My TN’s and posts here are down, and it’s all because of my Oura Ring. The fitness tracker checks my “readiness level” and gives me a “sleep score”. I found even small amounts of wine with dinner lowered both, increasing my resting heart rate through the night, and increasing my “recovery index”, or how long it takes for the resting heart rate to stabilize.
I also found eating after 6 or 7PM, or working out in the evening really messes with my sleep.
We used to have a glass or two every night at home with dinner. Now, we’ll only drink on weekends, or anytime at friends’ houses, restaurants and vacations. We’re not militant about it. Before we cut down on drinking, I calculated we had enough wine to last for half a century (which would put me in my mid-110’s of age). Now, we can drink well into the 2100’s!
We also cut out all added sugars at home, but not at friends’, restaurants and vacations. Without otherwise trying, I’ve dropped 10 pounds, approaching my college weight, and sleeping and biking much better.
Sorry if I’m being a killjoy here. On a positive note, when we’re drinking less frequently, we’re more apt to reach for something really special on weekends and holidays.
I’ve been drinking pretty infrequently too; a bit for health but also because I’ve been super busy. It seems like when I do drink it ends up being wine dinners or opening up a bunch of grand cru burgs, so while the total amount of wine has definitely decreased I’m not sure it’s gotten cheaper.
I dont use the Oura Ring, but just made the decision to not drink more than once or twice per week (special occasions excepted). I hate feeling like shit in the morning, and I dont really drink coffee anymore which makes it especially difficult.
Doesn’t seem like it’s ruined wine for you, but rather helped you reevaluate and reprioritise things in your life. If you like the trade off of less wine, more sleep and fitness, and don’t miss the old habits, then it doesn’t seem like a loss.
And who knows, with better sleep and more biking, you may well live until your mid-110s. Chers to that!
I use Fitbit, so roughly the same idea and measurements as Oura Ring. The impact is real. See my resting heart rate attached. I I typically drink a glass or two a few times a week, but decided to do a test and stopped drinking for a month from ~May 15 to ~June 16. The chart is clear as crystal, unfortunately
I have an Oura ring, have used for past 3.5 years. Certainly notice the same things you have listed out. The Oura ring coupled with intermittent fasting and the Coravin has certainly helped me cut down my evening drinking.
I experienced the same with my Fitbit. What I suggest you do is a series of controlled experiments to figure out what amount of alcohol in various conditions impact your sleep. For example start by eating an early dinner, drink one glass over an hour once you start eating and check results. Repeat this for a week to see if various dinners or other variables impact sleep score. Then switch to white for a week or start drinking earlier, slow down your pace, add more wine if no impact from a previous trial etc. I did this over the course of several months and had some interesting results. Long story short I can consume one 150ml glass of red over a 30 min interval after food before 7pm with zero impact on my RHR. For whatever reason I can drink 2.5 servings of whites or even a full bottle of 8% kabinett riesling over 2 hrs before dinner with no impact. Don’t let the oura ring ruin it for you, use it to dial in your wine drinking instead.
