Booze & How to Quit?

Nutrition
41

back in college i got pretty wrecked at least once a week. that was “too much” i would say now.

my life moved on, my goals changed.

now i spend my time in the gym and with my loved ones. i spend the same money on food and maybe a bit more for supplements.

most of my college friends still go to bars and drink often. while that is pretty fun i’m sure, i just don’t have the time or money (or want) to do that anymore. i spend my money paying off my massive debt (loans, credit cards and car).

think of the future. 90% of my friends are living “in the now” and while that might be sweet (now); in the future i’ll have my loans paid off and own a house and carS while they are just realizing that they ‘should have’ been doing all along.

plus it helps not being single. so find a nice lady.

42

[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
Go on a low carb diet. Ethanol is a carb, thus, bye bye alcohol.[/quote]

Actually no. There are actually 4 calorie sources. Carbs, fat, protien, and alcohol. Alcohol is it’s own group, not a carb.

Edit: Boffin beat me to it.

43

I totally agree on finding a new set of friends to hang out with, if the friends you have now look at you as “weird” if you don’t drink, then they probably aren’t the best of friends to have. I struggled with alcohol addiction after coming back from Iraq, im talking a case of beer a day starting at around 1600, and passing out around 0300, then up at 0545 for PT.

I don’t know how the hell I did it, but I knew I had to get out of that situation or it was going to be bad news. So what did I do? I requested a transfer to an entirely new duty station, new unit, new friends and I quit the binge drinking. Sure I still would get smashed from time-to-time but I cut back a lot from where I was.

I also started lifting seriously, and fixing nutrition and low and behold I started packing on the muscle. Muscle was new addiction, It replaced the hole that I tried to make alcohol fill. I still drink everyday, but only 10oz of wine with my dinner, other than that its straight water all day long. My wife also keeps me in check which is a tremendous help. Good Luck to you, I hope you can get it figured out.

44

You just stop. That’s how. You realize how much it slows you down and sabotages your efforts. You switch the ridiculous amounts of w/e it is you were drinking for a glass of wine, or a light beer or 2.
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45

I used to drink a lot in college. I finally graduated and got a job. Every once in awhile I’ll go out on a Thursday night and feel like shit on Friday. Hangovers are brutal these days and I’m only 26. Whenever I’d be hungover it would mess with my diet/meal timing/training. Bottom line, it just threw everything off.

Also, a DUI opened my eyes big time…plus you pretty much have to stop drinking if you get random alcohol testing. Between the money spent on lawyers/court and alcohol testing, it’s a pretty good way to learn the downside of drinking.

Good luck.

46

[quote]brauny96 wrote:
do leg day on a friday night at your gym so you cant go out :slight_smile:
[/quote]

x2

and if you decide to go out just drink water in between

47

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
BulletproofTiger wrote:
Go on a low carb diet. Ethanol is a carb, thus, bye bye alcohol.

Actually no. There are actually 4 calorie sources. Carbs, fat, protien, and alcohol. Alcohol is it’s own group, not a carb.

Edit: Boffin beat me to it.[/quote]

I think people get confused by some of the articles saying that alchohol sugars being added to diet food that are carbs but aren’t on the label. Ethanol… is not a carb… as has been said twice.

48

[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
Go on a low carb diet. Ethanol is a carb, thus, bye bye alcohol.[/quote]

I just learned the other day that alcohol is NOT a carb. The processing of alcohol by the body is entirely different from carb processing. In fact, sometime, alcohol can cause you to go hypoglycemic since the liver will not produce any blood sugar until all the alcohol has been oxidized.

So it’s carbs, fat, protein and alcohol.

EDIT: WTF? Is everybody posting that alcohol is not a carb at the same time?

49

[quote]Growing_Boy wrote:
I began to pursue my bodybuilding goals. Drinking benefits me in no way. An occasional glass of wine mainly for the heart and enjoyment. [/quote]

Lol, you sound like an old man. My grandpa is always drinking wine for his “heart.”

Anyways there comes that point, at least I think there does, when people make the descision whether or not they want to take this bodybuilding/fitness thing seriously. Now a few beers won’t kill anybody, but binge drinking is bad.

With that being said I’ve been on the fence with drinking. I was giving myself one night a week to drink as heavily as I wanted to and would not drink for the rest of the week.

I finally decided that even that was too much and will no longer be drinking alcohol because I still have just as much fun with my friends sober as I do drunk, and the only thing I might miss are the card games, and pong, but who gives a fuck.

I also don’t make good descisions drunk and have found myself getting into a few altercations that I really could have done without, (I can’t defend myself properly drunk, and will definately get hurt worse drunk than if I was sober), and that is a scary thaught. I give ass kicking’s not the other way around, the sheer thaught of getting beat up because I was drunk when I could’ve have won sober, or at least have defended myself better, scares the shit out of me.

So bodybuilding, and the ability to defend myself properly are what is keeping me off the boos.

I still make sure the chicks drink though, easy pussy, gotta love it.

50

I just decided to stop one day. Thought there were more important things in life then getting pissed all the time. I only drink 3-5 times a year now, birthday, Christmas, New Years, things like that.

LR

51

Great stuff guys-thanks for all of the honest input. I think one of my friends has a problem with the stuff, so I’m going to try to get him to join T-Nation and direct him towards this thread. Bodybuilding can replace any destructive behavior, so hopefully he realizes that and gives it up. Keep sharing any other insights you have.

-J

52

[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
Go on a low carb diet. Ethanol is a carb, thus, bye bye alcohol.[/quote]

I was on the Anabolic Diet last year, one Friday night I was invited to a party and ended up somewhat drunk. Being friday night, his was after 5 days of carb depletion (< 30 g/day). I passed out at some point and when I woke up I felt really sick and disoriented and I was shaking uncontrollably. I found my way home somehow, went to bed, and the following day I had the worst hangover I’ve ever had in my life. I was puking my guts out all day, couldn’t even drink water. I just felt really, really sick, and I didn’t even drink that much.

I’ve since read that the liver basically shuts down gluconeogenesis when you ingest alcohol. After 5 days of hard training and close to zero-carbing, you don’t have much liver glycogen stored… so getting drunk on a very low-carb diet could potentially be dangerous perhaps (though you always have some glycogen reserves of course).

Morale of the story: low-carb, your natural antabus!

53

I was a hardcore alcoholic and drug addict for 12 years. I stopped in July of last year. Along with alcohol I also had a bad opiate addiction. I stopped doing both cold turkey. I went through 7 days of hell. Most of that time spent on the floor in the shower thrashing around, screaming crying at the top of my lungs for God to make it stop…

No sleep what so ever, shaking uncontrollably, jimmy legs, severe depression and panic attacks, vomiting, and a over all feeling of complete and utter hell. The whole time I had a bottle of methadone in the room I could use… My wife hated to see me suffer like that…so she left the pills out were I could take them if I wanted to. Thanks to God I didnt.

Words can not describe how bad I felt…there are none. But … It was the best things to ever happen to me. It humbled me to put it mildly…I finally got some meds to help with the withdrawal…which helped…and then I went into intensive recovery…basically I went to school on how to live my life for two weeks…it had become apparent that my way of living wasn’t working.

Faith in God, faith in myself, and my love of lifting iron is what has kept me clean and sober. The gym is my sanctuary. With out it I would probably be dead right now.

Now your friend might not be that bad…yet. Try to convince your friend to get help. Alcohol addiction is deadly serious. It should be treated as such. The sooner he can stop the better. The reason people over drink is to avoid emotional pain of some sort.

He needs to figure out what that is. But understand that the only way he will stop is if he really wants to. It wont be easy. But there is help out there. Good Luck. I hope your friend can find his way.

54

when you wake up in an F-4 Phantom in a nose dive and you don’t remember how you got into the jet.

55

when you wake up in an F-18 in a nose dive and you don’t remember how you got into the jet.

56

Eat only clean foods rich in nutrients/vitamins + lots of fish oil train so hard (yes ESPECIALLY cardio…alchohlics are usually overweight anyway ) that you feel like a dickhead for ruining that hard work with alchohol. If you are a heavy drinker like I was last year, go see the doc and be honest about it.He can’t help you if you are in a state of denial,plus if your a heavy drinker and go “cold turkey” that can really fuck you up! If your serious about quitting the booze there is medication that does help but it’s no magic bullet.

I went from drinking 20 standard drinks a day, everyday for years even if I was sick to the occasional social drink within a few months of taking up the BB lifestyle. Now, if I drink I actually get a cheap buzz but maintain willpower to say that’s enough.

57

I quit drinking after I woke up in my bed one day in a pool of vomit and urine.

It gives you a great reason to quit.

58

I don’t think living in extremes is ever good for you psychologically.

Instead of causing liver disease or making a fool out of yourself and being a disgrace why not just take the moderates advice?

If you enjoy a drink, then enjoy a drink. But If you just drink because of peer pressure then yes, evaluate whether you need to continue, because to me you have other psychological reasons behind your bingeing.

It’s the same as anything in life, learning to master something takes far more control.

The same way you push that extra rep, just say no to another drink.

I had this problem, and I actually have an awesome time when i’m boozed, things are funnier and my mates and I have a ball,
But I realised it’s a drug, and who cares that I couldn’t lift as hard the next day, i’m killing my organs!!

So now. I enjoy a drink, control myself, and don’t feel guilty about it.

EVERYTHING in life is about balance and moderation,

If you have to go to extremes (either way) because you can’t get control over yourself then maybe some counselling/psychology is in order, and there’s not a dam thing wrong with that, getting control of yourself mentally the greatest thing you can do.

Trust me, all these things add up, and they’re all the same,

Just the same way you manage money, manage diet/weight, relationships, it’s all the same!

Learn to get control and it will benifit every other area of your life,

Strengthen up your boundaries and you will win!

Good luck bro.