Ways to cut down on drinking without going to a Dr.

Hi,

I am a 39 year old male. I am 6'4" 300 lbs so you have an idea of the alcohol I can drink. I'm actually a psychology student. After working for 20 years, I decided to go back to college in 2013. I am about 70 credits shy of a BS in Psychology. Anyway, I recognize that I am on the verge of having a serious drinking problem and I would like to cut down on my drinking. I don't really want to join any group like AA or Al-Anon nor go to a detox facility. I would like to just cut down on my own.

I am your typical weekend warrior but over the past few years I have been drinking once or twice during the week in addition to Friday and Saturday. Basically 3x a week one week followed by 4x a week the next week. Fifteen nights a month sounds right. A typical week for me is about 30 beers along with 6 shots. Basically ten beers and two shots 3x a week. Some days I might have 15 drinks but other days I have 2 or 3 and go to bed. If I drink 10x a month, 9 out of those 10x are at home.

My goal over the next 2 years is to lose 100 lbs. I cannot do this if I am drinking. I end up drinking and then scarfing down 500-1000 calories before going to bed. It's basically a combo of drinking/binge eating. I want to cut out my drinking because I know if I do that, I can then focus on cutting down my calories. It's hard to do both at the same time.

I stopped drinking soda Christmas Day. (I hate the whole NYE resolutions thing) My only calories from liquid comes from alcohol. I am slowly but surely getting my diet under control but I am looking for some guidelines on the alcohol part. What are some things I can do? I know keep myself busy is one, but it still won't stop the habit/craving once I get home. Are there specific foods that cut down on alcohol cravings? I also got rid of my TV. I know that plays a huge part with the advertising and what not.

Well this really boils down to the question: are you an alcoholic or not? If not, you'll find ways to cut down, and it won't be much of a problem. If you are though... you know AA is there for a reason; it's full of people who tried to find ways to cut down, but failed every time. People join AA when they have to admit to themselves that they ran out of ideas how to quit without help (myself included).

Try to find things that trigger you to drink -- places, people, events (like ads on TV for instance). Then remove them from your life as much as possible. I'd never get clean if I continued sitting in my favourite bar every evening and kept my bong. Put obstacles on your way to drinking. If you always drink whisky on the rocks, get rid of the ice-making bags and throw out your whisky glasses. Count how much money you spend on alcohol and put this amount at the beginning of the month in a savings account you can't easily withdraw from -- that way you'll have to choose between food and alcohol.

Hope some of what I said helps. Good luck.

Yea I haven't had a drink in 2 days. Haven't even really thought about it. I think I'll be fine. I've been lazy in the past and just said "Screw it, give me a beer." But now that I have a plan I think it should be no problem sticking to it.

It's Thursday night. My original goal was to go 10 full days without a drink. I wanted to see if I could handle that at least. I am almost to the halfway mark. Feeling pretty good actually. Had the best workout in years at the gym today. I'm already thinking of extending the goal to the end of the month. I've been cranky at times but it hasn't been anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. This weekend will be a test. It's probably been at least 10 years since I didn't drink over the weekend.

*mod edit*

Oh, and not that anyone cares, but I haven't had a drink in almost 30 days. Normally, I would be happy to help out and give advice from what I've learned. But no one gives a $#%^ so neither do I. See ya.

Congratulations on your almost 30 days sober.

If you take a look you will see this forum simply isn't very active. Certain sub-forums on PF are more active than others. Some are less. Sorry you didn't get feedback you were expecting.