I am giving up beer for 30 days
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ArizonaGoalie
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DAY 31:
Off the wagon. It started by tasting a few samples at Epic Brewing. Amber. Pale Ale. Brainless. A couple IPAs.
Settled on a couple full pours of their "Escape to Colorado" IPA. Good beer. Their full pours are Utah pours, so maybe 9oz each - 6.2%.
Next I had a full 22oz of their lager (5.2%). Ended the evening with two Cutthroat Pale Ales from Uinta Brewing (4%).
Had to be up early to catch a flight back to San Diego, so I had a slight headache, but I think it was from only getting 4-5 hours of sleep.
The beers tasted great!
To all of you maintaining your vow of celibacy, keep up the good work!
Off the wagon. It started by tasting a few samples at Epic Brewing. Amber. Pale Ale. Brainless. A couple IPAs.
Settled on a couple full pours of their "Escape to Colorado" IPA. Good beer. Their full pours are Utah pours, so maybe 9oz each - 6.2%.
Next I had a full 22oz of their lager (5.2%). Ended the evening with two Cutthroat Pale Ales from Uinta Brewing (4%).
Had to be up early to catch a flight back to San Diego, so I had a slight headache, but I think it was from only getting 4-5 hours of sleep.
The beers tasted great!
To all of you maintaining your vow of celibacy, keep up the good work!
Firewalker11
Brewer
Hang in there! I know its hard but stay the coarse.
I'm trying! I cooked dinner tonight for my wife and a girlfriend of hers, they asked for Pliny with dinner. I poured two, and took a long deep breath of hop goodness while whispering "I miss you so much".
I'm joking about the whispering part... Kinda
That'll probably be my re-entry beer.
Rhumbline
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Its still early in this phase but I think I may have stumbled on something that works for me. I'll have a beer with a meal and only then.
The way it has been going, I typically don't finish the entire beer with my meal, so I do get to relax and finish it, without snacking.
I don't plan on drinking during the week. But I'm not going to be religious about it. If im only having an occasional one and my weight isn't suffering, I'm ok.
The way it has been going, I typically don't finish the entire beer with my meal, so I do get to relax and finish it, without snacking.
I don't plan on drinking during the week. But I'm not going to be religious about it. If im only having an occasional one and my weight isn't suffering, I'm ok.
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ArizonaGoalie
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Finally got to crack my Sam Adams Summer Ale clone last night.
Oh my was it good. Not spot on, but just as good. My version is clear, less wheaty, a little more peppery. Almost like a Hef with west coast ale yeast. I'm loving it.
Also enjoyed a bottle of my Hoppy As Hell wheat last night. Sofa king good.
Still monitoring my calorie intake...
Oh my was it good. Not spot on, but just as good. My version is clear, less wheaty, a little more peppery. Almost like a Hef with west coast ale yeast. I'm loving it.
Also enjoyed a bottle of my Hoppy As Hell wheat last night. Sofa king good.
Still monitoring my calorie intake...
naturebrew
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These days I find I nice tall glass of ice water the best on a hot day, 2/3 there, well done!
Thank you all for starting this thread. It is an inspiration and something that I need to probably consider doing. I find that my sleep suffers the most from drinking. My weight is under control but that is only I am runner. I like to say I run so that I can drink.
How have you felt the days without beer have helped your sleep?
How have you felt the days without beer have helped your sleep?
Rhumbline
Well-Known Member
I can tell you that it had a dramatic effect on my quality of sleep and energy level. If you ever wake up feeling foggy or just dragging, you may like the change.
The best advice I could give is to try it for a week or two. For me the change was noticeable immediately. You don't have to jump in for the one month challenge right away.
I also cleaned up my eating habits at the same time so I can't truthfully say if it is all attributable to cutting back on alcohol but I suspect most of it is.
I eat "clean", exercise regularly, and have been alcohol free for 21 days now. I can't say I sleep any better, that being said I've always had sleep issues (more so when I drink) and I have an infant in the mix now, so this may be as good as it gets for me.
jaydlaw
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i am currently losing while drinking beer. After going to my dr, he explained to me that losing weight is nothing more than a numbers game. since then i downloaded a calorie counter app for my phone and i don't go over 1450 calories (unless its friday, thats my free day). so far i lost 3 inches from my waist,and everyone is noticing. I should mention that my job doesn't require physical activity so 1450 calories may not work for everyone. when i find my phone, ill edit with the name of the app.
My Fitness Pal is the app.
My Fitness Pal is the app.
Agreed, it's just calories in versus calories out. Are you male? 1450 seems low.
Day 29: Just today and tomorrow left. I made my goal summer vacation weight over the weekend, so I'm happy about that. I have 2 homebrews that haven't been tried yet chilling in the fridge. I plan to enjoy them Wed night while watching re-runs of The Flash.
beersk
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Yeah, 1450 is really low. I do MyFitnessPal as well. I've been doing a 16:8 intermittent fast eating schedule and finding it to be pretty easy. Just don't eat breakfast and eat a normal lunch and dinner. Works out great.
jaydlaw
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Yeah I'm make. I'm making it work. I usually go over on Fridays but not by too much. It's working very well and I have a good amount to lose. That being said I lost a good amount
jaydlaw
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Good commitment, Stick to it!
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ArizonaGoalie
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Great work!
OP
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ArizonaGoalie
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Enjoying my time off the wagon....
Hit a brewery last Saturday, a new one here in San Diego called Cellar 3. It's owned by Green Flash and they specialize in barrel aged brews and sours. They also feature some Green Flash beers as well as three Alpine beers.
Wife is a big fan of sours, so she was quite happy. It's a really nice tasting room with a great patio. I enjoyed the Citra session ale on nitro.
This week is my first week of 'no drinking during the week, weekends only'. So far so good. Felt like drinking a beer tonight so we went for a walk instead.
Looking forward to Friday night!
For those of you on the wagon, keep it up!
Hit a brewery last Saturday, a new one here in San Diego called Cellar 3. It's owned by Green Flash and they specialize in barrel aged brews and sours. They also feature some Green Flash beers as well as three Alpine beers.
Wife is a big fan of sours, so she was quite happy. It's a really nice tasting room with a great patio. I enjoyed the Citra session ale on nitro.
This week is my first week of 'no drinking during the week, weekends only'. So far so good. Felt like drinking a beer tonight so we went for a walk instead.
Looking forward to Friday night!
For those of you on the wagon, keep it up!
beersk
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You know what's weird and kind of sad... the last 4 or 5 days I didn't have my lines hooked up in my kegerator because I cleaned them and decided to leave them unhooked. Last night, I hooked them up because a homebrewing friend came over to pick up some grain he needed so he could try samples. I kind of enjoyed not having them hooked up and not having the option to drink beer on tap. Isn't that strange? I didn't feel like drinking as much without the option and that felt good. Not sure how to interpret that or what to do about that. Makes me ponder ditching the tap setup and beergunning everything into bottles. But tap beer is so cool... just difficult to not want to drink more than one when it's on tap and bottles are a pain in the ass to deal with.
dstranger99
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When I looked at your first post, I noticed you were only drinking 1 beer per day... That would do no harm anyway? Well, aside from calories.
So, my time is up. By making more changes to my daily routine than just cutting out beer I managed to drop 20lbs. I quit drinking coffee, which was probably harder than beer. Avoided the Twizzlers on my bosses desk, as well as the pastries people always bring into the break room, which was made easier by not going back there to fill the coffee cup. I also cut out the weekend indulgences, pizza, hot dogs, pancakes, etc... I look forward to continuing with some of these modifications, but not all.
What have I learned? Stay busy. When I am most tempted to break is when I'm bored, which has been a lot the past couple weeks. It has rained almost every single day, most days just long enough to discourage me from doing anything outside.
Good luck to those who have a few days left, or are just taking the plunge. Make it a learning experience.
What have I learned? Stay busy. When I am most tempted to break is when I'm bored, which has been a lot the past couple weeks. It has rained almost every single day, most days just long enough to discourage me from doing anything outside.
Good luck to those who have a few days left, or are just taking the plunge. Make it a learning experience.
beersk
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This is hard I think. Staying busy sucks. I like relaxing. But you're right, I drink most often when I'm bored. I spent the last several years drinking too much because of that very reason. Lately I'm trying to change that. I think realizing that drinking when I'm bored is the first step to cutting that out. Just having 1 instead of 3 or 4. It's tough when the kegerator is staring right at me all the time. Unfortunately there's nowhere I can really move it to.
I like my tap because I can have a half beer to finish the night instead of opening a full bottle.
That has a bit to do with why I haven't bought one and moved to kegging. I can put one or two bottles in the fridge to be enjoyed after work, but having 5gal of 2-3 different styles on tap... That's just too tempting.
Congrats to those who took the challenge!
Drinking is great in moderation..If you think you may have a drinking problem, you probably do and its not a good sign especially if you have a spouse and kids depending on you being able to coherently function.
I drink more on the weekends than the weekdays personally..Usually I will only have 2 max on the weekdays and even on the weekends I keep it to a 6-er between Sat-Sun.
Keeps me healthy physically and mentally, the wife and kids happy and my brewing hobby able to continue on without becoming a family intervention type of deal.
I will also say having my beer/kegerator and brewing shed outside of the house helps reduce any temptation...Plus I give more of it away to happy family members and friends/co-workers than I drink to be honest which makes me happier than drinking it myself.
Drinking is great in moderation..If you think you may have a drinking problem, you probably do and its not a good sign especially if you have a spouse and kids depending on you being able to coherently function.
I drink more on the weekends than the weekdays personally..Usually I will only have 2 max on the weekdays and even on the weekends I keep it to a 6-er between Sat-Sun.
Keeps me healthy physically and mentally, the wife and kids happy and my brewing hobby able to continue on without becoming a family intervention type of deal.
I will also say having my beer/kegerator and brewing shed outside of the house helps reduce any temptation...Plus I give more of it away to happy family members and friends/co-workers than I drink to be honest which makes me happier than drinking it myself.
beersk
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brewcat said:
Yeah, it is pretty awesome to have that option. Self control is hard! I just want to get drunk and eat chicken fingers.
That's a pretty good idea. The only real downside I can see to that is if you have someone over spontaneously. I guess you could quick chill beer down in the freezer...
But, I don't want to go back to bottle conditioning. Such a pain...
That's it. I'm quitting brewing.
Just kidding! Gawd, that's a stupid idea...
Can I have you kegerator?
Rhumbline
Well-Known Member
Today was a day that reminded me that I am weak and fallible. I'd taken the day off to extend the holiday weekend but ended up being called into work to deal with an issue.
Left the office, after spending all morning resisting the urge to choke a b!tch, who genuinely needed it, and had to stop off for my first bag of chips in at least six weeks. That meant a six pack to accompany it.
Since I didn't end the day cuffed and stuffed in the back of a patrol car I'm calling a win.
It's a marathon, not a sprint...
Pete
Left the office, after spending all morning resisting the urge to choke a b!tch, who genuinely needed it, and had to stop off for my first bag of chips in at least six weeks. That meant a six pack to accompany it.
Since I didn't end the day cuffed and stuffed in the back of a patrol car I'm calling a win.
It's a marathon, not a sprint...
Pete
jaydlaw
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Funny
my bday was a few days ago, and i had some pizza. i stopped eating carbs (except beer) a couple of months ago, but it was my birthday afterall. and there was the birthday cake and ice cream.
my calorie count wasn't too high on the days that i cheated, and i am back on the salad tip today. I told myself that i was going to stay on this diet until the end of the year (no bread, potatoes, rice, cake, soda). When i do go over, it usually due to the occasional friday happy hour, or some weekend event (like a cookout). I don't feel as though i am harming myself too much when i go over, even if i happen to take in 1600 calories it is still much less than the 2000+ that i used to eat. i decided not to weigh myself in the interim because i'll just start feeling myself and begin to slack on my diet. I was previously on the first notch of one of my belts, now i am on the 5th. I believe that they are an inch apart. so that's 4 inches lost.
beersk
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Hehe, NO! Although it is a pretty nice kegerator... It actually has 3 taps now. I have a couple low profile kegs that I put on the compressor hump. Works out pretty nice.
Day 25: picked up some brews for a cabin trip next week. Weight is down, and I'm sore from the gym. I'm looking forward to being done with this!
5 to go.
Edit: anybody into coffee? We have this thing called a Toddy that makes excellent cold brewed coffee. The process takes 24 hours (basically you're steeping the grounds and making a coffee concentrate) but it's some of the best tasting coffee I've had.
5 to go.
Edit: anybody into coffee? We have this thing called a Toddy that makes excellent cold brewed coffee. The process takes 24 hours (basically you're steeping the grounds and making a coffee concentrate) but it's some of the best tasting coffee I've had.
naturebrew
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I guess the difference this time is you see this as abnormal for you, since you have been working towards a healthy lifestyle. I am taking for granted the thought that you may have done this more routinely in the past. This is definitely a win, now you can look at other ways to manage stress. My routine used to be 1 hour in the gym, great stress reliever, now I run or walk. The nice thing with this type of workout is it can be done pretty much anywhere/anytime and gives me an opportunity to reflect on what stressed me out and how to deal with it. It is a marathon after all and like the 30 day challenge you just completed, your self awareness of other positive changes you can make can be achieved with time and effort, well done.
beersk
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I dig it, but I don't do it with a Toddy, just a French press. I don't bother much with filtering, it's not that big of a deal. How much does it make at a time?
I'm feeling very shameful today. Last couple days I drank a bunch and ate WAY too much. Feels like crap. I may do a fast today to cleanse myself a bit. I think I'll drink some coffee though, now that you mention it. Since I have the day off, I thought about going to the coffee haus and reading with a java cooler.
It makes about 6.5 cups of jet black coffee concentrate. We mostly mix it with milk or almond milk and ice for a cold drink, but you can heat it and make traditional cups of coffee too. The decanter lasts us about a week, 2 adults with 1-2 drinks per day.
If you do get one be sure and steep for 24 hours, the directions say 12-24 but the full 24 hours makes it very strong and flavorful.
And don't beat yourself up, brush it off and start again!
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