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40 Days Without Booze

jdmoyer.com

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Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#141

Post by future_grad »

jere wrote: post #60

I've slipped into the habit of drinking almost every single night over the past few months and I'm currently trying to cut it out. It's harder than I thought it would be. Like the author said, I've never noticed any physical withdrawal, but I have a strong urge to have a drink every night (sometimes even in the middle of the day). This is one of the most stressful times of my life and it's so hard not to just say "fu…

Good luck, jere! Try reversing it by replacing the habit with exercise. Not only do you cut the alcohol, but you stay hydrated, lose weight, and sleep better!

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#142

Post by Havoc »

maurits wrote: post #121

I feel that the understated effect is, that doing x or stopping with y for a month gives you the idea (illusion) that you are in full control of your life.

Fair point. I'd say as far as strategies goes its one of the better ones.

30+ days is enough to get at least a semi-objective indication of physical dependence, which is a good start.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#143

Post by baddox »

rbehrends wrote: post #123
baddox wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not that difficult to use it responsibly in moderation. I wouldn't question your personal abstinence, but I would question anyone who broadly demonized alcohol.

While I'm not going to demonize alcohol, I also wouldn't downplay the harm. Alcohol is probably one of the nastier psychoactive substances known to man. Alcohol abuse is pretty common (an estimated number of 15 million Americans); it can create a physical dependence; there is a strong link between alcohol and violence (alcohol is normally classified as a depressant, but a significant minority of alcoholics become vio…

I agree with all the things you said, but they are all compatible with my claim that it's relatively simple to use alcohol responsibly.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#144

Post by RougeFemme »

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…

Alcohol does help you wind down quickly, but, at least for me, it doesn't help me stay wound down. Even if I have a couple of drinks and then go to sleep, I don't stay asleep very long - a couple of hours at most. And when I wake up, I'm more "wired" than I would be after a typical 2-hour nap. Having said all that, I still enjoy an occasional drink and the "slow" unwind that comes with that. But nothing beats the "lifestyle change".

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#145

Post by eeeeeeeeeeeee »

bitops wrote: post #75
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!

Does a smartphone count?

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#147

Post by Havoc »

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.…

Thoughts on the water fast?

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#148

Post by RougeFemme »

jere wrote: post #60

I've slipped into the habit of drinking almost every single night over the past few months and I'm currently trying to cut it out. It's harder than I thought it would be. Like the author said, I've never noticed any physical withdrawal, but I have a strong urge to have a drink every night (sometimes even in the middle of the day). This is one of the most stressful times of my life and it's so hard not to just say "fu…

I don't want to "enable" you to drink even more or to drink more, comfortably, but regarding the dehydration. . .interspersing water with the alcohol helps with that. . .at least for me, for social drinking.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#149

Post by nrivadeneira »

bitops wrote: post #130
nrivadeneira wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that a hardcore workout works even better than alcohol. Not only do you get the same winding down effect in a short period of time (assuming you're really killing yourself and working to exhaustion in the gym), but you get a lot of additional benefits along with it: better focus, improved health, boosted confidence, and improved body composition. You wake up the next morning feeling a lot better about yourself…

Definitely - I've started practicing aikido 3 times a week, for at least an hour each time I go (I worked my way up to it). I usually go to the dojo for 2 1/2 hours, but not always. It's done more for my physical and mental well-being than any other type of exercise. Practicing Qi Gong in the mornings before leaving the house has also helped. Generally speaking, I think practicing martial arts is a good thing for tec…

That's exactly how I feel about powerlifting. Once you get to a certain level, the attention to detail, specificity, and focus you need to progress are great analogues to other areas such as programming or entrepreneurship. It's become my personal meditation time where I disconnect from everything else and focus intensely on optimization and improvement.

If anyone is interested, this book has given me a vastly different perspective on things like exercise (or in parent's case, martial arts): http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Keys-Success-Long-Term-Fulfill... When put in that perspective, I think exercise would greatly appeal to most hackers.

Re: 40 Days Without Booze

#150

Post by AlexandrB »

goostavos wrote: post #126
pwenzel wrote: post #35

I can definitely relate to the workaholism issue. After getting the kid to bed, I often work late and need to wind down fast so I can hurry up, go to bed myself, hurry up and sleep, and then hurry up and get up in the morning. I need to work on that.

Yeah, it feels like a narrow line to walk, but the effectivness of alcohol as a wind down quick elixr can not be denied. I found myself mixing whiskey into a glass of water last night at 2:30 just so I could slow my mind down enough to get to sleep. As I was watering down the alcohol so I could quickly consume it I paused for a second to wonder if this was destructive behavior, but... It feels like I'm in control of…

> A drink before bed to me is like the inverse of waking up and drinking coffee.

I find that weird. My sleep is completely wrecked if I have something to drink beforehand - I'll go to sleep fine, but the sleep is always fitful and I don't feel rested in the morning.

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