Ask HN: Which strategies work best to reduce/eliminate alcohol use? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Which strategies work best to reduce/eliminate alcohol use?

2 pointsfrans14 comments

There was a recent HN post [1] on an article from Nature titled "Almost half of cancer deaths are caused by smoking, alcohol, or obesity".

Whether you need to go to absolutely no alcohol or not is not the issue here (it was discussed at length in [1] and [2]). Rather, I am interested to know what HN readers did to cut down on their drinking.

One helpful comment in [1] was the book "This Naked Mind" by Annie Grace. Any other tips/experiences?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32714527

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30009529

View on HN

Depends on your personality, but I found reduction to be a waste of time. Would always end up gaming whatever silly system I set up for myself. Was far easier to quit entirely. Now that I can't drink, I don't drink.

I use a simplified point system to keep track. I rarely drink, but used to escalate when I do.

I usually calculate a beer, a shot or a glass of wine as a 1. Big or strong beer 1.5. My favorite cocktail is a 2.5. Reduct one point per hour and 1.5 per hour with heavy movement.

Sober is strict 0 points. Non drinking is 1 point. Work related drinking, I never go above 2-3 points. Exception is the Christmas party, 6-8 points. Out alone, usually never above 5 points. Family gatherings 1 point per family member for small gatherings, with a variety of bonus points for certain people.

I consider more than 8 points to be problematic to keep track of the point system.

This is an interesting way to do it. Very simple, and like units we've got in the UK but I like how simple this. Might give it a go

Consider whether you have an addiction and/or are emotionally dependent on alcohol. If you can't just decide not to drink for a few weeks and drinking is harming you, then talk to a physician about it.

I reduced my alcohol consumption -- slowly and over a couple of decades.

That's my it-works-on-my-machine.

I don't think quitting all at once would have worked...or rather it would have worked a bunch of times, because alcohol consumption is a social behavior to a significant degree, and my social context facilitated and expected alcohol consumption.

Until eventually it didn't.

And doesn't.

Good luck.

Something I took up a few years ago was to decrease quantity, increase quality. Have a favourite cocktail? Learn how to make it yourself, try variations, buy really high quality stuff i.e. Scotch and savour it rather than throw it down, maybe plan a meal around it. Try cooking with it whisky sauce done right can be amazing, etc.

Find a hobby or pursuit that you are very into and that requires sobriety to execute. Coding, working on a side hussle, Arduino, amateur drama, etc.

It's easier to stop completely than to limit. Educate yourself about alcohol. How it impacts violence. How it destroys mental health. How it makes you fat and stressed. How it gives cancer. Educating myself somehow made me not want to drink alcohol and feel weird about people who abuse alcohol. I also read this naked mind and it helped as well. Almost 3 months of total abstinence for me, and I am not looking to go back

There used to be a famous book here about quitting smoking, i think he got same book for drinking

By not having booze in the house.

By not drinking.

Find friends who don't drink and only go out with those. Simple as

Replace it with something less harmful, eg weed.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com