I am an old man filled with regret

[Maple Syrup Actual]

Last year I drank too much (for maybe the tenth consecutive year but last year was legitimately too much, even by my standards) and I was actually getting to a point that I thought might be a problem and anyway I was putting on weight so I figured I would take a break and focus on improving my fitness for a bit. I'd cut down a lot since I got a baby but was still drinking at just a casual level, and also lifting weights at a very casual pace. So I cranked it right on and started lifting aggressively, and stopped drinking entirely, not permanently or anything but just to strip out empty calories and belly fat and whatever, but also because I think I've spent most of the last decade drinking a lot every day and I was sort of wondering if that might indicate a bit of an alcohol dependency that wouldn't be apparent until I just stopped completely.

I haven't had a drink in three weeks and it's much worse than I expected: I feel exactly the same. I was totally convinced that I was starting my day hungover every morning, and that's why I would get up and feel bagged and foggy and basically like a prematurely grey zombie. I really thought that once I stopped drinking and started exercising every day I'd wake up and feel alive. Instead, I wake up and just feel like I could use a drink...not of alcohol, but of anything, because I no longer end each day by ingesting a "gall-on" or whatever (approximately 3.8 litres in science units or 32 gills USD) of fluid so I just feel slightly dehydrated by the time I wake up.

I am losing weight which is nice but the obvious health aspects of this are annoyingly inconclusive...which I why I found yesterday's visit with my older sister particularly interesting.

My sister, who has an even worse drinking habit (along with a bunch of other drugs) and has for about twice as long, went and got her liver function tested after living in fear of what damage she'd done...it took her a few years to screw up the courage to go get tested because she was pretty much of the opinion that they'd give her a timeline of her remaining years that would include things like "eyes turn yellow by Christmas" and "lose all weight about here, die on liver transplant list mid-2024."

But no, she's fine and her liver is working perfectly. Her whole physical was great. What kind of crazy ripoff is this?




I am posting this as a public service announcement to anyone who thinks their chronic alcoholism is the problem: don't try to fix this, it's a trap. You are confronted only with the ravages of time and you can't quit the aging process. Live in ignorant bliss. Reality is terrible and I can't unlearn this. Go back! This is not the way!

[RJ]

I knew it.

PS An Airstream jigger full of Woodford Reserve makes a perfect blend with Diet Coke over ice with a Longhorn 7 Pepper Salad. All your major food groups (Bourbon, Salad, Steak) there. Win.

[Malamute]

Yeah, the age thing. Aint it great?

Good for you taking the initiative on getting yourself squared away in whatever you felt was needed to do.


I drank quite a bit when younger, then decided I wasnt making any progress on my life goals or ambitions, so stopped. It wasnt a problem, other than my formerly charming and witty friends didnt seem quite as charming and witty when they were drunk and I wasnt. I started back a few years ago, Im at about 1 bottle of bourbon/year to year and a half. Its quite good in coffee. If I can ever get back close to normal with pain and meds, I may be able to up my game a bit, but dont feel like Im missing much not drinking much.

[Robinson]

I have one drink of bourbon pretty much every night, and an occasional beer or glass of wine. Liver function is fine. But I'm starting to have problems with my occipital nerve becoming inflamed and causing a migraine after even a single drink. Which truly sucks because I've been pretty careful to be moderate in my drinking.

[hufnagel]

you'll be happy to know there's a blood therapy experiment they did with mice that appears to reverse the aging process.
stay tuned!

[blues]

Getting older is not for pussies.

I'm in the second half of my 60's and the thing that pisses me off the most is that I'll never be as strong as I used to be...my shoulder makes more crunching sounds than it used to during presses or pull-ups...and I have to face the fact that despite being relatively fit compared to most, (including younger folks), it's a no win game in the end.

I don't drink a lot these days...I gave up the wild nights of excessive Friday night drinking with the boys and gals some years back...but I enjoy a daily beer or glass of wine, or shot of something stronger. (I try to make it a strong one so I only have the one. )

Since I'm not going to be on the cover of GQ or Men's Health, I guess I can stop worrying about whether I do deadlifts at max weight or goblet squats with kettlebells. It won't make much of a difference...the thing is just to do enough of something so that the "aging phenotype" that Dr. Jonathon Sullivan so eloquently discusses in his book, "The Barbell Prescription", doesn't dominate the years ahead.

I wish you many decades ahead to enjoy your family, @Maple Syrup Actual,...and the drinks that go along with it. Cheers!

[AKDoug]

When my grandfather was on his death bed after a valve replacement in his early 70's my mom and uncle took him to see a new cardiologist. G'pa was a life long four mixed drinks a night drinker and the first docs made him quit cold turkey. The new cardiologist took him off 2/3 of his meds and told him he could go back to two drinks a night. The change was virtually immediate and he lived another 15 years.

Personally, I only drink when I'm in a good mood. Unlike my grandfather, many of my relatives drank themselves into a bad place that eventually killed them. I saw that as a child and vowed that I would never drink if I wasn't happy. I'm in my early 50's and I can't remember a time I've broken that rule.

[LittleLebowski]

Last year I drank too much (for maybe the tenth consecutive year but last year was legitimately too much, even by my standards) and I was actually getting to a point that I thought might be a problem and anyway I was putting on weight so I figured I would take a break and focus on improving my fitness for a bit. I'd cut down a lot since I got a baby but was still drinking at just a casual level, and also lifting weights at a very casual pace. So I cranked it right on and started lifting aggressively, and stopped drinking entirely, not permanently or anything but just to strip out empty calories and belly fat and whatever, but also because I think I've spent most of the last decade drinking a lot every day and I was sort of wondering if that might indicate a bit of an alcohol dependency that wouldn't be apparent until I just stopped completely.

I haven't had a drink in three weeks and it's much worse than I expected: I feel exactly the same. I was totally convinced that I was starting my day hungover every morning, and that's why I would get up and feel bagged and foggy and basically like a prematurely grey zombie. I really thought that once I stopped drinking and started exercising every day I'd wake up and feel alive. Instead, I wake up and just feel like I could use a drink...not of alcohol, but of anything, because I no longer end each day by ingesting a "gall-on" or whatever (approximately 3.8 litres in science units or 32 gills USD) of fluid so I just feel slightly dehydrated by the time I wake up.

I am losing weight which is nice but the obvious health aspects of this are annoyingly inconclusive...which I why I found yesterday's visit with my older sister particularly interesting.

My sister, who has an even worse drinking habit (along with a bunch of other drugs) and has for about twice as long, went and got her liver function tested after living in fear of what damage she'd done...it took her a few years to screw up the courage to go get tested because she was pretty much of the opinion that they'd give her a timeline of her remaining years that would include things like "eyes turn yellow by Christmas" and "lose all weight about here, die on liver transplant list mid-2024."

But no, she's fine and her liver is working perfectly. Her whole physical was great. What kind of crazy ripoff is this?




I am posting this as a public service announcement to anyone who thinks their chronic alcoholism is the problem: don't try to fix this, it's a trap. You are confronted only with the ravages of time and you can't quit the aging process. Live in ignorant bliss. Reality is terrible and I can't unlearn this. Go back! This is not the way!

#NotAllHeroesWearCapes

[Grey]

I knew it.

PS An Airstream jigger full of Woodford Reserve makes a perfect blend with Diet Coke over ice with a Longhorn 7 Pepper Salad. All your major food groups (Bourbon, Salad, Steak) there. Win.

We may not be able to be friends anymore... mixing woodford with diet coke... smh... then again I'm a "neat" kind of guy.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[psalms144.1]

I stopped drinking about 9 years ago. 18 months later I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic - WTactualF is that about?

In the 2018-19 period I dropped FIFTY (50) pounds over about 7 months. Everyone was raving about how great I must feel. All I ever felt was hungry. All my joints still hurt. I'm not sleeping any better. Yes, I can zip up a flight of stairs a little better, but that's about it...