250 days 👍
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250 days 👍
I don’t really count the days anymore, but I just noticed it’s 250 and thought I’d post.
Background: I’m 50 and had drunk alcohol since 18 but became a heavy drinker (equivalent to a bottle of wine a day) from age 35 to 48. I was sedentary and obese (BMI 32) and had high-ish blood pressure. I was heading for diabetes and probably liver disease if I’d continued.
I started exercising and lost weight quickly. My diet plan of 2000 calories a day showed there was no room for alcohol, but I still drank although cut down to the equivalent of half a bottle a day - this is still two and a half times over the recommended U.K. health limits by the way. I still binge drank on occasions too so I was taking on a dangerous amount of alcohol. I was also quite slim and fit after just a few months, and it seemed daft to do all this exercise and still drink.
So I stopped, well I tried to but I couldn’t. I’d become dependent on alcohol. My GP prescribed me Campral, a drug which reduces cravings, which I took for around five weeks. It may have worked, but the fact I’d gone to the trouble of getting this drug meant it was even more pointless to drink.
I had a few nasty weeks where I really really wanted that drink, but I sat on my hands. I did have the occasional alcohol free beer if a genuine stressful event occurred. I didn’t really plan on quitting for life, but subsequent research shows 99.9999% of people in my position will revert to heavy drinking if they try and moderate. No thanks.
The trick is:
1. Get through those first few weeks doing whatever it takes. No little “rewards” of alcohol or you’re wasting your time.
2. Say goodbye and RIP to alcohol forever. Accept you can’t drink again.
Background: I’m 50 and had drunk alcohol since 18 but became a heavy drinker (equivalent to a bottle of wine a day) from age 35 to 48. I was sedentary and obese (BMI 32) and had high-ish blood pressure. I was heading for diabetes and probably liver disease if I’d continued.
I started exercising and lost weight quickly. My diet plan of 2000 calories a day showed there was no room for alcohol, but I still drank although cut down to the equivalent of half a bottle a day - this is still two and a half times over the recommended U.K. health limits by the way. I still binge drank on occasions too so I was taking on a dangerous amount of alcohol. I was also quite slim and fit after just a few months, and it seemed daft to do all this exercise and still drink.
So I stopped, well I tried to but I couldn’t. I’d become dependent on alcohol. My GP prescribed me Campral, a drug which reduces cravings, which I took for around five weeks. It may have worked, but the fact I’d gone to the trouble of getting this drug meant it was even more pointless to drink.
I had a few nasty weeks where I really really wanted that drink, but I sat on my hands. I did have the occasional alcohol free beer if a genuine stressful event occurred. I didn’t really plan on quitting for life, but subsequent research shows 99.9999% of people in my position will revert to heavy drinking if they try and moderate. No thanks.
The trick is:
1. Get through those first few weeks doing whatever it takes. No little “rewards” of alcohol or you’re wasting your time.
2. Say goodbye and RIP to alcohol forever. Accept you can’t drink again.
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Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 3,944
Oh, I mention livers a lot.
I had a mild fatty liver which was diagnosed by an ultrasound. I was getting some pain from this too. Fatty liver might sound innocuous, but it’s the first stage of liver problems which then become fibrosis and then cirrhosis. These are irreversible conditions.
Eight months of not drinking later, a fibroscan showed my liver was healthy (stiffness of 7KPa, normal) and the fat had all gone.
By rights, over two decades of heavy drinking should’ve damaged my liver. By luck or genes or whatever, I’ve been given one hell of a second chance. However much I may want a drink in future (the cravings still come and go albeit rarer), I’ll think of my nice healthy liver first. It helped me a lot so I’ll do likewise.
And the BMI 32 obese guy is now BMI 26 and a fairly decent runner doing 5Km and training for triathlons. That’s not possible with a hangover 😀
I had a mild fatty liver which was diagnosed by an ultrasound. I was getting some pain from this too. Fatty liver might sound innocuous, but it’s the first stage of liver problems which then become fibrosis and then cirrhosis. These are irreversible conditions.
Eight months of not drinking later, a fibroscan showed my liver was healthy (stiffness of 7KPa, normal) and the fat had all gone.
By rights, over two decades of heavy drinking should’ve damaged my liver. By luck or genes or whatever, I’ve been given one hell of a second chance. However much I may want a drink in future (the cravings still come and go albeit rarer), I’ll think of my nice healthy liver first. It helped me a lot so I’ll do likewise.
And the BMI 32 obese guy is now BMI 26 and a fairly decent runner doing 5Km and training for triathlons. That’s not possible with a hangover 😀
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Join Date: Jul 2019
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By the way... I was not highlighting the contradiction between knowing the days and not counting. I was focusing on the 'no counting' part. I really want to get tot he stage where I don't know how many days I have been AF
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That’s better than my efforts! I’m stuck on 5Km.
The heart rate thing could also be due to no drinking. My resting pulse is 50 but went up to 58 when I last had a few days of drinking last December.
Sounds like you’re doing really well.
The heart rate thing could also be due to no drinking. My resting pulse is 50 but went up to 58 when I last had a few days of drinking last December.
Sounds like you’re doing really well.
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Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 600
Exercise has been critical for me too. First thing in the morning. I also run slow & steady, 11-12 minute miles, what I’ve heard called the “valet jog”, the speed the valet runs when he gets your car.
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Congratulations on 250 days Hodd. Always enjoy your posts. My liver enzymes off the charts was my first wake up call so I can relate. My doctor tells me liver disease not only means death but a horribly painful death.
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Originally Posted by Tailai 
Congratulations on 250 days Hodd. Always enjoy your posts. My liver enzymes off the charts was my first wake up call so I can relate. My doctor tells me liver disease not only means death but a horribly painful death.
Yes, to have that awful disease is terrible enough, but imagine having it through needless drinking. That’s doubly hard and a tragic waste. Glad you were caught in plenty of time.
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Originally Posted by Dee74
Congrats on your milestone Hodd and thanks for sharing those thoughts 
D
D
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Join Date: Aug 2015
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Love this Hodd!! I am a day counter, every day for a long time, and now I note in my calendar about once a week. Some days I think to look up the exact number, like I did today (1297 which is awesome bc 1300 is in 3 days and that's a cool number 
)
Your shares and observations are spot on, too, IMO. And, I found hitting a 100 and then the 50 markers and what I started calling the hundreds was tremendously supportive in my progress.
Keep going!
)Your shares and observations are spot on, too, IMO. And, I found hitting a 100 and then the 50 markers and what I started calling the hundreds was tremendously supportive in my progress.
Keep going!
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