Friday 21 August 2009

31: A World Without Beer: Week 10

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.


"Week 10" or "Spot The Difference"...



Woah-oh, we're two thirds of the way there,
Woah-oh, living on no be-er.

Jon Bon Jovi, Livin' on a Prayer, first draft, 1984.



The end of ten weeks without booze (well, almost. Y'know...), and a revelation seems to have hit me. No, it's not that "better man" shite I was worried was going to happen, I'm still as annoyed with the world as ever, and I still want a pint.

It wasn't the beer at all!

Remember back at the start of this when I said that hopefully a hundred days without alcohol would, amongst other things, clear my skin up a little? It became apparent at around week three that it wasn't going to happen. Not acne, just spots. The condition of my skin was as irrational as ever. As irrational as say... my caffeine intake?

It varies from day to day, but rarely a day goes by without caffeine of some description (read: Coffee in the mornings, Diet Coke/Pepsi in the evenings). I find I'm pretty much "on fire" after three coffees, which is helpful for work.

So, it occurred to me after a series of mornings waking up with a face like a 14yr old, that I had been drinkng a lot of coffee recently. Not as a replacement for alcohol, just because I like coffee. So I figured I'd try cutting the caffeine over the last week. And it seems to have worked. Not perfect, but a hell of a lot better, certainly.

It wasn't the beer at all! It was the coffee!

I've had no noticable withdrawal sypmtoms. Although I'm fairly irritable at work anyway, coffee or not :P Haven't had any headaches either. It's not like I was drinking 20 cups of coffee a day, but combined with the Diet Coke it was probably bordering on "too much".

Of course, I'm constantly tired now. Especially from when I wake up until around 1pm. And I don't seem to be sleeping any better for it. My better half will attest to me having strange dreams and shouting in the night a couple of times this week. So if that's not the coffee, and not the beer, and I don't do gaming in the evening at the moment... who fucking knows? We'll solve that problem when we get to it.

It also doesn't solve the problem of "I like coffee". I may have to trial a safe level, which could take a while.

+++++

I will, of course, finish the run of 100 days off the booze. A clearer complexion wasn't all I was looking for, although I'm going to have to work out more. I seem to be a little slimmer, but haven't lost any weight. Explain that.

I've just calculated that I'm 66 days into the hundred as I write this, which is pretty cool. Take two of those out as gratis days, and add another one on, and I've got 37 days to go. Sweet.

I'm off now to drink some water. Whoopee.




DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

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