Quitting the booze

[Spider]

Allen Carr (not the goofy “comedian”) writes books about how to stop drinking and/or smoking.

My sister read it a few years back and, whilst she want a full on alky, was overdoing the booze.

After reading this book, she hasn’t touched a drop since. Not one.

So, as a challenge, I said I’d read the book and prove that this kind of thing doesn’t really work and that she was just ready to stop anyway.

about 2 weeks ago, I reached just over the halfway point. Since then, I’ve probably had 2 pints and one glass of wine, none of which I particularly enjoyed.

I’m annoyed for several reasons:

* I adore a drink, and I feel the pleasure has been stolen from me

* My sister was right and I was wrong about the book

* I feel somehow invaded by this author who I never invited into my life in the first place.

* I want a beer, but don’t want a beer. It’s fucking WEIRD.

 

I need help in getting back on the horse.

Im not going to preach, but if you really want to kick the booze (he does fags as well), then I’m here to tell you, brothers and sisters, that this fucker works.

 

[globaldiver]

Put

the

book

down

[Spider]

1 minute ago, globaldiver said:

Put

the

book

down

I did

But I’m scared I went too deep.

[globaldiver]

3 minutes ago, Spider said:

I did

But I’m scared I went too deep.

Then get pissed tonight.

[Spider]

2 minutes ago, globaldiver said:

Then get pissed tonight.

Tried last night.

Opened a beer

Put it down, had a pint of water.

I’m no happier.

[ErnestTurnip]

My brother read the Adrian Chiles one and that's had a similar effect on him.

Edited December 20, 2022 by ErnestTurnip

[globaldiver]

21 minutes ago, Spider said:

Tried last night.

Opened a beer

Put it down, had a pint of water.

I’m no happier.

Can I have any decent reds, then?

😁

[Tonge moor green jacket]

43 minutes ago, Spider said:

Allen Carr (not the goofy “comedian”) writes books about how to stop drinking and/or smoking.

My sister read it a few years back and, whilst she want a full on alky, was overdoing the booze.

After reading this book, she hasn’t touched a drop since. Not one.

So, as a challenge, I said I’d read the book and prove that this kind of thing doesn’t really work and that she was just ready to stop anyway.

about 2 weeks ago, I reached just over the halfway point. Since then, I’ve probably had 2 pints and one glass of wine, none of which I particularly enjoyed.

I’m annoyed for several reasons:

* I adore a drink, and I feel the pleasure has been stolen from me

* My sister was right and I was wrong about the book

* I feel somehow invaded by this author who I never invited into my life in the first place.

* I want a beer, but don’t want a beer. It’s fucking WEIRD.

 

I need help in getting back on the horse.

Im not going to preach, but if you really want to kick the booze (he does fags as well), then I’m here to tell you, brothers and sisters, that this fucker works.

 

You chose to read it, you daft sod.

Maybe it's just your time to stop to?

Fwiw, when I got put on epilepsy medication, I instantly stopped. Not a big drinker anyway, but I stopped nevertheless. Several years before I had a drop and didn't really miss it.

Had a beer watching the euros last summer, quite enjoyed it- the flavour was appreciated. Occasional drink since, but again for the flavour and not "the need for a beer or social norms"

[gonzo]

A sober alcoholic wouldnt sell his soul for all the whisky in the world.

Give him one sip and he'd sell it for the next glass.

...got this tattooed on my back and it sums up my relationship with alcohol.

Ive read a similar book, the joys of being sober it was called. Nothing can stop the devil on my shoulder once Ive had one sip of ale.

Last Friday a fella made me a brew with a nip of brandy in it to warm the cockles. That one single sip lead to a pint after work. Then 3 more and 8 cans.

Think I need to read this book pal, might stop the craving for a pint in the first place.

[Marc505]

What is it about the book that makes it so effective? I'm intrigued! Is it like a physical "do this, do that" how-to guide or does it go into medical studies etc?

There's a book out by Adrian Chiles (he absolutely gets on my tits on telly but I don't mind his writing) called The Good Drinker, not about giving up completely but how hes managed to drink less and enjoy it more. Thinking of giving it a whirl, I'm absolutely nowhere near being an alcoholic but I am a binge drinker. Not had a drink for almost 3 weeks now, yet I will probably have 12+ on Christmas Eve, then nothing for a few days and another mass haul a week later.

[Not in Crawley]

38 minutes ago, gonzo said:

A sober alcoholic wouldnt sell his soul for all the whisky in the world.

Give him one sip and he'd sell it for the next glass.

...got this tattooed on my back and it sums up my relationship with alcohol.

Ive read a similar book, the joys of being sober it was called. Nothing can stop the devil on my shoulder once Ive had one sip of ale.

Last Friday a fella made me a brew with a nip of brandy in it to warm the cockles. That one single sip lead to a pint after work. Then 3 more and 8 cans.

Think I need to read this book pal, might stop the craving for a pint in the first place.

I think some of the issues are around a generational attitude to booze. Our generation grew up on the binge culture, so its all or nothing. Not like our parents our grandparents where you didn't drink to get utterly obliterated but you'd have a drink everyday at certain times. Same with my folks now, they drink every day - dad probably has a bottle or red wine a day. Has a glass at 4pm, and then has the bottle over the next 5 hours and with tea, and goes to bed at 8.30-9-ish. So doesn't get a hangover, eats at normal times etc Same with my grandparents - grandad - two gills at lunch, a bottle of beer later but nowt after tea.

I think our generation's relationship with alcohol is different and more problematic. Weeks of being sober and then one massive night/day - almost like its all pent up and folk just want to get smashed out of their minds. 

Although, the generation below us, that seems to be different - much more into health and drink doesn't seem to come into it as much - which I have to say did for my boozy paid for media lunches but that is certainly a good thing health wise - its just a bit more boring now! 

 

[DirtySanchez]

44 minutes ago, Not in Crawley said:

 

Although, the generation below us, that seems to be different - much more into health and drink doesn't seem to come into it as much - which I have to say did for my boozy paid for media lunches but that is certainly a good thing health wise - its just a bit more boring now! 

 

Think my real binge attitude started when I went to Uni. It was in the days where I'd get a grant and tution fees didn't exist. If I missed a few lectures because I'd got hammered the night before I didn't feel so guilty

Now if you're putting yourself in however many thousands of pounds of debt to get a degree, then getting hammered isn't going to be high up on the agenda

I know at Leicester uni they don't sell alcohol anywhere on the main campus now 

 

[Spider]

The kids do seem more interested in sniffing helium, which definitely has less calories

[Wanderlust]

Can't see myself ever quitting altogether, but I need to change my standard pub tipple (IPA) to something that's not beer as I've flirted with gout for the last few years because of the high purine content. Also need to lose a bit of weight after Xmas so I'm thinking of spirits as a pub tipple - but I love beer and tend to have >6 or 7 pints on a night out so unless I drown them with coke zero or similar I won't get the volume I'm used to. And it's expensive in my pub.

[Cheese]

1 hour ago, Marc505 said:

What is it about the book that makes it so effective? I'm intrigued! Is it like a physical "do this, do that" how-to guide or does it go into medical studies etc?

If it's anything like his book about quitting smoking, it's just logic and thought processes and how to break habitual behaviours. It didn't work for me as my mind is fucked, but it was all very sensible stuff. No scary statistics or gruesome photos or anything like that. I quit smoking by replacing it with vaping about 10 years ago. I still use a vape, but at least I don't spend a fortune to stink like an ashtray.

[Not in Crawley]

18 minutes ago, DirtySanchez said:

Think my real binge attitude started when I went to Uni. It was in the days where I'd get a grant and tution fees didn't exist. If I missed a few lectures because I'd got hammered the night before I didn't feel so guilty

Now if you're putting yourself in however many thousands of pounds of debt to get a degree, then getting hammered isn't going to be high up on the agenda

I know at Leicester uni they don't sell alcohol anywhere on the main campus now 

 

Yeah - that's a good shout. I got kicked out of my first uni for never turning up in the first year, but didn't matter as you go 4 years paid for anyway. I suppose it's more serious now in terms of what its costing you, which in some ways is a shame.

Although the younger folks I've worked with just see it as a bit tragic getting wsted - like its for the older folks and they don't want to do that. Although, as someone once wrote - how he comes o'er us with our wilder days, not measuring what use we made of them. 

[Spider]

1 hour ago, Marc505 said:

What is it about the book that makes it so effective? I'm intrigued! Is it like a physical "do this, do that" how-to guide or does it go into medical studies etc?

There's a book out by Adrian Chiles (he absolutely gets on my tits on telly but I don't mind his writing) called The Good Drinker, not about giving up completely but how hes managed to drink less and enjoy it more. Thinking of giving it a whirl, I'm absolutely nowhere near being an alcoholic but I am a binge drinker. Not had a drink for almost 3 weeks now, yet I will probably have 12+ on Christmas Eve, then nothing for a few days and another mass haul a week later.

It’s greater than the sum of its parts.

There’s nothing in there that you won’t know, won’t have thought about or fully understand. It’s the way it’s pieced together and how it seems to adjust your approach.

It won’t work for everyone, but I’m a right cynical cunt, me, and even I have to admit that it’s very well done.

I’ve not even finished it yet, I’m worried it will make me Muslim or something I imagine.

[Not in Crawley]

1 minute ago, Spider said:

It’s greater than the sum of its parts.

There’s nothing in there that you won’t know, won’t have thought about or fully understand. It’s the way it’s pieced together and how it seems to adjust your approach.

It won’t work for everyone, but I’m a right cynical cunt, me, and even I have to admit that it’s very well done.

I’ve not even finished it yet, I’m worried it will make me Muslim or something I imagine.

Gift it to Bolty for christmas. Be funny if nothing else.

[Spider]

7 minutes ago, Not in Crawley said:

Gift it to Bolty for christmas. Be funny if nothing else.

He’s already a communist, that would finish him off.

[gonzo]

1 hour ago, Not in Crawley said:

I think some of the issues are around a generational attitude to booze. Our generation grew up on the binge culture, so its all or nothing. Not like our parents our grandparents where you didn't drink to get utterly obliterated but you'd have a drink everyday at certain times. Same with my folks now, they drink every day - dad probably has a bottle or red wine a day. Has a glass at 4pm, and then has the bottle over the next 5 hours and with tea, and goes to bed at 8.30-9-ish. So doesn't get a hangover, eats at normal times etc Same with my grandparents - grandad - two gills at lunch, a bottle of beer later but nowt after tea.

I think our generation's relationship with alcohol is different and more problematic. Weeks of being sober and then one massive night/day - almost like its all pent up and folk just want to get smashed out of their minds. 

Although, the generation below us, that seems to be different - much more into health and drink doesn't seem to come into it as much - which I have to say did for my boozy paid for media lunches but that is certainly a good thing health wise - its just a bit more boring now! 

 

Aye Id go with that. My old does the last hour in his local over the road. Has done since time began. 3-4 pints and thats your lot. Loads do similar.

If I had a sniff of being in the pub for the last hour Id have to be in from tea time

Watching my best mate having to cut himself adrift from large parts of his life at the minute really make me think how inexplicably linked our whole lives are to alcohol.

Never gonna meet my dad for a coffee or my mates for a dog walk down the beach.

 

[Biggish Dave]

When I start to drink, I like to finish the job off and have a good old sup but only when it doesn't matter because i'm not working the following day.

I go to the pub on Monday nights for 1 or 2 pints with the lads. It never touches 3 pints. 

Sundays if i've played golf i'll have 2 pints - again, it's never 3.

Other than that, I don't booze alot to the point I don't even bother on a Friday night any more unless i'm on a rare night out.

[Traf]

Further proof that reading isn't good for you.

[Spider]

7 minutes ago, Traf said:

Further proof that reading isn't good for you.

It was an audiobook if we’re splitting hairs

[London Wanderer]

44 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

When I start to drink, I like to finish the job off and have a good old sup but only when it doesn't matter because i'm not working the following day.

I go to the pub on Monday nights for 1 or 2 pints with the lads. It never touches 3 pints. 

Sundays if i've played golf i'll have 2 pints - again, it's never 3.

Other than that, I don't booze alot to the point I don't even bother on a Friday night any more unless i'm on a rare night out.

I’m probably similar. Few times a week and rarely go above 3 drinks unless it’s a wedding or something. 

If I do this earlier in the day then I’m still fresh as a daisy the next day and have no issue playing footy, running or hitting the gym. What I notice more now is the ropey feeling the next day if I’ve had 2/3 in the evening. Can end up feeling tired through the weekend and into Monday.

 No plans to quit but would like to cut down further and do more booze free weekends. 
 

it’s proper engrained into so much though. 

[Marc505]

1 hour ago, Cheese said:

If it's anything like his book about quitting smoking, it's just logic and thought processes and how to break habitual behaviours. It didn't work for me as my mind is fucked, but it was all very sensible stuff. No scary statistics or gruesome photos or anything like that. I quit smoking by replacing it with vaping about 10 years ago. I still use a vape, but at least I don't spend a fortune to stink like an ashtray.

 

1 hour ago, Spider said:

It’s greater than the sum of its parts.

There’s nothing in there that you won’t know, won’t have thought about or fully understand. It’s the way it’s pieced together and how it seems to adjust your approach.

It won’t work for everyone, but I’m a right cynical cunt, me, and even I have to admit that it’s very well done.

I’ve not even finished it yet, I’m worried it will make me Muslim or something I imagine.

It sounds like one of those books where you think yeah it might work for everyone else but its never going to work for my specific mindset and situation. You know if it saves one life or one relationship then fair play.

I cannot wait to have a drink on Christmas Eve though...

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

 

Watching my best mate having to cut himself adrift from large parts of his life at the minute really make me think how inexplicably linked our whole lives are to alcohol.

Never gonna meet my dad for a coffee or my mates for a dog walk down the beach.

 

It's so entwined with our culture, especially lads, and especially lads who go to football can you imagine living half the experiences you've had following your team everywhere but without drinking!

Unrelated but my dragons den kind of idea has always been to open a proper sports bar but that doesn't sell alcohol. There's never an option in town to go watch a game on telly in a communal environment unless its a pub and all the potential pressures and fears that can bring. It'd be called Softball, a comfortable pub-ish environment for teetotalers and the chronically hungover 😃