Guest Post: Author Of Muttznuttz.com
”Today I want to introduce Alan, he is the author of an up and coming blog called muttznuttz.com. Alan has made a commitment to himself to improve his health in the new year, giving up the drink, quit smoking and going to the gym, he will be documenting his progress on his blog. Alan has been very open about his health problems which is inspiring so here is a post to tell you about what he will be doing.”
Guest post by Alan G. of Muttznuttz.com
Giving Up The Drink
I mostly drink wine – and if I’m honest with myself have had done most evenings for a number of years. Not every evening, but most. I rarely drink during the day. And I never drink when entertaining clients or working. It’s time to sort it out!
This has been on my mind for some time after having some friends for dinner. The conversation turned to our drinking habits and my friends relayed an article he had read about “functional alcoholics”. Jokingly we all came to the conclusion that if we weren’t already, we were coming very close to fitting into the definition. Loosely the definition is someone who drinks regularly and still functions perfectly normally in their every day life… Like us our friends drink every night – and run a successful business without alcohol affecting their performance. And, we’ve all been doing just that for years.
So how do I plan to adjust my ways on drinking? I’m no expert but I do know myself – here’s my approach…
The first thing I have done is weigh up the pro’s and cons…
In favour of drinking
- This is the big one for me – it helps me sleep – I have something of a hyperactive mind that without drink steps into overdrive and will keep me awake for hours. I still wake up early so don’t get enough sleep.
- Occasionally, though increasingly less, it leads to having great evening.
- Some of my best ideas have come when bouncing around abstract concepts over a few beers.
Against drinking
- The obvious health implications –we all have it rammed down our throats constantly by the self-righteous amongst us so I don’t think I need to list them.
- Lose some weight.
- Save money – wine is very cheap where I live so we only usually drink cheap stuff, but it still all adds up.
- Paying the government even more tax than I do already!
- Set a better example to my kids!
It’s a no brainer really when you stack it up in this way. So why are these habits we have so hard to break?
I’m no saint – and being realistic I very much doubt I could go for total abstinence so I have set myself a couple of very simple goals…
- NO drinking at home unless entertaining.
- Only drinking socially when out (usually about once a week) – and try to keep it to sensible levels. I really must learn to say no sometimes!
- If I still suffer from sleeping problems after a couple of weeks, look for some kind of herbal solution in the local health store.
I’m working on the principle that keeping it simple, and sticking to it is going to be more achievable than beating myself up over it and going completely cold turkey…
You can follow Alan’s progress here at www.muttznuttz.com show him your support, maybe even leave him a comment with some advice drawn from your own experiences.
