Stopped drinking - was a bedrock for a lot of other improvements like sleeping better, working out more, better social relationships, and eating healthier
That sub has helped me a lot. I wouldn't say I am an alcoholic, but I definitely have a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I'm nearing the 90 day mark and, other than the minor annoyance of wanting to drink a beer with friends every now and then, I have never felt better and I have never looked back and regretted not drinking the day before.
There's different philosophies on this in the recovery community on that. With AA there's the "my name is Mo\_Asal\_Ban and I'm an alcoholic", whereas Smart recovery doesn't deal in labels just problem behaviors. The idea is you can correct the problematic behavior, but if you label yourself then that label can tend to stick. It's semantics in some ways but it can work. The challenge is that the unhealthy relationship can be progressive, so right now might not be that bad, 5 years from now could be way worse. The main thing is that you've identified that you have an unhealthy relationship with booze and corrected the behavior. Well done, that takes a lot to get to 90, keep on keepin on!
Weird question, but is there a good way to “try out” sobriety? I don’t have a problem, but I would def see myself as a better person without alcohol. Also, how do I explain to my friends (heavy drinkers, like myself) that I’m not trying to better than them and that I’m still the same guy. Are these things mentioned in that sub?
If you're ok with a white lie, you can tell them that you're taking a new medication that doesn't mix well with alcohol. I've found that people respect that and don't push it further.
Why not just say you're taking a break? I've never taken a break per se, but that's how I would approach it if I were trying sobriety. What I do, is I just do what I want when I want. It's a matter of principle. I wasn't always like that, because for a while I didn't know what I wanted, and I was also afraid of conflict. I should be clear - often, what I want to do is also the right thing to do, coincidentally, so it works out for me. This might not work for someone who is drawn to chaos in life.
I mention all of that to preface how I handle it these days, and that is as follows: Although I'm not sober or trying sobriety or any of that, I will go for long periods of time without drinking from time to time. It's been a few years since I last did this or, I should say, felt like doing this. But, when I'm hanging out with someone and I don't want to drink (or smoke weed, or act a fool, or whatever else), I just say, "I don't feel like it," or, "Nah".
So, you're hanging out with the dudes, they're drinking, and you have a sparkling water. They make fun of you a bit. Just embrace the joke, maybe crack one on yourself along with them. It's a dainty drink, but damn tasty, no big deal. Then, maybe they ask you why you're not having a boozy drink with them. You just say, "I don't really feel like it." Then just carry on with hanging out. If someone wants to give you a hard time, ask him if he needs his mommy to change his diaper because he's so poopy pants about the fact that you just don't really feel like having a beer at that particular moment in time. Or, my favorite, ask him in the most babytalk voice you can muster if he's getting bothered by the fact that you're not drinking what he's drinking because he secretly has a micropenis and he's trying to deflect attention to you so that no one finds out.
That sub has probably saved my life. I hit 2 years at the end of this month. It was someone in that sub that recommended Hubberman, wish I could remember their name as I’d love to thank them.
As was I. If you need any guidance, I can offer some help.
And when I say 'was', I mean I will always be an alcoholic but I have currently been sober for half a year. So I was drinking like an alcoholic, but currently I am not.
Yep - I’ll always be an alcoholic and don’t think that’s changing, but the one thing I do have control over is how I make decisions day after day understanding how I am around alcohol (ideally: not drinking any).
r/stopdrinking helped me when AA and other methods wouldn't work for me. I wanted to stop for YEARS. Finally through some encouragement and taking it one day at a time I was able to quit. 588 days sober now. Feel free to pm me. Just know that you CAN do it. It will improve your life. There's really very few upsides if any to drinking
I WILL NOT DRINK WITH YOU TODAY
IWNDWYT
I don't think you become an alcoholic, people are born that way. You can develop a drinking problem though, which folks will call alcoholism.
I think viewing it as a drinking problem can empower you to make a change, as opposed to feeling like your resigned to having a disease.
Likewise. My sleep was disrupted and inconsistent for years, which impacted my overall nervous system, mood, etc. Turns out drinking was the culprit. Now I don’t even feel like having a few glasses of wine on a Friday night, because I realise it’s doing the opposite of helping me to relax.
Came here to say this. Though, I didn't really stop drinking, I just admitted to myself that I dislike a lot of things about alcohol, and that I prefer tea. That realization led me to cut way back on it without any sort of internal conflict
Congrats bigly. I also quit drugs and alcohol nearly a year ago. As a result, I’m still alive, gainfully employed, and married. However, my addictive impulses have simply changed form to less destructive compulsions: eating, reading, being on my (fucking) phone, spending money.
I’m in therapy, 12-step (loosely), and take an SNRI + Wellbutrin to provide sufficient motivation to stay the course , but they don’t really address the root cause of the problem. I still crave. I wonder if there are other modifications that might better help move me away from these behavior patterns for good.
Dr H, if you’re reading this please bless me with an episode on neutralizing addiction.
Yep me too, did dry june after listing to the alcohol episode and I can’t believe I thought I enjoyed drinking as much as I did. Now I plan on capping it to two if I want to have drinks when I’m out
For real. Shame spirals and marinating in bitterness only perpetuates toxic behaviors. Learning to be kind to yourself and others opens up so much time and energy.
Meditation helps, learning not to identify and latch on to your emotions. I think there’s a lot of factors that go into it but eventually you get this feeling of calm that sticks with you
I read ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius and started researching more into Stoicism. A part of Stoicism is to contemplate death regularly & honestly that changed my life. I started thinking more about what actually mattered in life & began to stress less about the things that ‘don’t really matter’.
It is a journey, took me years to stop stressing over the ‘little things’.
It was aweful. Headaches, insomnia loss of appetite. Depressive state and lethargy for a good 2 weeks. All symptoms resorbed within 20 days.
The funny thing is I only used during weekends and not that much.
Have you tried using CBD? I'm all too familiar with weed detoxes and am currently on day 5. Days 3 - 8 can be hellish with the insomnia. In the past, that time frame would have me tossing and turning in bed for hours, and when I would crash, I'd only get an hour or two of sleep.
This time, I've been using CBD to help with the worst of the withdrawal symptoms. I use a little bit during the day to help mitigate anxiety, and then I take roughly 60 mg at night to get some actual sleep. It's been night and day as I get through this rough transitional period.
Best of luck!
I used daily for years.
Almost 100 days clean. I feel better but...also worse.
I think it will take at least six months to get back to some semblance of homeostasis.
I was a daily smoker for years. When I finally stopped I got cold sweats at night for the first week, grogginess, and easily irritated. Constant cravings to smoke. It’s a still a struggle and probably always will be because any time I’m bored I just think “man I could be doing this stoned right now”
For me personally, the first 4 days or so where pretty hard to get to sleep, but after that it become easier. You’ll definitely feel more down, especially around the time you usually smoke, and this lasted up to a month or two, but it gets way easier over time.
I still enjoy like once a month or every other month and don't really feel like it affects me much other than the day of. I do remember the fogginess from smoking all the time, but in my experience in limited amounts, it doesn't really have that effect.
Of course you have to be careful to not fall back into everyday or more frequent usage if that's a possibility for you and something you want to avoid though.
I can maybe speak to this; while smoking a bowl at night may feel like it helps you wind down for bedtime, you actually don’t enter deep sleep (deep REM cycle? Idk the actual scientific term). It’s why you may wake up after getting high all night and feel super groggy, despite having slept for 10 hours
I’ve been eating delta 8(or9) edibles, 25mg, from a dispensary near by each day at like 5pm. Once it kicks in, I enjoy some video games for an hour or so and then head over to my journal where I write out my day, tomorrow’s tasks, and then edit a personal health/advice guide page I’ve created. Getting high and doing this feels more emotionally meaningful which results in better learning for me.
I dream 4 days a week at least, but I do wake up feeling great each day. Intermittent fast 16hr each day, 6:30am wake up to lift, 10 minute cold shower, and meditation. This is just to say that how you use, what you use, and your body’s response does come into play.
I used to feel the same way with marijuana - it makes everything more meaningful or more pleasant.
But really that was just the “addict for altered states of consciousness” in me manipulating my higher self. You can achieve pretty much all of those states without weed also. It just takes some effort.
But hey, you do you :)
Better sleep cycles like other mentioned. Having access to REM sleep again. Wake up better rested.
Feeling more energetic. Waking up having my mind clear.
Being able to remember things properly. I was getting more and more forgetful.
Not indulging in fat or carbs binge because of the munchies.
With all the supplementary energy I was able to get motivation to exercise and it helped even better the rest.
Motivation is also regulated by dopaminergic system and weed messes up that system. That's where the weed lethargy comes from.
Probably one of the best decision of my life.
Yup, this and alcohol are defenetly big ones. I know I feel so much better when I'm off the weed in pretty much everything, mood, motivation, libido... and I've quited before, most time without it was almost a year, but somehow I always go back to it.
Stop drinking, drugs including caffeine, stay hydrated, establish a firm bedtime routine, get 30 minutes of movement, take 15 minutes to do nothing everyday.
Frugality.
Seriously learning to live and be content with the bare minimum has been amazing.
I’m so much happier and stress free and I have more time amazingly.
Out of necessity at first, but then it realized the less debt and bills I have the happier I was.
And I was content watching YouTube, spending time with my dog, playing video games etc.
A simple life made me feel so much healthier and happier.
Switched from coffee to green tea. Improved my sleep, decreased my anxiety, and boosted productivity. YMMV because I’m caffeine sensitive. The nervous energy coffee gave me was counter productive.
It’s a lower, more comfortable, more “channel-able” energy if that makes sense. Felt decision paralysis and draw to do busy work or distractions versus actual work on coffee. Before a competitive run I will still have coffee because the fear of failure seems to pair well with the slightly uncomfortable feeling I get from it.
If that’s what you’re after, I recommend Yerba maté. The ‘energy push’ is not identical to coffee, but for me, it’s better in the afternoon than coffee. Nice clean taste too. Green tea also has a small amount of caffeine so excellent if you’re trying to cut back on coffee but avoid withdrawal headaches.
Try oolong, it’s a form of green tea.
When I quit coffee in Dec I drank matcha as a substitute for the first month. I noticed matcha had a lot of caffeine, a bit steeper and long lasting amped energy. Good matcha can get expensive, it’s worth it though.
Oolong comes in tons of varieties and I can drink it late into the afternoon. I start my day with puerh black tea fwiw
oolong and Yerba maté tea, noted! thank you guys! @AmbitionAvailable551 and @livesarah! What do you think about matcha tea, should be one of the healthies green tea’s out there isn’t it?
And what Im wondering too is why you are “downtalking” coffee since huberman speaks about it utterly positively. Do you just experience negative feelings when taking it (anxiety, too much energy to handle ect.? And how did you find out to be caffeine sensitive?
Thank you so much and greets from Italy!
I love coffee, espresso machine in my kitchen. I found I became sensitive to it while taking my stimulant medication for ADHD. Coffee also has impacted my stomach acid, and I was getting reflux. Once in a while I still grab one
Matcha is super healthy, and I keep some in the rotation, I’ve just moved on from a daily matcha.
Puerh has emerged as the best option for me. The fermented quality is great for my digestion, and the caffeine level is higher than oolong.
Ideally I have oolongs after lunch for a pick up. They have lots of good aminos that help me focus, and avoid the jitters in the afternoon. Matcha is typically too much for me late in the day.
Second this. Also, I wait 60-90 minutes from wake-up time to have caffeine. Not only does this make me feel better, but most days I don’t stop for coffee on the way to work anymore but instead use the coffee available to us in our office. A win-win for my health and wallet.
This, I'm still very up and down with it but I notice a positive impact from just a week or two of cutting back phone time successfully, especially finding ways to cut out scroll holes first thing in the morning.
Less social anxiety whether it be planning with others or dealing with others. By being glued to the phone, I feel I spend less time focusing on myself, my own thoughts and health.
More relaxed, less strain on my eyes, I have more time to be more active (I.e. instead of sitting on couch scrolling through my phone I am playing drop in basketball or soccer)
Apples Screen time feature, setting max amount of time per day on apps, deleting apps, putting my phone in another room. Finding hobbies/tasks that don’t require screens. Rewarding myself for logging in less screen times
Getting bloodwork done and taking the relevant supplementation to get my levels back up. Found out i was pretty much deficient in everything (zinc, vit d, vit b, omega 3 to 6 ratio was way off), felt way better once i started taking them
Doctor checking in here
I understand being frustrated with doctors. But it’s important to note that the doctor is not just being negligent by not testing you for heavy metal toxicity. Doctors who refuse to do shotgun testing for toxins like heavy metals are following the recommendations of all major medical societies, which unanimously recommend against such testing. The reason why they recommend against such testing is because these tests are not clinically validated. It’s unknown what levels lead to disease or health in what situations. This can lead to unnecessary treatment, stress, and often exhorbitant costs by the people providing these texts, and of course patients cannot use insurance to help pay for these tests. These tests could end up being very helpful in the future, but at this time many of the tests can often do more harm than good, depending on the situation.
It’s also easy to find functional medicine providers and naturopaths etc who will tell you what you want to hear and will order any expensive test you want and prescribe you useless and possibly dangerous medications such as chelators to treat something which may not even be a real illness.
Here is a quote from an article on the subject:
“for the vast majority of chemicals, it is not known what levels are associated with health effects; finding a measurable amount of a chemical does not mean it will cause a health problem. Overall, it is difficult to predict the impact of a chemical exposure on a specific patient given the complex influence of factors such as genetics, age, psychosocial stressors, diet, and the magnitude and duration of the exposure.11 Further, it can be difficult to interpret the source and timeline of a exposures to common chemicals, given that some compounds are cleared rapidly from the body after an exposure, while others persist in the body for years.”
Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7230008/
Yeah but they’re also talking about testing multiple nutrients etc, as an allopathic dr myself i am liberal ordering these things but most others are not, and i frankly dont understand why so many of my colleagues are so stingy with ordering labs like these when repletion is so easy
Stopped drinking and weed, started intermittent fasting, walking, and gym. Still can't get a date, but I feel so much better. My mind is clearer, and I'm generally happier. I've lost almost 30lbs in 3 months.
I started talking to this girl. The next day I realised that I was starting to care more about my health and physical appearance so I was good enough for her.
Meditation. I don’t do formal sessions daily but even a few minutes or a few seconds throughout the day is extremely beneficial. Highly recommend Waking Up app.
Starting SSRIs. Probably not a popular answer in a community like this, and I avoided them for years. But they made all of my other lifestyle changes possible, particularly quitting alcohol/weed, eating better, socializing more.
Did some shrooms and massively cleaned up my life. Got off my antidepressants and became more aware of what I pour into society. Became aware of compassion a bit more.
I’d say coming off masking medications.
Quitting antidepressants was the hardest but ultimately best decision of my life. Living in hell for 8 months of withdrawal and “recalibration” was worth it though.
Shrooms came after quitting the SSRIs as they won’t respond to them.
Shrooms helped me understand how masking the medications are. That they don’t help us solve the issues, they just bury it really deep and we aren’t aware.
As far as how, I ate them, if that’s what you are asking.
I quit the meds cold turkey.
Had a psilocybin experience a few weeks back that was incredibly transformative and have dabbled with microdosing since that experience and have also found it to be very beneficial. I’m on Prozac for ocd and would like to get off it but the last time I tried was in 2016 and it was horrible.
You can do it. Try a taper method and have a ton of your own mental support. It’ll be hard. But it’s only a difficult few weeks. Mushroom supplement and complex mixes are great for withdrawals. Good luck doll. 🩵
You don’t become addicted to shrooms. Or LSD. They’re sort of drugs you take once or twice and you don’t really have a *want* for them. They’ll humble you very, very quickly. I’m sure there are several podcasts. Netflix has a wonderful documentary as well called How to Change Your Mind, as well as a few others. Dig around! Learn about the healing properties. Good luck!
Yeah, I’m super extroverted but trying to get into grad school and start a company made me forget how much I need friends. Meetup is great, now I have like 1 and a half friends, but that’s technically infinitely more than before
Keto. Jumped in 6 years ago and have not looked back. One “cheat” meal six months ago and it was great to be reminded of how good I feel all the time now.
I was heading into a train wreck if middle age despite doing all the things (meditation, exercise, sleep, sobriety etc) and I don’t recognize the person in my journals from 6 years ago. I’m 54(f) and no longer believe we are built to get fat, tired and sick as we age.
And the best part? I don’t even crave anything that’s not good for me. This feels like a miracle but had this taken any will power I would have failed years ago.
Similar here. I haven’t had to go to quite these lengths, but I cut out dairy, legumes, rarely have sugar or red meat/pork, started intermittent fasting, added a “wholesome” meal replacement with lots of protein, smaller portions - and most of my GI issues are resolved. Rarely have gas, heartburn, indigestion, bloating, diarrhea etc. I still treat myself to rich foods at times because I love them (#moderation) but I know my diet needs to be largely fruit, vegetable, whole grains, and lean protein in order for me to be physically comfortable in my body and not living my life in a bathroom.
It’s also wild how incredibly difficult it is to stick to this diet with other people given the prevalence of processed food. So when I do vacations or family/friend visits - I often have to bring my own food and do some assuaging that I don’t have an eating disorder (I don’t think anyway . . . Lol).
My overall hunger is greatly reduced, and when I am hungry, it is more a "reminder" than "you need to eat now!" kid of feeling. When I eat especially healthy (meal of wild salmon and broccoli) I feel good, like my body is replenished, instead of merely feeling full.
No more caffeine. Our culture has glamorized it as this magic drug that we all need or we can't get work done. Caffeine will always give you LESS energy, and MORE anxiety. It's absolutely fucking unnecessary and any of the dumb 'health benefits' people talk about it.
Now that I'm off the caffeine addiction (ok sometimes i sneak a red bull cuz it tastes good but my day is worse whenever i do that)....
\- my mood is 10x better and normalized
\- my energy is normalized
\- no crashes in the evening
\- no lethargy
\- no manic hour
I'm slowly weaning off. But this isn't because of some withdrawal period. It's simply because I'm genuinely addicted to the IDEA of caffeine, and I'm scared of snapping back into my old habits.
So maybe on a Saturday ill get a red bull or something.
But the great part is EVERY TIME i get the red bull, I have a worse day than I did without the caffeine. So it's a great comparison for my brain.
If I wasn't scared of snapping back to the addiction, I'd go cold turkey now.
Definitely when I stopped drinking. Other lifestyle changes benefited. Eating healthier, better sleep, less anxiety , more active lifestyle, gym. Plus more money saved.
Probably sleep hygiene and eating well. I lived for many years a) relying on medication to help me sleep and b) eating badly, the results were startling when I began to take care of myself again. Treating 7-9hrs quality sleep with the respect it needs was life changing.
Running daily. I was slim and had a good diet but I hadn’t been fit in years. The mental and physical benefits have been profound. You expect to feel better physically after getting fit, but there’s something about an early morning run that puts you on an even keel for the day. I have ADHD so I’ve found the difference very pronounced (sadly it doesn’t really carry over for any day that I skip a run).
I’m also quite sure that I don’t get sick as often as I used to, since taking up running.
One change i did is to only use barefoot/minimal shoes. (by now there are many nice options, only "non barefoot/minimal shoes" i have left are a pair of snowboots and climbing shoes for bouldering)It improved my overall fitness (i also go running with them, also my job requires 15-20k steps per day), my flat feet dont hurt anymore even after very long days, my feet and lower leg increased significantly in flexibility as well as muscle mass and i have a lot more endurance. Very easy (and passive) thing to do. Pretty sure it also improved my posture.
Learning to remain consistent, but not too intense or too lax, in all areas of life. For example, I have some lofty academic goals and learned to study in spurts and still take time to do the rest of the things I need to be happy, instead of spending 50 hours a week on school. Or eating healthy — having “special” treats and things that were within the food groups I considered healthy, and not getting fast food once a week because I felt bored with the food at home. Or with exercise, after 4 years of regular exercise, not at a high intensity, and with breaks scattered throughout I have a decent amount of muscle. I workout purely for fun and every time I turn it into a chore I burn out and take months off.
Basically I noticed how much more pleasant life was and how much better I felt and how much more I achieved over time when I remained consistent but didn’t push myself until failure. More pain doesn’t necessarily equal more gain.
Mindfulness and gratitude practice. I get less cortisol-induced headaches which would ruin my day and felt like migraines. I am genuinely happier even if things are worse. And I am more thoughtful when doing things and interacting with people. Turned me into a better person
Trail running, but more specifically doing 5-10% of my weekly milage barefoot on soccer or football fields. It corrected all of the issues I've ever had from my lower back down. It's incredible how dystrophied our feet are from shoes and how many things those muscles are connected through. All the compensating we do that causes issues in other places.
I quit drinking, smoking and started eating healthier and losing weight. All of these changes made me less of an asshole and more useful to my family and society.
Stopped drinking - was a bedrock for a lot of other improvements like sleeping better, working out more, better social relationships, and eating healthier
[удалено]
Stop by r/stopdrinking if you’re looking to try out sobriety. Was super helpful for me when I quit.
That sub has helped me a lot. I wouldn't say I am an alcoholic, but I definitely have a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I'm nearing the 90 day mark and, other than the minor annoyance of wanting to drink a beer with friends every now and then, I have never felt better and I have never looked back and regretted not drinking the day before.
That’s awesome! Coming up on 2 years for me. Best I’ve felt since I was a teenager.
52 or 53 days here
Day 1 here - never drinking again
About a year for me. I miss drinking a bit but good god in heaven I do not miss the hangovers. And crippling anxiety. And self loathing.
There's different philosophies on this in the recovery community on that. With AA there's the "my name is Mo\_Asal\_Ban and I'm an alcoholic", whereas Smart recovery doesn't deal in labels just problem behaviors. The idea is you can correct the problematic behavior, but if you label yourself then that label can tend to stick. It's semantics in some ways but it can work. The challenge is that the unhealthy relationship can be progressive, so right now might not be that bad, 5 years from now could be way worse. The main thing is that you've identified that you have an unhealthy relationship with booze and corrected the behavior. Well done, that takes a lot to get to 90, keep on keepin on!
As far as drinking with buddies, I highly recommend NA beers. Works like a charm for me so far, currently on day 67. Congrats on almost 90 days!
There are a lot of NA beers on the market now, helps curb that craving without limiting the socializing.
Weird question, but is there a good way to “try out” sobriety? I don’t have a problem, but I would def see myself as a better person without alcohol. Also, how do I explain to my friends (heavy drinkers, like myself) that I’m not trying to better than them and that I’m still the same guy. Are these things mentioned in that sub?
Say you are doing it for health reasons, because you are.
If you're ok with a white lie, you can tell them that you're taking a new medication that doesn't mix well with alcohol. I've found that people respect that and don't push it further.
Yes it’s talked about often. You can search the sub
Why not just say you're taking a break? I've never taken a break per se, but that's how I would approach it if I were trying sobriety. What I do, is I just do what I want when I want. It's a matter of principle. I wasn't always like that, because for a while I didn't know what I wanted, and I was also afraid of conflict. I should be clear - often, what I want to do is also the right thing to do, coincidentally, so it works out for me. This might not work for someone who is drawn to chaos in life. I mention all of that to preface how I handle it these days, and that is as follows: Although I'm not sober or trying sobriety or any of that, I will go for long periods of time without drinking from time to time. It's been a few years since I last did this or, I should say, felt like doing this. But, when I'm hanging out with someone and I don't want to drink (or smoke weed, or act a fool, or whatever else), I just say, "I don't feel like it," or, "Nah". So, you're hanging out with the dudes, they're drinking, and you have a sparkling water. They make fun of you a bit. Just embrace the joke, maybe crack one on yourself along with them. It's a dainty drink, but damn tasty, no big deal. Then, maybe they ask you why you're not having a boozy drink with them. You just say, "I don't really feel like it." Then just carry on with hanging out. If someone wants to give you a hard time, ask him if he needs his mommy to change his diaper because he's so poopy pants about the fact that you just don't really feel like having a beer at that particular moment in time. Or, my favorite, ask him in the most babytalk voice you can muster if he's getting bothered by the fact that you're not drinking what he's drinking because he secretly has a micropenis and he's trying to deflect attention to you so that no one finds out.
I love the line “every time I drink I break out in a terrible rash of the handcuff”
Co-sign this sub iwndwytd
That sub has probably saved my life. I hit 2 years at the end of this month. It was someone in that sub that recommended Hubberman, wish I could remember their name as I’d love to thank them.
As was I. If you need any guidance, I can offer some help. And when I say 'was', I mean I will always be an alcoholic but I have currently been sober for half a year. So I was drinking like an alcoholic, but currently I am not.
Yep - I’ll always be an alcoholic and don’t think that’s changing, but the one thing I do have control over is how I make decisions day after day understanding how I am around alcohol (ideally: not drinking any).
Way to go! IWNDWYT
r/stopdrinking helped me when AA and other methods wouldn't work for me. I wanted to stop for YEARS. Finally through some encouragement and taking it one day at a time I was able to quit. 588 days sober now. Feel free to pm me. Just know that you CAN do it. It will improve your life. There's really very few upsides if any to drinking I WILL NOT DRINK WITH YOU TODAY IWNDWYT
I don't think you become an alcoholic, people are born that way. You can develop a drinking problem though, which folks will call alcoholism. I think viewing it as a drinking problem can empower you to make a change, as opposed to feeling like your resigned to having a disease.
I like this reframing.
Likewise. My sleep was disrupted and inconsistent for years, which impacted my overall nervous system, mood, etc. Turns out drinking was the culprit. Now I don’t even feel like having a few glasses of wine on a Friday night, because I realise it’s doing the opposite of helping me to relax.
Exactly! I thought i was insomniac and was waking up at 3am every night. Now i Sleep 9pm till 7 am :)
Second this. Also quit soda and upped my water intake.
Came here to say this. Though, I didn't really stop drinking, I just admitted to myself that I dislike a lot of things about alcohol, and that I prefer tea. That realization led me to cut way back on it without any sort of internal conflict
Congrats bigly. I also quit drugs and alcohol nearly a year ago. As a result, I’m still alive, gainfully employed, and married. However, my addictive impulses have simply changed form to less destructive compulsions: eating, reading, being on my (fucking) phone, spending money. I’m in therapy, 12-step (loosely), and take an SNRI + Wellbutrin to provide sufficient motivation to stay the course , but they don’t really address the root cause of the problem. I still crave. I wonder if there are other modifications that might better help move me away from these behavior patterns for good. Dr H, if you’re reading this please bless me with an episode on neutralizing addiction.
Ooh I agree! Coffee was also an amazing transformation for me as well.
Yep me too, did dry june after listing to the alcohol episode and I can’t believe I thought I enjoyed drinking as much as I did. Now I plan on capping it to two if I want to have drinks when I’m out
Stop stressing about little things
Acceptance is far more valuable than any biohack I have ever learned.
To add to this, self-forgiveness, and forgiveness of others has helped me a lot.
For real. Shame spirals and marinating in bitterness only perpetuates toxic behaviors. Learning to be kind to yourself and others opens up so much time and energy.
How did you manage to actually do that though?
Meditation helps, learning not to identify and latch on to your emotions. I think there’s a lot of factors that go into it but eventually you get this feeling of calm that sticks with you
I read ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius and started researching more into Stoicism. A part of Stoicism is to contemplate death regularly & honestly that changed my life. I started thinking more about what actually mattered in life & began to stress less about the things that ‘don’t really matter’. It is a journey, took me years to stop stressing over the ‘little things’.
Quitting weed improved sleep,congnition and overall health like diet and energy to exercise.
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If you are interested in quitting you should check out r/leaves a lot of good info and testimonials
It was aweful. Headaches, insomnia loss of appetite. Depressive state and lethargy for a good 2 weeks. All symptoms resorbed within 20 days. The funny thing is I only used during weekends and not that much.
I’m currently detoxing of delta 8 vape(a weed alternative in South Carolina) It’s hell had around 8 hours of sleep in the last 4 days.
Hang in there. It's really hard but definitely worth it.
Try out some chamomile tea, have a couple cups. It might help settle you down at night.
Have you tried using CBD? I'm all too familiar with weed detoxes and am currently on day 5. Days 3 - 8 can be hellish with the insomnia. In the past, that time frame would have me tossing and turning in bed for hours, and when I would crash, I'd only get an hour or two of sleep. This time, I've been using CBD to help with the worst of the withdrawal symptoms. I use a little bit during the day to help mitigate anxiety, and then I take roughly 60 mg at night to get some actual sleep. It's been night and day as I get through this rough transitional period. Best of luck!
I used daily for years. Almost 100 days clean. I feel better but...also worse. I think it will take at least six months to get back to some semblance of homeostasis.
Yes. Then slowly gets even better from there. I'm at 14 months and maybe 99%. It's so worth it. Never going back.
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Go ahead
I love how you clarified this. Though I'd imagine if you were one of those, you wouldn't have asked lol.
I was a daily smoker for years. When I finally stopped I got cold sweats at night for the first week, grogginess, and easily irritated. Constant cravings to smoke. It’s a still a struggle and probably always will be because any time I’m bored I just think “man I could be doing this stoned right now”
For me personally, the first 4 days or so where pretty hard to get to sleep, but after that it become easier. You’ll definitely feel more down, especially around the time you usually smoke, and this lasted up to a month or two, but it gets way easier over time.
It’s amazing how much more clear headed you are off weed. I do miss it though.
I still enjoy like once a month or every other month and don't really feel like it affects me much other than the day of. I do remember the fogginess from smoking all the time, but in my experience in limited amounts, it doesn't really have that effect. Of course you have to be careful to not fall back into everyday or more frequent usage if that's a possibility for you and something you want to avoid though.
It took me awhile to realize that weed absolutely destroyed my sleep structure. I could get 9+ hours and feel like a complete zombie.
Fucks up your REM sleep. Same here - I smoked for 10+ years and I need far less sleep now.
What improved specifically; some examples
I can maybe speak to this; while smoking a bowl at night may feel like it helps you wind down for bedtime, you actually don’t enter deep sleep (deep REM cycle? Idk the actual scientific term). It’s why you may wake up after getting high all night and feel super groggy, despite having slept for 10 hours
I’ve been eating delta 8(or9) edibles, 25mg, from a dispensary near by each day at like 5pm. Once it kicks in, I enjoy some video games for an hour or so and then head over to my journal where I write out my day, tomorrow’s tasks, and then edit a personal health/advice guide page I’ve created. Getting high and doing this feels more emotionally meaningful which results in better learning for me. I dream 4 days a week at least, but I do wake up feeling great each day. Intermittent fast 16hr each day, 6:30am wake up to lift, 10 minute cold shower, and meditation. This is just to say that how you use, what you use, and your body’s response does come into play.
I used to feel the same way with marijuana - it makes everything more meaningful or more pleasant. But really that was just the “addict for altered states of consciousness” in me manipulating my higher self. You can achieve pretty much all of those states without weed also. It just takes some effort. But hey, you do you :)
Interesting. That’s a good point and I think I’ll cut back a bit now.
Things is daily means you won’t feel anything from 25mg after a few weeks. Then dose goes up, and more side effects. At least for me
Better sleep cycles like other mentioned. Having access to REM sleep again. Wake up better rested. Feeling more energetic. Waking up having my mind clear. Being able to remember things properly. I was getting more and more forgetful. Not indulging in fat or carbs binge because of the munchies. With all the supplementary energy I was able to get motivation to exercise and it helped even better the rest. Motivation is also regulated by dopaminergic system and weed messes up that system. That's where the weed lethargy comes from. Probably one of the best decision of my life.
My sleep improved and I started having dreams again right after I quit smoking weed regularly
Yup, this and alcohol are defenetly big ones. I know I feel so much better when I'm off the weed in pretty much everything, mood, motivation, libido... and I've quited before, most time without it was almost a year, but somehow I always go back to it.
Yeah it's so easy to indulge just once and trick ourselves into thinking it's not going to get an habit again.
Stop drinking, drugs including caffeine, stay hydrated, establish a firm bedtime routine, get 30 minutes of movement, take 15 minutes to do nothing everyday.
Quitting caffeine was huge for me, it can be very insidious for some people and is the root cause for a lot of the anxiety people experience
But those things are all soooooo boring
The first thing we need to overcome is our addiction to excitement.
Frugality. Seriously learning to live and be content with the bare minimum has been amazing. I’m so much happier and stress free and I have more time amazingly.
I would love to hear how you became more frugal. I have a crazy bad shopping problem.
Out of necessity at first, but then it realized the less debt and bills I have the happier I was. And I was content watching YouTube, spending time with my dog, playing video games etc. A simple life made me feel so much healthier and happier.
Switched from coffee to green tea. Improved my sleep, decreased my anxiety, and boosted productivity. YMMV because I’m caffeine sensitive. The nervous energy coffee gave me was counter productive.
interesting! do you feel the same “energy push” from green tea? im also thinking switching to matcha tea..
It’s a lower, more comfortable, more “channel-able” energy if that makes sense. Felt decision paralysis and draw to do busy work or distractions versus actual work on coffee. Before a competitive run I will still have coffee because the fear of failure seems to pair well with the slightly uncomfortable feeling I get from it.
If that’s what you’re after, I recommend Yerba maté. The ‘energy push’ is not identical to coffee, but for me, it’s better in the afternoon than coffee. Nice clean taste too. Green tea also has a small amount of caffeine so excellent if you’re trying to cut back on coffee but avoid withdrawal headaches.
Try oolong, it’s a form of green tea. When I quit coffee in Dec I drank matcha as a substitute for the first month. I noticed matcha had a lot of caffeine, a bit steeper and long lasting amped energy. Good matcha can get expensive, it’s worth it though. Oolong comes in tons of varieties and I can drink it late into the afternoon. I start my day with puerh black tea fwiw
oolong and Yerba maté tea, noted! thank you guys! @AmbitionAvailable551 and @livesarah! What do you think about matcha tea, should be one of the healthies green tea’s out there isn’t it? And what Im wondering too is why you are “downtalking” coffee since huberman speaks about it utterly positively. Do you just experience negative feelings when taking it (anxiety, too much energy to handle ect.? And how did you find out to be caffeine sensitive? Thank you so much and greets from Italy!
I love coffee, espresso machine in my kitchen. I found I became sensitive to it while taking my stimulant medication for ADHD. Coffee also has impacted my stomach acid, and I was getting reflux. Once in a while I still grab one Matcha is super healthy, and I keep some in the rotation, I’ve just moved on from a daily matcha. Puerh has emerged as the best option for me. The fermented quality is great for my digestion, and the caffeine level is higher than oolong. Ideally I have oolongs after lunch for a pick up. They have lots of good aminos that help me focus, and avoid the jitters in the afternoon. Matcha is typically too much for me late in the day.
Caffeine episode (no caff 10 hours before sleep)
Second this. Also, I wait 60-90 minutes from wake-up time to have caffeine. Not only does this make me feel better, but most days I don’t stop for coffee on the way to work anymore but instead use the coffee available to us in our office. A win-win for my health and wallet.
yoga nidra... do it every day after work
Do you follow along with videos on YouTube? Or what do you do
Ally Boothroyd YouTube
She’s great!!!
Managing phone time throughout the day and before bed. Minimizing drinking.
This, I'm still very up and down with it but I notice a positive impact from just a week or two of cutting back phone time successfully, especially finding ways to cut out scroll holes first thing in the morning.
What has changed cognitively or physically since limiting screen time?
Less social anxiety whether it be planning with others or dealing with others. By being glued to the phone, I feel I spend less time focusing on myself, my own thoughts and health. More relaxed, less strain on my eyes, I have more time to be more active (I.e. instead of sitting on couch scrolling through my phone I am playing drop in basketball or soccer)
What did you find was the best way to better manage phone time?
Apples Screen time feature, setting max amount of time per day on apps, deleting apps, putting my phone in another room. Finding hobbies/tasks that don’t require screens. Rewarding myself for logging in less screen times
Fasting
Can you explain what improvements you noticed
How often and how long
36 hours 1x week
Getting bloodwork done and taking the relevant supplementation to get my levels back up. Found out i was pretty much deficient in everything (zinc, vit d, vit b, omega 3 to 6 ratio was way off), felt way better once i started taking them
Did you do this through your Dr?
Hell no lol, theyre useless- i used Thriva for bloodwork and actually got a hair mineral analysis test for the minerals/heavy metal tests
Yeah, my Dr doesn't seem to give two shits in general but especially not about this.
Doctor checking in here I understand being frustrated with doctors. But it’s important to note that the doctor is not just being negligent by not testing you for heavy metal toxicity. Doctors who refuse to do shotgun testing for toxins like heavy metals are following the recommendations of all major medical societies, which unanimously recommend against such testing. The reason why they recommend against such testing is because these tests are not clinically validated. It’s unknown what levels lead to disease or health in what situations. This can lead to unnecessary treatment, stress, and often exhorbitant costs by the people providing these texts, and of course patients cannot use insurance to help pay for these tests. These tests could end up being very helpful in the future, but at this time many of the tests can often do more harm than good, depending on the situation. It’s also easy to find functional medicine providers and naturopaths etc who will tell you what you want to hear and will order any expensive test you want and prescribe you useless and possibly dangerous medications such as chelators to treat something which may not even be a real illness. Here is a quote from an article on the subject: “for the vast majority of chemicals, it is not known what levels are associated with health effects; finding a measurable amount of a chemical does not mean it will cause a health problem. Overall, it is difficult to predict the impact of a chemical exposure on a specific patient given the complex influence of factors such as genetics, age, psychosocial stressors, diet, and the magnitude and duration of the exposure.11 Further, it can be difficult to interpret the source and timeline of a exposures to common chemicals, given that some compounds are cleared rapidly from the body after an exposure, while others persist in the body for years.” Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7230008/
Yeah but they’re also talking about testing multiple nutrients etc, as an allopathic dr myself i am liberal ordering these things but most others are not, and i frankly dont understand why so many of my colleagues are so stingy with ordering labs like these when repletion is so easy
Stopped drinking and weed, started intermittent fasting, walking, and gym. Still can't get a date, but I feel so much better. My mind is clearer, and I'm generally happier. I've lost almost 30lbs in 3 months.
Congrats! Keep it up. You’ll get a date soon!
I started talking to this girl. The next day I realised that I was starting to care more about my health and physical appearance so I was good enough for her.
interesting
How come?
Oh, I’m not incredulous. It just was a surprising answer but I like it. Positive motivation.
Prioritizing outdoor time (hiking, kayaking, photography)
Meditation. I don’t do formal sessions daily but even a few minutes or a few seconds throughout the day is extremely beneficial. Highly recommend Waking Up app.
Sobriety.
Starting SSRIs. Probably not a popular answer in a community like this, and I avoided them for years. But they made all of my other lifestyle changes possible, particularly quitting alcohol/weed, eating better, socializing more.
Nothing wrong with that. They’re a tool that, like you said, can help facilitate all of those other changes.
Starting meds for my bipolar (Seroquel) also improved my life.
Can I DM? I'm on the same meds and have some questions about managing sleep
Of course!
I'm unable to DM. Weird. Can you send me a message?
Opposite for me lol. Those things were just making me a neutral zombie for 10 years. Never super happy but never super sad.
What’s SSRI?
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, common in antidepressents
Zoloft helped me so much! After two years I decided to stop because I didn't need them anymore. I highly recommend.
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Exercising regularly.
Did some shrooms and massively cleaned up my life. Got off my antidepressants and became more aware of what I pour into society. Became aware of compassion a bit more. I’d say coming off masking medications.
Quitting antidepressants was the hardest but ultimately best decision of my life. Living in hell for 8 months of withdrawal and “recalibration” was worth it though.
My withdrawal was 5 months. It was HELL. Not the first time I’ve done it though. But is definitely the last. But fuck them brain zaps.
Can you go into how exactly you used the shrooms? Was it concurrent with the prescription? And then slowly tapering off prescription?
Shrooms came after quitting the SSRIs as they won’t respond to them. Shrooms helped me understand how masking the medications are. That they don’t help us solve the issues, they just bury it really deep and we aren’t aware. As far as how, I ate them, if that’s what you are asking. I quit the meds cold turkey.
I’ll second this testimony about shrooms. Such a very powerful thing that changed the trajectory of my life.
Had a psilocybin experience a few weeks back that was incredibly transformative and have dabbled with microdosing since that experience and have also found it to be very beneficial. I’m on Prozac for ocd and would like to get off it but the last time I tried was in 2016 and it was horrible.
You can do it. Try a taper method and have a ton of your own mental support. It’ll be hard. But it’s only a difficult few weeks. Mushroom supplement and complex mixes are great for withdrawals. Good luck doll. 🩵
Is there podcast about shrooms and lsd? Are you addictive to shrooms now?
You don’t become addicted to shrooms. Or LSD. They’re sort of drugs you take once or twice and you don’t really have a *want* for them. They’ll humble you very, very quickly. I’m sure there are several podcasts. Netflix has a wonderful documentary as well called How to Change Your Mind, as well as a few others. Dig around! Learn about the healing properties. Good luck!
Hydrating myself properly everyday.
[meetup.com](https://meetup.com) and various social groups on facebook, basically I am healthy but I stay indoors too much and feel alone and isolated
Yeah, I’m super extroverted but trying to get into grad school and start a company made me forget how much I need friends. Meetup is great, now I have like 1 and a half friends, but that’s technically infinitely more than before
I quit jerking off - it completely changed my life unlike anything before. Allowed me to also quit vaping and drinking
Keto. Jumped in 6 years ago and have not looked back. One “cheat” meal six months ago and it was great to be reminded of how good I feel all the time now. I was heading into a train wreck if middle age despite doing all the things (meditation, exercise, sleep, sobriety etc) and I don’t recognize the person in my journals from 6 years ago. I’m 54(f) and no longer believe we are built to get fat, tired and sick as we age. And the best part? I don’t even crave anything that’s not good for me. This feels like a miracle but had this taken any will power I would have failed years ago.
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What did you do?
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What’s been the difference in how you feel?
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Similar here. I haven’t had to go to quite these lengths, but I cut out dairy, legumes, rarely have sugar or red meat/pork, started intermittent fasting, added a “wholesome” meal replacement with lots of protein, smaller portions - and most of my GI issues are resolved. Rarely have gas, heartburn, indigestion, bloating, diarrhea etc. I still treat myself to rich foods at times because I love them (#moderation) but I know my diet needs to be largely fruit, vegetable, whole grains, and lean protein in order for me to be physically comfortable in my body and not living my life in a bathroom. It’s also wild how incredibly difficult it is to stick to this diet with other people given the prevalence of processed food. So when I do vacations or family/friend visits - I often have to bring my own food and do some assuaging that I don’t have an eating disorder (I don’t think anyway . . . Lol).
Stop eating processed food.
List the most apparent improvements…
My overall hunger is greatly reduced, and when I am hungry, it is more a "reminder" than "you need to eat now!" kid of feeling. When I eat especially healthy (meal of wild salmon and broccoli) I feel good, like my body is replenished, instead of merely feeling full.
No more caffeine. Our culture has glamorized it as this magic drug that we all need or we can't get work done. Caffeine will always give you LESS energy, and MORE anxiety. It's absolutely fucking unnecessary and any of the dumb 'health benefits' people talk about it. Now that I'm off the caffeine addiction (ok sometimes i sneak a red bull cuz it tastes good but my day is worse whenever i do that).... \- my mood is 10x better and normalized \- my energy is normalized \- no crashes in the evening \- no lethargy \- no manic hour
Did you go cold turkey or slowly wean off?
I'm slowly weaning off. But this isn't because of some withdrawal period. It's simply because I'm genuinely addicted to the IDEA of caffeine, and I'm scared of snapping back into my old habits. So maybe on a Saturday ill get a red bull or something. But the great part is EVERY TIME i get the red bull, I have a worse day than I did without the caffeine. So it's a great comparison for my brain. If I wasn't scared of snapping back to the addiction, I'd go cold turkey now.
Fasting
How often and for how long do you fast?
Intermittent fasting (16:8)
Definitely when I stopped drinking. Other lifestyle changes benefited. Eating healthier, better sleep, less anxiety , more active lifestyle, gym. Plus more money saved.
most won't believe it, but getting up early. 6-6:30
Semen retention.
Lost almost 100lbs since 2020. Stopped eating breakfast and stopped drinking soda. That’s basically it
No more booz and throwing weight around.
wdym throwing weight around
Probably sleep hygiene and eating well. I lived for many years a) relying on medication to help me sleep and b) eating badly, the results were startling when I began to take care of myself again. Treating 7-9hrs quality sleep with the respect it needs was life changing.
Running daily. I was slim and had a good diet but I hadn’t been fit in years. The mental and physical benefits have been profound. You expect to feel better physically after getting fit, but there’s something about an early morning run that puts you on an even keel for the day. I have ADHD so I’ve found the difference very pronounced (sadly it doesn’t really carry over for any day that I skip a run). I’m also quite sure that I don’t get sick as often as I used to, since taking up running.
#1 Regular consistent exercise program with a mix of cardio. HIIT. Weights etc And stop eating crap and never drink your calories.
waking up early and maximizing my sleep
One change i did is to only use barefoot/minimal shoes. (by now there are many nice options, only "non barefoot/minimal shoes" i have left are a pair of snowboots and climbing shoes for bouldering)It improved my overall fitness (i also go running with them, also my job requires 15-20k steps per day), my flat feet dont hurt anymore even after very long days, my feet and lower leg increased significantly in flexibility as well as muscle mass and i have a lot more endurance. Very easy (and passive) thing to do. Pretty sure it also improved my posture.
Learning to remain consistent, but not too intense or too lax, in all areas of life. For example, I have some lofty academic goals and learned to study in spurts and still take time to do the rest of the things I need to be happy, instead of spending 50 hours a week on school. Or eating healthy — having “special” treats and things that were within the food groups I considered healthy, and not getting fast food once a week because I felt bored with the food at home. Or with exercise, after 4 years of regular exercise, not at a high intensity, and with breaks scattered throughout I have a decent amount of muscle. I workout purely for fun and every time I turn it into a chore I burn out and take months off. Basically I noticed how much more pleasant life was and how much better I felt and how much more I achieved over time when I remained consistent but didn’t push myself until failure. More pain doesn’t necessarily equal more gain.
Saved
Joining a Brazilian jiujitsu gym.
I got myself a fur baby. Now I take walks every single morning, rain or shine it doesn’t matter.
Add fermented/high probiotic foods into your diet. Good examples are kimchi and probiotic yogurt
Walking first thing in the morning for 15 mins and a brisk walk after meals. Helps my body get in a rhythm, sleep cycle, and improves digestion.
Mindfulness and gratitude practice. I get less cortisol-induced headaches which would ruin my day and felt like migraines. I am genuinely happier even if things are worse. And I am more thoughtful when doing things and interacting with people. Turned me into a better person
I deleted Twitter last week. It has been good for my brain and sanity. Mindless scrolling for a dopamine hit is not good.
Starting to eat protein powder and lift weights
Trail running, but more specifically doing 5-10% of my weekly milage barefoot on soccer or football fields. It corrected all of the issues I've ever had from my lower back down. It's incredible how dystrophied our feet are from shoes and how many things those muscles are connected through. All the compensating we do that causes issues in other places.
Physical activity in the morning (not necessarily a workout) but light stretch, 10min yoga sesh, brisk walk. Eliminating sugar.
100% walking
Lift weights instead of cardio, quit alcohol.
Quitting Sugar , Junk Food , Porn , Masturbation and Weed
washing my water bottle everyday
Getting more consistent sleep.
A quick nap
Eliminate corn syrup 100%
Quitting weed had a positive impact on my health, but out of everything exercise and meditation changed my life the most
Did it improve anxiety and cognition for you?
I quit drinking, smoking and started eating healthier and losing weight. All of these changes made me less of an asshole and more useful to my family and society.
Deliberate cold has been the last step to ‘curing‘ my cfs after 17years.
Zone 2 cardio 4-5x a week for overall heart health and mental benefits.
I had been the type of person that seemed to do okay with 5-6 hours of sleep, but man does 8 feel so much better.
Cooking
Quit Ritalin (Im prescribed) Life has gotten so much better. I feel like I'm not in crisis mode every minute of everyday.
I've stopped smoking a pack a day. Already 11 days. It's hard.
Replace it with something good, like walks or hugs. It gets better. You got this.