absolutely ridiculous. The fact you know one person who the program did not work for means absolutely nothing. I know many people whose lives have been SAVED fully or partially by AA and they are far from "nasty-verbally abusive and toxic individuals". You could actually use those words to describe someone BEFORE they found AA. Do a little more research than one random website, and do not pass judgment based upon one person's experience.