I am killing the Beer Nut so Norman Miller has a chance to live... I'm giving up beer.

I am killing the Beer Nut so Norman Miller has a chance to live.

I'm killing myself. That’s not hyperbole, it’s the truth. My lifestyle is killing me. I'm middle-aged and obese. I need to make changes so I can see 45, let alone 50 or beyond.

I'm giving up beer.

This isn't a decision I make lightly. Beer has become more than just a beverage I enjoy, it has become part of my persona. I don't just write the Beer Nut column, I AM the Beer Nut.

But, if I want to live, I can't be the Beer Nut anymore. And, to be blunt, it sucks.

Beer has meant a lot to me over the more than 12 years I've written the column. It's a part of my job that I look forward to. Some of my best friends I met because of beer. I've become a published author because of beer.

However, it has become too big a part of my life. Every Friday and Saturday, and occasionally Thursdays and Sundays, I sit down and have five or six beers, sometimes more. I'm getting more calories through beer than food just drinking a few days a week.

My weight has been a lifelong struggle. I was the fat kid in every grade. And as I got older, I got fatter. Then I went beyond fat to obese.

It never bothered me, not really. I knew it, but it didn't change the things I'd do. Don't get me wrong, I've tried losing weight my whole life, diets, watching what I eat, nutritionists, exercise. It never works or I don't stick to it. I'm not seeking sympathy. It's all on me, but I'm stating facts.

As I'm getting older, the obesity is catching up to me. I'm not moving as well as I used to. Everything is hard. Even standing after sitting for awhile. I keep wondering if this time I walk up a flight of stairs carrying groceries or bringing the garbage out to the street will be the time I collapse.

I can't live this way. I've had to go to the emergency room twice for stomach problems. Although they may or may not have been caused by alcohol, I'd be stupid to think it had nothing to do with my weight.

You may ask why I just don’t cut down on beer and continue on writing about beer? I don’t feel like I can do a good job of being a local beer writer without drinking the local beer. How can you talk about local beer and not drink it? You can’t.

I'm giving up beer and I'm going to try to eat better because I want to live. My aunt Pam is battling cancer with everything she has. I owe it to her to fight for my life, too, with everything I have.

I have too many people I care about in my life and I'm not ready to say goodbye to them or to have them see me being buried. I want to live to be there for them.

I’m not saying I’ll never have another beer. I just won’t have it in my house. It’ll be something I have one or two of when I go to a family member's house for a holiday or on a special occasion.

And before I end this, there are a few people I need to say thanks to: my friend Nicole Simmons for being my biggest supporter; Nancy Olesin who had to edit my copy for the past 12 years plus; editors Richard Lodge and Anne Brennan for letting me keep the column going for so long and Chris Biondi and Rob Haneisen for coming up with the idea for the beer column so long ago.

There's a popular saying that the beer industry is 90 percent A-hole free. I'd put that number at closer to 75 percent, haha, but I've met some truly awesome people over the years and I need to thank so many of them.

Liz Melby, formerly of Harpoon, and Michelle Diamandis, formerly of Samuel Adams, have been great over the years, and I think I've become real friends with them. Ben Roesch, the Wormtown Brewery brewmaster, has been a great source over the years and, heck, he brews a beer named after me. If that doesn’t deserve a thanks, I don’t know what does. And thanks for all the help over the years from Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Company, Keith Sullivan of Medusa Brewing Company, Sam Calagione of dogfish head, Jim Koch of Samuel Adams and the Hendler brothers of Jack's Abby Craft Lagers.

Most of all, I want to thank you all, the readers. Thanks for reading over the years. There are some great beer writers out there, read them and enjoy.

So, if you see me out and about, you can call me the Beer Nut, or you can call me Norman, but still say hi and maybe I'll grab a Polar seltzer with you.

Cheers to you all.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW.