Stopped Drinking Alcohol

Nutrition
268

So, I actually went for the full 50 days without alcohol - I expected it to be a bit difficult, but it was actually very easy. Even towards the end I didn’t have any cravings - those appeared a bit after the 50 days.
I think it’s definitely linked to the mental approach of it - during the 50 days, it was out of question to drink, so somehow my mind didn’t crave it. After the 50 days, even though I didn’t really wanted to ‘re-start’, small cravings appeared - I just took a decision to keep to my no alcohol rule, and I will only take a drink now in social occasions - that suppressed the cravings pretty effectively for me.

Now, here is what I observed during the 50 days:

  • sleep was massively improved - this cannot be overstated. I was well rested, even though I kept working full time from home (+3 kids)
  • As a result, I was able to train significantly better - and sure enough my power went up
  • mood was better - I found myself much less irritable, especially in the mornings
  • weight stabilized - it didn’t really go down, but I was already toward my lower bound and since the beginning of the lockdown, it was trending up very quickly
  • I saved money - alcohol actually costs quite a lot !
269

I read the book that you recommended Alcohol Explained by William Porter. When he was talking about how alcoholism begins with occasional drinking, it struck a nerve with me and I realized something.

It’s very difficult for me to have moderation in things. If I like something, I fall in 100%. I can’t only go for a short ride, it must be epic with a ridiculous climb near the end so someone will be needing an I.V. Can’t just go for a hike, have to walk so far that someone starts worrying about food/water/making it back. When I was younger couldn’t just build a Lego set, have to build the one with the most pieces and line up the writing on each piece so that it’s perfect. I’ve always been this way, I’m not changing. Just cannot moderate, therefore I cannot drink alcohol. I can see where that road will go.
And so I strongly recommend that each person that occasionally drinks alcohol examine their reasons for drinking and ask themselves, “am I just on the slow road to being an alcoholic?”

270

I have been using trainer road for about 3 years. I stopped drinking all together in May, and coming up on month 6. Note that I caught COVID 3 months ago, so had my riding interrupted for a month. But back at it for only a few months (SSBI and SSBII) and these are my observations.

-sleep is the biggest improvement. I used to struggle mightily with sleep

  • Recovery is waaaaaaay better. I can sustain 500 TSS indoor structured work. I used to attempt 500 weeks, and could do it if it was achieved with half outside unstructured work. But I could not sustain a 500 TSS indoor week. Only thing keeping me from more TSS today is a very busy work and family life.

  • Because of the two items above I can do 5AM indoor rides before the kids wake up. Which helps with keeping to plan.

  • mood, memory, all around function better

  • I ride MTB. XC and lots of “enduro” as the cool kids call it. My motor skills are far more dialed. Balance, alertness, etc. I immediately noticed a difference on the trail without a doubt.

  • FTP is climbing. I think i will hit my previous FTP PR next test in a few weeks, and only wrapping up SSBII. So should see PRs on FTP coming. Pretty sure its because of TSS increases mostly.

  • Best part. My relationships are far superior.

271

I drink, basically every night. Sometimes it’s wine for a date night with the wife, sometimes it’s beer or liquor at home, and sometimes I’m just too lazy/busy/tired to go get any alcohol and don’t drinks for days in a row.

I do wonder how much more fit I’d be if I didn’t drink, but then again I did my longest ride last year, 120mi and 6000ft at 19mph solo, after a night of beer, scotch, and cigars. I feel like I sleep well, though I do feel more “fresh” the morning after not drinking, but I had two gin and tonics last night and just woke up groggy today, then again it was rainy and miserable out anyway.

Maybe I’ll try not drinking for a few weeks, for now it’s something I enjoy and doesn’t seem to hold me back on the bike either

272

I have a very addictive personality like several others have discussed in this thread. I do a lot of cold turkey stops like @holybinch discusses a few posts above. But I always return and I always start drinking too much.

In March of this year I kind of stopped drinking completely as I started training (pre-trainerroad) fairly hard to come back from a winter of sloth. It really wasn’t the best time as that’s when COVID started getting bad in the US. But it was interesting as I watched everyone else I know start drinking heavily.

I say “kind of” because I gave myself a rule in March that I could have two beers if I completed 100 miles in a week. And by the end of the month I created another rule that allowed myself one beer for any 50 mile ride. I ended up riding 50 miles every day after that lol. So clearly, we can see where my motivation lies. I started March at 189lbs and by the end I was down to 167.

In April I took away drinking restrictions and set a goal for doing 1000 miles that month. I ended up doing 1185 miles, which I was very happy with, but gained back about 6lbs. In May I set a goal of doing a a century ride with at least 8k ft of climbing every weekend. Also completed this goal but gained a few more pounds and was hovering around 175. We can call this my base phase.

By the end of May all of the “events” in the US had been cancelled so I didn’t know what I was training for. I decided to try and do Mt Diablo from Athenian in under an hour by my birthday at the end of July. This might not seem like a hard challenge to a lot of the experienced riders here, but, I am not (or at least definitely was not) an experienced rider. Prior to 2020 I had around 2000mi total on my bike throughout the rest of my life. All of my friends thought I was crazy for setting this goal, but it made me very determined.

I started doing my own version of interval workouts by picking specific Strava segments out and just destroying myself trying to achieve #1 out of my followers on every single one. I never did an actual FTP test but Strava’s estimate went from 180 at the beginning of March to around 270. It did feel like I was plateauing a bit though and wasn’t sure I had quite enough to do the Diablo hour. About a month before my birthday, on Father’s day, I decided after that day that I was going to go vegan and cut out alcohol to try and reduce my weight as much as possible to give myself the best chance at achieving my goal.

I was able to drop down from low 170s to 155lbs, kept up my training, and you can see what I did to my Diablo PR on my birthday:

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SInce then I’ve had a bit of an adversarial relationship with alcohol. I really only drink beer but I love it. I spent a few weeks smoking weed/drinking heavily as a planned training break immediately after my birthday. Then started trying to get back into training and signed up for TR. I had actually planned in my head to do a dry September to help with my training… But as I went to go riding on the Friday before Labor Day weekend, smoke choked my lungs, and made me have the worst ride I’ve had possibly ever. I got home from it and decided to screw a dry September because, why?

I need a goal to motivate me to do something like stop drinking. Right now, with COVID, all the events being cancelled, and smoke all over the place outside, as we just entire the fire season, I lack all motivation. Reading this thread has inspired me a bit, and is making me realize I need to try harder to find that goal. The one quote about it cutting oxygen to your brain was very interesting to read.

I just need to find something to work towards where performance actually matters. Weight actually matters. So far, as I wrap up my 4th week with TR, I have been able to complete every workout. Some have been really hard, but I haven’t had to stop once yet. I am wondering as I advance through these plans perhaps I will hit a workout so hard that it makes me realize I couldn’t do it because of drinking. Maybe that’s the motivation I need.

Otherwise, perhaps some users here have suggestions for a new goal to keep me motivated and cut back on drinking once again?

273

I would say you would benefit from added ease of recovery. Its not going to magically make you a Pro. Same as you I have always done long rides. I like 8,12, and 24 hour mtb events. Do 8 and 12 hour solos. Now I’m able to handle more TSS without being sluggish all the time. I think thats the big thing for me.

Example. I did a 2 hour sweet spot indoor ride yesterday because i only had 2 hours; I have 3 kids and lots to do. After the ride the previous me would have been worthless. Now I have energy to stay active with my kids. Wake up Sunday ready to role again.

274

This worked for me!

275

Thanks for the suggestion. I read over the summary and several of the reviews. I could see this as very useful as someone who wants to stop drinking completely just because it’s healthier or a more positive way to live life. The problem is that’s not me. And I am not trying to be argumentative here. It’s just…I can stop drinking if I have a reason. It’s developing that reason which can be challenging.

Sometimes that reason doesn’t have to be that important. Just something like I have drank too much this month, let’s stop for a month. But I do enjoy the taste of beer and the buzz as well. One thing in this thread which has made me curious is people discussing better non-acoholic beer. I have never had a non-alcoholic beer which was even remotely palatable. Anyone have specific recommendations for someone who likes drinking Hazy IPAs?

When I come up with cycling goals they have been really helpful both because weight loss goals and performance gains. This thread has drilled it more into my head about the impact on performance gains. I really didn’t notice those much in the past.

With COVID making life extremely monotonous and no biking goals in sight for which to care about my performance, the reasons are just lacking for me right now. And the impetuses which drive me to drink more - mainly boredom - are higher. Normally in these times I might turn to cannabis instead, but as I wrote about in the other thread, that is a much more addictive substance to me which tends to have a more negative health impact, so I resort to alcohol as the boredom cure because it’s not physically addictive for me - it’s purely a mental thing.

I guess I am more curious about what others are doing to stay motivated right now from a cycling perspective, as if I figure out what my goal should be, my plan will likely incorporate some amount of alcohol abstinence.

276

I never drank a ton, but did have quite a few beers socially now and then. Stopped while training for a marathon a few years ago, never really got back up to previous levels. My beer fridge was overflowing because I like to try different beers but just don’t drink that much anymore. Wife and I split 3 beers, once or twice a session, one or two weekend days a week. Works out to 1.5 beers a session, but a mini flight with good variety, just not the volume.

277

I can only speak for myself, but my efforts on cutting back on drinking were unsatisfying. Drinking was absolutely a crutch to get me through as many hours of the day as I was awake.

I put down the bottle altogether in 2018 and get kind reminders of why I kept drank, and why I stopped, all the time.

Cycling and training scratch an itch, but its just not the same (Cycling is cheaper and way more fun).

Seriously, though, I find the opposite of addiction to be connection with others, nature, and in turn, myself. The sense of a void to fill out of boredom, cravings, or some emotional tremor was easier to understand with a therapist, doctor, and a couple of mentors that noticed I had issues.

My goals change somewhat frequently, with some closer to achievable and some overly ambitious; they’re pursued with the understanding that the process is where I find enjoyment!

278

Fair enough. I gave up drinking totally about 13 years ago as i had morphed from a surfer party animal into a grown-up, parent, workaholic alcoholic and it was not fun. I do miss having the option of a drink but it’d be a bad idea. If dope was an option (i used to love dope) then i’d do that for sure.
In terms of goals in a non-cycling goal world: i’ve got bored of cycling now this year and signed up for a trail ultra marathon. 50k of hilly, coastal hard slog. That will be a suitable challenge.

279

Honestly my sense of void (boredom) has just been brought about with COVID. Wonder if I should start a thread just about Coping in the world of COVID. That, along with the smoke in CA pretty much negating all outdoor activity has really been a double whammy. I know I am not alone. I know others are drinking more because of all of this. Even if I wanted to see a therapist, I am not sure if it’s even possible right now due to COVID, and I don’t know what he or she would tell me other than say it’s eventually going to get better.

Which is fine, I believe it will get better, but I need shit to do to keep me occupied right now. Drinking isn’t as bad for me as it is for others. And right now, it does help me continue to endure these shitty times. Maybe when our lives start returning to normal I will plan a long ass break from alcohol.

Besides that, just need to find my next performance cycling goal to aim for so I am force to focus on my weight and athletic performance again.

280

It’s very possible. Most therapists offer remote sessions. Admittedly that’s a little awkward at first but considering that’s how most of us are interacting with doctors, co-workers, students, and teachers, it’s less of a stretch.

I hear so many excuses about not going to therapy, and truly, it’s not a silver bullet for your problems, however - if you find the right therapist for your goals and put in the work, it’s a pretty solid way of changing your own internal processes. It’s saved my ass a couple times. I fought it for YEARS, and if I could offer my former self even just one piece of advice it would be to get over myself and find a professional to speak with.

How much do you value putting in the work for your physical self? Why stop there?

281

But, I don’t really have anything I would consider a problem…so should I invent one to have a reason to talk to someone to see if they help anyway?

I don’t mind drinking. Conversely, I enjoy it. I enjoy the taste, I enjoy the buzz. During COVID, I enjoy hanging out within my social bubble and having beers with friends. Or going to outside bars and having a couple beers for happy hour. Kind of like you mentioned in the CBD thread with it helping you for recovery, a beer or two helps me with some of those things without the addiction part. If I could swap beer for THC 100% without the negative impacts on my life I would in a heartbeat. I like THC so much more and it’s so much more rewarding for me mentally. But I just can’t do it with how it impacts my body.

The negative impact of beer in my life is basically just weight gain. And it’s not very drastic since I workout so much. It’s more like lack of weight loss that I would get otherwise. From a performance perspective, on the bike, I have yet to see it have one. Reading this thread it seems like it should have an impact, but I’ve had plenty to drink before getting up and pounding out a century ride at high watts, so anecdotally, it seems like it may impact me less than others? I dunno.

I think I’ll bow out of this thread now because feels like I am getting OT of the original intent. You all have your reasons for not drinking and I am very supportive and proud of you for stopping drinking. Some of the things in this thread have opened my eyes a bit and have made me think a little more critically of how I approach beer. Perhaps one day I will never need it. But, right now, during COVID, and fire season, the only thing I see convincing me to stop completely for any length of time would be to set a very ambitious goal which would make me focus on my weight and performance more closely. Maybe I’ll find it. Maybe I won’t. Best of luck everyone.

283

Curious if anyone has tried the Athletic Brewing Co non-alcoholic beers? Its so hard to find n/a craft beers that isnt a lager, and it looks like they make an IPA and a Gose!?

Also keen for other n/a beer recommendations. :crossed_fingers:

284

I haven’t tried those but here in Canada we get Partake - I’ve found I prefer the IPA & Pale to the Blonde - they seem to have more mouthfeel.
Big Drop Brewing also makes good stuff but they’re based in the UK so supply can be sketchy.
And finally, just now Gwen Jorgensen dropped an IG post about Gruvi. I haven’t tried it (hadn’t heard of it before today).

285

N/A Prosecco?!?! AND A WEISSE!?! Sign me up!!! :star_struck:

286

I’ve just been looking up the retailers closest to me!

287

In Canada (Quebec only?) we also get Le Bockale. Their three brews (IPA, weisse and stout) are spot on!

288

Looks like they ship Canada-wide. Not sure I want to commit to buying 12 of each though!