Cutting Back

My wife wanted to cut down on caffeine so we started mixing regular with decaf 50/50. The old school national brands were not cutting it so we started mixing a 'good' or flavored coffee with the decaf. A few years ago I stopped in the coffee shop down the street (a small local shop that roasts their own beans) and realized that they had a huge selection of both regular and decaf. No we can drink great coffee without all of the caffeine.

 

For those of you who are trying to cut down or cut out caffeine from your coffee, decaf coffee will do it and it will not do it. I don't recall where I learned this but decaf coffee still has around 20% of its original caffeine in it. So, yes it will cut down on your caffeine, but no it won't cut out your caffeine completely.

 

Bunch of quitters in here!

jk

I’ve cut back considerably compared to most of 2020, speshy the latter half when it was all smoky or muddy conditions prevented me from getting on the MTB.

fully agree that they taste better after a few days off, but the trees help curb that desire for weekday beers.

Y’all can F right off if you think I’m cutting coffee out or reducing that in any way though!

 

Great thread....We(my wife and I) just started making a concerted effort to cut back. No beers Monday-Thursday...limit ourselves to 4 beers on a Friday or Saturday afternoon/evening, while having water between beers. We are both craft beer lovers, and hitting the breweries in our area is a big part of our social life. We are active "workout" people, so weight loss wan't as big a factor as just overall general health. Definitely feel a difference the morning after, and have even dropped some lbs. Good to read what others are doing. Good luck!

 

I was surprised to hear that so I did a quick on-line search and found this link with the following information: How Much Caffeine Is in Decaf Coffee? (healthline.com)
"While USDA regulations stipulate that decaf should not exceed 0.10 percent caffeine on a dry basis in the package, comparison between brewed regular and decaf coffee shows that decaf appears to have at least 97% of caffeine removed (3, 4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source).

To put this into perspective, an average 12-ounce (354-ml) cup of coffee containing 180 mg of caffeine would have about 5.4 mg of caffeine in a decaffeinated state."

 

Just goes to show that you can't trust what you read on the internet. Specifically, my info in this case. I think healthline.com has more credibility that my unsubstantiated memory and lack of a known source.

 

I've been taking some days off from drinking every week for the last month to loose weight to reduce back pain. I hope to continue for another 25 lbs..
I am the opposite of many of the replies here. I can't fall asleep without beer. Beer dulls the back pain and makes me drowsy.

 

With respect, and not a doctor or anything, but would Tylenol, Advil, or something like that help? Probably marginally better sleep than from alcohol, too. (or nitghttime versions, Tylenol PM, for instance?)

 

Excedrin and Salonpas tonight. No beer scheduled until Friday night or Saturday dinner.

 

Humbling thread to read. I’ve been patting myself on the back for a small cut back recently but in light of comparing myself to others in this thread it is clear I’m quite a heavy, excessive drinker. Covid after a bit of initial craziness at work settled into one of the slowest times on the job where I’d often be done with work earlier than I was used to. This led to drinking earlier and more regularly in the work week. Monday was always a day off. But then was doing three 16oz double IPAs Tuesday through Friday and usually 4 on Sat / Sun. There were days I’m ashamed to say I woke up struggling to keep it together. Complacency on the job will turn you into a lazy bum I guess.

So here I am now where work has returned to being super busy or even more busy than ever before. I’ve slightly cut it back to only two 16oz DIPA’s Tuesday through Friday. About the same on weekends and Mondays are off. Definitely not great and still way too much beer. The weight is meh. About the same as usual. My lower alcohol was intake has been commensurately offset by less exercising.

great thread to read what others are doing and ideas fo think about.

 

I made a choice at the end of last year to switch things up and cut back on a lot of things. I was working in the industry, putting in 60-80 hours a week and drinking 8-10 beers a day regularly.
After a long year made even more challenging by COVID I was burnt out, heavier than I’d ever been and on the edge of a breakdown. I said “fuck it!” and put my notice in and finished out that year.

I started a new job at the beginning of the year working a 40 hour week. I began taking multiple days off from drinking a week, started exercising and eating healthier. I’ve lost 25lbs., improved my relationship with my wife and started investing time in things I was excited about including finally playing in a weekly disc golf league. Cutting back on alcohol and focusing more on moderation of all things has been a game changer for me.

 

Awesome thread, OP. It's always good to build camaraderie through health.

My wife and I used to drink Wednesday and Friday nights then we'd start with a breakfast beer on Saturdays (usually a stout), then sip beers throughout the day, starting back up around noon. I noticed that, while I always told myself I would wake up Sunday and get back to sea level, I tended to rationalize a couple of beers. That always devolved into 4-5 for me.

The pandemic really forced us to think and talk through our health more often, so we may have a drink on Wednesdays, and we're down to 2-3 on Friday and 2-3 on Saturday max, and always chased with plenty of water.

I find that I'm enjoying beer WAY more and sleeping noticeably better.

Cheers, all. Thanks for sharing your stories. I truly believe it helps this community just as much as the other threads on this site.

 

I was a pretty heavy drinker for a lot of years and I too slept excellently with a good amount of beer in me. Not here to advocate for heavy drinking as a sleep aid, or any other reason, exactly the opposite is true, but it is a fact I sleep worse now.

 

I've cut back drastically (from 1-2 beers a day, to 1 beer per week) and have list 68 pounds since December. I can't solely credit the beer, though. Strict diet and exercise has been the key here, but with that, I had to limit the beer. Because my calorie deficit is so steep, I've recently been adding beer back into the diet (slowly) because I can afford the calories, and now I'm averaging about 2, maybe 3 beers per week.

Let me tell you, it has seriously rekindled my appreciation for beer. I work hard at the gym to earn it, and when i started pouring them again, I noticed two things. First, I began to enjoy the simple offerings. I've been a serious enthusiast and trader, with a 200+ bottle cellar, and I remember grabbing a Sam Adams Boston Lager, and thinking it was liquid heaven. The fine bottles like Hill Farmstead and Side Project were nothing short of orgasmic.

The second thing that struck me was my appreciation for what I have. I recently went to my cellar to look around, and was almost moved to tears when I saw all of these amazing, super rare bottles that I've worked so hard to obtain. I felt like the luckiest man alive, and it was like Christmas morning when I was 7 years old. I'd basically forgotten half of what I had.

My suggestion? Take the break. Cut down a bit, find a healthy diet with a daily calorie goal, do some regular cardio, maybe some basic resistance training (if you want), and get those endorphins flowing. Shed a few pounds, feel better physically and mentally, and when you start to slowly work beer back into rotation, it'll be so much more rewarding, and it may help you look at it differently. If you're on BA everyday, maybe cut back on that too, while you're cutting down on beer, as it may cloud your judgement and tempt you too much.

That's just my experience, and your mileage may vary, but for me, I found the break to be extraordinarily helpful. Best of luck @BigIronH!

Edit: I misunderstood the original comment. Didn't realise you'd already started cutting back. I should read better. Guess that's the beer.

 

It's like the saying goes: Moderation in all things. Trouble is, alcohol is addictive and some people are predisposed to want it too much for their own good.

My usual amount is one drink per day with very little exception. Recently I went two days in a row without having any alcohol. It went okay and I had good energy in the mornings, but thought about beer during the time. Then it hit me that I couldn't remember the last time I went a day without alcohol, let alone two days.

So now I aim to go at least 2 days a week without any alcohol. Water will substitute just fine.

 

Ah, the ol' candy in the Easter basket syndrome!