I think a lot of the bad effects are also from sugar itself. I’m mainly drinking gin+slimline tonic, and it doesn’t seem to affect me much. I still got the results i got (pics in a couple posts), and maintain. I don’t drink that much, but I do have 1-2-3 drinks quite often… maybe 3/7 days of the week. Once in a while beer, and that I feel bloats me a tiny bit. Some days (maybe 2-3 times a month), i drink a lot, like half a bottle of a 1L. I guess I’m so active and use so much energy that it flushes out pretty quick. I’m always fine the day after. It was worse when I was younger, but I wasn’t so active. My metabolism is insanely higher now than in my 30s, so it may connected to that. And maybe also connected to the keto, which makes me choose 0 carb alcohol options (except a beer now and then). They seem to not bloat me and to not give me any hangover.
The worst part for me with alcohol is that it makes me even more hungry than I already am. Not a problem while training at this rate. Either way yea, not easy to just stop.
Whether I feel the effects or not, it’s not beneficial either way, of course. I wonder if I had drank 0, if the results would be even better.
Last update from me…I was upgraded to cat 1 road today. I’ 55 yo…I don’t believe I could have done it drinking. Best to everyone. I hope this motivates someone to stop drinking.
Congratulations, well done stopping drinking!
I hope you can manage to cope with the withdrawal, both mental and physical !
I gave up 4 years ago.
Just made a X on the calendar 7 days ahead ( giving me time to drink all the wine I had in the house )
Surprisingly it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.
No headaches, nausea, anxiety etc.
Just much better sleep , no bad taste in the mouth, and a nicer bunny all round.
As for cycling performance the improvements were not noticeable. But I am aware that alcohol causes inflammation, so a reduction in that is good
I’ve stumbled upon a blog of one of the strongest ultra-endurance riders, Jefe “El Jefe” Branham. Among lots of good stuff about life and bike racing, he’s sharing his experience of being 1 year sober (it was published last year, so I do hope it’s 2 years by now). Might be inspiring for those who are looking down this road. For those who don’t drink - a good affirmation of not missing out on anything.
I was catching up on this topic and thought of an article I read a long time ago. It was about weaning oneself off of alcohol. If you are a heavy drinker or even a solid moderate drinker, one approach is to just throttle back the quantities and get your body used to less alcohol. If one is a heavy drinker, it may even be dangerous to stop cold turkey. It can be as simple as reducing consumption by 25% per week.
I thought the article was interesting because it’s sort of the opposite approach of AA which is all or nothing.
Anyway, food for thought if one needs an alternative approach. Googling will bring up many articles and strategies on tapering.
Everything depends. I think it’s just good to know that 100% abstinence is not the only way. And cutting back usage bit by bit may result in long term success. (Kind of like trying to lose 1/2 pound a week versus 5 pounds per week.)
I think a lot of people can simply build up momentum with booze. They aren’t necessarily alcoholics but they find that they are drinking 3-4 beers almost every night after work to relieve the stress of the day. 21+ beers a week may be tolerable but it’s certainly not healthy.
So you go down to 14 beers per week, and then do 10, then try every other day, 5 days per week, whatever works, and then get to a point where you can take it or leave it. Maybe you quit completely. There are dozens of ways one can approach this.
I used Lent as an excuse, and then when I continued after Lent, people were not asking. And I gave up alcohol completely. It’s in so much stuff. Even some mouthwash has a form of alcohol in it. I’m not an overly religious person but used Lent as an excuse. I had very strong willpower then. But most people really don’t need to know. Although they will come up with interesting stories. Like the client that saw me riding my bike through town and assumed that I had a DUI conviction. Yeah, no, I’m not THAT stupid. (I would have thought the whole appearance would have them thinking I was taking this whole thing seriously. (Full kit, expensive bike, etc) It seems it might be best to not let people make up their own stories as to why you quit drinking. Funny how they all seem to come up with bad ones…
I was able to quit smoking in my late teens ‘cold turkey’. Now, with what’s going on, it seems harder to stop drinking. I might still be somewhat dependent still from the pandemic, and had a surprise medical diagnosis that is weighing heavy on me too. External drama… I really do need to lose weight, and quitting drinking is one of the easiest steps. (I can’t stand some of the stuff I used to drink, so I’m making progress. (Backwoods Bastard (even though it looks like Gandalf), Double Two Hearted, etc)
Saw the question “Is alcohol getting in the way of what you want to achieve in life ?”
Thought to myself that apart from the expense, missed training days, excess calories, and going round in circles that my time with alcohol had come to and end…it always wins…!!
“The discomfort of discipline is better than the pain of regret…”
Im not getting any younger and having spent the last 17 years working in care, I wish to enjoy my days before I end up in a care home looking out of the window and saying to myself…" Nice day for a bike ride !"
All the best to everyone here, look after yourselves…x
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