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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1083 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for January 8, 2025

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:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

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I'm a bit ahead of you in the process, and did not quit cold turkey - only took a major step back.

You have eloquently described my exact feelings when cutting my consumption and some of the initial benefits. I hope you find it comforting that the downsides you're experiencing fade with time, especially when you combine quitting with lifting.

Another note if you end up not being able to fully quit forever: I still force myself to work out when I do drink the night before. This generally works out since if I have a big night drinking I wake up very early while my family is asleep. Am I getting the same amount of benefit from a hangover workout? Not even close. But my ability to defeat a hangover is now better than its ever been, and reminding myself a workout is still on the other side of this drink helps me start switching back to water earlier in the night.

Thanks for sharing and for the encouragement.

I don't want to quit forever, but I do want to reach complete self-mastery over my drinking decisions. I hate the feeling of compulsion, I hated looking at my liquor cabinet and thinking "Man, I don't want another restless night, I don't want more reflux and heartburn, I don't want to wake up tired" as I still reached for the bottle. And I'm right there with you on workout consistency. I have a no excuses approach to exercise, and feeling weak and slow the following day is a great reminder that what I ingested the previous day was literal poison. Still trying to build up my water drinking habit. I need to get a Nalgene bottle and carry it around the house.

Forgive me for one last suggestion - I use a steel vacuum insulated water bottle instead of a Nalgene.

  • I won't drink tepid water as much as cold, and a little ice in a bottle with a straw will stick around all day.
  • A Nalgene is also going to require you to carefully unscrew it and slowly tilt it to avoid spilling, which is more work than flipping open a straw.
  • Finally, the default Stanley top can't endure the water bottle tipping over or being tossed around, which is another reason I go for a sealed straw. I like getting larger sizes to minimize how often I fill it up, but also consider if you'll be bringing it with you in the car.

Basically: I minimized friction between me and water as much as possible, and all the bottles cost the same, so just do what's best for you.

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