A statement of goals:
I hope that not drinking for four and a half months will enable me to lose weight and perform better athletically, professionally and personally.
Weight - I weigh about 12% more now than I did in college, which was thirty years ago. My clothes tell me I've added a few pounds lately and I'd like to reverse this trend.
Athletic performance - I measure this chiefly by how far and how fast I can run, though I swim and bike too and have lifted weights in the past. Last year, at the peak of marathon training, I was able to cruise along at 9:00 to 9:15 per mile. If a five percent weight reduction resulted in a comparable increase in speed, I could expect to see times closer to 8:30 or 8:45.
Professional performance - I will be pursuing a full-time and a part-time job this fall, and I need to show better focus and time management than when I attempted the same last spring. Progress in meeting one set of responsibilities always came at the expense of meeting the other set of responsibilities. Maybe they can never both be met fully, but if not drinking leads to less self-indulgence and more realistic planning, I'll at least have given it my best shot.
Personal performance - I'll look for effects in terms of personal health and family life. The key to all this will be getting a good night's sleep. If I can sleep through the night or at least get back to sleep after the cats wake me up, I'll count more thorough rest as one of the benefits of this experiment and see which others flow from that.
