Life without alcohol?

[Bible_Belt]

Yeah, latinoman, I hear that about the cutting. The fighters I know who cut to make weight for a fight all quit drinking. I think beer is the only thing keeping my own body fat percentage in the double digits.

 

[onthepath]

my only concern as to what people will think is not too much about women, but more about bosses and co-workers. it seems that all the successful ones are keen to have a few with the boys (and a few girls)

 

[Sir-M]

hey guys

is there anyone here who doesn't drink?

i've tried giving it up, but am noticing several social "handicaps" and am wondering how you would handle it

like is it just a matter of still going to pubs (for work related and other social / women related occasions) and drinking coke?

and if you meet someone, how would the "let's meet for a drink" routine work?

cheers

Well i drink.. but my friends dont.. anyway.. i call my self a social drinker... ( well i only have a drink ocassionaly"

for the " lets meet for a drink" part.. we would meet for a drink. i would have one or two . after that its non alcoholic stuff.. if a chick offers me a drink.. i take it.. but last time i got sloshed was bout 3 years back

 

[Sir-M]

Guys who go to the bar and order sprite all night long while trying to pick up drunk chicks are CREEPY.

Or they just look retarded. Bars = drinks.

Not coke or sprite.

how bout goin to the bar to hang out with the boys?? ever thought of that?? and maybe catch one or two chicks.. but the priority being to chill with the boys and talk **** half the night.

but yeah. i do agree with ya.. guys that go to the bar to pick up drunk chicks are very very creepy.. they got no game and getting a drunk chick is the easiest option.. macking on a chick when you are drunk is easier too

 

[bornyesterday]

To reduce your alchol intake it may take some mental preparation so don't think you can instantly cut back. Give yourself some time because it isn't easy if you do it alone.
I'm lowering my alcohol intake too atm. I have been through this before though. I used to drink a couple of drinks almost everyday. In my first efforts to fight it I reduced it to half of what I drank before. Now I almost never drink alone anymore, but I still drank excessively in social circumstances.
I recently went to a therapist for other problems and he made a big deal out of it. Drinking in social cirumstances is like self medicating and can have depressogenic effects in the long run.

So I made the decision to cut back in social environments. I don't think I have to quit 100%. At a party I start of with tea. Most people I know have more then 10 kinds of flavors and love to help me out. Instead of tea or after tea you can use softdrinks or water. Don't drink your first bear after at least 1 or 2 hours. Drink 1 bear an hour after that at the most. Sip it. People will notice you drink tea or softdrinks. Make up a story behind it, find an excuse ("I find women take advantage of me when I drink too much" was one I read in another thread) or tell the truth about your reasons to cut back, it doesn't matter. The positive thing is you have something to talk about that people may find interesting.
When going out, tea is usually not an option. Don't drink too much of anything. And if you'rr bored (lots of things tend to be much more boring when sober) don't go all-out drinking just go do something else that doesn't bore you.

Some people on this forum react as if your not cool without alcohol :S Screw them! After a couple of hours you are the one who is still sober, standing up straight and energetic. You are the one in control over your behavior and emotions. Plus when you're sober you can survey what's going on around you much better and pick up on things faster.

Health benefits of drinking are no excuse for drinking too much. An average of 1 drink per day is more then enough for that silly excuse. There are hundreds of better ways to gain those same benefits. Not to mention the negative health effects of (over)use in the short and long run.
And as magma said; drinking is often just a crutch. It is often used to help deal with stressfull/tense/difficult situations (trying to hook up with girls for example) in the short run, but in the long run it's a losing strategy.
The best motivation I can think of is to hate being drunk. This alone will make you think twice before drinking.

 

[Faded Image]

Getting into a fight, behind bars, kicked out

I've seen it happen and most of the the time the common denominator is (drumroll please)x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x: Alcohol.

Note: I drink and I love drinking

 

[j0n024]

You nay-sayers obviously have no idea how to drink responsibly. It enhances life if done right. And I agree, it's a mess if done wrong.

I'm not telling anyone to drink or not to drink. But calling it a crutch and putting people down who decided to partake is pretty lame.

Let's take a look at some of the "points" made in this post.

1. It makes you fat and lazy: I get up for work everyday at 5 am, run marathons, and have a six pack.

2. Maybe have a DUI: I've been drinking for years and have never gotten behind the wheel when I shouldn't have. Again, it's about responsibility.

3. Make an azz out of yourself: many people do this when sober.

4. Getting into a fight, behind bars, kicked out: if you can't drink without these things happening, I agree that you probably shouldn't be drinking.

5. You don't have game without drinking: you guys have all kinds of tricks for upping your game. 3 second rules, canned lines, tons of BS that I would never think of trying. A little alcohol opens the flow, and I would say makes you more of a natural.

Cheers!

.....it "Enhances," your life.....howso? By being buzzed and feeling good about yourself...is that what you mean, becuase if you need beer to feel good about yourself then you have bigger problems then drinking and should read the bible. The points you stated are irrelivent as well, I mean ok so you can control yourself when you drink....that doesnt mean that the vast majority can hold there beer and more times then not it's a DRUNK guy that fvcks up the night not a sober guy.
1.Your the minority....when you see people drink beer you usually see they have a stomach and are not fit as opposed to people that dont drink or drink very little.
2.LIke you said RESPONSIBILITY.....most people that drink dont really think about not driving or not....they brought there car they are driving home statistics show that I am right.
3.Like I stated earlier most of the time its a drunk guy that messes up .
4.I cant figure out what yoru saying in this one lol
5.Alchol makes you feel good and when you feel good about yourself then thats how you get your "Flow," smooth.....it's a placebo effect a sober guy that knows what he's doing can pull the same women as a guy that is drunk and his flow is smooth lol.

What IqqI said......I actually busted out laughing, how the HELL is a guy that drinks a nonalcholic drink creepy? I agree it's a bar and most of the time you go to a bar to have "FUN," there is no rule anywhere that says that IF you go to a bar you HAVE to get a drink, I am gonna start going to clubs and begin my nightgame and I am a non drinker....it's my choice and I have no reason to change for anyone so I will probably buy water (Even though they are overpriced!!) ...am I a creep because I would rather drink something good for my body as opposed to something that eats away your liver? LOL ....I thought low of you before but this takes the cake lol....hahahah oh man iqqi your always good for a laugh.

 

[BMX]

I don't really drink, only rarely and if offered a beer or two then yes. As of lately, I've started drinking coffee, but not on a daily basis. Like Latinoman has said about cutting, I'm losing the weight and my abs are showing for the 1st time ever.

Besides, I have to maintain a 5000 sq. ft. house inside/out, cook and go to school full-time (all by myself). My close friend got pulled over the other night but luckily got away by covering up his breath and also had to deal w/his alcy step-mom. I have worked in a bar and saw patrons get thrown out due to alcohol making them stupid and starting fights (everytime, their tagalong gal pals didn't appreciate the stupor).

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

.....it "Enhances," your life.....howso? By being buzzed and feeling good about yourself...is that what you mean, becuase if you need beer to feel good about yourself then you have bigger problems then drinking...

Hell Yeah!!! :rockon:

..... and should read the bible....

Whoa, you lost me...

 

[Magma]

I'm not telling anyone to drink or not to drink. But calling it a crutch and putting people down who decided to partake is pretty lame.

Let's take a look at some of the "points" made in this post.

1. It makes you fat and lazy: I get up for work everyday at 5 am, run marathons, and have a six pack.

2. Maybe have a DUI: I've been drinking for years and have never gotten behind the wheel when I shouldn't have. Again, it's about responsibility.

3. Make an azz out of yourself: many people do this when sober.

4. Getting into a fight, behind bars, kicked out: if you can't drink without these things happening, I agree that you probably shouldn't be drinking.

5. You don't have game without drinking: you guys have all kinds of tricks for upping your game. 3 second rules, canned lines, tons of BS that I would never think of trying. A little alcohol opens the flow, and I would say makes you more of a natural.
Cheers!

You're referring to my post. But since you can't figure out how to use the quotation function, I'll help you out. This is what I said:

IF YOU CAN'T HOOK UP WITHOUT BOOZE, YOU HAVE NO GAME. PERIOD.

I stand by that statement 100%. This isn't Romper Room. I don't care about hurting some dude's feelings over the internet or whether or not you think it will be perceived as lame.

Do you realize how ridiculous that last statement that you made sounds? Alcohol makes you more of a natural?!?!? If you think that, then you need booze to hook up. Plain and simple. And whether you realize it or not, using alcohol to loosen you up and "make you more of a natural" (your words), is a "trick" in and of itself and is probably the LEAST NATURAL thing you can do from a seduction standpoint.

 

[PhatE1vis]

Hey Magma - you sound like you're taking this whole alcohol issue pretty personally. You OK man? No need to get nasty and call people names (retarded) or call them out on posting skills (quoting). Be a gentleman.

Anything you put in your body has an effect on your mood, be it alcohol, caffeine, tylenol, different foods, etc. So, are you saying if I have allergies and I take bendryl to make myself feel better and perform better, I can't be considered to be in a natural state? Wouldn't that be a crutch for my insecurities about looking weird? Better that I approach the ladies red-eyed and snotty nosed.

I kid, I kid, that's a bit of a straw man argument. But you seem to have a bit of a moralistic view on the whole alcohol thing. Suppose I don't use it as a crutch. Suppose I actually enjoy the taste of beer, the beauty of the perfect pint, the enjoyment of sitting back with friends and relaxing over a drink? That's where the life enhancement comes in.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

...
I kid, I kid, that's a bit of a straw man argument. But you seem to have a bit of a moralistic view on the whole alcohol thing. Suppose I don't use it as a crutch. Suppose I actually enjoy the taste of beer, the beauty of the perfect pint, the enjoyment of sitting back with friends and relaxing over a drink? That's where the life enhancement comes in.

I missed in the thread where Magma inferred morality about how he feels about using alcohol as a crutch. I didn't see him say that people shouldn't drink, just that it's unnatural to be defendant on it in order to sarge women.

Guys say that they just drink in order to loosen up and get comfortable; I wonder if if they only use alcohol with women or do they also need it at work, school or any other situation which would cause them stress. Life can be stressful, are they going to look for booze as a way to cope in every instance?

As an enhancement, alcohol isn't a stimulant. It effects the brain making it difficult to walk, blurrs vision, slurs speech, slows reaction times and impairs the memory. Some people need to drink more than others to be effected but still, I don't see how it enhances a persons life unless this method of altering their perception of life is the only way they can change their perception of reality.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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[Ol'BlueEyes]

Now you're saying that girls pay attention to what a guy drinks? I understand about presentation, a drink with an umbrella in it does look a bit strange but come on. What if the guy is drinking a gin and tonic?

I will say one thing to the guys though, whatever you choose to drink, take the straw out and leave it on the bar, do not use it. I don't care what you're drinking, you lose 30 "cool points" in looks when you're sucking on a straw. Don't believe me, look in the mirror and do the suck face. Lesson learned.

And for the record even though I do drink, 8 times out of 10 I am drinking something non-alcoholic when I'm at a club. Half of the time it's water. With that said, it's not necessary to nurse a glass when your in a club. Get you're ass out on the dance floor and hold a woman instead of a glass! :cuss:

Gin and tonic is my drink of choice. First thing I do when I get it is throw the straw away.
My formula: G&T, water refill, G&T, water, and so on. Keeps costs down and no one knows which is which.

 

[DoctorLW]

Ridiculous. Drinking is fun and you should do it for that reason. Sure, at some point we all blacked out and made an ass of ourselves somehow. Here's a tip: find a group of friends that accept it for what it is and it's totally acceptable.

I still drink about 20 beers (shots/mixed drinks/some combination thereof) a going out night and has it hurt my game with some chicks? I'm sure it has. It's also gotten me a lot of chicks too. The most important thing is though, I'm not out to get chicks. I'm out to have fun.

Relax a bit. If you want to preach your superiority for gaming without drinking go ahead. I like drinking with friends, and I'm not about to give it up any time soon... and your missing out on a great part of life.

 

[insidious]

Each one of us here is affected differently by alcohol. You can't generalize much about booze and apply the rules that apply to you specifically to everyone else. It's not quite so simple.

Myself: I drank for most of my 20's & 30's...I probably drank more than a lot of you young dudes can even dream of. Sometimes life slaps you in the face and you either smell the coffee or you don't. What my slap in the face told me: booze used to be fun, now it's just a drag, it brings me down, it reduces my life to a mediocre mess. That's me, and no one else. So guys, if you want to drink, go for it!

I don't preach, I don't order. I just manage my own life and there is no room for booze in it now. And going back to Iqqi's post...whatever man, you are renowned for hitting the bottle around here, I find it hard to take you alcohol viewpoints with anything more than a grain of salt! :crackup:

 

[reset]

As long as you can drive and you don't wake up feeling like you're in the Sahara desert or that you need your head in the toilet you're good.

I used to drink alone but that was a bad road for me to go down. Now occasionally I'll have a beer by myself. What has happened is now I binge on the weekends when I'm out, which also isn't so great, but it's a step up since I'm not medicating myself every day with it.

The best feeling is the mild buzz. Being outright drunk is always going to bring you down later.

 

[BeyondCharm]

hey guys

is there anyone here who doesn't drink?

i've tried giving it up, but am noticing several social "handicaps" and am wondering how you would handle it

like is it just a matter of still going to pubs (for work related and other social / women related occasions) and drinking coke?

and if you meet someone, how would the "let's meet for a drink" routine work?

cheers

If you want to stop drinking and have been unable to do so no matter how much will power you've attempted to put in place, there is a possibility you are an alcoholic which is a disease some people have. The social handicaps that seem to dissapear while drinking only appear to be dissapearing because alcohol is cunning enough to make you think they are.

Alcohol is extremely powerful over some peoples lives and I was completely powerless over it when I drank to the point where I had no stability and forward progress in my life. I thought perhaps I just had a drinking problem or an issue controlling how much alcohol I drank so I attempted to moderate my drinking. That seemed to work for a short time but it wouldn't be long before I was pounding them back again. It had to stop but I couldn't figure out how to stop it. I started going to the gym 5 days a week but it didn't stop me from getting wasted on the weekends. I was getting great looking women because my body looked fantastic but inside I felt like crap and I couldn't manage any of my relationships because I was inebriated so often.

A fellow gym workout partner who I had begun working out with and I had been talking about alcohol and its effects and I asked him if he wanted to go out drinking one weekend. He told me he doesn't drink and I was shocked immediately. I immediately asked him "Well what about just the occasional beer, wine, etc?" and he said "I'm an alcoholic and I go to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) so that I can stay sober." I told him "Oh, I used to be an alcoholic but I don't drink that much anymore, just on the weekends." Little did I realize I was only lying to myself. I had no control over my drinking when I drank. I drank with the purpose of getting loosened up, light headed and eventually drunk and it was costing me my health, money, productivity at work, my relationships with my family, friends and women and plenty more. I just couldn't bear to accept the fact that alcohol was making my life totally unmanagable and I didn't want to accept that I had a disease.

My friends were all getting DWI's and DUI's and they kept drinking. Wasn't it just the norm, we're young and drinking is how we have fun I thought. But it finally hit me after my friend got a DUI and my vehicle got impounded because he was driving ME home because I was too drunk to drive that I needed to figure out what was wrong with me. I didn't even intend to go out and drink that night and somehow I ended up too drunk to drive... And now I was about to spend $1000 bailing him out of jail, getting my vehicle back and missing work to take care of all of that. Something had to be done immediately otherwise I was going to die and worse others could die too by my hand because I was out of control. So I went to AA to see if I could identify with alcoholism because nobody else could do it for me.

There's a reason that most psychologists and psychiatrists avoid alcoholics as patients. They are almost impossible to treat and they almost always continue drinking. They come to their checkups and after feeling good about themselves go back out and drink. The ideas of willpower, resting on ones own laurels and self-control don't work when it comes to true alcoholism. No matter how much willpower, physical strength and intelligence a person may have, alcohol can and will ruin and control their life if they are indeed alcoholic.

I chose a life of sobriety because I knew I didn't want to die and that my life was beyond my control when I drank. Personally, I couldn't be happier with my decision. I have to work every single day at it and spend time with other alcoholics who can understand and relate to me and my stories, my thinking and help guide me through difficulties I have. Every day is a new day where I pray and ask my higher power for his will to guide my life rather than my own. I want to be sober because my life is better, my friends and family's lives are better and our relationships are better. I don't need to drink to make friends, meet women and have a good time. I can and continue to do those things now and each day with people who understand I don't drink and that I still love enjoying life and am grateful that I am still here to do so.

If you are thinking you might be alcoholic then try this simple test. Go out to the bar, sit down, and try and have just one drink. Try and do that every time you go to the bar or club for 3 months. Watch and see if you can only have one drink each time you go.

 

[BeyondCharm]

I have gone back and forth in terms of the amount of beer I drink- there have been periods in my life where I have drank often (every day), and some where I didn't drink much.

Obviously, doing too much can make you fat and lazy. But I can also tell you that there was no noticeable increase in the quality of my life during those times where I absolutely abstained from a month or more.

I was just bored, probably not of fun to be around, and felt like I was missing out.

The reason you did not see an increase in the quality of your life when abstaining from alcohol is because you thought by just not drinking your life would suddenly increase in quality. Staying sober is only a step in improving the quality of your life. Important also is getting rid of all the resentment, anger and regret you have towards others and yourself for things they have done to you and things you have done to yourself. If you already have done this and continue to do this, your life would already be better.

 

[r0cky]

for me its very easy to reject drinks, I just think about the sickenning feeling I'll get the next and thats enough to stop me. I have a liver problem that gives me hangovers very easily.
I wish I could drink, becaused I notice it greatly reduces AA from my buddies, but the incentive I get from not drinking is much greater. Plus I get an equal high from approaching a lot.

 

[Columbia]

I have been 100% sober since birth, and the only person who has ever reacted negatively to that is my father, who is a wife-beating, alcoholic, sh*twad anyway.

Whenever a girl asks me if I drink I usually act a bit disgusted and turn it around on her. She goes straight onto the defensive and tries to downplay how much she drinks, when I know damn well that she was about to try and tell me about how drunk she was last night.

I'm in a long-term relationship, but every so often girls come along to try and win me for themselves. The first thing they usually do is "give up" drinking. They go straight back to it once I tell them that I'm not interested.

So yeah, portray it as a positive thing (which it is anyway) and that's how people will see it. Good luck dude