[cabbagesauce]

>I enjoy the act of drinking - literally having a drink, or the feeling right after a drink. I hate how I feel an hour later, the foggy head feeling.

Hydrate the same time you consume alcohol and after. One 500 ml of beer takes around 300 Alcohol metabolism incurs body dehydration, may as well be that you're mildly dehydrated on top of being poisoned by toxins.

>I don’t buy it for weeks at a time, then cave and have a 12 pack in a weekend and feel like garbage most of the time.

You must evaluate your stress factors. It's not easy because most likely you use alcohol as a sedative tool to hotfix some issues.

>Any tips on cutting out something completely and how to get out of just hating yourself when you fail?

Not really, unless you identify the stress factor and deal with it/your attitude to it.