I prefer drinking to failure, but with longer rests between sets. Or in other words, for the last five or so years I got completely wasted twice a year, my birthday and new year, but otherwise stayed completely sober. Worked significantly better for me than trying to drink in moderation more frequently.
I was sober for a year and a half, started working out really hard. Three months ago I decided to have a drink and I went on a three month bender. Naturally I started gaining weight from the beer and slowly but surely not working out at all. It’s been six days since my last drink and to get myself hyped about the gym again I just got my first pre-workout. I’m Without a doubt an alcoholic and I have to replace the alcohol with some thing. Working out and drinking alcohol do not mix at all for me
@@squattilupuke2435 been there done that. 2 tablespoon in a shot of water for yrs. It was weed, kratom and alcohol 7 years straight. Before that it was just weed and heroin lol I had a kid a year ago time to be sober for me
I went from being a daily, fairly heavy drinker to teetotal; haven't drank anything since February last year. Lost a tonne of fat, gained muscle, sleep better, lift heavier for longer, and even think better. I'd say if you can cut it out completely, do it.
Social settings and people suck ass. Dude just have a drink, why aren't you drinking, we gotta get drunk. Like shut the fuck up. I don't pester you everytime we go out to have gay sex, quit pestering me to drink
I agree. Haven't drank since Jan 2023 and do NOT miss it. Better lifts, tons of energy, didn't even realize sleep could be so good, 190 to 195 and 32 waist. It's the healthiest I've ever been. If you can cut it out...do it.
I've been a binge drinker pretty much all my life. I'm in my 40's now and for the first time the negative aspects like hangovers and feeling like shit for a couple of days is outweighting the fun I'm having while drunk. I have tried to quit several times and the only think that has worked for me is working out, if i work out for the entire week I stay away from alcohol on weekends, if I dn't work out i feel anxiety on the weekends and convince myself i need a drink and snowball from there.
Stopped drinking 50 days ago and my energy levels have skyrocketed. This was after drinking daily for the past 10-15 years. I never realized how shitty I always felt until I stopped.
Congrats man! This is a HUGE thing. I haven't had any alcohol in a couple of years. I read this book Allen Carr's Quit Drinking Without WIllpower, and it broke drinking for me. It sounds like you've made a similar discovery.
@@Areyouduckingserious There are a lot of variables and, accordingly, the timeline will vary greatly. Things like overall mental and physical health, diet, amount, frequency, and duration of alcohol (ab)use are all factors. Generally speaking, the first week may/will be uncomfortable. After that, one should start to feel an uptick in mood, lower anxiety, better sleep, etc. After a month, the fog starts to noticeably lift, and everything continues to improve. It can take the brain a good 18 mos. to get back to 'normal'. Taking a hard look at one's diet and cutting out added sugar(s) and processed/junk food makes a huge difference and gives the liver a chance to heal, which affects everything in the body. Getting into an exercise routine is also a critical component. Finding a good therapist and/or psychiatrist may be necessary/helpful for dealing with underlying issues of depression/anxiety or other things that lead people to self-medicate with substances. Getting a solid frame of mind - e.g., "I don't want things to continue to keep getting worse", etc. and dedication to yourself and loved ones is fundamental. HTH.
Mike, I love your videos. I’m 2.5 years sober and can tell anyone first hand that it has an insane affect on muscle growth. I was drinking at least 2-6 40 ounces a night and doing all calisthenics push ups, pull ups, squats, crunches, the whole time. Sometimes would even work out while drinking an OE 42 ounce it was bad. It wasn’t until I quit drinking that I saw any results. I do the same work out routine now that I did then only difference is that I don’t drink. When I got sober I went through sugar withdrawal and would often spend a night uncontrollably eating an entire pack of Oreos and a 12er of DR. Pepper (not diet) and I still managed to get abs during that time. I’m no scientist, but alcohol seems to be much worse for muscles than any other thing I’ve consumed.
The biggest problem with alcohol not discussed is that it interferes with motivation and will power. Even days after it still has an effect on your brain hormones as you fully recover. What this translates to is non compliance with diet and perhaps a skipped workout.
Yeah I think it becomes people's baseline to simply be in worse physical condition, like they don't realize how bad they feel because it's just normal... So if you don't drink for a while and then drink you notice the drastic negative impact/side effects, while if you drink somewhat regularly then there's no contrast because you never really recovered.
Really taking my training seriously helped me get my drinking under control, especially because it completely messes my sleep up in my early 30s versus early 20s. Guinness is still delicious though, how dare you, lol Oh, and Guinness has fewer calories than a lot of other beers because it's so roasted, the idea of Guinness "being a meal" is a total myth
Sleep is the main reason why I stopped drinking as much. Even one glass of whiskey or one beer at night or with dinner will completely ruin my sleep lol
Heineken is the best beer and bourbon is the best liquor. Normally i don't drink when training seriously, but when I get hurt I just say fuck it. That's my problem. For ex sec year back to back I developed t and g elbow and tricep tendinopathy.
Guiness is still pretty mid as a stout / porter though. Definitely had worse, but I'm used to craft baltic stuff that's over 10% ABV with nice strong flavour to it so my perspective might be a bit skewed. Then again there's nothing else that's quite as mass market as Guiness is which makes it a reliable choice at pubs anywhere that you know isn't going to be actually bad.
I started drinking again, quite a bit, and recently got my testosterone tested It was 330 The clinic told me to get on trt Dr. Mike told me to just stop boozing ...i should probably do that first
Congrats on doing it in the best order. Get your levels checked again after a couple months and you may still have low T levels. Sleep and diet have a large effect on levels too. TRT can alleviate symptoms that drive habitual drinking. Most people aren’t drinking because they feel great. At those levels, TRT and adopting a diet for fueling your body and getting proper sleep can make you feel amazing all day every day. All the best!
When I was younger and clubbing multiple nights a week, I just dropped drinking entirely on my clubbing nights. Nothing about the drinking really enhanced having a good time or meeting women. Having a drink in your hand kind of plants you in place when you could be going around having an adventure. I was actually surprised how many women were at the club who were also completely or mostly sober. I hope this helps people who are worried that they can’t party and meet women without the alcohol.
Sorry but alcohol 100% does make things better (assuming it's in moderation and doesn't make you throw up and black out). I'm glad you are able to party without drinking. The couple times I've done it I was ready to go home by 2-3 AM... mind you we party from 12 to 6-7 AM where I live, and have no problems enduring that whenever I do drink
I'm glad I got my drinking put early. Drank so much between 16 & 29 that I'm so locked in on progress and feeling good, healthy, and peace of mind. Growing up, I never could have imagined a day where I was at peace enough to not drink. Well, I've made it 👍
I’m 53 and have officially been alcohol free for two years. Never felt better and have made great gains in all areas of fitness. I used to drink everyday even thought I was “healthy” working out 4 days a week. I only wish I stopped earlier in my life
I've learned to not have leg day coincide with pool night. It's not so much because the drinking interferes with the leg gains, as much as it's because the leg day interferes with my drinking. Basically, it triples the severity of that hangover that you thought would be almost nothing.
Leg day in the morning, rest and lots of hydration during the day and then drinking in the evening is usually fine, leg day after work then hit the pubs after shower is a recipe for disaster.
@@TheYrthenarc I, as a 19 year old can't confirm this,. Sometimes I drink after a legday and the day after I'm drinking like 3l of water, take some magnesium and then I'm fine again.
Spot on as always !! To add as i looked at studies for a video on wether wine is good for you, to reduce the alcohol intake into the blood stream, eating then drinking an hour after helps negate the damage the most out of each situation of alcohol consumption.
@@rafaelnunezjr. N-acetylcysteine is NAC. When you combine it with Glycine its GlyNac. Tons of studies its really worth it to take it. They tried to ban this stuff during covid. Get it while you can. Cheap, over the counter and powerfull !
Love the video. Pretty sure this has already been said, but Guinness is actually a “light beer,” coming in at 125kcal/12 oz as opposed to 150 for a regular Miller or Bud.
Yeah people who don't like Guinness or dark beers in general tend to assume it's really heavy and highly alcoholic but no. I drink it because it's like as close to a milkshake as beer can get lol
@nomadnuka716 I would say a milk stout is the closest you could get to a beer milk shake. I have this peanut butter chocolate beer I'm gonna try tomorrow, can't wait. 7.1%abv
Stopped drinking in August. I only drank 1-2 times a week before that. Since then I'm hitting PRs all the time and feel amazing at work. Sleep has improved hugely.
I stopped drinking in August too and got more serious in the gym. I feel so much better! Sleep is huge. I feel really well rested and ready to go now rather than lethargic in the morning. I'm happily getting things done up until bedtime. It took a couple months to really notice this. In the past I'd do a month sober here and there and never really saw the difference.
Guinness is incredibly low in calories. Coming in at 125cal for their full flavored beer, it has always been my option when i can't stand another watered down American light beer.
I don’t know what “Guinness” you’re drinking but a pint of Guinness here in Ireland has 210 calories per pint. A bottle of Guinness which is not made the same as a traditional pint has 125 calories.. But those do taste like bubbly piss 😅
A calorie is just a measurement unit invented by humans. However, the body deals with calories in different ways. The alcohol's calories come from Ethanol which is toxic and the body will not absorb it. That's why you see people who drinks alcohol all day around and they are skinny. However, don't eat when you drink alcohol or short after as all that food will be stored as fat as the body shuts down the nutrients absorption until it gets out the ethanol.
@@davidp.8050 That's why you can see people who drinks all day arround and they are skinny. Bro 99% of people who drink all day around that I know are completly obese
I really appreciate this checklist, realizing I already follow majority of these items and that last point hit home for me. Sharing with my friends now, thanks!
actually most of the items on the list are very bad for your health: pure alcohol is terrible for your stomach , liver, intestine flora and body in general, calories from alcohol are often called 0 calories because they don't really metabolize in anything useful for your body(in fact is poison) which only tried to get rid of it asap, don't eat heavy stuff after alcohol because your liver is under heavy stress already so adding fats will likely cause it to suffer, don't drink on empty stomach if you don't want ulcer and actually eat a lot before which will slow down alcohol intake and will make you feel full faster and so on . I appreciate his advice on muscle stuff but in this case he gave really bad advice. A good advice is to drink a lot of water after you stop drinking because the alcohol will simply dehydrate you( add hydrolites to it and b vitamins) . Also something useful will be an aspirin or pain killer to deal with the headache and contract your blood vessels (don't overdo it though, because your liver is under stress already),
Fun fact Guinness only has 125 calories with 4.2%abv so that’s the same amount of alcohol and only 15 extra calories vs Bud Light (29 calories more than my drink of choice Miller Lite). They are low key the lightest “non light” beer
Also I believe that beers like Guinness that have less bubbles than say a lager, will let less alcohol be absorbed into the bloodstream. I’ve had this science explained to me more than once but I’m apparently too stupid to understand the details. Something to do with surface area I think. Beer like Guinness is an aquired taste like olives and wine. When you get to really like beers that actually taste something you are tempted by the taste, like chocolate. So drinking it becomes more about taste than vodka and diet soda. Having said that, the video definitely speaks the truth about alcohol, fitness and sleep. Drinking is not especially healthy.
Hey Dr Mike - really appreciate this as it's something I've been wondering for a while. Just couple of things though... 1) Guinness doesn't actually have that many calories without the alcohol - the 0.0% stuff is only 75 calories for a 440ml can, which I don't think is too bad 2) How much does this apply for regular but light drinking? For example, rather than drinking to get drunk, someone who just loves wine and wants a glass every / every other day (whilst still being sure to stay within their calorie limit)? Thank you!
Regular light drinking shouldnt actually be a problem if its actually light. One small glass of wine will barely be noticable in ur protein synthesis and other stuff.
Bro, you blindsided me by the Knjaz Milos! I was chugging back a bit when you pulled that bottle out. Nearly [expletive deleted] spat it out at my screen in surprise. That alone earned you a subscribe. Really like the videos, keep up the good work. :)
This is legit a remake video of the alcohol and fat loss one LOL. I mean I'm not complaining or anything, I love to watch Dr. Mike explain things in entertaining ways. Side note, been sober for almost five months now and I can honestly say that my gains have improved. Not astronomically, but there is tangible progress.
Usually when people "get sober" they weren't working out before hand. Good for you. I had a friend on heroin who would jog on the beach. Swim distances and ate healthy foods. Unfortunately he died of an overdose. Sad.
I watch this video today for the first time ever and this video is the reason I’m subscribing to the channel. What an amazing video and what a funny guy
I went dry at the beginning of December '23 and i'll never go back to drinking! I feel amazing, don't get hangovers, sleep great, and don't have to worry about acting like a fool or getting a DUI! Now I stick with NA beers if i want a cold one! ;)
This is an absolutely great video. Awesome information with a realistic approach to the subject of cutting losses vs abstinence. Extra points for your mentioning the weed alternative. Glad I found this channel.
Thank you for this discussion. The advise of "don't drink" is not going to happen, so having a mitigation plan while still enjoying some drinks is great.
Even a beer a day will reduce the grey matter in your brain. Pretty much all of its effects are deleterious due to it being water and fat soluble, plus being literal poison that causes cancer. Weed and meditation are better.
I drink Guinness through the fall and winter for whatever reason almost exclusively. Describing it as having a lot of calories, it only has 15cal more than an equal 12oz serving of the big light beers.
@@joshaustin9119false. Alcohol widens your blood vessels, making more blood flow to your skin. That makes you blush and feel warm and toasty. But not for long. The heat from that extra blood passes right out of your body, causing your temperature to drop.
"Just have insane genetics and are alcoholics" Both Lawrence Taylor and Dennis Rodman were in this catagory. These also did hard drugs on top of the alcohol but were still hall of famers. Insane.
A pretty good idea to mention for any of this is that you should keep water handy, drink water when you're thirsty, drink alcohol when you want more buzz. The biggest thing I see people fall into isn't just that they think more booze will be more fun, but they get dehydrated from the alcohol and then they're thirsty so they drink their drink/beer and after a while they're effed up and thirsty and really not having a good time. DRINK WATER when you're thirsty. DRINK WATER before. DRINK WATER after. Booze is a drug. Take it for the effects, don't drink it as a beverage.
Regards from Serbia dr Mike :) Flawless pronunciation of Knjaz Miloš 💪 I have to say I did put alcohol on the back-burner for a while now, very seldom do I enjoy a dram of whisky as I used to. Once in a while maybe, like once a month, or even less than that, and this video is the reason. And when I do, I stay within these guidelines, it just makes so much sense. Anyway...loving RP Hypertrophy app, it's a huge boost to my training :) Thank you for all the great info, and the jokes, it wouldn't be the same without the jokes ;)
Well, I'm too fond of all my bottles to give them away, but I will happily share them with good company 😊 Whisky doesn't spoil with time, it patiently waits for you whenever you're ready, like a very loyal friend 😄
I quit drinking in April and it was the best decision I even made. I have made so much progress in the gym and my mental health has improved as well. It took a me a long time to realize this but alcohol is legitimate poison.
Knjaz Miloš???? Well done! I drink a few of those a week! 😆 I usually drink no more than 2-3 drinks when I'm drinking alcohol. It's a rare thing for me these days being middle aged with kids and all. I haven't had a drink in over a month now due to being too busy to get out, but I haven't noticed any difference in performance, sleep, weight, or strength.
You might notice if you have two or three drinks for three nights in a row and then try a big physical effort. The body is very resilient, but alcohol has a cumulative stress effect. That said, it sounds like you are doing better without it.
Guinness is without a doubt my favorite drink of all time. It even gave me the courage to ask out my wife. (Who coincidentally is at the shop buying Guinness right now)
Alcohol single handedly kept me 20-25 lbs heavier than I wanted for about 10 years. Even with a very clean diet, 6 days a week workout routine, 3 days a week cardio in the morning, I could not get to 200 lbs, which is what looks solid for my frame. My guess is that alcohol affected my metabolism soo much that I was never in fat burning mode. All that extra cardio and 2 hour workouts were just treading water. Once I stopped drinking, I was losing weight at a rate of 5 lbs per month while maintaining strength. Eventually it tapered off to a new plateau, where my body pretty much maintains 202 lbs without doing any cardio and 60 minutes of lifting a day. I tore my meniscus so I can’t lean up yet like I’d like to, but vascularity appeared out of nowhere.
Great video. I have been trying to taper off alcohol. I am disciplined in my workouts but drinking and diet are another story. Maybe it's my head playing tricks but I swear if I work out, get lots of sleep and don't drink at all the night before I look noticeably bigger when I wake up the next day. Days of working out, followed by drinking and a lack of sleep I don't look as good. That is why this video makes a lot of sense to me personally. Essentially I think everyone will reach a crossroads. You will either take your health more seriously, or will value the cheap hits, such as drinking, eating junk food, being a couch potato and so forth for your happiness. At 35 I feel a shift in what I value. The drunk nights are dwindling and slowly I am making better choices in terms of diet. Never worked out seriously until the last 8 months or so. Never realized how out of shape I was. I'm feeling so much better these days I can't imagine quitting training or going back to drinking at the pace I used to.
My ex is an ICU nurse. Lots of people actually die from trying to quit alone. Weaning is good. Nutrition is critical. Medical support is essential. Good luck! You got this…if you really want it.
Dr Mike, I know you and Scott the video guy have content made months in advance but I saw a study that showed scrolling on Instagram before a set decreased maximal output due to mental fatigue. I’d love to see a video on this!
I wanna say sometimes when I scroll through particular news articles on Instagram it gives me the anger to push harder. MPMD once did a video on improving set performance by watching porn between sets, fighting videos or looking at Insta-chicks might work similarly. I would say the bottom line is only do that for maybe 25% of your sets. Don't now about that study your talking about but I imagine scrolling Insta between all sets for more than half a minute might add more fatique depending on the content.
I could even see that there might be a decrease in fatigue if for instance you only follow and look at accounts that post ambient nature or spa-holiday type content to relax you mind before a set although there might not be an extra drive added to go harder as with scrolling through hot women or violence.
Possibly we could infer from my prior claims and yours that Instagram usage can easily add more fatigue unless consumed content is selected specifically for relaxation or extra mental drive. My argument is that the feeds of most users are such a random mix of relaxing and arousing(mental drive improving) content and that this mix(and mix of felt emotions) rather leads to a net negative and decreased maximal output like your study claimed(which again I have no knowledge of).
I pass the "maximum fun" point like a stock car passes the trackside camera during a race. Because of that I'm not touching a drop until my bday in may of next yr. I'm trying to maximize my efforts in the next 8 months and alcohol has no place in that plan. Even once a month the overall damage is in the thousands of extra calories between food and drink and that's an easy way to erase weeks of hard earned progress in a few hours. Alcohol can be undeniable fun but it is literally self administered poison.
The effects on sleep are well researched. For a deeper dive Matthew Walker has written a fantastic book covering many areas of sleep including alcohol's effect on sleep.
This is this best schedule drinking for me: I have found better progress drinking just shy of failure. Every 48 hours as many reps as I possibly can with good form. But hey I'm a big proponent of high-volume training. I have been told my training camps are crazy though. Usually, about 2 weeks pushing to failure every day. Every month or 2.
I have this weird experience whereby if I drink the night before (rarely) the next day I have more energy for training, not less. It takes longer for me to fatigue. The only thing I can conclude is it's the extra calories (I don't eat more when drinking, I tend to eat the same or slightly less, my diet is boringly similar day in day out) and that this might indicate that I need to be eating more.
Could be since it impacts sleeping/circadian rhythm, that your body is tricked into still believing it's in a wakeful state. I bet you become very tired post workout as the body detoxifies.
my experience: I stopped worrying so much about alcohol. I drink with friends and I enjoy it. Next week I add a few reps and I work out more. I stopped sacrificing days of happiness for the "perfect body". I once had it when I was 30+ and it took so much effort and in the end it was not worth it FOR ME. I praise people that can sacrifice meals and social events for it... not for me thanks.
I lost 32lbs and had the best physique I ever had and drank every weekend. Never beer though. I just had my diet in check through the week and followed a strict program 🤷♂️. Even on the weekends my diet was good. I imagine my progress would have been better without the booze but I was able to get in shape and enjoy myself at the end of the week.
Stopped drinking November 6th of last year. Best decision I ever made. I sleep better, I've had more energy at the gym and I've gotten leaner. Never again!
Most if this is aimed at "drinking" drinking. Getting drunk to an extent. How much effect would you say there is in the realm of a simple glass of wine or a single beer at the end of the day type drinking? 1 glass or ale as a semi daily ritual seems to benefit me overall. 2 glasses or ales and I see the sleep stats alter for sure on the aura app.
Weird way to put this, but “thankfully” knowing I have a mother who is a severe alcoholic, I don’t drink hardly ever except in social settings (and even then, I don’t drink too much), so I can keep my training as my focus and avoiding becoming my mother.
I wish you would go into more details on the correlation between alcohol and protein synthesis. Is it the alcohol itself that is deleterious or is it the lack of quality sleep that the alcohol provides that indirectly affects protein synthesis??
so thankful for this video! im 26 and my days of regular excessive drinking are behind me, but for the occasions where I do want have a few drinks or maybe even a few more its great to have some basic guidelines to keep in mind. as with most drugs it just makes more sense to focus on harm reduction instead of telling people to "just dont do it". yeah lifting is great and all, but whats the use if i cant tell my besties to feel my biceps when Im tipsy??
Thank you for this video,really, this thing with alcohol and exercise is part of my inner monologue for the period after COVID. I have so many questions to ask,lest I realised that they're all seeking for answers to get around the problem (it's a problem) and not facing it.
Alcohol has greatly improved the quality of my life, so thank you. It’s great I don’t have to give up what I love most for something stupid like lifting weights and getting strong. (In all honestly most of these tips are great for anybody who drinks even occasionally, especially the ”stop it when you’re in the mix” -one).
I love your video's man really confirms my biases, either that or I knew this stuff and youre just reaffirming my beliefs, I rarely drink but when I do its like 2 shots of whiskey with spring water as a chaser.
For those of us who enjoy moderate drinking this is a great video. Ill drink 1-3 times per month, and have 2-4 drinks when I do. Its always a great time, and i think this level of moderation has close to no effect on my training results. If i feel like Ive hit a plateau at some point in future though, scrapping the drinking could be the next experiment.
I was at a comedy show and someone in the audience was drinking a Guinness. The comedian pointed him out and said "Why don't you just take a shot of vodka and eat a loaf of bread instead?"
It's even worse than 'killing your gains'. I have been a heavy drinker for almost my entire life. One day I was really hungover and went play padel tennis like usual, my body-mind connection was so off I had a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, double fracture, and meniscal injury. I'd probably never had this injury if I didn't drink. One year later I had ACL surgery, completely stopped drinking, dialed my diet in and started lifting in the gym. Life saving injury kind of, but I wish more people to be aware of how devastating alcohol is for your life in general.
I drink once a week on average. But to what my wife calls an excessive level 🤔 😬 5 to 10 (uk) pints of strong lager every other friday after the gym. Then every other saturday on an afternoon binge, usually followed by shots 😬
If young people spent more time learning how to have a good time they wouldn't need nearly as much alcohol to fool themselves into thinking that they're doing something fun.
@@tbx59 I'm comparing young people with people who are a bit older, not young people now with young people at other times. And plenty of older people drink alcohol, just usually for different reasons than pretending that they're having a good time. Many of those older people would benefit from learning how to cope with their problems rather than using alcohol to pretend that they've coped with their problems. There's nothing wrong with alcohol-it can be pleasant-but it's a bad idea to use it instead of being competent at being happy. It's fine when a happy man uses it to be happier, but happy men do not, as a rule, drink themselves into drunkenness. As with everything you put in your mouth, the dose makes the poison.
Yeah, it's way to socially acceptable to drink all the time... I live on a campus and most people drink heavily everyday, while those of us sober it's hard to do anything social because drunk people is like hanging with 12 year olds...
@@datahigh The solution isn't, I think, to make it socially unacceptable to drink, but rather to teach people how to have a good time, so that when they want to have a good time they'll do fun things instead of pretending to have a good time and believing their BS because they're too drunk to know better. I'm oversimplifying because this is a RU-vid comment and not a blog post, but as in diet, it's much easier to crowd out bad choices with good choices than to just remove bad choices and live with the resulting void. It would help, though, if people stopped pretending that drunk people are wildly entertaining and actually having a good time, so that people who don't know better get misled into trying drinking when they want to have fun.
@@MissingTheMark I agree in theory, but the people are too far gone... Drinking is so deeply engrained in such large portions of society. I was ignorant to it before, I grew up in a nice/wealthy civilized area... Ok so I knew people were alcoholics here and there, but now I'm in the Midwest... It's like parents buying their teenagers cases of beer, half gallons of hard alcohol, preteens with mixed drink walking with their families to the stadium because it's saturday game day... I largely blame sports, sports fans are delusional because they take children's games seriously... like it's meant for fun entertainments... but they watch so much and get bored so then become more invested to make it less boring and drink... it's basically stalkhome syndrome where the people only have sports so eventually they embrace it, the identity, they're a sports fan... Then people from like Chicago area all the way to Ohio... they're technically in the midwest but they spread all over... there are humans on the earth, and then there are human-shaped apes from Chicago, and I'm not being racist... it doesn't matter if they're white or black... most people who leave Chicago are white and they're still all incredibly trashy and they all drink at least ten beers a day per person and if anything at all is occurring it's an excuse to drink till they drop... Like yeah.. you can't tell them anything, they don't even have an awareness of what drinking is, it's just normal.... ten beers a day is simply normal... Telling them alcohol is bad, is like saying spending too much time on social media is bad, "yeah... ok..."
I quit drinking years ago, but I always would have water between drinks. This allows you to always have a drink in your hand while hydrating between alcohol.
Ive cut out caffeine after 3pm and limited it to 300mg per day maximum. Just doing that and putting down screens an hour before bed has gotten me to a healthy circadian rhythm
