We quit drinking. My birthday was our grand finale.
Gasp! Shock! I know, I know.
So what spurred this decision?
For the most part, health.
Following Michael’s high cholesterol report early this year we immediately cut red meat and pork from our diet. Our poultry intake has been reduced considerably. We’ve been eating more fish and buying a lot more fresh vegetables. No longer are we eating fries with our veggie burgers, those have been replaced with couscous or rice dishes.
In preparation for his surgery, Michael has lost a considerable amount of weight (which is amazing, since he was never “fat” by any standards!). For the rest of his life following the surgery he’ll need to keep weight low in order to reduce the wear on his replacement hip and help prolong its expected 40 year lifetime.
So why quit drinking if it remains in moderation? It’s an easy thing to do[0], and drinking does us no good. When we drink we have not only the rush of calories from the beer itself, but also all those extra bad-for-you munchies that go along with it. It’s also expensive, a temptation after a rough day, a possible wedge in relationships, and although we greatly enjoy tasting new and exciting beer and attending beer events, more often than not we just end up feeling lousy the next day and craving the same junk food we ate the previous evening (at least I do!).
I guess what it comes down to is that with the current health situation, stress level with this upcoming surgery and other stuff going on in our lives, the beer hobby needs to be shelved, quite probably indefinitely.
What ever will I fill it with? Oh right, I already have too many hobbies.
[0] In spite of the alcoholics on both sides of my family (one being my own father) I somehow managed to skip out on that addictive and/or alcoholic gene. I’ve never been painfully addicted to anything, even when I dropped caffeine the physical repercussions were quite tolerable and not enough to even make me consider grabbing another cup of coffee. Chocolate and lobster pie are the only things I have what may be unusually strong cravings for. Oh man, lobster pie is good.