Alcohol Free / Caffeine Free - March 2024

[Danster]

I'm drinking a lager right now. Just can't kick it.

Maybe from Monday. If I make a pledge to my kids then I'll have to stick to it

[General Ceel]

I'm an ale drinker. So much more variety to choose from than Lager.... but man a beer would have tasted great today! hehe

Anyhow, another day without caffeine and alcohol.

[General Ceel]

Still caffeine free. I did have a beer though. The goal will be to cut back in March and then take April completely off.

[Danster]

I'm definitely going to cut back in March and then maybe stick to my no alcohol at home rule throughout April. To be honest, that's probably a good permanent habit to develop.

[General Ceel]

Yeah.

Even just cutting out the soda i feel lighter. Must be all the sodium.

[Danster]

I'm a bit of an odd one when it comes to weight. From October through to January I was doing barely any exercise, was snacking regularly, eating loads of chocolate and crisps/chips and drinking too much alcohol. Don't get me wrong, I did start to put on a bit of tummy fat, but not a massive amount, and my weight didn't really creep up significantly.

On the flip side, since the start of Lent I haven't eaten a single gram of chocolate, haven't had a single chip and haven't eaten any sweets. I've also cut back on soda. However, whilst I've lost most of the tummy fat (still a bit to shift), my weight hasn't dropped much and I'm not looking particularly toned.

I guess I have to work damn hard to get in shape, but equally I would have to abuse myself pretty significantly to end up in awful shape. Can't really grumble at that I guess.

[General Ceel]

I'll be 42 years old at the end of the month. The way my own body works has changed with time.

The most active period of my life was between 2007 and 2017. Getting into my top condition was a lot of hard work, and once I got there it felt like it was relatively easier to maintain it. While I was never one of those razor thin guys with almost no body fat, there were points where I could (and needed to) eat everything in site. I would keep a box of Cliff Bars in my bedroom because my aching stomach would sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night like a baby! lol. At the same time, during those years, I also put a lot of effort into eating healthier (at least between races and periods of heavy training) in order to maximize my performance.

These days, now several years removed from serious training, time has caught up to me somewhat. That huge appetite you get from hard training never goes away, so its always a struggle to not overeat. Its also finally become a bit harder to shed the pounds (especially around the gut) once an effort to train is made.

That said, I think my biggest problem in recent years is psychological. I was incredibly fit for at least a decade in my 20's and 30's. During that time I felt incredibly driven to run long and hard, and embraced the physical and mental challenge of it all. Since then, I never stopped thinking about running, and imagining that I'd get back to where I was... and yet somehow I struggle to find the long term drive to make it happen.

I've struggled with depression and anxiety for my entire life. Those peak running years, however, were the happiest and most carefree of my life. They always talk about endorphins... but for me it took a lot of running to get to the point where they became transformative. And of course the more fit I became.. the more running it took to feel the same effect.

[General Ceel]

okay, so i bought a soda this morning. God hates a quitter! But keep in mind that I only bought one, instead of having a 24 pack of cans in the fridge at all times. I'm over the hump of caffeine addiction. Now it can be a rare pleasure again, instead of a daily staple.

[Danster]

I managed to shake the daily staple for caffeine (well, soda at least, I don't count tea and apparently someone said it's a different type of caffeine in tea anyway and I believe them!) a few years ago. I didn't stop drinking Pepsi entirely, but I stopped having it in the house and at work, so it became an occasional treat. It was really hard for the first couple of weeks.

I've got a new plan, starting today. Our work has given a company-wide day off today to allow employees to focus on their "well-being". Well, I figured I'll take it seriously. I'm going to print of weekly target sheets and each week pin it on my fridge so my family see it, which will give me some accountability. It's going to have targets for different things that I have to hit each week. For some, I'll increase the targets as I improve. I think I'll go for;

Press Ups + Shoulders taps (start with 30 a day)
Sit Ups (start with 60 a day)
Greek Lessons (I've got an online learning platform subscription, so I'll target four 30-minute lessons a week)
Running (20km a week to being with)
Meditations (one a day)
Alcohol-free days (six a week, allowing one day off)
Gratitude Journaling (one written sentence a day stating something I am grateful for)

When I have a visual target, it tends to motivate me more. If I just make those targets in my head then I rarely stick to them, having it on paper and having to add a tick or a number to a box at the end of each day to indicate whether I did it/did enough seems to focus me much more.

[General Ceel]

So my birthday is March 31. It used to be a soft target... but now its certainly a firm date for kicking these habits.