# addictions



## smavter (10 Nov 2009)

Me being prone to addictions, i.e. smoking and drinking and, when i was younger,the occasional illegal substances is wondering what other cc members have experienced.

Now that i am a bit older and have quit smoking and drinking too much because i like feeling fit better, i do feel alot happier. However, last weekend i drank a bit too much during a social occasiion and felt like i needed to drink more and smoke cigarettes again. The next day i felt guilty, mainly because i was too hung over to get my bike ready for a ride and riding it for that matter.

I felt guilty all weekend long! I'm just wondering how other cc members cope with similiar situations. Are there any people out there with the same problem?


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## jay clock (10 Nov 2009)

I train 7 days a week. That's my addiction. Offset by eating tons


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## Bayerd (10 Nov 2009)

smavter said:


> Me being prone to addictions, i.e. smoking and drinking and, when i was younger,the occasional illegal substances is wondering what other cc members have experienced.
> 
> Now that i am a bit older and have quit smoking and drinking too much because i like feeling fit better, i do feel alot happier. However, last weekend i drank a bit too much during a social occasiion and felt like i needed to drink more and smoke cigarettes again. The next day i felt guilty, mainly because i was too hung over to get my bike ready for a ride and riding it for that matter.
> 
> I felt guilty all weekend long! I'm just wondering how other cc members cope with similiar situations. Are there any people out there with the same problem?



On the drinking too much bit, I force myself out on the bike regardless of how bad I'm feeling and tend to find that after a few miles I've sweated a lot of it out of me. I also find that planning rides for the following mornings helps curb the booze enthusiasm just a bit the day before. I've also got an addictive personality and tend to be all or nothing with everything I do. Cycling is the current one, I've been back on a bike since August this year after 20 years off and ride more or less every day.


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## dudi (11 Nov 2009)

jay clock said:


> I train 7 days a week. That's my addiction. Offset by eating tons



+1 to this - though i only train 6 days a week and only do that half heartedly.
but the eating tons bit--- yep if i wasn't a cyclist i'd be 20 stone easilly i reckon


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## nosherduke996 (11 Nov 2009)

Just cycling at the moment ?


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## Lisa21 (11 Nov 2009)

I have never smoked, hardly ever have a drink and have never touched drugs but I have an extremely addictive personality which is probably why I havent-I know if I started Id go ott.

My absolute passions in life are cycling and horses; Cycling for the fitness,to offset the huge amount of wrong foods that I eat(a lot of)and for the sheer buzz you get from a really good ride, and horses because they are amazing animals once you have that special bond.

They are my addictions. Oh, and cake


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## jay clock (11 Nov 2009)

> I train 7 days a week. That's my addiction. Offset by eating tons


just in case you think I am only addicted to cycling, I swim three times a week and run three times too....


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## ACS (11 Nov 2009)

Like Lisa21 I have never smoked, but I do like a drink. I do not drink to excess because I do not like being ill for the following day. Couple glasses of wine does nicely but never more. 

I think I am addicted to the natural high (endorphin) that I get from exercise. I suffer from depression and PTSD, now managed by medication and I find the endorphin release helps me feel good about myself. 
Positive, achievable goals promote a higher level of well being which not only benefits the individual but those around them as well. Truth wrapped up in a cliché perhaps but true nevertheless. 

That said exercise levels have also to be managed as over-training is definitely counter-productive and can very quickly drag you down to a dark, lethargic place that can be exasperated by injuries.


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## beachcaster (11 Nov 2009)

FOOD.............and its hard to give up.
Dont drink much alcahol......and luckily have never smoked a cigarette in my life
mainly because as a kid I was always sent down to the local shop to buy them for my dad...seemed a waste of money.

Luckily this year I found cycling..............have lost a fair bit of weight
and Im taking a slightly different view on comfort eating.

Trouble is I do love all the wrong things
at least cycling is burning a lot of it up !!!!!

barry


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## ianrauk (11 Nov 2009)

I smoked from the age of 15 to 21 when my son was born. Haven't touched a cig since.
Have tried most drugs known to man in my early adult years and beyond, not proud of the fact but the business I was/am in it was the norm. Used to be a very heavy drinker, I think mainly due to the fact my parents liked the pop. Used to guzzle up the remains of many a party 7 can. Met my wife, she said I was drinking too much so decided to cut back. I first cut out the lunch time drinking, then evenings during the week, then not at home at all. It has now got to the point where I only drink if I am out at a social get together, gig or at football (of which is usually the only time now I get plastered).
And of course I do like a pint or two on a bike ride as a few on here will testify.
I can now go weeks without a tipple quite easy. But boy, that first beer after not having a drink for a while is usually bloody glorious. Thought about giving up the booze altogether... but... nah....


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## slinky malinky (11 Nov 2009)

Addicted .....to cycling, can't drink alcohol (makes me very ill) so have not had any since Feb 2009 can't say I miss it either, I have this constant nagging to get on the bike, normally 6 times a week for about 40 min to an hour (longer if allowed) if I don't get to ride I get the blues, been like this for about a year, although always liked bikes I never was addicted as I am now regardless of weather I am out there, her in doors thinks I am mad but doesnt mind as she can see the good it has done me I've have never felt fitter.


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## Dayvo (11 Nov 2009)

jay clock said:


> just in case you think I am only addicted to cycling, I swim three times a week and run three times too....



Treading water doesn't count! 

Not really an addiction, but I have phases of several weeks where I eat FAR too much chocolate, then can go months without the need to eat or buy any. 

September and October were BIG chocolate months and November, hopefully, will be the easing-off month, although it hasn't started too promisingly.

It's only chocolate I have these cravings for, not other sweets or cakes, biscuits etc.


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## Fiona N (11 Nov 2009)

I may have an anti-addictive personality - if I think I'm getting too fond of something not healthy (curli-wurlies, nip of whisky before bedtime, watching 'Spiral'....) I just decide to stop before it gets to be a habit  

Maybe lucky really since I'm sure friends would say I'm addicted to exercise, but I'm not. It's just that if I don't get out on the bike regularly, I'd be the size of an elephant since I'm one of the unfortunates for whom being in the same room as cake leads to weight-gain. And once you're out there on the bike, you may as well stay out for an hour of two (or three or more... )


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## Speck (11 Nov 2009)

Dayvo said:


> Treading water doesn't count!
> 
> Not really an addiction, but I have phases of several weeks where I eat FAR too much chocolate, then can go months without the need to eat or buy any.
> 
> ...



Chocolate turkey it is then

http://www.lakechamplainchocolates....lates/Thanksgiving-Chocolate-Centerpiece.aspx


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## andrew-the-tortoise (11 Nov 2009)

Pork products.


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## Dayvo (11 Nov 2009)

Speck said:


> Chocolate turkey it is then





And stuffed full with marzipan! Or coffee cream!


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## trio25 (11 Nov 2009)

I'm another with an addictive personnality. At the moment the addiction is cycling and has been for a couple of years. Before that it was snowboarding. I am very aware of what I am like so stay away from drugs etc. For instance I learnt to crochet hats, I now have 100's!!!! 

Alcohol I have to be careful with, I think I could easily get into bad habits. I don't go out on drinking nights as I am not good at stopping. But a pint or two after a night mountain bike ride works well for me!


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## lukesdad (11 Nov 2009)

Nuts. Luv em.


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## Jane Smart (12 Nov 2009)

I also have a very addictive personality. If I do something, I do it head on or not at all.

I no longer drink alcohol as I would rather be cycling, so it has been some time now since I had a drink, but don't miss it.

I have never smoked nor done drugs, but I have discovered chocolate and am loving it and still losing weight 

I am off out on my bike now for my "daily fix" of cycling


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## RabbitFood (12 Nov 2009)

i tend to find that with drinking im not botherd if i dont drink but when i have 1 i find it very hard not to have at least 2 more unless i have to be somewhere.

Cycling is my new addiction tho, for the past 12 months and of course Football always have been always will be


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## Rhythm Thief (12 Nov 2009)

Smoking is the daddy of them all ... I smoked from age 34 to about ten days ago and am trying my best to knock it on the head properly this time. (Not helped when the chap who drives my lorry on days leaves his baccy and papers in the cab, as he did last night. I never gave in, though!) And I do like a drink: I'm not one of these who has to get drunk every time I go out, but it's a rare night for me when I don't have a beer or a glass of wine after work.


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## smavter (12 Nov 2009)

thanks guys, its really interesting to see how other people deal with it. 

I have to say, cycling is my number one addiction too though. ive quit smoking again now and hoping to keep it that way.


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## beancounter (12 Nov 2009)

I think constantly buying bicycles is a form of addiction.

bc


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## ChrisKH (12 Nov 2009)

Forced myself to give up smoking when I was 16/17 and glad that I did. Don't like drinking (I'm like Ian; I drink at a function and at Xmas, and occasional one in summer or after a ride) and can't trust myself with anything illicit. I have a small 'problem' with prescription drugs (makes me sound like Michael Jackson, just poorer) but my consultant is aware and it's because alternatives just aren't available that work. The drug is addictive but it's just a case of being disciplined. Sounds more exciting than it is really.


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## Glow worm (12 Nov 2009)

For me- and this will sound weird - my addiction is radios. I know- I'm a Geek. I own about 100 at least and there are several in every room. There's even one on the bike and one on the allotment in a plastic bag under the strawberries. The fault lies with an Irishman who in 1983 parked a ship 12 miles off Clacton and started broadcasting (Caroline- I never heard the 60s version) - I've been hooked ever since, although my seafaring heroes have been forced inland (for now at least). 

I do like a beer or two as well but now I'm in my 40's I can't take so much anymore without head repercussions next day. I'm lucky never to have smoked though them roll ups smell lovely.


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## The Jogger (13 Nov 2009)

I was the equivalent of a bottle a day man. On sept 11th just gone, I was twenty years of the drink. I use to smoke twenty a day fifteen years of that. Now it's running and cycling.


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## pubrunner (13 Nov 2009)

beancounter said:


> I think constantly buying bicycles is a form of addiction.
> 
> bc



Yes, the ONLY addiction that I have.

I believe that in *some* cases people use the word 'addiction' as an 'excuse' when perhaps they mean lack of self-discipline.


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## beancounter (13 Nov 2009)

pubrunner said:


> I believe that in *some* cases people use the word 'addiction' as an 'excuse' when perhaps they mean lack of self-discipline.



Quite!

(beancounter stares lovingly at the Merckx LXM carbon frame awaiting build in the corner of his office)

(having just got off the phone to the LBS confirming Feb 2010 delivery of the Colnago C50 on order)

bc


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## aka0019 (22 Nov 2009)

Cadbury Boosts mmmmmmmm!


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## Bandini (22 Nov 2009)

I do not have an addictive personality. I have given up smoking and other addictive things with little problem. But if I enjoy doing something, and the pleasure outweighs the pain (and I mean that in a wide sense: not just selfishly indulging - thinking about 'costs' to self and others over time etc.), I just get stuck in and enjoy it as much as I can. 

"Everything in moderation, including moderation."

I think cycling is going top consume a lot of my time. Enjoyed it as a teen, but working abroad a lot, then having young kids etc etc has meant a long gap. Now I think it will be something I always do.


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## Dayvo (22 Nov 2009)

aka0019 said:


> Cadbury Boosts mmmmmmmm!



Cadbury's _anything!_



Bandini said:


> "Everything in moderation, including moderation."



'Everything in moderation, and I MEAN everything!'


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## Kirstie (28 Nov 2009)

Interesting thread, this.

I don't have an addictive personality, but there have been times in my life when I have smoked and taken drugs compulsively. It was because I was compensating for a massive loss I had to endure, and it took quite a bit of counselling to come to terms with the loss. Now I have I don't tend to have any addictive behaviours.

My husband has a compulsive spending addiction and its not funny. He's had several thousand pounds of mine without my knowledge, serious debt problems and we've had to remortgage the house to get out of it - try getting a decent mortgage with bad debt. After 10 years of this, him concealing his problem and nearly losing his marriage he's finally seeking help from an addiction counsellor. Once again its an unresolved loss that is at the root of it. He's basically a good person who has a horrible affliction.

Sad thing is that if you're the partner of someone with a compulsive behaviour like this you are often driven to the end of your tether before anything changes. Then you have to dig even deeper while the person tries to recover. I cannot emphasise enough how hard this is. I have amazing friends and family who are helping and so I count myself lucky.


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## Rhythm Thief (28 Nov 2009)

Glow worm said:


> I'm lucky never to have smoked though *them roll ups smell lovely*.



Nice to hear that someone else thinks so too! I'm still off the rollies (three weeks today) but just sometimes I'm tempted when someone else walks past me smoking one ...


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## Willo (28 Nov 2009)

I seem to have quite an addicitve personality. For example, giving up smoking years ago was extremely difficult for me (but well worth the effort). These days, keeping fit has become a bit of an addiction which partly offsets my love for food and a few scoops of Guinness. Whilst I started to exercise to keep fit phyically, for me the obsession to do exercise a few times a week now comes from how good it makes me feel mentally; in particular, how much better I cope with stress. I can have the world on my shoulders thinking about another week in the office, but after a good cycle, run or whatever I'm ready to face anything. 

Whilst anything has to be kept to sensible limits, by channelling an addictive tendency towards something like cycling is obviously a great counter for other temptations which take life down a not so healthy path.

After cycling or the gym every morning this week, I'm now off for a well earned steak and a pint (or 2!) of the dark stuff


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