Cutting down, baby steps

[seasia]

For quite some time I have not been happy with my alcohol consumption.

 

Between about 8 to 12 X 320 ml  beer bottles ( 5 % )    per day.

No spirits.

 

Some of the beer  drank indoors.

 

For a few days, a slight improvement, start drinking later, stop drinking earlier.

 

I have beers in the fridge yet am quite happily drinking water., no temptation to pour a glass of beer.

Plenty of juice in the fridge which I actually like.

 

I am trying my best to quit the indoors drinking and then reduce  outdoor drinking to maybe 4 or 5 a day with some days of total abstinence..

Then maybe reduce  a bit more.

 

It is hard, would love to just drink modestly 2 or 3 days a week.

I don`t actually have any desire to stop totally.

 

I am merely looking for some encouragement or ideas.

 

Thanks

[bangkok blue]

One question... What affect is your current consumption causing to your life?

 

My advice would be to join a gym, with group training classes and increase your network of healthy minded friends.

[richard_smith237]

Why are your trying to cut down or quit? 

Is it concerns regarding alcohol? Carbs? Weight? General health? 

 

Different reasons require a different approach... 

 

for starters..  don’t start until after 6pm... then pick a couple days you won’t start until after 8pm...

 

Or, drink water with dinner & beer after, being full you will drink less.

 

You know this already, I’m sure... a little self discipline is key... 

[seasia]

12 minutes ago, bangkok blue said:

One question... What affect is your current consumption causing to your life?

 

My advice would be to join a gym, with group training classes and increase your network of healthy minded friends.

Hello

 

Good question. I think it makes me depressed at times, makes me tired.

Kills my appetite so I do not eat all that much, perhaps leading to a poor diet.

Put off doing some important things which can lead to problems later down the line.

 

Fortunately never ever aggressive or arrogant on drink, never any issues with others through it.

 

Thanks

[473geo]

Doesn't seem too dramatic to implement change as you are occasionally ignoring alcohol anyway.

Always try to eat before drinking. Try picking 2 days a week as alcohol free days as a start, maybe even allow yourself one beer if required on those days, see how it goes and work from there

 

It was easy for me, I decided my children would never see me drunk, that really meant no alcohol, my wife was also pleased and impressed, all good.  It was a great decision.

 

 

 

[seasia]

10 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Why are your trying to cut down or quit? 

Is it concerns regarding alcohol? Carbs? Weight? General health? 

 

Different reasons require a different approach... 

 

for starters..  don’t start until after 6pm... then pick a couple days you won’t start until after 8pm...

 

Or, drink water with dinner & beer after, being full you will drink less.

 

You know this already, I’m sure... a little self discipline is key... 

Hello

 

Concerns re. alcohol and general health, not carbs or weight, I  have no wight issue, am about right for my height and age.

Yes, I am trying to start later and stop earlier.

I do not drink beer with dinner, water only, nor do I drink beer after dinner, again, water only.

This is of some help I think.

I drink at least a litre of water after I have finished drinking.

I do not even want beer after eating.

 

I am just trying to reduce my intake.

Hard but feel I have made a tiny bit of progress

 

Thanks

[jaiyen]

Is there such a thing as AA in your area ? That would be a good group to assist you. You need to get a hobby that keeps you busy.  

[connda]

There ain't no 'baby steps' for you partner.  You're just fooling yourself if you think there is.  I suggest you just quit under a doctor's supervision as you're probably going to go though an unpleasant two or three days of withdrawal. 
After you've stopped for a prolonged period of time, like a year, you can come back to revisit 'moderation' although my bet is that there is no 'moderation' in your future. 
 

[Shiver]

7 hours ago, seasia said:

 

I do not even want beer after eating.

 

This above is perhaps a large part of your answer right there.

 

I along with several friends have all been discussing this issue lately, and how all of us need to clean up our act.  Like you, no beer is not really an issue in terms of dependency, but if you don't have a hobby or job then it's just too easy to go and do social which invariably involves at least a couple of drinks.  I say a couple, then you add them up next day and realise that you had one at that shop, one when we ran into a friend, and another for the road, so you're telling yourself you had two when really it was 5.  Got to be careful to be true to yourself and also making it public knowledge as well helps make it prominent in your mind what actual behaviour is rather than the story you wish you could be telling.

 

If I stay off it for a day or two, I don't really want to touch the stuff, but then Friday rolls around, the first few sips taste like a**, then before you know it you're back in the swing of it and returning to previous behaviour.

 

If food takes away your desire to drink (maybe just no room for it?) then that sounds like an obvious starting point.  I have learnt to never ever drink without food before hand.  For me it's not that it fills me up or slows down absorption or anything, it's just that if you're going to challenge your body then it needs some ammo to defend itself.  If drinking makes you not eat then you can get in real trouble as I did a few years back.

 

Purely for health reasons and protecting your liver powerfully, I would strongly suggest getting on AliExpress and ordering 1Kg of "Cordyceps Sinensis" and take a large spoon morning and evening whether drinking or not.  It's the nearest thing to a miracle for the liver I've ever experienced, and repaired what the doctors told me was impossible.

 

I don't ban myself from drinking.  If I have one at home I do it while doing something else (in my case being on the computer) and you may find that a bottle lasts you several hours, and also that a bottle of green tea would do just as well.  I have my Friday nights, and arrange to go to a place that closes early-ish, such as a restaurant to add another constraint to going overboard.  That way I can go through the week without any noticeable negative effects.  

 

The times that really get me in trouble is when say you do your Friday (or whatever you choose) then someone flies into town Saturday, then find out it's a birthday party on a Sunday, and cumulatively it all gets too much and feel terrible.  In that situation dedicate the next day to just sleeping and lazing around, and I titrate back to zero over the next couple of days and my feet are back on the ground and all is back to normal.

 

Oh, and don't neglect sleep.  That's when we repair.  Missing out on that and also food makes alcohol that much more dangerous to your health.

 

 

[chrisinth]

OP, best advice I could give is to stop thinking about it too much, this is obviously one of the reasons you are stressed out.

 

By giving yourself limitations, ie, when to start drinking and when to stop, you are increasing the stress and will become a clock watcher. You need to find something to get your mind off it, something that interests you.

 

The above is speaking from experience; it worked for me but as in everything, results vary. I was one of those 15 pints a night guys, not big and not clever, just a downside to the lifestyle attached to the job at the time. I took the easy way out and stopped drinking completely (19 years ago, still dry). 

 

Good luck with it mate, and like I say, stop thinking about it too much, it is messing with your head.......................

[thaiguzzi]

14 hours ago, seasia said:

 

Between about 8 to 12 X 320 ml  beer bottles ( 5 % )    per day.

So that's 4 big bottles (620ml) a day. 6 on a bad day.

I drink 2 large bottles every single day, end of the working day, late afternoon -early evening. No more, no less.

I wouldn't consider 3-4 a problem myself, 6 everyday maybe yes.

I know plenty of people in the West who drink 2-3-4 pints every day after a working day, not really a problem if kept in moderation, able to function, eat well and go to work in the morning.

[richard_smith237]

9 hours ago, seasia said:

Hello

 

Concerns re. alcohol and general health, not carbs or weight, I  have no wight issue, am about right for my height and age.

Yes, I am trying to start later and stop earlier.

I do not drink beer with dinner, water only, nor do I drink beer after dinner, again, water only.

This is of some help I think.

I drink at least a litre of water after I have finished drinking.

I do not even want beer after eating.

 

I am just trying to reduce my intake.

Hard but feel I have made a tiny bit of progress

 

Thanks

It seems as though you’ve got it covered already... 

 

On the face of things it doesn’t appear as though you have an issue - certainly not AA level as one poster suggested!

 

As 473geo suggests, just go for a couple of beer / alcohol free days and go from there.

 

Don’t over think it.... it’s just a couple of beers... 

[stephenterry]

OP, It's all about pain and pleasure. While each individual is different, a person who drinks alcohol is either deriving pleasure from a few beers, or trying to erase the pain of suffering something, like a messy relationship.

 

In your case, I sense you derive pleasure from having a beer or three. And why not?  However, if the result of this short-term pleasure is causing you concern, i.e. that you're drinking too much, it's not a pleasure anymore, is it?

 

In my case, being a similar pleasure drinker, I am carrying a hernia, and if I need an operation, I decided to lose bodyweight as the thought and mental picture of a surgeon cutting through layers of fat to push my hernia back in place and sew me up was not at all pleasurable.

 

In my mind I regarded my body as a 'temple' and that helped me to give up beer and cider straight away - and replace the liquid amount with soda water, and cut out bread/pasta completely, and increase eating healthy foods that keep my weight neutral. Once my system had gotten used to the new regime (and there is always a reaction to a fasting diet) I found I had lost 10 kilos in a couple of months, my gut had shrinked, and I slept well.

 

Nevertheless, from time to time, going out with friends is a challenge, and I promised myself I wouldn't drink and drive. Now when I go out, I arrange for a transport pick-up, but limit myself to two glasses of wine with a lunchtime meal after two bottles of soda, or my favourite digestif, Jagermeister to round off any evening meal.

 

If I go over that limit, my body tells me it's suffering, and that gives me pain and not pleasure. In your case, you need to train your neural signals that 'excessive' drinking causes pain not pleasure. Once you believe that, you will take appropriate action to mentally picture pain, and will avoid that at all cost.

 

This method also works well for those who are overweight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimcarr65]

If you are at the point now of asking a question like this with alcohol you most likely have a problem with it. The only solution is not cutting down, its abstinence. Find an AA meeting and attend for 90 days, if it's not for you then you are probably not alcoholic. AA Thailand, Google it, great meetings and people in Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.

[rosst]

8 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Why are your trying to cut down or quit? 

Is it concerns regarding alcohol? Carbs? Weight? General health? 

 

Different reasons require a different approach... 

 

for starters..  don’t start until after 6pm... then pick a couple days you won’t start until after 8pm...

 

Or, drink water with dinner & beer after, being full you will drink less.

 

You know this already, I’m sure... a little self discipline is key... 

Great advice here but most importantly you have chosen to do this and it will be of benefit to you. 

Remember it is your choice and be comfortable with choosing when and how much you wish to drink. 

I am also reducing the amount that I drink and I know how hard it is but it does get easier. 

It also helps to tell your mates so they don't try to get you to drink more.  Good luck 

[rosst]

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Why are your trying to cut down or quit? 

Is it concerns regarding alcohol? Carbs? Weight? General health? 

 

Different reasons require a different approach... 

 

for starters..  don’t start until after 6pm... then pick a couple days you won’t start until after 8pm...

 

Or, drink water with dinner & beer after, being full you will drink less.

 

You know this already, I’m sure... a little self discipline is key... 

Great advice here but most importantly you have chosen to do this and it will be of benefit to you. 

Remember it is your choice and be comfortable with choosing when and how much you wish to drink. 

I am also reducing the amount that I drink and I know how hard it is but it does get easier. 

It also helps to tell your mates so they don't try to get you to drink more.  Good luck 

[Thingamabob]

 When I was working in London I used to drink every lunchtime. My record day was 17 pints of bitter, followed by work in the afternoon and entertaining Swedish shipowners to dinner followed by a nightclub in the evening. Back to work the next day as normal. I don't understand why you younger guys get rat-arsed so quickly and are so lacking in stamina. I was never addicted to alcohol but enjoyed drinking for the fun of it. I'm now 77 and hardly drink at all. If I was you I wouldn't worry about your modest level of consumption.

[fantom]

In reply to your original question.

Maybe you can try some simple strategies to break up the pattern and disrupt the habit.

 

For starters try switching to the larger 620 bottles and always drink from a glass, not from the bottle. This way you can keep better tabs on just how much and when you are imbibing. Stubbies are just too easy.

 

Also, as previously suggested go for at least one AFD a week.

 

In summary, move on to managing your drinking a bit more.

Best of luck.

 

[mikecha]

If u dont have beer in the house then u can not drink 

 

if not not temped to open and drink

so dont buy and nothing in the house

[dotpoom]

Go to a few AA meetings around Pattaya or Jomtien or anywhere in Thailand and first learn if you have an Alcohol problem.

   The signs are that when a person starts making queries such as you are....they already have a problem with alcohol.

Does not necessarily mean you are alcoholic...I have known "heavy" drinkers that drank more than any alcoholic.

  The difference usually being ..most alcoholics could not stop drinking of their own free will if told to do so by a doctor if they not want to die early ...a "heavy" drinker ....Could.

[Mansell]

You sound like you just want some ideas to contain your intake etc. You could put yourself on a beer budget so that you only allot a certain amount of money each week to beer. Like most things in life it is about tricking yourself into change. When I wanted to give up smoking I just programmed my brain that I hated the smell of smoke. When I found myself near smokers I would just move away from them. Eventually it was easy and I never looked back. I stopped drinking recently because I was diagnosed with GERD which eliminates alcohol. The horrendous feeling I got from this situation was the worst in my life....ever. That forced me to change......sometimes we have to be forced to change. Good luck.

[SOTIRIOS]

...sounds like a rut that you want to get out of....I hear ya....been there...

 

...and I revisit for short periods of time...in various contexts,,,

 

...you need a lifestyle change...changing your routine...habits...

 

...change the scenery if possible.....your routine...your daily route...places you go....even shop....

 

...if you are drinking alone....there is an emotional factor too....

 

...you have to face those issues...not easy....but definitely part of the process...

 

...B-Vitamins are often lacking in heavy alcohol drinkers...

 

...which impedes clear thinking and reasoning...

 

...get yourself some 'B-100 time-release vitamins' and take 2 a day...one in the morning and one mid-day...

 

...make sure it says 'natural source' on the label somewhere...

 

...this will help reduce your alcohol urges...and help with your reasoning and mood...

 

...do get active....exercise and blood flow...to the brain too....are important....

 

...reminisce about the good periods in your life....

...embrace them...let them fill you and inspire you....

 

..take up where you left off....

 

...rediscover yourself....your loves...what you are passionate about....what moves you...

 

....be honest...life is too short....

 

...and if you cannot share with...or confide in your entourage....change the crowd...move on....

 

...there are also 'feel-good' supplements such as SAM-e and certain amino acids that work wonders with moods, emotions and rational thinking...

 

...all natural and legal.....NOT drugs....do some research...most do not react with medication either...

 

...look into your heart and rediscover what you really want...and seek it out...

 

...also...'pray'...or whatever you want to call it...

 

...'commune with 'your maker'...or 'the universal higher power'...

 

...by and large we know nothing about this phenomenon....'life'...

 

...but apparently there is something we can 'tap' within us....

 

...do some seeking...even online videos...<deleted> the scoffers or naysayers...

 

...this is your life...

 

...there are lots of other like-minded people out there either in similar situations...or that would be a perfect complement to you...to the being that you are...

 

...get busy...get to work...take back your life...remember who you are...that spark...that soul...

 

...alcohol is a poor substitute....you know that now....

 

...best wishes...keep in touch...update us....!!!

 

 

 

 

[UnkleGoooose]

You could try sewing your lips shut. Alternatively, try getting some willpower.

[rwill]

google 'quit alcohol benefits'

[jvs]

Somebody here already mentioned your buddies,The people you hang out with can greatly influence your intake.

When people are buying rounds you may feel the need to join them

Talk to your friends and if they are really your friends they will understand and not offer you beer.

If they say'come on just one more'or something like that you need to

pick you friends more carefully.

Also the places you go to can make a difference.

 

[DualSportBiker]

I can't comment on a method to cut down. I can however simply state that I feel so much better now that I have cut down my intake.

 

I used to drink everyday, G&T @ 6pm. Couple of beers or glasses of wine and perhaps a single malt to accompany some Royce chocolate later... Weekends could get heavy. Anyhow, about 5 years ago my business started to fail and my funds began to dry up. I gave up for financial reasons. I refuse to drink regular beers (I am a beer-snob), so ended up on the waggon for 2 years. Since then I have probably only once drank more than 8 beers in a month, and normally that figure is more like 3.

 

I think better, feel better, and my bowels are in better shape. I don't exercise nearly enough, but recently ran 2.2 km between gates at an airport in China without breaking a sweat or breathing hard. (I am 50). I've lost around 8 kg since I stopped drinking on a regular basis.

 

I've become a cheap-date. I can go for beers with mates and be nicely toasty after 2-3 pints. And I am happy with that. 'Less is more' works for me. I'd rather have 2 pints of Guinness or three bottles of A Go Go IPA once in a while than any number of Leo or equivalent. And I'd rather drink water or tea most of the time.

 

If you want to feel more healthy and awake, a significant reduction will do wonders for you. I have to add, I drink around 2.5 to 3 litres of water per day and supposedly that is also good for you.

[NoshowJones]

12 hours ago, bangkok blue said:

One question... What affect is your current consumption causing to your life?

 

My advice would be to join a gym, with group training classes and increase your network of healthy minded friends.

What percentage of expats in Thailand would you say are healthy minded? IMO. a very very low percentage.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

So that's 4 big bottles (620ml) a day. 6 on a bad day.

I drink 2 large bottles every single day, end of the working day, late afternoon -early evening. No more, no less.

I wouldn't consider 3-4 a problem myself, 6 everyday maybe yes.

I know plenty of people in the West who drink 2-3-4 pints every day after a working day, not really a problem if kept in moderation, able to function, eat well and go to work in the morning.

Being a life long non drinker, I am about the last person to give anyone advice, but there have been family members and friends around me all my life both at home and the workplace with obvious drink problems which have affected me, so I do have an opinion.

I would say that anyone who drinks alcohol every day has a drink problem. If any of these people don't agree with me, I would say to them, have one or two days alcohol free a week, if you can't, then I rest my case.

[Lacessit]

Set yourself a target. My target is only drinking over weekends, I don't drink Monday through Thursday. I also limit my consumption to a large bottle of beer at lunchtime, and two whiskies before dinner.

It's mental discipline which is needed. I do feel better on the days when I am not drinking. The effects of alcohol are worse with advancing age.

[BigT73]

The problem here its too bloody cheap and everywhere, 70 % of the time I would buy alcohol when I was in 7/11 buying bread and would pop over to the fridge for a ice cold drink.  Without thinking Im justifying how alcohol is not much more in price than a standard over sugared drink, with the benifit of a buzz.  I never thought I was an alco doing that until my misses pointed it out.  I now avoid 7/11 or send my misses in. Outa sight outa mind.  Personally I train, it gives a natural high vs the fake beer high with the feeling of wanting to eat right including drinking loads of water. The end of day after a heavy workout you are naturally relaxed not pining for a beer.