I started working out really hard everyday in the early morning. When you know you have to get up at 5AM to workout the last thing you want is a drink. I went from having a few every night to not having anything for months at a time.
Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
301–310 of 600 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#302> I have a hard time saying no to a drink if everyone else is having a drink
I also find it hard to say no a drink. I ended up needing to avoid a group of friends that I regularly drank too much with. Basically if there’s a regular time that you get together and drink, just make sure to plan something else instead. Ideally something constructive.
It’s a little sad to avoid your friends like that. But on the other hand I have made new friends, improved my health, and spent more quality time with my family because of it.
I know you said you want to cut it out completely, but this past weekend I met up with the old group of friends for the first time in a while. We had a lot of fun, drank way too much, and I felt like crap afterwards. It was good to catch up, but now I feel like I’ve gotten it out of my system and can get back to healthier pursuits. No regrets.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#303Spaniard here. Social drinking is very much a thing in Spain. However, most social drinking is light or moderate: walk to a nearby bar, have two beers with the family or with close friends (with free tapas, which accounts for dinner), then walk back home. In rare occasions (at least in my personal experience) things degenerate and one goes out for "just one beer" and gets back home at 5am with a vague recollection of…
This is exactly what I've done (UK based, but big fan of Spain!) for the last 3-4 years. I wasted too much time, health and money when younger on drinking excessively. If I have situation where I think I would be tempted to drink more I generally drive and then I'd never have more than 1 beer anyway.
So far it's about 1-2 times a year when I exceed this, and even then I don't go crazy but it's normally enough to make me wait a good few months before doing it again!
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#304I had to let(make) it become part of my identity.
“I’m a person who doesn’t drink alcohol.”
“People will know and perceive me as a person who doesn’t drink alcohol. This is fine because it’s true.”
It’s the same as being a person who doesn’t do a thing that you already don’t do.
You can tell people you feel healthier without it and it’s just your preference. Most people won’t pry further. For some reason, Europeans tend to be more confrontational with me about it. You don’t need to share details about binging and lack of self control with anyone unless you want to.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alcohol promises a great time. Alcohol delivers a hangover and regrets Sure, but simply ignoring the time in between where alcohol effectively does deliver a great time, and which is for many people the addictive aspect of it, isn't exactly easy. Or at least not quite as easy as downplaying the hangover and regrets, as addicts often do. And since your core advice is basically not to misjudge, it's extra weird to me t…
Ultimately, pleasures and hardships fade, what remains at the end is what we accomplished and what we regret. That is, the very memories I'm suggesting you use to evaluate your habits. You had a good time at a party once. Great. Are you really still enjoying that good time? Not likely. You climbed a mountain another time. You were tired and it was very difficult. Are you still exhausted months later? Not likely. But…
I'm a little over a week without alcohol, but I drank every day because I have a lot of difficulty winding down and relaxing. I still do, but I've made the personal decision to prioritize my physical health. How do you square this advice with people who drink because the alternative is highly stressful evenings? Evaluating the history, I can see that drinking _eventually_ led to poorer health, but over the course of years also helped me to wind down and relax when I otherwise couldn't
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#306Magic Mushrooms during an Amsterdam visit. I was drinking heavily, half a liter whiskey per evening every day for a few years. I also didnt think couldnt stop, the urge to drink, and the inability to stop once i started seemed to be just too strong. And that despite me despising how stupid i got while drunk. It really wasnt a fun addiction and realistically i was on my way to drink myself to death. After the trip the…
This is an interesting approach that seems to (finally) be getting more attention from a research perspective as well.
When you mention mushrooms during an Amsterdam visit, it makes it sound like it was a one time experience. Is that correct? Have you been regularly taking mushrooms during that 4 year period? Or did you simply never need to drink after one mushroom dose?
If it's the latter...that is truly remarkable and again, proof (even if anecdotal) that this needs to be researched far more thoroughly than it has been.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#307I used to put away a liter of vodka a night. I kept it up for years, accumulating a solid decade of heavy drinking. I was miserable. It was souring my relationship. The stress from work, personal life, and declining mental state of course made me feel even more compelled to drink. I was becoming a shell of my former self, and my dreams were becoming strictly that. I had a confluence of events that changed my course:…
Glad this worked out for you, well done. For anyone else who’s drinking at this level (a litre a day of vodka) please don’t quit cold turkey without seeing a doctor. It genuinely can be lethal. There are temporary medications that dramatically mitigate that risk.
Its seriously no joke... the mortality rate for withdrawal from heavy drinking is 10-20%.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ultimately, pleasures and hardships fade, what remains at the end is what we accomplished and what we regret. That is, the very memories I'm suggesting you use to evaluate your habits. You had a good time at a party once. Great. Are you really still enjoying that good time? Not likely. You climbed a mountain another time. You were tired and it was very difficult. Are you still exhausted months later? Not likely. But…
I'm a little over a week without alcohol, but I drank every day because I have a lot of difficulty winding down and relaxing. I still do, but I've made the personal decision to prioritize my physical health. How do you square this advice with people who drink because the alternative is highly stressful evenings? Evaluating the history, I can see that drinking _eventually_ led to poorer health, but over the course of…
I was also a daily drinker for years. My experience was after a while, the booze was not really helping me unwind. It was increasing my base level of anxiety, creating the “need” to use it to unwind. I could only see this after I stopped for several months.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#309I never was a drinker, hadn't really had the time for it, instead devoting myself to work. In my mid 20's, I decided I had enough and decided to lose weight and get fit. It went well, I lost >240 pounds. This was a few years ago.
I ended up on a dating site (go figure, newly fit guy) and ended up finding someone I meshed with. She's an absolute legend. She also introduced me to drinking ("social"). It ended up getting a bit of out hand, especially with the pandemic.
I then started "hiding" the alcohol, and binge drinking 2-3 bottles a few nights a week. Crazy stuff thinking back on it. I'm so glad she stuck with me through this.
So yeah, we tried a lot of things (therapy, a drug that didn't work and gave me incredibly bad side effects), but I never had the urge to drink, until it hit me and I couldn't stop until I did. I can't believe I managed to hold onto my job, and actually perform well.
Anyway, I ended up getting diagnosed with ADHD (or at the very least, ADHD traits, it's a giant spectrum, i guess). This was 18 months ago. Since then, I haven't had the urge to drink, I'm on new medication which helps SO MUCH, and therapy where it actually makes sense. I might not have ADHD, but damn close to it.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#310I've cut back by switching to non-alcohol beer. I've found that I enjoy the taste of beer, but I don't enjoy how shitty alcohol makes me feel. NA beer tends to solve that for me. Lots of good options coming out. * Just the Hazy by Sam Adams is top tier. * Athletic brewing is solely NA beer - lots of different varieties. * Heineken 0.0 is great * O'Douls amber is surprisingly passable as well I suspect the options wil…
If you're in the UK, Beavertown brewery does an amazing 'Lazer Crush' alcohol-free IPA that's the best I've tasted.
I'm often driving when I'm out with friends, so I've sampled a lot of alcohol-free beers over the years.