No Alcohol for Lent?

Anniversary

2011-04-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well it is a year to the date that I returned to drinking Alcohol after giving up for Lent. Nothing in that year has changed really. No extra weight and health wise I appear ok.

Though I may have reduced the amounts I now drink during alot less during the week. An article in todays Sunday Mirror debates if there is any use to stopping for just 40 days. I would counter that it allows the Liver to recover, which must be a good think.

So to those of you who have returned to drink today. Enjoy!

Does it Matter?

2010-07-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well it is now over 3 months since I finished "No Alcohol for Lent" and I just want to add that the process has changed the way I look at booze.

Yes I know I can stop at anytime and that makes me feel empowered with my life. Sure when the stresses of the 21st Century hit me at 8pm in the evening I can have a little drink or 2. But that is it, I know to stop and enjoy myself another time with friends and loved ones.

Even more so, next year I can see myself stopping for another 6 weeks of Lent.

Drinking Levels

2010-05-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

It's a month since my last entry. Am I drinking more?

Well not any different than before lent really. Mostly weekend drinking. Though one thing I have tried to do is to reduce alcohol consumption when driving, making sure I am well below the limit now. To be honest if the limit was zero, I would be happy.

Maybe the next elected UK government may consider the change?

Enjoyed the Blog

2010-04-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

As a postscript to the past 7 or so weeks. I would like to add what an advantage of having this blog was to get me in achieving my wish to stop drinking for a period of time. It just gave me another excuse to keep up the will power to succeed.

Reflection

2010-04-06T03:35:00.000-07:00

Well the dust has now settled after Easter, just a few chocolate eggs still to eat. So was worth giving up alcohol worth it.

In a word, yes. For me it was to see if I really did depend on alcohol to get me through the stresses of work and life. On this occassion I didn't need any help at all. Just told people when ordering drinks for me to make it a coke or a lemonade. This is something that I feel I can continue with at anytime and will when I don't want a drink.

It was a pity that my partner in crime (Tony) fell off the wagon after 2 weeks, but it was not a test to see who could last the longest. I dare say we will both still stop drinking for a 2 week period during the course of the years to come. Which can only be a good thing for our health.

So that was No Alcohol for Lent, it was fun and passed the time when out socialising and proved that I can stop drinking. YESSSSSS!!!

The Morning After

2010-04-05T01:53:00.000-07:00

Well yes I have done it! I went all through Lent without a drop of alcohol and to celebrate I had a bottle of Champagne.

But was it nice. Well yes the first few glasses were a nice glow and the rest I then just felt drunk. Nice and relaxing is the phrase I would use. I didn't drink anymore as a bottle of anything was enough for the first day off the wagon.

The morning after though, first time in a long while I felt groggy. All the other mornings I felt wide awake and able to just get up out of bed. So drinking may well be fun, but the morning after is the problem. Will try and keep my alcohol consumption down from now on, but we will see.

Happy Easter to you all.

Big Day

2010-04-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yes Folks it is now the end of Lent tonight, which means that whatever you have abstained from you can go back to.

I for one will be extending my time with out alcohol as previously mentioned I am in work tomorrow and Sunday, so will make sure I have a clear head for a days employment. But on Sunday Evening I will have a few drinks.

This occassion for me to give up Alcohol was to use the Christian excuse of Lent, but you can have your own excuse. Pregnancy is a popular one for the ladies and rightly so. Well whatever it was you gave up for lent enjoy tonight.

Doesn't time fly

2010-03-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well just looking back at some older postings and could not believe it had been so long in time since I have been alcohol free.

When I first started the sun came up at 7.15 and set at 5.30. Now we are about the put the clocks forward and hour and see the start for real of Spring.

Just goes to show that when you have something to focus on time will slip you by. So stop and think and enjoy each day with or without alcohol. We only get one life on this little planet and so enjoy it the way you want (legally of course).

Challenge

2010-03-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

Come on everyone out there. Why not give up alcohol for the final week of Lent. Only 7 days of no drinking. You will feel alot better for it. Plus the cost savings will allow you to spend more on the family for Easter days out.

For myself the urge to drink is getting stronger, though it is worse at social occassions. But for me only one more weekend to hold back.

Two weeks to go

2010-03-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is only two weeks until Good Friday. The date that most people are saying is the end of Lent. I for one will continue for another two days after due to working the weekend and not wanting to go to work with a Hangover.

Though I must admit it is this hangover that I am starting to worry about. Just how much will I be able to drink. I don't want to come off the wagon and be totally wrecked the next day. I want to savour the moment with each sip, not just jump in head first and end up being ill.

So with two weeks to go, I wonder if I should really continue on the wagon and wean myself onto alcohol. But then I would have let myself down. So it will be a countdown to remember.

When Drunk you...

2010-03-13T04:03:00.000-08:00

Thought I would relate a situation that happen to me last night while in a pub.

The story goes that I was due to pick up my wife and a few friends in town from a pub they liked to go to. Well I got to the pub after working an evening shift at about the same time that they arrived. One of my wives friends went to the bar, I offered to buy my own, but she wanted to buy for me as a thank you for the lift home later in the evening. Well I insisted on a non-alcoholic drink of cola and this came in a pint glass.

Well we went off to enjoy our drinks, the next thing I know we are being asked to leave. Had only one sip of cola. The reason, a few of my wives friends had decided to bring their own drinks along and had got caught. So drunk by now were they that they where stopped half way through filling their glasses. The sad thing was they had not seen the mirror in front of them that put them on show to the whole of the pub including the bar staff.

So it goes to show that when drunk you don't know where you are and what exactly you are doing. Let this be a warning to us all.

3 Weeks!

2010-03-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Can this be true?

Yes 3 weeks have gone by since I last drunk an alcoholic drink and I don't feel that I have missed it that much. There have been a number of social occassion when yes I have wished that I had a drink, but it didn't make the evening a downer. It just meant I left sober.

Going forward I am confident that I will last until Easter without a drink and feel better for it. I know I don't look any different. My waistline may have increased due to extra intake of sweets. But I am feeling alot better in the morning and not as groggy.

I would like to think that in future that on occassions I can stop the alcohol intake for say two weeks to cleanse my body and to clear the old system out.

Wii-Fitter

2010-03-02T05:38:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have a family Wii Fit. Have had so for 18 months, but only really used it for the first 3 of those months.

So now that I have stopped the Booze for Lent, I thought I would jump back on and give it ago. Well first off I didn't realise that my BMI was 26.5, which means I am classed as Overweight. Something that the rest of my body has been telling me for a few months now, but I had ignored.

But I was also surprised at how downhill my fitness I had gone over the period of a year. The statistics that the Wii fit stores indicated that I was doing alot worse fitness wise than before, with all the different exercises leaving me off the top 10 listings. Something that was not the case 18 months ago. Though my wife is the Hula-hoop champion.

One good point was my Wii-fit age. This is at present 33, never been that low, but I wonder if the clearing of alcohol out of the blood stream has made my balance and reaction times better. One thing for sure for the next 5 weeks I'll make sure I am using the Wii-fit as often as possible.

The Liver

2010-02-24T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well yes stopping the booze must be good for your health. There is the effects it has on your weight which over time people start to notice. But what about other health affects.

One organ that comes to mind, that of the Liver. Now I am not saying that I am anywhere near to having Liver Disease, but you always here of the damage alcohol can do to the Liver. So may be a break from alcohol can be a good thing. What is interesting about the Liver is its regenerative properties. According to the Wikipedia website "the human Liver is one of the few glands in the body that has the ability to regenerate from as little as 25% of its tissue." This is amazing when you consider the punishment we give it. So I am hoping that my Alcohol free Lent will help my Liver get back to some form of normality.

Alchohol Free Drinks?

2010-02-20T04:08:00.000-08:00

So now that I have stopped drinking alcohol for over a week, I just wondered what are the options are of alcohol free drinks in 2010?

Well there is the usual soft drinks (mixers) available and the fruit based drinks such as J2O. But what has happened to alchohol free beer, such as Kalibar? Well they are still out there, in fact Becks do a Non-Alchoholic beer with 0.05% alchohol in it. Now those members of AA may say that even this amount is too much, but for those of us that just want to reduce our alchohol in take, may be these drinks are for us. the site http://www.alcoholfree.co.uk/ lists a number of beers and wines that have very low levels of alcohol.

One thing I do remember when drinking these low-alcohol drinks in the very distant past was the really bad headache the day after. They in fact were worse than a hangover, hard to believe. So maybe in my dry days I may take on these drinks to see what the next day is like. Or is this against the spirit of the occassion for Lent?

It's a Joke!!

2010-02-20T03:56:00.000-08:00

I kid you not. Some of the party I was out with last night for a meal thought that I was joking or had converted to christianity.

It took a good 30 minutes or so for it to sink in for them. What does this tell you about our society today. Do we have a booze culture? In a pub and you are expected to drink alcohol. It seems that even if you have elected to drive for the evening that social pressure is put on you that you should have your legal limit of drink for the night. I am not too sure what the units of alcohol are for drink driving, but I suspect that it is under two pints of beer or two measures of spirits. But should we give in to this pressure? I think not, if you don't want to drink, don't and you shouldn't have to make excuses.

But I did enjoy myself last night not drinking, especially watching those I know getting drunk as the night went on with slurred speech. Also the waking up the next morning with no hangover, a breeze. I therefore must admit I quiet like the no-alcohol at the moment, but then again I may well get a bit sick of Cola or Lemonade all night.

First Night out in Pub - Dry

2010-02-18T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well the usual Thursday night drink after Guitar session was different tonight. No guessing what was different, it was the drink.

Made a change going to the bar and ordering two soft drinks. Felt strange in that others where ordering their normal pint of...and ....with tonic. But did they notice my drinks. I doubt it, all they would have been waiting for was to catch the attention of the Bar Maid to get their order in.

So how does it make me feel. No real sense of achievement, the usual chat in the pub was no different than usual. Though after two drinks there wasn't the desire to have another, though if they had been alcholic drinks, I know I would have wanted another.

The next tester is a night out. An hour in the pub is no real challenge. At present just no desire to drink, but then it is only two days in.

Too Short For My Weight

2010-02-18T01:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie today as I thought it would be a good idea to set down a few dimensions etc so that at the end of this Lent thing without booze and late night snacks I can judge how much weight or inches I have lost, and indeed if I am any healthier. Ok, so as of day 2:-

Weight:        11.10
BMI:            26.09
Waist:          38.5"

My weight and BMI have been calculated on the Nintendo Wii Fit thingy, and the all important waist measurement with a good old fashioned tape measure. I should also mention that I am a short arse (technical term) relatively speaking at 5'7" so although not obese I am too short for my weight.

If I'm honest; it's the waist measurement that concerns me most although for that to decrease the others will have to go the same way. So apart from the booze I'll have to be careful to avoid all of the other niceness - such as the half pack of digestives I ate last night while watching NCIS.

How has it been without alcohol? Well it's only been one day so no problem at all yet. More soon...

What is Lent? And does that make me religious?

2010-02-17T00:22:00.000-08:00

To be honest, until now I didn't have a clue what Lent actually was. I knew it was when people abstained from something, such as cream cakes, chocolate, or booze; and I knew it had religious significance. But apart from that, nothing. So I thought it might be a good idea to learn a bit more about it...

Whenever I want to learn anything these days my first instinct is to visit Google and type it in (It's hard to imagine now how we ever managed without the Web now.). So, anyway what I have learned is that: Lent is a Christian thing and lasts for 40 days - as this was supposed to be the length of time that Jesus Christ spent in the desert being tempted by Satan. But how you calculate those 40 days depends on which denomination of the Christian church you belong to. Some don't count Sundays and others do. It is observed for the "preparation of the believer" and culminates in a celebration at Easter.

As I am not a believer I'll just have to make do with losing a bit of weight and the piss up at the end. Oh, and because I don't belong to any particular denomination either (how could I?) I think that my period of Lent will end on Good Friday, which is usually the first day off work at Easter. Sounds like a reason for it to be really 'good' this year. Mind you, "Maunday" Thursday could be a good time because that apparently commemorates the last supper of Jesus and the apostles, and if it was good enough for Him to have a party...

I'll probably have to visit Booze Busters rather than play any fancy tricks with water though. Ah well, that's a long time in the future, for now the dry period begins. Will I manage without the booze? Watch this space...

Its about time I did something!

2010-02-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

I think we all like a drink and when young I enjoyed may be one too many when on offer. In later years I have cut back, but still enjoy a drink at the weekend and mid-week when out socialising. But that has been my downfall for the past 27 years, and need to prove that I can at times do with out a drink when it is on offer. So to prove to myself and to others that I can do without a drink, I thought it would be good to give up alchohol for a while.

At first I was going to make it a New Years Resolution, but that is not a good time to stop drink. All those New Years Eve parties, just can't get away from the stuff. So the next best time would be lent. Not a religious comment, more an excuse to give to those people offering drinks, that "No thanks I've given up drink for Lent". But no doubt the religious element will sit in their mind.

From a health point of view, I need to give my body a rest from all the toxins. Sure come Easter Sunday I will have a few drinks, but I would have proved to myself that I can do it. Plus I may loose some weight and get back into my jeans.

So for the next 5 weeks and 3 days I just need to get on with life as normal and just have no alcohol. Here goes...

Why on earth am I doing this?

2010-02-16T01:40:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit that I like a drink or two. Or sometimes three or four if I'm honest. Well, maybe even five or six... Oh, ok I'll admit it. I like to drink.

Thankfully I'm not an alcoholic and I don't depend on alcohol on a daily basis. I can easily forego drink for several days at a time, no problem at all. It's just that when I get started I find it difficult to stop - and that's why it often turns into five or six as opposed to one or two. Anyway, I digress...

So why am I giving up the booze for Lent?

Basically, I just want to lose some weight and feel a bit fitter and healthier. I've been exercising for 3 or 4 days a week for the past nine months but seem to have reached a plateau. Initially I lost about 14lbs over a period of a couple of months, but now I seem to be stuck and my BMI is stubbornly refusing to move in the right direction. I was overweight and according to that smug little Nintendo Wii character I still am. So in conclusion; I figure that giving up the booze for a period (and the late night snacks that go with it) will help me to shift a few more stubborn pounds and help me stick two fingers up to the Wii character on TV.

Are there any other reasons, benefits, advantages? Yes, and I'm sure I'll get to them in due course. In the meantime; I'm going to enjoy a last bottle of wine this evening before the drought starts.