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A couple of things I’ve noticed in the past few years have caused me give it up.
Since the kids have been gone, dh and I have observed cocktail hour at 5:00 pm every night. It has been a pleasant ritual before dinner, a time to pause and share the events of the day. Nice. I have 2 Manhattans and hubby has more. He’s fine with it, but I’m done.
Firstly, I was having trouble sleeping at night. I fell right to sleep, but then I’d wake up at about 3 am and toss and turn for hours. Since I quit drinking, I sleep through the night.
Second, during the day, I eat like a bird. After a few bites, I’ve had enough. After cocktails, I feel as if I eat too much at dinner....my internal regulator turned off. As someone who could stand to lose 30#, I’m hoping that the loss of calories will pay off in the waistline.
Third, I noticed that some of our older senior friends drink way too much. The cocktails start earlier and end later. It’s a slippery slope I don’t want to fall into.
Lastly, and this was the last straw for me... We were expecting a robo call about a delivery for the next day. The next day came, and I mentioned to dh that we hadn’t gotten the call yet. He looked at me funny. He said I had answered the call, and I had told him the time they were coming. I still have absolutely no memory of the call, and it really scared me.
I’m not saying I won’t have a sip of spiked eggnog, or a glass of wine during the holidays, but I’m feeling really positive about my decision. I feel as though I’m giving my body a gift.
It probably has something to do with both my sister and sister in law dying this year. I’m probably not immortal.
I no longer drink. Just don't enjoy wine or mixed drinks. Never was a big drinker. Plus some meds I take don't mix well with booze. I have seen that "slippery slope" of which you speak....especially with seniors. Not pretty.
Like the OP, I have also stopped drinking, pretty recently, for many of the same reasons.
I also suffered from sleep disruption, memory loss, and basically eating
anything not nailed down in the evenings, even though I’d been carefully
watching calories all day.
For most of my life, I didn’t really drink much; my work schedule included teaching evening classes and grading papers, so there really wasn’t much time for drinking.
However, in my late 40s and early 50s, I had moved from academia to corporate work, with regular 8-5 work hours, so enjoying a glass or two of wine in the evening became a pleasant way to wind down from the workday and the SF Bay Area commute.
We also lived near many wonderful wineries in Northern California, which added to the experience of enjoying the wine.
In the past few years since retirement and relocation, we had continued to drink wine, but I was starting earlier in the day and was drinking more as a result.
That became a problem for my husband and for me, so about 6 months ago, my husband and I just decided not to keep wine in the house any longer, and that abstention has extended to meals out and social settings.
Our neighbors have gotten used to us coming to their gatherings with water or Tejava in hand (they do tease us about the cases of Tejava they see stacked in the garage), and we both feel much better.
Every so often, we will be standing outside looking over our yard and talk about how nice a good glass of wine would be. However, our last wine club shipment arrived, and none of it really was that great.
I think once we broke the habit, we just lost the taste for wine, even the good stuff.
A couple of things I’ve noticed in the past few years have caused me give it up.
Since the kids have been gone, dh and I have observed cocktail hour at 5:00 pm every night. It has been a pleasant ritual before dinner, a time to pause and share the events of the day. Nice. I have 2 Manhattans and hubby has more. He’s fine with it, but I’m done.
Firstly, I was having trouble sleeping at night. I fell right to sleep, but then I’d wake up at about 3 am and toss and turn for hours. Since I quit drinking, I sleep through the night.
Second, during the day, I eat like a bird. After a few bites, I’ve had enough. After cocktails, I feel as if I eat too much at dinner....my internal regulator turned off. As someone who could stand to lose 30#, I’m hoping that the loss of calories will pay off in the waistline.
Third, I noticed that some of our older senior friends drink way too much. The cocktails start earlier and end later. It’s a slippery slope I don’t want to fall into.
Lastly, and this was the last straw for me... We were expecting a robo call about a delivery for the next day. The next day came, and I mentioned to dh that we hadn’t gotten the call yet. He looked at me funny. He said I had answered the call, and I had told him the time they were coming. I still have absolutely no memory of the call, and it really scared me.
I’m not saying I won’t have a sip of spiked eggnog, or a glass of wine during the holidays, but I’m feeling really positive about my decision. I feel as though I’m giving my body a gift.
It probably has something to do with both my sister and sister in law dying this year. I’m probably not immortal.
FWIW, that's not "just because." Many people give up drinking for a variety of reasons and you have yours. So are you looking for responses from people who have given up alcohol for specific reasons or rather from people who have simply stopped drinking for no particular reason?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gentlearts
Third, I noticed that some of our older senior friends drink way too much. The cocktails start earlier and end later. It’s a slippery slope I don’t want to fall into.
With all due respect, have you considered that your husband may be on that slippery slope? You said he drinks more than two Manhattans every day. What's more than two? Three? Five? Seven? Several cocktails every single day (21+/week) is quite a lot.
I stopped drinking with the exception of the occasional beer when my daughter was born 29 years ago. I've seen that crap ruin more than a handful of lives. Stay away from it.
I used to drink around the fire at home. Just got to where I was getting tired of the taste, the queasy feeling and the occasional hang over. And I wouldn't drink too much. 3-4 beers, tops.
Hard alcohol just would get me angry and mean. Not towards my wife. But had a few cases where my cousins fiance would begin treating her terribly and I would take up for her and fight him. I later found out that he DID learn his lesson. Haha..
So...I just decided to just quit drinking all together. And I've had no urge to drink still.
I was never one to drink all that much. A couple of episodes when I was 19 or 20 (drinking age was 18) where I acted like a fool were embarrassing. I might have a drink at a wedding or celebration, but thinking about the empty calories, as well as the fear of acting like an idiot, is enough to keep me away.
What I don't like is when I go to a party and people try to push me to drink and give me a hard time for drinking diet soda or water. Drink what you want, and let me drink what I want.
Good for you. I'll have a small 7oz beer at night. But then maybe more than one??
I can't drink hard liquor or wine because it exaggerates my rosacea. Can't be looking like that. One small beer doesn't do that.
The calories you will save will help you lose the extra pounds.
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