[aresant]

"by 7 pm the stress of the day makes that beer (and couch time with the wife) so much more appealing."

a) As soon as you get off work exercise. hit the driving range, swim, go to gym, run. Hire a trainer and pay in advance for 3 months so there's a penalty for not doing it. Exercise is the worst enemy of stress and alcohol.

b) Wake up early to work on your start-up projects, and flip your addiction to two cups of good coffee in the AM. It's much easier to be unproductive come evening, the old "Idle Hands Are The Devil's Tools" is especially true. Get up at 5am - you're not going to drink before work, and you're going to pass your ass out about 9 - 9:30 each night.

Neither sounds easy, but both are rewarding when you get over the preliminary hump of getting into a routine.

[runjake]

Before a), you need to get some counseling. Just getting exercise or trying to out-discipline an addiction isn't going to work.

And that's what you have, is an addiction. Your post and your comments showcase just about every trait of alcoholism.

[Homunculiheaded]

It's also very important to note alcohol is one of the very few chemicals where withdraw can actually kill you. If you currently drink heavy and are thinking of quitting cold turkey or cutting it out from your day entirely definitely consult a doctor first.

[donniefitz2]

I agree. Until you deal with the root issue, you're only going to replace one addiction with another (beer for weed). Why be addicted to anything, or what's the fundemental cause of your dependence on substance? That's the real question you need to answer.

[iamanonymous]

Good idea...however, I already work out. I agree with you that it helps, but doesn't completely do it for me for some reason.

[rue]

Exercising after alcohol consumption (during hangover phase) is flat-out dangerous. Not sure whether that is affected by tolerance, but chances are you are not getting the most out of your workout routine.

[imeikas]

> Hire a trainer and pay in advance for 3 months so there's a penalty for not doing it.

Actually this is not a good motivator, find something you like, otherwise you end up with a 3 month (or a year :P) gym etc. pass and still not exercise. With this kind of forcing you might actually start hating exercise.