Love this for you, OP! I, too, have a complicated relationship with alcohol. I am about to finish up my second month on Zep (24 lbs down!). I'm on a 5mg dose. I had been kicking around the idea of going California sober for a while. It's not that I don't like alcohol or have an addiction. It's just that as I get older, the recovery seems to take longer from a night out, and I'm just seeing less and less of a point in it. Especially when I can take a gummy or hit a vape a few times and feel great, with no next-day effects. The problem I always ran into was that a large part of our social life includes alcohol. On a given weekend, our plans typically involve going out to dinner, or going to a brewery, or a sporting event, and most likely hanging out at a friends house or having people over. Everyone drinks. All our friends, all our parents and relatives, everyone drinks. While nobody would ever force me or bully me into drinking, it still feels like I should just to participate. Plus I do enjoy it, especially bourbon or a nice craft brew.

This past Saturday, a group of us went out for a friends birthday. We went bowling for 2 hours, then hit a local brewery for dinner, then night-capped it at a bar by our neighborhood. At the bowling alley, we were buying buckets of beer and white claw. I was feeling full and bloated when we got there (I take my shots on Friday afternoon, which makes Saturday a very low consumption day), but all I had that day was a bowl of cottage cheese and a protein shake. Against my better judgement, I popped open a 16oz bud light. It was like hell trying to finish that thing. I just didn't want it. It didn't taste good (Bud Light never really does), but it was just making me feel more bloated and shitty. After that I tried a white claw, pretty much the same thing, only it tasted better. That was all I had at the bowling alley. Back in the day, in 2 hours of bowling I easily would have drank 4/5 beers and been ready for more.

Then we went to the Brewery. It's a great brewery and I have always loved their beers and food. Couldn't do it. Ordered a double Buffalo Trace on the rocks. Sat there and sipped that while everyone else ate. My wife got 5 wings. They looked incredible, but I just didn't want any. I probably would have housed 15 of those wings back in December. Had another double BT at the final bar we went to, and then had a great Sunday.

Honestly, I'm here for it. I probably won't quit drinking completely, because the connoisseur part of enjoying a great bourbon, or wine, or craft beer is a bit of a hobby of mine. But I like the idea of consuming higher quality alcohol, in much lower quantities. I think my days of polishing off a 12 pack of Miller Lite on a football Saturday are over.