so what's everyone's BS resolution that will fall by the wayside? I'm gonna try to kick alcohol this year. I've weened it down over the years and just don't enjoy it anymore. But I end up drinking due to perceived social obligations. About an hour into 2016, I'm having great success! Unfortunately, I'm in that weird position of being the sober guy in a drunk group. They think I'm being boring, but in 8 hours I'll be able to function and nobody else will. Atleast there is a PS4 here.
I haven't made an official resolution but I know where you're coming from on the alcohol front. For years I've realised that I just want to drink enough to be a little more sociable, even when around friends, but too often it doesn't end up that way. Luckily I don't really go 'out' any more, the pressure to drink in those situations is a special kind of bullshit. I keep coming to the conclusion that quitting drinking is the only real solution. The problem is that it's hard when I know that unless you have a certain type of personality you need everyone you associate with to also quit so that your social situations can actually evolve into something new that doesn't rely on alcohol.
I barely drink at all these days, in fact apart from the odd function and Christmas I probably don't drink alcohol 360 days a year. Over Christmas and new year had a couple of bottles of Champagne and Prosecco but that is about it. When I'm eating I would rather have water, only thing that actually deals with my thirst.
I have a beer or two on special occasions, but that's it. Drinking to actually get drunk is for college kids in their 20s and alcoholics.
Personally I like whiskey but a bottle a year is enough for me. Maybe a few beers and cocktails for special occasions (like three times a year), but other than that I don't drink anymore. My personal goal is to complete P90x in this year. I've been thinking of doing it for quite sometime but never got around to it. I've become really lazy over the years, lifting my finger takes quite a bit of effort.
I don't drink regularly either. I'd say on average about once a month, and that is just a couple of drinks with dinner out usually. It's just the rare social occasion with friends where I get the urge to drink more than usual where I'm about 50/50 chance of drinking more than I'd like to.
I like to drink but I hate getting drunk so I usually limit myself to just one drink a day. However I've had very little to drink over the last few months since blood test show my liver might be a tiny bit damaged from meds. I figure I shouldn't put any more stress on it.
I got through 15 days with no alcohol until Friday... I didn't go crazy or anything just had 2 glasses of craft beers. I don't mind the craft beer crowd, they don't binge drink or get drunk. A little more refined and snobbish about quality over quantity. Even still the resolution was to not drink at all. @bfun How goes the Whole30? It's only a few days are the famous last words of most dieters.
The hardest part about Whole30 is finding food to eat. 90% of everything in a store has added sugar, sweeteners, and preservatives so it's really limited to raw foods. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. Grains, beans, and dairy are off the table. I've been through tough diets before though. Every week it gets easier. The main difficulty is always having to cook your meals from scratch. 3 times a day. There is really no way to eat out. Chipotle has one thing on the menu that can be eaten and it's just pork, lettuce, and tomatoes.. The 30 day goal is to see if you have any adverse side effects to certain foods. I know I don't have a dairy problem so I'll be able to add cheeses back into the diet in a couple of weeks. After that I'm not sure. I think sugar and grains are supposed to be off the menu for forever. My wife's brother has been doing the similar Paleo diet for many years and he's been fit for a long time. It's been 13 days and I've lost 11 pounds. That almost sounds unbelievable but I also had to get my first ever colonoscopy last week and I probably lost 5 pounds to the Colon Blow 5000 formula they gave me. Fun times.
I don't think fad diets are the way to go. You never know how much you're eating and you can't eat regular food, which makes them unsustainable over the long run. Counting calories and eating below your BMR is the only thing I've found that consistently works. It turns weight loss into a simple math equation. Counting calories will also dispel any mystery as to why you're fat. And the answer is always because you're overeating. Great app for keeping a food diary: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/
I'm not expert on the Whole30 but it isn't just about loosing weight. It's a 30 day trial to eliminate foods that are possibly having a negative effect on your body like acid reflux, auto immune disorders, diabetes, inflammatory issues. At the end of 30 days you can decide what if any benefits you got and then change your diet based on that. The weight comes off mostly because refined sugar and grains are removed from the diet.
That app is a must have... I do think certain fad diets can help 'reboot' you out of eating easy access junk food. It's a good way to experiment with how certain foods affect you body and all of them are better than McDonalds. But you're right, impossible to maintain. I drink a 16oz Nutribullet veg/fruit mixture daily now... after holidays or major events I go juice only 1-7 days. Works for me...
The big concern I have about fad diets is that they tend to cut out entire groups of food, dairy on Whole30 for instance. This creates cravings and a feeling of being deprived and a tendency for people to fall off the wagon hard, often regaining the weight and then some.
So this was a net practical success. I didn't stick to the no alcohol pledge. But I kicked regular social drinking and just order water 99%. I also have much better self control at events and parties where getting trashed is the objective.