November no Drinker, As a drinking man who does a fair bit of cycling, or a cyclist who does a fair bit of drinking… I decided to give up drink altogether for the month of November. I did not know if it would be easy or hard, given that I consistently drink a bottle of wine a day and in the weekends would top that up with a few pints as well. Over drinking some would say, but I have no problem getting up every day at 8AM and doing long cycle rides with good average speeds and height gains.
36 hours in and I already knew that I was sleeping more soundly and on the second morning I had a resting heart rate of 60BPM which for me is quite good. I needed to find some scales to weigh myself.
Two nights on and the sleeping is very good, off to bed around 11PM feeling the need for sleep and sleeping through the night no problem. Resting heart beat of 58 BPM and a weight of 92KG which puts me 6.5KG over the BMI, which is a bit of a joke in any case. Cycling well and doing some good times on the climbs. I do feel the need for chocolate so I guess I am finding a replacement for the drink, this should wear off…
A week in and heart beat at rest is down to 56BPM just goes to show the effort the body uses to eliminate the toxins in alcohol. On day 9 went for a cycle with the Katurk cycling lads and did three hours at 30KMH, it is very flat around Kanturk though. The heart rate keeps going down and is now 53BPM. Day 10 and I have covered 300 KM and 2000 meters of climbing, I still weigh 92KG I do feel slimmer and fitter though and that is as important.
The days are passing by without much to mention, there is no difficulty in not drinking. Went to a party where most people were drinking away and it made zero difference, apart from going home at 12:30 as I was so tired. Sleep is much better without drink. Oh and now on day 16 my resting heart rate is down to 51BPM, I have lost 1KG and so far this month I have cycled 422 KM and climbed 4500 Meters.
Day 18, now I’ve cycled 471 KM and Climbed 5100 Meters.
So after three weeks I have treated myself to a fitness watch (read review here) that calculates my Heart Rate and speed whilst cycling or walking etc, apparently it tells me I have a V02 Max of 48 which is very good for my age. So after three weeks and a day I have now cycled 642 KM with 7000 Meters.
Day 24 another short cycle and weight down to 90KG when I went to bed I had a slow heart beat so counted it for three minutes it was down to 45BPM. This morning (day25) when I awoke I counted again to 48, strange. I also did a V02 test and was up to 60 which amazes me. I wonder how good the test is… (Tested using https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/ and that gave me 58)
November no Drinker
Day 30 last day resting heart rate consistently around the 48BPM, 750 KM on the bike and a height gain of 9000 meters. I weigh 89.5KG
Oh and by the way:
I have not snored all month…
I sleep really well
I have lost a bit of weight
I feel good
In conclusion, I found it very easy to not drink, and in fact now two days into December and I think I will go another few days. Give it a go.
November No Drinker
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