What have you given up and the reason

Narragansett

Narragansett

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Let's say from the beginning of COVID, what have you given up, either to improve your health or it just costs too much?

I have pretty much given up all deli meats. The nitrates that are pumped into these are terrible for you, and I am not paying 12 to 15 dollars a pound for Boar's Head. Depending on what you buy. The store brands are awful as is the prepackaged stuff. And Italian deli meats are non existent in Savannah

I also cut my alcohol consumption down to near nothing. Not intentionally, I just don't much care for it anymore.

How about you?
 
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Have a vegan couple next door. Have tried a lot of plant based food. Some taste good, some not so good.

Use vegan lunch meat 90% of the time now. Rarely eat red meat anymore, mostly turkey and chicken.

Alcohol consumption max 3 or 4 beers on a Saturday or Sunday.
 
Narragansett said:
Let's say from the beginning of COVID, what have you given up, either to improve your health or it just costs too much?

I have pretty much given up all deli meats. The nitrates that are pumped into these are terrible for you, and I am not paying 12 to 15 dollars a pound for Boar's Head. Depending on what you buy. The store brands are awful as is the prepackaged stuff. And Italian deli meats are non existent in Savannah

I also cut my alcohol consumption down to near nothing. Not intentionally, I just don't much care for it anymore.

How about you?
Click to expand...

I doubt after the Covid problem was over I actually gave up something. Put up with the situation as best I could and then went back to as close as normal, as that counts for me.

At almost 80 'C'est La Vie
 
some things given up for me...other things gained

So I will be 80 in January 2025. Been a real good ride, I'm happy, pretty much set in my ways..a Jack Daniels & branch water (or two) daily, pack of cigarettes daily, overweight by 20 lbs, ok financially, own the cars and home, have enough in the bank, etc. et. al....................DOING OK.

July 1, 2024, 9:15 PM.....BAM!!!! Crushing weight on chest, couldn't breathe, crashed and hit the floor, wife called 911, crash wagon and EMT's on scene within minutes. I wake up next day with new parts called Stents installed in heart. Feel like **** for several days.

Quit the smokes cold turkey, I have not had a cigarette since that day, July 1 and do not intend to. Things all around me, especially food, smell and taste totally different. Have lost several pounds since starting doctor required and regulated "cardio therapy". 3 sessions each week, treadmill, recumbent bicycle, walking, all with heart monito electrodes in place. Other 2 days per week home treadmill and bicycle that wife has used for years but untouched by me until July to present.

So.........USED to go for hikes in the Blueridge, could do maybe a half-mile trail wheezing all the way......now 2 mile trail easy peesy (and actually enjoy it).

Somewhere about August tried a JD and water, just no longer had appeal....now days a Pilsner Urquell (beer) now and then whenever a visit to Aldi's is in order tastes pretty good.

All in all; given up smokes and hard liquor, gained better health!

Best Swap going in my opinion and if you are on the fence about smokers, booze, sedentary life style...make some changes voluntarily BEFORE the crushing weight feeling gets to you.
 
Didn't really "give up" anything, but last year we cut off our cable service. We were paying $250/month for internet, cable TV, and home phone. Put an antenna in the attic of the garage and get about 15 channels from that. Switched to fiber optic internet service that is three times as fast as what we had and costs $25/month. Got VOIP home phone service for a little less than $10/month.

So in the end, we went from $250/mo to about $35/mo, have faster internet, and a few less of the cable channels available. We stream a lot of what we watch on TV, and get local news etc. from the antenna. I don't feel like I've given up anything, but I have an extra $200+ in my pocket every month!
 
Covid made them shut the PGH public schools down on Monday, March 16, 2020. I turned 63 that day. I worked an emergency refrigeration call March 17th, never worked another day after that. I quit smoking November of '98, so that was already covered. My garbage food consumption went down to about zero and I lost 40#.
I had already got all my retirement stuff taken care of for April 1st, so I just got to quit a couple weeks early.
 
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Alcohol, most fast food (ate some today for the first time this week and feel gross), snacks, and buying boutique ammo (the diminishing returns are real). I used to be big on Buffalo Bore, but at 40$ per box and 12 boxes to get free shipping it is just a bear on my budget. 480$ plus tax for 240 bullets is rough, even if that lasts me around 2.5 years of defensive ammo (as I train with 6 cold shots of whatever my 686 is loaded with first) simulates a real situation where I will not get a warm-up session. After that it is all FMJ of comparable size/velocity to my defensive ammo.

Do not get me wrong, I think for big game hunters, or people in Grizzly Bear territory, Buffalo Bore is worth the weight in gold. I just felt the combination of price, along with the prospect of a potential prosecutor rambling about how I used Buffalo ammo to defend myself would not be worth it. I live in an area with black bears, but never seen one, and I am pretty sure the hollows I use would be enough for them as they are smaller and more timid.
 
I gave up being politically correct. After almost 30 years of working in an atmosphere where political correctness was mandatory, I pretty much say what I want now. The nice thing about it is that, at my age, if I happen to blurt out something that is totally politically incorrect, someone will usually just shake their head and say, "Don't mind him. He's just a senile old man." You gotta love it.:D
 
Charlie, great to hear that you survived the ordeal and are thriving. One's first heart attack is often a wake-up call to make some changes, and it's even better to use someone else's first heart attack as a wake-up, so thanks for sharing your story. I am trying to embrace a more healthy lifestyle (I am a mere pup of 66), especially by being more physically active. My current motto is "Sitting is death!" May you keep thriving and have many more years of vitality!
 
I'm not sure if I can say it was because of covid but my wife and I don't do fast food anymore. Really I can say it wasn't because of covid. It was more this ridiculous inflation. The last time we went out to eat We paid $35 for two Whataburger burgers, two fries and two sodas.
 
Mike said:
Gave up nothing...........Still driving in the same lane.
Click to expand...

I was going to say "me too", but then I thought "wait a minute".

I gave up saving money. Bought 2 new cars since Covid, plus enough components for a lifetime of shooting.

Since my cash flow (SS & pension) is good, it's time to spend some. At my age I can;t be stingy any more.
 
I gave up working, or did they give up on me? No more work in Vegas, but how would I like working in Ohio or Alabama. No interest in moving to either state as teachers' qualifications don't transfer across state lines. Moving would have hosed my wife's career and income, so a hard no was easy for us.

Through bad timing I found myself coming home at commuter time last week. I don't miss that malarkey one bit.

Discovered this week that a bill to get rid the WEP and GPO on social security has been sent to the senate. Should it pass, my income will have the little cushion I've been looking for.
 
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Anything I gave up on is due to finances. Inflation and the consequent rise in prices have really cut into everything. The wife and I used to really enjoy going out to local restaurants to have something different on a regular basis. Take the kids & grandkids out to give them a break from the same old thing. Now we might manage one meal out a week and half the time it is me going and getting it and bringing it home. The grandkids get treated to dinner out maybe once a month (still nice for our kids who hand them off and go do something themselves) but it costs a lot more than it used to. I quit smoking years ago, still love a good steak and a glass of Scotch is always nice in the evening. Done moderately I don't worry about any health issues from small pleasures.
 
I gave up trying to master a flintlock rifle well enough to be competitive. I won top shooter at our local club shooting event after a couple years with a percussion rifle, then decided to take on the flintlock challenge. I was told it would take about a pound of priming powder (4F) or so to get really good, I did that and more, built a terrific rifle from a quality kit, had the best guys teach me everything they knew and I finally gave up after four years or so and went back to percussion. I still shoot the odd flintlock for fun but as far as competition goes I gave up the ghost. My reasoning is that I don't have enough time or the strength required at seventy three, the skills required for shooting a flintlock are much higher than those to shoot a percussion rifle. The follow through alone is enough to challenge a competent rifleman, it is much akin to shooting a handgun or bow and arrow, follow through is everything. You can obtain the perfect sight picture on your hold but the delay after the trigger is pulled and everything else that goes on is where my problem was. Off the bench a monkey can shoot nearly anything, off hand is where the challenge is and that is where I suffered flintlock frustration. I even purchased a quality spring air rifle which closely approximates flintlock operation....thats my story.
That and anyone that ever asks me about starting in the black powder muzzle loading game I tell them they need to start with a flintlock if they are young enough and or have the upper body strength required...youth is wasted on the young. If a new black powder shooter starts off with a flintlock and decides to switch to percussion he will be a much better shooter having already mastered follow through which is required but not as significant as it is with a flintlock.
 
Narragansett said:
Let's say from the beginning of COVID, what have you given up, either to improve your health or it just costs too much?


I also cut my alcohol consumption down to near nothing.
Click to expand...

On strong recommendation of my GI physician's assistant, I quit cold on alcohol consumption back in January 2023. It remedied or improved substantially two specific conditions that could have given me big problems if left unchecked. Happily the servers at the Eagles know me and keep a jug of unsweetened ice tea for me.
 
I have backed off on the heavier caliber handguns.
I can still handle the recoil, just don't enjoy the Magnums as much as I used to.
Shooting a lot of 22s!
 
Golddollar said:
On strong recommendation of my GI physician's assistant, I quit cold on alcohol consumption back in January 2023. It remedied or improved substantially two specific conditions that could have given me big problems if left unchecked. Happily the servers at the Eagles know me and keep a jug of unsweetened ice tea for me.
Click to expand...


A number of years ago doc told me to not mix alcohol with the meds he had just put me on. Being the way i am, had a cold one the next day. Could barely get up the day after, and have abstained since then with very minimal exceptions.

Still truly miss whiskey night, as it was my only chance to be calm, cool and sophisticit.
 
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