New Year's Resolution: cutting back on marijuana consumption

good luck to you, Dave!  quitting anything habitual is not easy.  hoping you have a successful resolution and are able to get the rest you need!

It's hard to shake off a psychological dependence on pot because it's almost like your whole emotional currency is invested in it. Eating, sleeping, listening to music, reading, just being interested in anything - when you smoke pot regularly it's easy to feel like none of these things would be as good without it. 
 
I quit being a daily pot smoker some years ago and what got me through it was the same thing that got me through giving up cigarettes 20 years ago - focusing on the novelty aspect. When you concentrate on the fact that you've made a major life change and that your existence is going to be different from now on, it's a huge motivator. You have to keep your brain interested. As soon as the novelty of not doing it wears off, that's when you're tempted to think screw it, what's the big deal anyway. You're selling your mind the concept that life is better without the drug, and you'll lose that sale unless you keep on top of your marketing campaign. 
 
Maybe twice a year I will acquire a little pot for one reason or another and I'll go through this same thing in miniature. Just having a wee toke every night for a week is enough to start bringing that psychological dependence back - when the pot's almost gone there is that depressing feeling that the good times are almost over, that it's back to the potless grind, and wondering how I managed to be happy without it. Even after a week. Yet when it's gone, it's amazing how quickly your mind just adapts to the "other" state of not needing it to be happy. Which after all, is your natural state. 
 
Cutting down is a lot less drastic than giving up entirely however. Back when I was a daily smoker (wake 'n' bake) I decided to cut down and started denying myself a smoke until after 6pm. I found this quite easy to do, appreciated how much better my mind worked during the day and enjoyed my evening toke way more than when I would smoke all day. You need that contrast to really enjoy stuff. Being stoned all the time, you're never really "stoned." Having the occasional toke is far more enjoyable - you appreciate it more and it has a much stronger effect. 
 
I find that learning to sleep without it is probably the hardest part. You have to take steps to relax at night - avoiding bright screens is important (install f.lux), replace any "full spectrum" light bulbs with soft yellow light, drink some kind of sleep inducing tea (lavender, chamomile etc) and take a melatonin pill.  

Kamikaze
........I've lost about a kilo a year since moving to Vietnam.

You're talking about (body) weight roooooight? 

batsbrew

bitflipper
cutting back on marijuana consumption
 

 
Move to utah, they'll throw you in jail for smokin' it,
and then you'll cut back automatically.

I would have thought jail would be one of the best places to score pot. 

bayoubill
I DON'T HAVE A BECAN PROBLEM!!!! I can quit anytime I want
 
It relaxes me. I can skip a day if I want. I don't spend that much money on it . I just like having it around when if I might want some. I just like it that's all. Is that so wrong? STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!!

LOL!
 
Bill - just go to my BA meetings!  (Becan's Anonymous).  bring all your becan with you and leave it at the door...
 
it's therapeutic.  I promise!  

Good luck Dave!
 
As for the insomnia, how's your coffee intake?  Without pot to balance, the caffeine might be more of a bad influence and mess with your sleep patterns.

Hey Bitflipper,
 
Currently on venlafaxine for depression, smoked a few trucks of pot in my younger years but quit 20 years ago.
Falling a sleep without pot will be hard for you now probably, just by you told your brain you can't without it.
Is it that you need to calm down in your head ?
There's exercises for that if your brain keeps 'running high speed', every now and then that stupid relax excersize realy saves me going down into very dark periods.
Melatonine is a harmless and available to everyone sleep help pil, and ofcourse no coffee in the evening.
 
What helps me a lot is just walking 30 minutes, once or twice a day, and if I can do a little sports....while walking your brain generates 'dopamine' which makes you happy.
 
Anyway, wishing you best and get help if you should need it.
Talk to people and let them help you, they really want to.
Hang in there !

dmbaer
I used to smoke weed all the time.  But a few decades ago I all but gave it up.  I do drink alcohol in the form of wine on a daily basis.  The problem with grass was that I'd end up enjoying myself so much I wouldn't watch the level of wine consumption and end up feeling like death the next day.  One or the other had to go.  Given that my network of weed suppliers was getting non-existent as I headed into my 40s (only one other personal friend still imbibed at that time), the choice kind of took care of itself.
 
So ... cheers! 

 
The two together are a deadly mix. Or rather, it's OK when you smoke a little and then go out for a drink, but when you go out drinking then come back and have a smoke on top of it, yikes. Spinning rooms a-plenty. 

bitflipper
I've been a pot smoker for literally half a century.....
 

No... I would have never guessed..... 

Man, I used to be a heavy user myself back in the day.... but I never gained any weight.... nothing I do makes me gain weight. Been 150lbs (5lbs give or take) since my late 20's. I stopped for a few reasons.
 
1. I got a really bad chest infection from the heavy smoking of said plant.... and I was growing my own so I knew it wasn't chemically treated.
 
2. The price went through the roof for the black market variety, as well as the unsavory characters that tend to work in that part of the business.
 
3. The sheriff showed up at my door one morning at 3AM. It was a case of they had the wrong house and were looking for the guy who lived in the house next door for something totally unrelated to weed.... but that scared the living daylights out of me.
 
So those were the main reasons I gave it up. I haven't touched it in decades now. In NC we're still back in the stone age regarding progressive laws like recreational or even medical weed.
 
For sleeping, my wife uses melatonin. It's the natural hormone that regulates and promotes sleep. Kudo's to you on your resolution....
 
Edit: I don't know if you read the story about my SG getting stolen and then recovered the very next day. But.... the police called me to tell me that had recovered the guitar and could I come down to the station to ID it. I was kinda scared to go ID my guitar because I had left half an ounce in the pick compartment in the guitar case. But fortunately, the guy who broke in and stole the guitar found it and removed it before the police got the guitar......

I guess i am glad i forgot to give you that bag i set aside for you.

GABA is another one you might try if melatonin doesn't do anything for you. They're usually side by side in the health food store. Personally melatonin works very well for me - it's not a sleeping pill, it just seems to get your natural sleeping cycle back on track. What's good about GABA though is that it's quite effective at stopping your mind racing when you're trying to nod off.

My observation is that regular use of pot hardly ever improves anybody. I have known some people who operated at a high  intellectual level while high, but I got the feeling it was in spite of THC, not because of it. More often, I detect subtly corrupted/non-productive thinking and behavior in regular users.
 
On the other hand, some moderate ETOH ingestion can be a very good social lubricant. I've had many amusing conversations over glasses of Cabernet or bottles of IPA. And from my readings of history, I gather that Winston Churchill apparently successfully lead Great Britain to victory in WWII with a scotch in one hand and a cigar in the other, every waking hour of every day, 1939-1945. And he wrote an entire shelf of good books in the same condition. 
 
Yes, alcohol is very bad for some people. My medical experience tells me that people involved in fatal automobile accidents, bar room fights, and acts of domestic violence, are frequently extremely drunk. 
 
Enough blogging, I think I'll crack a bottle of Bohemian. It is Friday night.
 
Cheers! May you fulfill your excellent resolution! (hoist,sworp)
 
Happy New Year!
 
Bert
 

thanks EPH, wrote it down should I ever need it....appreciated.
 
from what I've learned there's a million things that can get people back into a positive flow again.
Just finding what it is that will do the trick for you (as it's different for everyone).....is difficult for someone else to advise.
 
Dave only if you want to let us know please if you like further suggestions/tips & tricks (on- or offline via pm)