I quit drinking and have experienced no discernable benefit

[Anonymous]

I drink 1-2 glasses of wine most evenings. So moderate to heavy. I read things like that I had to pee at night or woke up at night because of the alcohol. I read that alcohol caused weight gain and if you quit drinking, it just falls off. Relationships improve, they say.

None of this has happened for me. Possibly, I may experience less anxiety. But that's hard to tell for sure and hard to pinpoint causation.

I'm not going to reverse course, I'm kind of stuck with not drinking due to a medical reason. But, I do want to say that people are kind of overhyping the immediate benefits. If you're doing dry January, do it for the mental discipline, do it for the hot chocolate. The rest of it is kind of misleading.

[Anonymous]

When did up quit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drink 1-2 glasses of wine most evenings. So moderate to heavy. I read things like that I had to pee at night or woke up at night because of the alcohol. I read that alcohol caused weight gain and if you quit drinking, it just falls off. Relationships improve, they say.

None of this has happened for me. Possibly, I may experience less anxiety. But that's hard to tell for sure and hard to pinpoint causation.

I'm not going to reverse course, I'm kind of stuck with not drinking due to a medical reason. But, I do want to say that people are kind of overhyping the immediate benefits. If you're doing dry January, do it for the mental discipline, do it for the hot chocolate. The rest of it is kind of misleading.

How long has it been? Because I think it takes weeks for the effects to leave your system. The alcohol is of course gone in less then 24 hours, but it takes awhile for your nervous system to reset. Weight too. It was not immediate.

[Anonymous]

Are you fat?

[Anonymous]

I think age is a factor too, OP - I am 46 and alcohol hits me so much differently now than it did even a year ago. I find even two drinks really impact me, and it really seems to make it harder to get a good night's sleep.

[Anonymous]

It will take like 6 weeks to notice anything.

[Anonymous]

1-2 glass of wine a night is not heavy drinking. The weight isn't going to fall off because youve only cut out like 400 calories a day. Over time, you'll likely lose weight from cutting out the calories, sugar and carbs from wine.

I'm confused...did you wake up at night to pee? Did your relationship suffer? I have met heavy drinkers due to my job and we are talking a bottle of wine a night and they are the ones whose relationships and overall health and wellness improve drastically when they stop drinking. A glass or two at night probably doesn't cause that much of a disturbance for you.

[Anonymous]

Your risk of cancer has decreased, so that’s a longer term benefit.

[Anonymous]

400cal/day is almost 1lb/wk

[Anonymous]

I kind of feel the same, OP. I don’t drink much during the work week but probably go to at least one happy hour (2-3 drinks) and have 3-4 drinks on each of Friday and Saturday. I’ve stopped doing that this month and haven’t noticed any discernible benefit either. I will probably go back to my normal pattern next month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel the same, OP. I don’t drink much during the work week but probably go to at least one happy hour (2-3 drinks) and have 3-4 drinks on each of Friday and Saturday. I’ve stopped doing that this month and haven’t noticed any discernible benefit either. I will probably go back to my normal pattern next month.

Curious are you in your 30s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drink 1-2 glasses of wine most evenings. So moderate to heavy. I read things like that I had to pee at night or woke up at night because of the alcohol. I read that alcohol caused weight gain and if you quit drinking, it just falls off. Relationships improve, they say.

None of this has happened for me. Possibly, I may experience less anxiety. But that's hard to tell for sure and hard to pinpoint causation.

I'm not going to reverse course, I'm kind of stuck with not drinking due to a medical reason. But, I do want to say that people are kind of overhyping the immediate benefits. If you're doing dry January, do it for the mental discipline, do it for the hot chocolate. The rest of it is kind of misleading.

This was me. I was a slightly heavier drinker and went cold turkey and didn't drink for a year. I felt about the same, no obvious physical differences. It's obviously better long-term but I really didn't feel any better or different at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:400cal/day is almost 1lb/wk

OP said the weight would fall off. It won't. Sure 1 1b a week, assuming she hasn't been eating more or drinking something else with calories to replace the wine.

[Anonymous]

LOL if I lost a lb a week from quitting drinking I’d be underweight fast.

I quit because it made me terribly anxious the next day. It made me puffy and bloated in the face. It made me sad sometimes while drinking. It made me foggy headed and unable to see my exH”s alcoholism and how I was enabling him.

Do you, OP. But your singular short term experience doesn’t reflect that of all people who quit drinking. For me it’s been a game changer.

Alcohol is super lowbrow/low vibration. Alcohol sober is so trendy out west (where I live) and I freaking love it. We have recognized how it ages us and keeps us inside getting fat and anxious, vs out experiencing the world at large.

I don’t hang with drinkers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your risk of cancer has decreased, so that’s a longer term benefit.

Not if she regularly eats red meat. I like how we all ignore that one because its inconvenient but harp on the alcohol one.