As a bon vivant, I indulge and appreciate in the finer things in life and this includes alcohol. There is always a time and place for one glass, two glasses, afternoons of sipping, and evenings of festive drinking. That said, I wanted to conduct an experiment. What would life be like without alcohol? What would that experience be like? With these questions in mind, I decided to engage in a complete cessation of imbibing for the entire month of August.
Week 1
The first few days were very easy as I prepared for my desert experience with a festive evening on July 31st. The lingering results maintained an enlightened state of being for the first two days. On the third day, I tried to tell myself that it would be ok to have some wine with dinner and tried to justify it by adding additional desert days at the end, extending the dry spell into the next month. I almost had some wine with dinner. One of the easiest ways to avoid wine with dinner is to go out to a restaurant: I simply can not justify the three or four times markup restaurants do to the bottle price and therefore never buy wine at a restaurant (I have only purchased wine at a restaurant twice in my life and social responsibility required it). On the fourth day, I felt committed to the experiment. As a bon vivant, one must still continue to live one's best life and so on the 4th day, I took out some prime NY strips and began a dry brine. I also began to feel fatigued on day four. This fatigue would worsen on day five. On day five, I also began to feel grumpy, had a headache and nothing seemed to function correctly (I would drop glasses or knives in the kitchen, stub my toe on a table, the previous night I felt like I hadn't slept at all, and I couldn't focus my concentration). I began to realize that I was succumbing to the trials of withdrawal. All the same, I knew that proper nutrition was necessary and prepared a very elegant dinner: New York Strip on the stovetop in basil butter with scalloped potatoes and a salad nicoise. As I was cooking dinner, my wife asked, "such a wonderful meal, we're not having wine with it?" Inside my mind a sudden battle erupted between good and evil! I could literally feel the weight of their little feet on both my shoulders as one guy in a robe said, "be strong" and another little prick in red tighties said, "You deserve a good bottle of red with this meal - don't ruin the entire meal because you're wimping out on wine!"
Aristotle said in his "On Rhetoric" that in the absence of consequences, man will do bad. I made a decision and it was the wrong one. I saw no consequences other than some minor disappointment so I said to my wife, "Sure, I don't mind, I'll pop that nice red your dad gave us and add an extra day at the end." And then the unexpected happened and this is absolutely crucial to the experiment: she supported my decision to stay sobre. I heard her from the living room say, "No, that's ok, we don't need it, save it for September." Having chosen the little red tighty bastard, I tried to defend my poor decision, "Are you sure, this meal would be stratospheric with a great red, might ruin it without wine...." there was a long pause from the living room and then,"No, its ok, I don't want any."
It became absolutely apparent to me that I would have abandoned the experiment without the support of my wife. On day six, I was even more fatigued and the symptoms were stronger. The level of frustration and grumpiness had me feeling like a crazed dog, ready to bite and nip at any passerby who would get too close. From the morning my wife even said, "Bitchy much?" as I grumbled about this or that. On day seven, the intensity of symptoms began to subside.
The first few days were very easy as I prepared for my desert experience with a festive evening on July 31st. The lingering results maintained an enlightened state of being for the first two days. On the third day, I tried to tell myself that it would be ok to have some wine with dinner and tried to justify it by adding additional desert days at the end, extending the dry spell into the next month. I almost had some wine with dinner. One of the easiest ways to avoid wine with dinner is to go out to a restaurant: I simply can not justify the three or four times markup restaurants do to the bottle price and therefore never buy wine at a restaurant (I have only purchased wine at a restaurant twice in my life and social responsibility required it). On the fourth day, I felt committed to the experiment. As a bon vivant, one must still continue to live one's best life and so on the 4th day, I took out some prime NY strips and began a dry brine. I also began to feel fatigued on day four. This fatigue would worsen on day five. On day five, I also began to feel grumpy, had a headache and nothing seemed to function correctly (I would drop glasses or knives in the kitchen, stub my toe on a table, the previous night I felt like I hadn't slept at all, and I couldn't focus my concentration). I began to realize that I was succumbing to the trials of withdrawal. All the same, I knew that proper nutrition was necessary and prepared a very elegant dinner: New York Strip on the stovetop in basil butter with scalloped potatoes and a salad nicoise. As I was cooking dinner, my wife asked, "such a wonderful meal, we're not having wine with it?" Inside my mind a sudden battle erupted between good and evil! I could literally feel the weight of their little feet on both my shoulders as one guy in a robe said, "be strong" and another little prick in red tighties said, "You deserve a good bottle of red with this meal - don't ruin the entire meal because you're wimping out on wine!"
Aristotle said in his "On Rhetoric" that in the absence of consequences, man will do bad. I made a decision and it was the wrong one. I saw no consequences other than some minor disappointment so I said to my wife, "Sure, I don't mind, I'll pop that nice red your dad gave us and add an extra day at the end." And then the unexpected happened and this is absolutely crucial to the experiment: she supported my decision to stay sobre. I heard her from the living room say, "No, that's ok, we don't need it, save it for September." Having chosen the little red tighty bastard, I tried to defend my poor decision, "Are you sure, this meal would be stratospheric with a great red, might ruin it without wine...." there was a long pause from the living room and then,"No, its ok, I don't want any."
It became absolutely apparent to me that I would have abandoned the experiment without the support of my wife. On day six, I was even more fatigued and the symptoms were stronger. The level of frustration and grumpiness had me feeling like a crazed dog, ready to bite and nip at any passerby who would get too close. From the morning my wife even said, "Bitchy much?" as I grumbled about this or that. On day seven, the intensity of symptoms began to subside.
Week 2
On the eighth and ninth day, I began to exercise and walked 4 miles both days. I would also add a regular weight regime to my activities. I weighed myself. I had gained 7 lbs! Having studied various institutions research on the effects of wine from all over the world, I have always maintained that wine needs to be a part of any diet and that the best way to lose weight is to drink wine (friends and family laugh at this and I humbly laugh too because it sounds counter-productive but in all seriousness, I still maintain this theory). By the tenth day, I began to sleep more soundly and fully. I began to noticed heightened cognitive thought and deeper conceptualization of ideas. My speech patterns became more sophisticated and my wife would, for no reason, laugh at some things I'd say. When asked why, she said, "It's how you say it and your descriptors - must you be so graphic!"
I subjectively felt like I had achieved a plateau and this state of being seemed to maintain and improve. However, there was a persistent psychological component: I truly and sincerely missed drinking wine. On the tenth day, we watched an episode of "Two and a Half Men." It was the episode where Alan goes on a blind date with the daughter of a man his mother was dating. She was on a day pass and an alcoholic. The scene that makes me laugh is when they are in the restaurant and she orders Alan to order some wine because she wants to sniff it! That would become my humor statement for the rest of the experiment: I'd fix my wife a drink after work and say, "I wanna sniff it!" and we'd have a laugh. At this point, I believe the withdrawal was completely psychological. For the rest of the week, I would balance a persistent sense of grumpiness, although not as strong as in week 1, and an ever increasing desire to accomplish more tasks during the day.
On the eighth and ninth day, I began to exercise and walked 4 miles both days. I would also add a regular weight regime to my activities. I weighed myself. I had gained 7 lbs! Having studied various institutions research on the effects of wine from all over the world, I have always maintained that wine needs to be a part of any diet and that the best way to lose weight is to drink wine (friends and family laugh at this and I humbly laugh too because it sounds counter-productive but in all seriousness, I still maintain this theory). By the tenth day, I began to sleep more soundly and fully. I began to noticed heightened cognitive thought and deeper conceptualization of ideas. My speech patterns became more sophisticated and my wife would, for no reason, laugh at some things I'd say. When asked why, she said, "It's how you say it and your descriptors - must you be so graphic!"
I subjectively felt like I had achieved a plateau and this state of being seemed to maintain and improve. However, there was a persistent psychological component: I truly and sincerely missed drinking wine. On the tenth day, we watched an episode of "Two and a Half Men." It was the episode where Alan goes on a blind date with the daughter of a man his mother was dating. She was on a day pass and an alcoholic. The scene that makes me laugh is when they are in the restaurant and she orders Alan to order some wine because she wants to sniff it! That would become my humor statement for the rest of the experiment: I'd fix my wife a drink after work and say, "I wanna sniff it!" and we'd have a laugh. At this point, I believe the withdrawal was completely psychological. For the rest of the week, I would balance a persistent sense of grumpiness, although not as strong as in week 1, and an ever increasing desire to accomplish more tasks during the day.
Week 3
On the fifteenth day, I weighed myself again. I had now gained a full 11 lbs! This really started to piss me off! In all reasonable theory, with the significant decline in calories from doing this desert living experiment, I had expected to have lost that and more. This made me very grumpy and I began to wonder if this experiment was actually becoming harmful to my health! I would start to joke about this with my wife, playing the grumpy card, and complaining about how I was right all along - that wine is necessary for weight loss! By the end of the third week, the plateau was well establish. There weren't any cravings, just a longing and missing of the good life.
On the fifteenth day, I weighed myself again. I had now gained a full 11 lbs! This really started to piss me off! In all reasonable theory, with the significant decline in calories from doing this desert living experiment, I had expected to have lost that and more. This made me very grumpy and I began to wonder if this experiment was actually becoming harmful to my health! I would start to joke about this with my wife, playing the grumpy card, and complaining about how I was right all along - that wine is necessary for weight loss! By the end of the third week, the plateau was well establish. There weren't any cravings, just a longing and missing of the good life.
Week 4
At the start of the fourth week, I started to see mirages in the desert: through the haze and blurry waves of heat, I could barely discern a tent at the far end of the desert. Standing in front of it, there appeared to be a gentleman in a tuxedo, a towel draped over his left forearm and a bottle of champagne in his right. Could this be what awaits or is the wine dehydration causing me to see things?
The experience itself is rather unpleasant but aside from gaining weight, feeling grumpy all the time, and longing for a grand proper meal, I wanted to look back and try to identify some benefits I may have missed. If I honestly looked at it from a subjective perspective, I don't feel tired all the time. I feel a desire to accomplish tasks during the day. My cognitive levels continue to increase and I often find myself remembering projects or research I'd conducted over 10 years ago. I've been sleeping completely through the night whereas I used to awaken once or twice at a minimum. I am also able to maintain without failure an exercise regime: this was almost impossible in the past because I would always succumb to an illness similar to a cold or flu. I find myself eating less and never feeling hungry (so it has to be a lack of wine for the weight gain! I'm still bitter about this!). The overwell general grumpiness faded somewhere in the middle of week 3. It has been replaced with a more stable emotional sense of well being.
I continued to double down on the exercise and feel an emotional plateau - meaning, things seemed to just be. It feels as if I could continue this state of being for as long as I choose. There is of course a deeper sense of physical fatigue due to the increase in exercise (both in number of days as well as in intensity and length of time). This seems to cause the weight to cease its ascension with the first reading in a month indicating a decline (by half a pound only). I have noticed an emotional state of resignation and a lack of passion for cooking and cuisine in general, often going out to dinner to simply fulfill the human need to sustain and not caring much for where to dine either.
With the end in sight, on the 28th day, I began to plan my grand meal, the meal to celebrate a successful completion of my desert dry run. I began combing the pages of all my cookbooks from the best and hottest chefs in the world. With the summer coming to an end for Labor Day, I chose a mix of late summer/early fall dishes. On the 29th day, I did all of the grocery shopping, acquiring all of the necessary ingredients, all of the proper spirits/wines, and on the 30th day, contemplated the entire experience.
As a general, subjective rule, on a daily basis, I feel more easily stressed with small things deeply irritating me and yet, when things don't irritate me, I feel more calm and relaxed than normal. Remembering things in general is easier and my cognitive abilities seem to have returned to a level similar to my days in grad school. Emotionally, I feel more evenly balanced and over all have eaten healthier meals (which added to the frustrations of weight gain, having done everything correctly for a month only to see the first indications of weight loss at the middle of the fourth week). Overall, I hated this experience despite the benefits because I felt like I was missing out on very important aspects of living. It really did feel like walking through an endless desert without a drop of water in sight. I wish and hope to never do this again, but if one needs to re-balance and correct one's life's habits, I highly suggest this for personal growth.
At the start of the fourth week, I started to see mirages in the desert: through the haze and blurry waves of heat, I could barely discern a tent at the far end of the desert. Standing in front of it, there appeared to be a gentleman in a tuxedo, a towel draped over his left forearm and a bottle of champagne in his right. Could this be what awaits or is the wine dehydration causing me to see things?
The experience itself is rather unpleasant but aside from gaining weight, feeling grumpy all the time, and longing for a grand proper meal, I wanted to look back and try to identify some benefits I may have missed. If I honestly looked at it from a subjective perspective, I don't feel tired all the time. I feel a desire to accomplish tasks during the day. My cognitive levels continue to increase and I often find myself remembering projects or research I'd conducted over 10 years ago. I've been sleeping completely through the night whereas I used to awaken once or twice at a minimum. I am also able to maintain without failure an exercise regime: this was almost impossible in the past because I would always succumb to an illness similar to a cold or flu. I find myself eating less and never feeling hungry (so it has to be a lack of wine for the weight gain! I'm still bitter about this!). The overwell general grumpiness faded somewhere in the middle of week 3. It has been replaced with a more stable emotional sense of well being.
I continued to double down on the exercise and feel an emotional plateau - meaning, things seemed to just be. It feels as if I could continue this state of being for as long as I choose. There is of course a deeper sense of physical fatigue due to the increase in exercise (both in number of days as well as in intensity and length of time). This seems to cause the weight to cease its ascension with the first reading in a month indicating a decline (by half a pound only). I have noticed an emotional state of resignation and a lack of passion for cooking and cuisine in general, often going out to dinner to simply fulfill the human need to sustain and not caring much for where to dine either.
With the end in sight, on the 28th day, I began to plan my grand meal, the meal to celebrate a successful completion of my desert dry run. I began combing the pages of all my cookbooks from the best and hottest chefs in the world. With the summer coming to an end for Labor Day, I chose a mix of late summer/early fall dishes. On the 29th day, I did all of the grocery shopping, acquiring all of the necessary ingredients, all of the proper spirits/wines, and on the 30th day, contemplated the entire experience.
As a general, subjective rule, on a daily basis, I feel more easily stressed with small things deeply irritating me and yet, when things don't irritate me, I feel more calm and relaxed than normal. Remembering things in general is easier and my cognitive abilities seem to have returned to a level similar to my days in grad school. Emotionally, I feel more evenly balanced and over all have eaten healthier meals (which added to the frustrations of weight gain, having done everything correctly for a month only to see the first indications of weight loss at the middle of the fourth week). Overall, I hated this experience despite the benefits because I felt like I was missing out on very important aspects of living. It really did feel like walking through an endless desert without a drop of water in sight. I wish and hope to never do this again, but if one needs to re-balance and correct one's life's habits, I highly suggest this for personal growth.
On the 30th day, at 5pm (and it's always 5pm somewhere!), I did not fall off....I dove off the horse head first into what may go down in my memory as the best tasting Bourbon of my entire life! I kept it very simple: a Blanton's on the rocks with a dash and a twist. I savored every sip.
