I gave up drink for lent and now I am hanging for a drink

kidneyfan · 26-02-2015 9:30am #1

Anyone else done this?
I was horrified to discover that the Sundays in Lent are not part of the 40 days.
Thing is I thought it would be very easy because I don't drink much but 9:30 AM and I want a drink!

MonkeyTennis · 26-02-2015 9:32am

Have a fizzy drink. Its possible you are just thirsty and your brain told you 'beer'

kjl · 26-02-2015 9:32am

I gave up drink in 2002 all I drink now is water.

Mint Sauce · 26-02-2015 9:33am

kidneyfan wrote: »

Anyone else done this?
I was horrified to discover that the Sundays in Lent are not part of the 40 days.
Thing is I thought it would be very easy because I don't drink much but 9:30 AM and I want a drink!

Two things.

People usally use Paddies Day as an excuse to break lent, not every sunday during it.

Its only been a week!

jamesbere · 26-02-2015 9:34am

Why do people give up stuff just for lent, can't they do it any other time of the year.

jester77 · 26-02-2015 9:41am

This whole giving up for lent thing is an awful load of nonsense, it's up their with new years resolutions. Have a drink when you want a drink. If you are giving up drink for lent, then you must think you have some issues with how much you drink. Lent is only a few months, what happens after it is over? Just deal with the issue properly before it gets worse. Lent won't miraculously fix things.

kylith · 26-02-2015 9:42am

The problem with 'giving stuff up' is that you then focus on it which makes you want it more. Go make a cuppa and try to put booze, either the drinking of or the giving up of, out of your mind.

HamsterFace · 26-02-2015 9:43am

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

Timberrrrrrrr · 26-02-2015 9:45am

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

So you don't drink water or soft drinks?

bjork · 26-02-2015 9:49am

Have you considered counselling for alcoholism?

dr.bollocko · 26-02-2015 9:49am

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

Yeah. Every single great piece of art, music, literature - all done by sober people.

MonkeyTennis · 26-02-2015 9:50am

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

You're getting a prize for this

kjl · 26-02-2015 9:54am

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

Have a fizzy drink. Its possible you are just thirsty and your brain told you 'beer'

You know that fizzy drinks are just as bad as beer. They have way too much sugar. I really don't know how they are so popular.

A few years back I didn't like drinking water and was always buying some sort of cordial to mix with it. But then one day I said I am going to try and force myself to like water. So I gave up everything else and just focused on drinking water. I drink about 4 liters a day and I absolutely LOVE it. I think it's the most refreshing thing you can do.

I know that it's hard to make the switch but honestly after 2-3 weeks you will be glad you did.

valoren · 26-02-2015 9:54am

Craving alcohol?
You'll take the drink and the drink will take you.

MonkeyTennis · 26-02-2015 9:56am

Have I stepped into an alternate universe?

dodzy · 26-02-2015 9:57am

bjork wrote: »

Have you considered counselling for alcoholism?

Feck that, it'll cost a fortune. Spend the money on d'beer !

bjork · 26-02-2015 9:57am

The whole pint of lent is penance and hardship. It can be hard. Give it another shot.

Duggy747 · 26-02-2015 9:58am

This thread is making me thirsty.

seamus · 26-02-2015 10:25am

Two weeks.

The easiest time to stay away from the beer is when you've got your head in the toilet the next day.

The hardest time is seven days later when that morning is a forgotten memory and you're back in party mood.

And the seven days again after that you'll find yourself eating a huge takeaway to take your mind off the beer.

After that though, it becomes remarkably easy to stay off the beer. I've done it for a month once; pretty inadvertant, sickness, training etc meant I had to keep away from it. Once the two week period was done, the cravings pretty much went away and I felt like I could carry on for ages without a beer.

So keep going, push on through. The hardest part is the weekend. Arrange to go to the cinema on Friday and Saturday. Choose 10pm viewings and pre-pay for your tickets. That way you have to go, and by the time you come out of the cinema it'll be too late to go to the pub.

scream · 26-02-2015 10:32am

I did this for the last 3 years running and it got progressively more difficult each year. Not doing it anymore. I've done my time. Life's too short and too stressful. I know it's supposed to be hard but I was ready to kill last year.

Banjo String · 26-02-2015 10:38am

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

Balls.

The most wild and vivid stories I've ever had retold to me have come out of the mouths of drunks or those with sever hangovers.

kidneyfan · 26-02-2015 10:49am

I haven't had a drink or anything. I am just surprised that I want one at all. I gave up crisps last year and it was very easy. It makes me realise how often I do drink.

26-02-2015 11:22am

I wanted to try give it up for lent but I would just fail within a few days so what was the point. Too much stuff on every weekend that involves drinking. Gave up chocolate, sweets and desserts instead which is easier but not easy either.

Its a long long time since I went more than about 10 days without drinking.

Gongoozler · 26-02-2015 11:37am

I'm off drink too, not for the lent ****e, but because it and my emotions don't mix well.

Been off it since new years, minus one weekend for my birthday. I do miss it. I miss having a glass of wine in the evening of a weekend, I miss having southern comfort, and the odd pint of cider. it's hard to not just have one, but one, I think, is the same as a bunch. When I read the op, I thought jaysus I'd love a southern comfort.

FTA69 · 26-02-2015 12:10pm

seamus wrote: »

Two weeks.

The easiest time to stay away from the beer is when you've got your head in the toilet the next day.

The hardest time is seven days later when that morning is a forgotten memory and you're back in party mood.

And the seven days again after that you'll find yourself eating a huge takeaway to take your mind off the beer.

After that though, it becomes remarkably easy to stay off the beer. I've done it for a month once; pretty inadvertant, sickness, training etc meant I had to keep away from it. Once the two week period was done, the cravings pretty much went away and I felt like I could carry on for ages without a beer.

So keep going, push on through. The hardest part is the weekend. Arrange to go to the cinema on Friday and Saturday. Choose 10pm viewings and pre-pay for your tickets. That way you have to go, and by the time you come out of the cinema it'll be too late to go to the pub.

Absolutely. When I'm training for a fight I go off it for 12 weeks. As you said, the first two weeks you get the cravings and as much of it is readjusting your conditioned social habits. Afterward you start to fill up the time with other, more rewarding stuff and you barely miss it at all. I always end up getting demented on fight night and afterward regret the fact I'm back to the same stupid routine.

valoren · 26-02-2015 12:30pm

I never experience a craving to drink. I can go weeks or months without it.
It's more so that when I do have a drink, then it's never a case of having "Just the one".

It's drink, drink, drink until all the drink is gone. Or drink until the money on me is gone.
For example, if I bought a bottle of wine, I know I won't be satisifed with one glass, I'll drink the whole thing eventually consequences be damned. I would consider getting help for drinking, if for example, I drank the bottle of wine, just had to have more, and went out of my way to get more. That for me would be the line in the sand.

The same can be said for me though of sweets, chocolate, crisps etc, anything which produces a burst of happy chemicals in my brain. I'll eat them when offered but I don't buy them because I want/crave them so to speak.

The cravings you feel is your body/brain telling you that you need the booze as it is conditioned to it. Give it time and your body will right itself naturally.

I quit the coffee for Lent and went through the brain fog/mild headache withdrawal. My kidneys were in pain last Friday and my lower back was aching badly, now I'm fine and caffeine free. The chemistry of my brain has righted itself is my best guess. The next time I have coffee, then it will have the effect it is supposed to have and not some habitual conditioned response from my daily intake.

Steve_Carella · 26-02-2015 1:27pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

I had many years drinking and had a great time. Then it all went bad and I had a lot of bad times before realising I was an alcoholic. I managed to kick it a few years ago and am now happily sober and would not pick up a drink now if you offered me the winning Euromillions numbers. So I have a wide variety of experience of drinking and not drinking.

Therefore I know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that this is one of the most inane statements I have ever heard anybody make.

HamsterFace · 26-02-2015 1:29pm

Steve_Carella wrote: »

I had many years drinking and had a great time. Then it all went bad and I had a lot of bad times before realising I was an alcoholic. I managed to kick it a few years ago and am now happily sober and would not pick up a drink now if you offered me the winning Euromillions numbers. So I have a wide variety of experience of drinking and not drinking.

Therefore I know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that this is one of the most inane statements I have ever heard anybody make.

It wasn't an inane statement, I stand by it because it's completely correct

sbsquarepants · 26-02-2015 1:34pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

You've a face like a hamster. If people didn't drink you'd never get laid:D

crybaby · 26-02-2015 1:36pm

kjl wrote: »

You know that fizzy drinks are just as bad as beer. They have way too much sugar. I really don't know how they are so popular.
.

Yep just as bad as beer although I haven't heard of many people kill others due to the effects of a coke zero.

Penny Tration · 26-02-2015 1:39pm

Steve_Carella wrote: »

I had many years drinking and had a great time. Then it all went bad and I had a lot of bad times before realising I was an alcoholic. I managed to kick it a few years ago and am now happily sober and would not pick up a drink now if you offered me the winning Euromillions numbers. So I have a wide variety of experience of drinking and not drinking.

Therefore I know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that this is one of the most inane statements I have ever heard anybody make.

Fair play on the recovery

hope it stays that way for you

emeldc · 26-02-2015 1:44pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

One would have to assume you're a complete pisshead so

Steve_Carella · 26-02-2015 1:45pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

It wasn't an inane statement, I stand by it because it's completely correct

Prove it.

HamsterFace · 26-02-2015 2:56pm

Steve_Carella wrote: »

Prove it.

Better things to be doing friend. Living my life. You'll know that split second before death.

MonkeyTennis · 26-02-2015 3:07pm

I call twaddle

Steve_Carella · 26-02-2015 3:09pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

Better things to be doing friend. Living my life. You'll know that split second before death.

So in other words you made a ridiculous statement that shouldn't take more than five minutes to back up and now that you CAN'T back it up, you're using the old "oh I have a life, I'm not gonna spend it posting online" cop out.

Good contribution.

26-02-2015 3:45pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

Better things to be doing friend. Living my life. You'll know that split second before death.

Part of living your life is enjoying yourself and socialising and for me drinking is a vital part of that. The amount enjoyment I would have missed out on without drinking is frightening.

HamsterFace · 26-02-2015 3:51pm

Steve_Carella wrote: »

So in other words you made a ridiculous statement that shouldn't take more than five minutes to back up and now that you CAN'T back it up, you're using the old "oh I have a life, I'm not gonna spend it posting online" cop out.

Good contribution.

Not can't, won't because you wouldn't be willing to listen.

No point getting annoyed with me either, that certainly is less smart that the boozing

Steve_Carella · 26-02-2015 4:24pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

Not can't, won't because you wouldn't be willing to listen.

No point getting annoyed with me either, that certainly is less smart that the boozing

Of course I'd be willing to listen. It's a discussion board, that's the whole point of it. I've challenged your statement, it's down to you to back it up, unless you're unable to, as seems to be the case.

But the very fact that you've already (wrongly) concluded that I'm unreasonable ("wouldn't be willing to listen") and that I'm annoyed with you (which I'm not even slightly), not to mention the incredibly inappropriate "less smart than the boozing" comment - these things all seem to indicate that you're less interested in discussion than you are in throwing out unfounded statements and refusing to back them up when somebody calls you on them.

HamsterFace · 26-02-2015 5:07pm

Steve_Carella wrote: »

Of course I'd be willing to listen. It's a discussion board, that's the whole point of it. I've challenged your statement, it's down to you to back it up, unless you're unable to, as seems to be the case.

But the very fact that you've already (wrongly) concluded that I'm unreasonable ("wouldn't be willing to listen") and that I'm annoyed with you (which I'm not even slightly), not to mention the incredibly inappropriate "less smart than the boozing" comment - these things all seem to indicate that you're less interested in discussion than you are in throwing out unfounded statements and refusing to back them up when somebody calls you on them.

You are correct in that I am unwilling to discuss, I'm merely passing some knowledge I have.

I don't think you are unreasonable but you are unwilling to accept this knowledge yet, most people aren't, but you will some day that I can promise you.

Anyone can have water brought to them but they must drink themselves.

Steve_Carella · 26-02-2015 5:13pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

You are correct in that I am unwilling to discuss

Not really much point in being here then, is there?

HamsterFace wrote: »

I don't think you are unreasonable

You thought I was less than an hour ago. Are you backing down from that assertion too?

HamsterFace wrote: »

I'm merely passing some knowledge I have.

No. You're stating an opinion. Unless you can give a source for this knowledge? If you can't, it's not knowledge. It's an opinion.

HamsterFace wrote: »

...you are unwilling to accept this knowledge yet, most people aren't...

And yet, there seems to be an awful lot more people disagreeing with you on this thread than agreeing with you.

syklops · 26-02-2015 5:20pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

It wasn't an inane statement, I stand by it because it's completely correct

then you yourself are inane.

fedor.2. · 26-02-2015 5:25pm

Randy Scary Shellfish wrote: »

Part of living your life is enjoying yourself and socialising and for me drinking is a vital part of that. The amount enjoyment I would have missed out on without drinking is frightening.

Man, that's pretty sad. I'd bring in prohibition, if I could, until a time when people could actually handle what they consume. It's pathetic, the states some people get in.

Genghiz Cohen · 26-02-2015 5:35pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

People who drink are incredibly stupid and have no imaginations

I can't believe people reacted to this. It's the most poorly framed bait I've seen in some time.

suicide_circus · 26-02-2015 5:41pm

I can thoroughly recommend a subscription to Modern Drunkard Magazine. It' bi-monthly periodical promoting the functional alcoholic's lifestyle.

HamsterFace · 26-02-2015 5:56pm

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

I can't believe people reacted to this. It's the most poorly framed bait I've seen in some time.

Yeah I'm kinda surprised myself, just picked up a bottle of red cos it's Thursday.

Am a big fan of the wolfblass range though should probably cut out midweek sauce.

Sorry Steve carrell but you were getting a bit annoyed at least

Cody montana · 26-02-2015 6:16pm

I'm still off it since new years.

*Smug face*

Steve_Carella · 26-02-2015 6:43pm

HamsterFace wrote: »

Sorry Steve carrell but you were getting a bit annoyed at least

Not even slightly. I come onto websites like this to discuss. And I take people at face value (unless it's really obviously a wind up), which I will continue to do. There's no shortage of people who WOULD agree with your original post as you phrased it.

And I'm not still not convinced you didn't mean it. It seems far more likely that you meant it and you're just backing down.

emeldc · 26-02-2015 8:46pm

Steve_Carella wrote: »

Not even slightly. I come onto websites like this to discuss. And I take people at face value (unless it's really obviously a wind up), which I will continue to do. There's no shortage of people who WOULD agree with your original post as you phrased it.

And I'm not still not convinced you didn't mean it. It seems far more likely that you meant it and you're just backing down.

I'm with you there, I think "Ghengiz Cohen" did him a favour with a convenient get out clause.

Anywho, I relax two or three evenings a week in my local and consume eight or ten pints in total for the week. Having said that I'm also off it for lent and TBH I'm enjoying the break! It becomes a bit habitual. I'm thinking I may stay off it a bit longer, maybe until my holidays in June.

HamsterFace · 26-02-2015 9:25pm

OK, guess I can't save face so

conorh91 · 26-02-2015 9:30pm

I'm about to open a nice Rioja here OP.

Taste the supple vanillas, the complex strawberry, the fleeting memories of a warm July in Pamplona ... not bad for eight quid.

I gave up drink for lent and now I am hanging for a drink

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