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PaperclipPerfector  14d ago (text post)   1126 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for October 2, 2024

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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It's October, and for the second year in a row I'm abstaining from alcohol. This year I'm trying cannabis, too. This will be the first time since ~2019 I've gone an extended period without either. About two weeks ago I stopped buying the high-concentration cartridges I was used to in preparation. Of course I then burned every last drop I could of the not-yet-spent ones before throwing them all out yesterday. And raiding my golf bag for pre-rolls, which stink to high hell when you walk right back indoors. Alcohol I don't buy anymore unless I want to drink it all, because I drink it all.

Anyone else participating in sober October, aka internet lent?

For me, every month is Sober October. My parents were both problem drinkers, so having negative role models helped, I guess, but really I've just never liked alcohol. It's always tasted like paint thinner to me. I'm told it's an acquired taste, but why intentionally cultivate a bad habit?

I've never tried any other drugs, and I quit soda, with or without sugar, over 20 years ago and haven't really missed it.

I don't know what else is left. Reddit, I guess?

Personal data, n of 1:

It takes 200 days to experience all of the benefits and the mind habit shift.

30 days is good if you're shooting for a "break"

You know, I tried the same thing for regular catholic lent, and found that it was so easy it wasn't worth doing. Beyond mildly aiding with a touch of weight loss, I didn't notice much of anything.

Why not keep doing it if it was so easy?

I like it, and I saw few benefits from giving them up.

I sometimes think about quitting diet soda.

I "accidentally" started drinking about 4 liters/day Coke0 after my kids were born to stay awake. (It felt safer to have a cold soda around babies rather than hot coffee, plus I like the taste better.)

I weaned myself off by drinking the sparkling water from costco. Still expensive, but no more caffeine dependency.

You could buy a machine for turning tap water into carbonated water, they're ~100$. It'd probably pay for itself in a month or two.

I did look into this, and they generally require co2 cartridges and regular cleaning which reduces their cost effictiveness. I also have the goal of cutting the fuzzy drink addiction entirely at some point, and the regular bill reminds me I should be making progress towards the goal.

The CO2 cartridges are kind of expensive if you buy them at retail -- I think they are priced so as to barely pencil out against buying the fuzzy water premade.

However a dive/paintball/welding/fire extinguisher shop can do it for like $2 -- if you are really serious you could plumb the thing to accept a larger welding canister, which would last roughly forever and you just exchange the whole thing at the welding place.

How much Costco fizzy water were you drinking where it was a notable expense.

I'm "down" to 3ish cans/day. That's still a $10 pack every other week = $250 / year. That feels like a lot of money to spend on water when the tap spits it out for free.

Quitting it in favor of the real sugary deal, or quitting it in favor of something less flavorful/carbonated like water/tea/coffee?

The latter. What have you done?

I remember I used to guzzle coca cola like crazy, I just liked the taste so much. Especially when working, I had a cola glass or can next to me all the time and took a sip every minute or so. Then my doctor said to me my blood tests show high sugar, and I have diabetics in the family, so I got a bit scared. So I stopped it completely. There were some cravings for a while, but fortunately I am very caffeine resistant, so it was mostly about the sugar thing. In a couple of month is subsided, and now the taste feels completely disgusting for me, I'd much rather drink pure water than that. I still have a bit of a habit of sipping while working, but it's mostly either water or unsugared tea. I tried carbonated sugarless drinks but their fizziness annoys me for some reason.

I personally quit diet soda as part of quitting caffeine altogether after being an addict during high school/college, so I just went with drinking only water as my source of liquids. I had terrible headaches and trouble staying awake at work for about 2-3 weeks, but after powering through that, it was pretty easy. I have no idea how effective that would be for anyone else, though. One advantage I had is that I really dislike carbonation in liquids and take steps to flatten my soda before drinking it if it's an option, and so it was just the taste and caffeine I missed.

It might be worth trying just to see how hard it is. I quit alcohol for a month one year and it didn't bother me. I quit my daily coke for a month the next year, and the whole time I felt like a junkie deprived of his fix. Discovering that led me to cut my consumption in half even after the month was up ... which probably delayed the kidney stone that talked me down to my current one can per week. (fine, some weeks it's two, and it's never zero - "junkie deprived of his fix", remember)

Second this. I didn't believe I had a soda problem for a long time, because I truly believed I could stop any time I wanted to. It was only once I actually tried to give it up for the first time that I realized "oh shit I actually can't quit".

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