I gave up alcohol..

[Dan00001]

.. four months ago, and I found it surprisingly easy. Now I'm giving up sugary snacks like sweets and chocolate and finding it difficult. I get almost unbearable urges for sugar, especially after meals. I find Greek yoghurt helps to curb the 'withdrawal' but it's taking a lot of will power.

What have you given up on or are currently trying to give up on?

 

[TeeDee]

.. four months ago, and I found it surprisingly easy. Now I'm giving up sugary snacks like sweets and chocolate and finding it difficult. I get almost unbearable urges for sugar, especially after meals. I find Greek yoghurt helps to curb the 'withdrawal' but it's taking a lot of will power.

What have you given up on or are currently trying to give up on?

Greek Yoghurt , Coco powder , little sweetener - Game changer.

I think the sugary highs and lows will in time pass , and then something as simple as a Carrot can taste super sweet.

I have found if you make sure you start the day with Protein and Fat ( Eggs as an example ) one is less likely to get on board the carb train.

 

[Dan00001]

Greek Yoghurt , Coco powder , little sweetener - Game changer.

I think the sugary highs and lows will in time pass , and then something as simple as a Carrot can taste super sweet.

I have found if you make sure you start the day with Protein and Fat ( Eggs as an example ) one is less likely to get on board the carb train.

The rest of my diet is pretty good, I almost always have at least one home cooked meal a day, and it's almost always a chicken dish, I've got chicken/tomato soup made with bone broth for dinner tonight. I had oats, yoghurt and fruit with chia, pumpkin and sunflower seeds for breakfast, but I do often have just eggs.

I was searching for 'healthy' deserts last night, and the one that really took my fancy was strawberry jelly but you make it with 50/50 water and greek yoghurt. Sounds delicious to me.

 

[Chris]

Well done on the alcohol mate. Are you giving up sweet things even with sweeteners?

I've given up boredom eating and lost 25kg (4 stone) of body weight since June. I think it's reasonable to say I've used food as an emotional cruch of sorts over the past 5 years, so breaking those patterns has been a nice feeling. Thankfully I'd already significantly reduced my alcohol intake over the past few years, so that's made it a bit easier. Up to 8 cans of Guinness a week (consumed on Fri/Sat/Sun) rather than the bottle of wine and several beers per night that lockdown got me into the swing of.

 

[nigelp]

…..

 

[Glow_worm]

I kicked alcohol years ago to give every last chance of resolving ongoing health troubles which are still preventing me from getting me out and about much.

I never regularly drank a great deal, but thoroughly enjoyed the taste of an occasional good dark ale after a hard day's work in winter, or a glass of home made old fashioned country wine. Thankfully there are some non-alc beers which taste reasonable, I don't miss the alcohol content.

 

[Pattree]

I gave you coffee for about a year when I stopped working abroad.
The family verdict was that they didn’t mind me going back to drinking coffee but I must NEVER give it up again.

For three weeks I was unbearable, bad tempered and tended to kick things. I took to cocoa without milk (Not drinking chocolate.) and that helped. I still enjoy “Black cocoa”.

 

[Dan00001]

Well done on the alcohol mate. Are you giving up sweet things even with sweeteners?

I've given up boredom eating and lost 25kg (4 stone) of body weight since June. I think it's reasonable to say I've used food as an emotional cruch of sorts over the past 5 years, so breaking those patterns has been a nice feeling. Thankfully I'd already significantly reduced my alcohol intake over the past few years, so that's made it a bit easier. Up to 8 cans of Guinness a week (consumed on Fri/Sat/Sun) rather than the bottle of wine and several beers per night that lockdown got me into the swing of.

Thank you, It's not so much t-total with sugar, I like the occasional cup of tea with half a sugar, for example, which doesn't bother me, and I don't want to stop the occasional ice cream or bit of cake etc. It's more the random cravings I get in which I go and eat 5 or 10 custard creams or a bar of chocolate. It could be boredom eating, or comfort eating, or just that I love the taste, I don't know. I also want to stop the want for something sweet after every meal. I don't know if this is a genuine craving or if it's simply out of habit as I grew with having desert after dinner being the norm.

I'm doing it because I want to be healthier and I'm trying to get to a low body fat %. For about 3 or 4 years over covid I let myself go and I want my abs back. My fitness is coming along really well, but the last bit of stomach fat is being stubborn.

 

[Dan00001]

Nice one. I stopped drinking a few years ago and don’t miss alcohol at all.
I’ve always had a sweet tooth and swap out sweets for bananas, malt loaf, Greek yogurt and chopped apple for pudding. If I want something sweet on my yougart I use the ‘sweet freedom’ chocolate sauce.
Every so often I think I’ll stop having coffee but so far that’s not happened and I think that it will be worse than stopping drinking!

I really don't miss alcohol. It's funny though, I have forgotten myself once or twice and gone to grab a glass out of habit and then remembered. But, not that I was a heavy drinker, just a regular drinker in small amounts, my mental health has improved since stopping drinking alcohol, I have more energy and more motivation. I don't mind as much having things that might contain higher amounts of sugar but which I don't associate with chocolate, sweets, biscuits etc. for example a bit of honey on some yoghurt, or a bit of jam etc.

 

[Dan00001]

I kicked alcohol years ago to give every last chance of resolving ongoing health troubles which are still preventing me from getting me out and about much.

I never regularly drank a great deal, but thoroughly enjoyed the taste of an occasional good dark ale after a hard day's work in winter, or a glass of home made old fashioned country wine. Thankfully there are some non-alc beers which taste reasonable, I don't miss the alcohol content.

I did at one point get into the habit of drinking almost every night just 2 or 3 beers or glasses of wine. I also used to really enjoy drinking if we were having a takeaway. When I realised that I really wanted to stop drinking was when something like having a takeaway didn't appeal to me if I didn't have any alcohol to go with it. Or sometimes I would be sat at home and feel bored because I didn't have a beer. It made me think why when I have my family around me do I feel bored because I don't have a drink. It also made me feel very lethargic and unmotivated in every day life, even though I wasn't drinking to the point of having hangovers.

I hope your health troubles get better.

 

[Dan00001]

I gave you coffee for about a year when I stopped working abroad.
The family verdict was that they didn’t mind me going back to drinking coffee but I must NEVER give it up again.

For three weeks I was unbearable, bad tempered and tended to kick things. I took to cocoa without milk (Not drinking chocolate.) and that helped. I still enjoy “Black cocoa”.

I love coffee, I have an espresso machine and I enjoy not only drinking it but the whole process of grinding the beans, the smell, making the coffee, steaming the milk. I have a coffee every morning with my breakfast and rarely do I ever have more than one coffee a day. If I do, it usually gives me the jitters and I don't like it.

 

[demented dale]

I have heard the term 'giving up' repeatedly in this thread. That term is indicative of the sacrifice of some sort of pleasure. I find the term 'stopping' is a way more accurate to the cessation of something that does not serve me. They are all addictions and I found when I stopped one there was another in the queue and another behind that one. I put one down and picked up another, It was like swapping seats on the Titanic. 9 years ago I stopped smoking and took to apple pie and boiled sweets. Eventually I addressed the sugar and the weight I had put on. I did the Keto diet and still do. I do not get any cravings for sugar. I have lost a massive amount of weight (bowt 3 stone). I am fitter, faster and healthier on every level I found that when I got healthy my body recognised and did not like poisons like sugar, alcohol and nicotine. I am sixty in a couple of years and this is the best I have ever felt. I still address my addictions but with gratitude that I do not have to engage in them. All that said I am really struggling to let go of my skin tight leather trousers DD xxxxx

 

[Billy-o]

I wouldn't dream of quitting alcohol.

Though, as I have aged, my diet seems to have improved of its own volition. That said, I still like biscuits and I love jam, conserves, anything of that order. But, mainly, and as indicated at the top of this thread, my eating has shifted to meat and fish plus vegetables (beans especially). I just don't have the same want for carbs as I once did, sugar included.

 

[Herman30]

habit of drinking almost every night just 2 or 3 beers or glasses of wine.....takeaway didn't appeal to me if I didn't have any alcohol to go with it......feel bored because I didn't have a beer.

Good on you for stopping. Judging by those things it sounds like you were developing a real problem but had the sence to nip it in the bud.

 

[MrEd]

I kicked alcohol years ago to give every last chance of resolving ongoing health troubles which are still preventing me from getting me out and about much.

I never regularly drank a great deal, but thoroughly enjoyed the taste of an occasional good dark ale after a hard day's work in winter, or a glass of home made old fashioned country wine. Thankfully there are some non-alc beers which taste reasonable, I don't miss the alcohol content.

Like wise, I have binned off alcohol aswell early last year due to ongoing health issues (not alcohol related but made worse by alsohol). I wasn’t a big drinker anyway but it was surprise the damage even a little can do.

Also free beers have really upped their game now, and there are some jives ones about

 

[GreyCat]

I eat low carb and lactose free. Not touched any sweets, biscuits or cake for at least a couple of years.... Sugar is IMO far more addictive than alcohol.

On which subject. I like the odd glass of dry white wine. One (standard) glass is enough. When you avoid sugar, you tend to cut out a lot of alcoholic drinks as many/most are also high in sugar.

The low carb thing is difficult more from the point of view of recognising when you are entering food deserts e.g. any long train or road trip where a M&S Simply Food isn't on the route. On-train food or garage forecourt stuff is always the same high-carb junk. Similarly for industry sector meetings that I sometimes have to attend, they always ask about dietary needs for lunch and equally always fail to deliver.

GC

 

[HillBill]

.. four months ago, and I found it surprisingly easy. Now I'm giving up sugary snacks like sweets and chocolate and finding it difficult. I get almost unbearable urges for sugar, especially after meals. I find Greek yoghurt helps to curb the 'withdrawal' but it's taking a lot of will power.

What have you given up on or are currently trying to give up on?

I had to give up sugar in 2015 when i was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Struggled a little at first, but now, i don't bat an eyelid. I just dont consume sugary stuff. Switched to sweeteners in my tea/coffee, stopped drinking beers and ciders (mainly), now i just drink spirits which have neither carbs nor sugars in any of them (so long as they are 37.5% alcohol)

Now, tell me about how you quit drinking... That's my next step.

 

[Astrochicken]

As opposed to 'giving up ' / 'quitting', my other half and I have instead progressively shifted towards a quality over quantity approach of a number of things, including alcohol and sweet things. The result has been a reduction in the volume consumed and the return to valuing them as special when we do have them.

Chocolate should never be given up IMO (we're the only planet we know of that has it), however the awful stuff produced by Cadbury / equivalent shouldn't be allowed to be called chocolate. We weaned ourselves off the easy-grab chocolate bar onto darker chocolate, reducing the sugar and satisfying the taste with a smaller number of squares from a bar of Lindt. Supermarket own-brand (specifically the finest / best / etc) have improved significantly, and the key is to segue to richer flavour through a middle ground. Trying 70% dark after years of eating 20% yorkie bars isn't going to work. Instead look for 40-50% cocoa, sometimes labelled 'supermilk' - it has the smoothness and enjoyable eating of a milk chocolate whilst having a better cocoa flavour and less sugar, allowing a transition towards the higher quality. You'll also be less likely to eat the whole bar as after a certain point you'll be sated and simply wont want any more.

We've done the same with alcohol, vastly reducing the quantity by opting for a nicer bottle of something that we enjoy together. We're not trying to become hipster sommeliers / annoying party guests, it's more that we have come to require less than we used to whilst still being satisfied. It took a little time but has worked to improve our relationship with food and drink, and to enjoy things much more than we used to.

 

[HillBill]

As opposed to 'giving up ' / 'quitting', my other half and I have instead progressively shifted towards a quality over quantity approach of a number of things, including alcohol and sweet things. The result has been a reduction in the volume consumed and the return to valuing them as special when we do have them.

Chocolate should never be given up IMO (we're the only planet we know of that has it), however the awful stuff produced by Cadbury / equivalent shouldn't be allowed to be called chocolate. We weaned ourselves off the easy-grab chocolate bar onto darker chocolate, reducing the sugar and satisfying the taste with a smaller number of squares from a bar of Lindt. Supermarket own-brand (specifically the finest / best / etc) have improved significantly, and the key is to segue to richer flavour through a middle ground. Trying 70% dark after years of eating 20% yorkie bars isn't going to work. Instead look for 40-50% cocoa, sometimes labelled 'supermilk' - it has the smoothness and enjoyable eating of a milk chocolate whilst having a better cocoa flavour and less sugar, allowing a transition towards the higher quality. You'll also be less likely to eat the whole bar as after a certain point you'll be sated and simply wont want any more.

We've done the same with alcohol, vastly reducing the quantity by opting for a nicer bottle of something that we enjoy together. We're not trying to become hipster sommeliers / annoying party guests, it's more that we have come to require less than we used to whilst still being satisfied. It took a little time but has worked to improve our relationship with food and drink, and to enjoy things much more than we used to.

Nowt wrong with Dark Chocolate. 70%+ cocoa for the win. Has many health benefits to go with it too.

You are correct though... you cant just 'stop' things that you're accustomed to. Gradual change is what will make it a long term change.

I quit smoking in April last year... by switching to a vape... is that good? yes to quitting smoking, no, or probably not to vaping. But after smoking for 28 years... its better than still smoking.

Alcohol next. I mainly stopped with the sugary stuff, due to switching to the stronger, non sugary stuff. Is that better, Yes... and no. Better for Diabetes, worse for the liver... bit of a temporary trade off. The sugar would hurt me more in the short term, that the higher alcohol strength would, as my liver was tip top, and still is according to blood tests.

 

[TeeDee]

Best thing to give up?

Excuses.