On the fourteenth day of Abstinence my true love gave to me....

The weekend has been and gone with little drama, which is always, in the words of "1066 and All That", A good thing. I have not touched a drop for 14 days now, which sets a record for me since my last great abstinence in 1993 (183 days). There are some strange effects to quiting beer after what amounts to a 11 year party. They are as follows:

1) Cravings. Not the of the "Oh my God, where is my fix!" type, but more subtle and situational. Such as eating a steak and wanting a red wine. Or watching a film at home and wanting heineken and crisps. Or seeing a nice real ale at Jasons and thinking - "God - they never have that in Singapore. I must buy some. Altogether it is something like losing a friend.

2) Social leprosy. As an ex-drinker I have been asked out once. I am not sure if this is because people are worried I will find pubs difficult, but it is strange, as I am used to going and being asked, out, regularly

3) The big chill. My temper is far easier to control - I just don't lose it so easily (not that I ever lost it easily)

4) Gym. OMG - my gym performance has improved. In two weeks my pace for 5k runs has increased to 13k/ph from 11kph, my lifts are better and muscle growth has speeded up. I am also losing what is left of my paunch quicker

5) Appetite. Over eating has gone down, but my appetite has improved. I tend to be eating smaller portions more regularly.

6) Finance. Egads - my bank balance is startign not to be in a permanent state of freefall. It appears taht I may have been pissing my wage against the wall for entirely too long. If I had done this 5 years ago I suspect that my first quarter million would be in the bank already :(

So there we are. Oh yes - I also went to SMU over the weekend and have decided I need to add swimming to my list of exercises. Along with my running and cycling. Can anyone say tri-athlon? :-)

TKD update - will be joining a Dutch dojang in three weeks - until then I wil continue to practice at home as I see no point paying for a terms fees in Singapore when I (ostensibly) leave in three weeks.

Three weeks - um - better organise a dinner or party. My schedule currently is:

15 Nov Holland
22 Nov Brazil
29 Nov Singapore
6 Dec Holland / UK
13 Dec Singapore
20 Dec Holland

tata