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40 Days Without Booze

jdmoyer.com

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Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#71

Post by hammock »

>I did find it more difficult to remain polite in the presence of people who were actively annoying me, but I managed to hold my tongue in most cases.

Recently, I did a 42-day voluntary abstention from drinking. And, unlike everyone else I know who has tried this, I didn't cheat. It was inspired by a 21-day abstention a few months prior, which was due to a backpacking trip on which we decided not to bring any booze.

At the end of these periods I felt great, physically and mentally. After starting up again, my alcohol consumption was less than it used to be. Sleep was better than ever, and I wake up feeling refreshed - the better sleep is far and above the most noticeable effect. Generally I just feel healthier.

The social thing is a challenge, but not impossible. I actually forced myself not to go out any less, I still kept every plan with friends to visit bars, clubs, etc. Just drank a club soda. I quoted the above because I had a similar experience: when you are sober, you quickly realize that there are a few or several of your friends who you cannot stand to be around sober. You realize how annoying they are.

It was fun pushing myself for three and then six weeks. It inspired me to follow up with a three-day water fast (that was particularly painful, again I did not cheat). I am interested if any HN readers have suggestions of other self-denial tasks to try out.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#73

Post by plg »

a3voices wrote: post #47
ultimoo wrote: post #18

>> ...alcoholism is often linked to highly driven, ambitious, over-achieving personality types... I have come across this point multiple times in the past -- reading or conversing -- but never has a concrete source or study been cited. Not to say I don't agree with it -- anecdotal evidence is not always false. It is really true though? I consider myself very driven and ambitious and also have a drinking habit, but kn…

People who drink alcohol in moderation statistically make 10-15% more money. http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/drinking-statistic...

People who drive Porsches statistically have higher salaries. Lets all go buy Porsches and our salaries will go up. I'm in, what about you?

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#74

Post by gonehome »

reustle wrote: post #11

Great writeup. As someone who never drinks, and never has, it continues to sound like a drug to me and I want no part of it. That said, I still get questioned about my decision like I have 2 heads.

Usually because that decision is in within the context of some kind of moral superiority or religious belief (which is in and of itself irritating). In the rare case when it isn't there's also the issue that alcohol is a large part of socialization, someone who's never drank may not have this perspective. I feel I have some credibility on this since I didn't drink for similar ('practical') reasons longer than most people and I think that decision was ultimately a mistake.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#75

Post by bitops »

hammock wrote: post #71

>I did find it more difficult to remain polite in the presence of people who were actively annoying me, but I managed to hold my tongue in most cases. Recently, I did a 42-day voluntary abstention from drinking. And, unlike everyone else I know who has tried this, I didn't cheat. It was inspired by a 21-day abstention a few months prior, which was due to a backpacking trip on which we decided not to bring any booze.…

The ultimate in self-denial: no computer usage outside of works hours for a week!

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#76

Post by davrosthedalek »

reustle wrote: post #11

Great writeup. As someone who never drinks, and never has, it continues to sound like a drug to me and I want no part of it. That said, I still get questioned about my decision like I have 2 heads.

I know that feeling. It seems everybody sees it as a challenge to get me to drink.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#77

Post by smsm42 »

VLM wrote: post #56
smsm42 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think decision of avoiding certain or all drugs makes total sense, if the person has no interest in their effects and is not ready to suffer inevitable side effects of doing things that our body is not meant to do normally. Hacking one's body often has its costs.

"doing things that our body is not meant to do normally." The reason it doesn't outright kill you is an enormous amount of evolution to occasionally consume "somewhat overripe fruit". That doesn't mean you're evolved to chug grain alcohol like water, or get drunk every night like the goof in the article, it just means your body is quite very well used to handling a bit of fermented grapes once in awhile. Hacking one'…

Human body is a very resilient thing, so it can withstand some abuse for a prolonged time (and some bodies are extremely resilient, read this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Malloy). But it all takes its toll at the end...

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#78

Post by munificent »

smsm42 wrote: post #22
reustle wrote: post #11

Great writeup. As someone who never drinks, and never has, it continues to sound like a drug to me and I want no part of it. That said, I still get questioned about my decision like I have 2 heads.

It is not "like a drug", it is a drug just like any other substances commonly called drugs. We just integrated it into our culture, and learned to live with it and accept the consequences of its use (on the societal level, personally it is still as capable of destroying lives as any other drug if abused). But it doesn't change neither chemistry nor biology nor physiology of what is happening. So if someone talks to y…

> if someone talks to you about dangers of such things as marijuana while sipping wine or beer - you're talking to either dangerously ignorant or dangerously dull person.

Or maybe you're talking to someone smart enough to realize that just because a bunch of things are in the same category, that doesn't make them equivalent.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#79

Post by reustle »

gonehome wrote: post #74
reustle wrote: post #11

Great writeup. As someone who never drinks, and never has, it continues to sound like a drug to me and I want no part of it. That said, I still get questioned about my decision like I have 2 heads.

Usually because that decision is in within the context of some kind of moral superiority or religious belief (which is in and of itself irritating). In the rare case when it isn't there's also the issue that alcohol is a large part of socialization, someone who's never drank may not have this perspective. I feel I have some credibility on this since I didn't drink for similar ('practical') reasons longer than most pe…

My decision not to drink is not at all religious or related to moral superiority. It would be silly for me to think I'm morally superior to such a large percentage of the adult population. Regarding socializing, it's definitely there, but not required. I'm often at bars with friends not drinking alcohol.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#80

Post by [deleted] »

bitops wrote: post #53

> booze enables workaholism, because of the fast unwind time I think this is the key insight from the article. I went through a stressful period where I used alcohol to wind down quickly. But in reality it just made things worse because it numbed me up to the real reasons why I was stressed out. Sometimes though, we don't want to look at the deeper issues (emotional/psychological) for why we are unhappy, and booze pr…

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