Hello all,
A little background on me...
I've been drinking the past 30 or so years. I started in college and have been a fairly heavy drinker since—especially on the weekends. I basically drank to escape, lower stress and felt it made anything I was doing more fun. Recently, I've decided to try and give it up and thought it might be a good idea to visit a forum with other like-minded people.
The reason I'm giving up alcohol is that I lost my job a few months back and found I increased my alcohol intake as a result. I gained weight (I'm a heavy guy already) and don't need to spend the money it takes to drink. No one wants to hire a middle-aged, fat man.
I used to be on anti-depressants to help with stress (which was not a good thing to take along with drinking) but decided to try life without them. I'm trying to increase my exercise and cut back on my calories as well.
I don't know if I can ever be the kind of drinker who only does it on special occasions. I tend to overdo to excess with most things which means two beers usually leads to six. I might have to quit as I did with tobacco a few years back.
I look forward to reading the board and the experiences of others.