Going sober

[Yeah_Baby]

I'm not a big Corona guy, but I tired the Near Beer Coronas on the weekend it literally just tasted like Corona to me. So if you're looking for a close sub that's a good one. So too is the Compliments Ale at Sobeys/Safeway. Yeah, I was shocked too

[MRCboicgy]

There's a great episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye quits drinking. One line that has stuck with me for years is at the end when he is about to take his first drink in a while - after an extra hard day "I'll be back when I want it, not when I need it"

With that in mind I try - with varying levels of success through the year - to stop myself if I ever say I need one, and wait until when I want one. Though, this past holiday season, I failed miserably at the above...

In a way, it's like having a Slurpee or a Five Guys burger/cajun fries: something to have here and there, rather than on a regular basis.
I've been doing dry January for a decade now - and I've stretched that out to the first drink of the new year is during the Super Bowl.

I'm fortunate now to be in a position that my liquor cabinet is almost all top-shelf stuff, so it's about having one to enjoy the experience. It's tough because so much of my community is centered around the bar, but I haven't had a drink at a bar/club for years and I plan to keep it that way.

[Engine09]

28 years for me.

I have friends the same age from my hometown who continued to drink, they look like absolute garbage. Bloated with that big fat head look, bad complexion, just unhealthy in general.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by MRCboicgy

There's a great episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye quits drinking. One line that has stuck with me for years is at the end when he is about to take his first drink in a while - after an extra hard day "I'll be back when I want it, not when I need it"

With that in mind I try - with varying levels of success through the year - to stop myself if I ever say I need one, and wait until when I want one. Though, this past holiday season, I failed miserably at the above...

In a way, it's like having a Slurpee or a Five Guys burger/cajun fries: something to have here and there, rather than on a regular basis.
I've been doing dry January for a decade now - and I've stretched that out to the first drink of the new year is during the Super Bowl.

I'm fortunate now to be in a position that my liquor cabinet is almost all top-shelf stuff, so it's about having one to enjoy the experience. It's tough because so much of my community is centered around the bar, but I haven't had a drink at a bar/club for years and I plan to keep it that way.

Don't get me started on how the few Queer spaces that exist are generally centered around drinking.

[shermanator]

A few years ago I got myself into some trouble during a night of drinking and took 3 months off cold turkey. During that time the pandemic hit, and as I am a social drinker, I found it quite easy to step away during that time. Once I began to consciously control my consumption, I noticed how much worse my hangovers got and how much better I slept. Combine that with being a new dad and my drinking is down significantly the last few years.

I’m going to be blunt, I enjoy beer. I enjoy the atmosphere of having a few drinks at a pub with friends, I enjoy going to breweries and trying new beers, I enjoy having a beer at a soccer game, I enjoy having a beer in my backyard when it’s nice out.

My problem is that I binge drink. It is harder for me to have 1 beer than it is for me to have 0 beers. When I decide not to drink, I’m able to go to a pub or a friend’s house and have a couple nonalcoholic beers. But after two or three I just don’t like the taste, so it’s not the same. Lately I’ve found that I’ve had no issues with self-control and can limit myself, but it involves suppressing the desire to “just have one more”.

[CaptainCrunch]

I slowed down pretty hard in my mid to late 30's, it was getting pretty out of control, and frankly I was the stereotypical mean drunk. It doesn't take too many crushed faces and black eyes to realize that its time to slow down or stop.

I also learned that as you get older hangovers go from hours to days. I used to be good at the rally, I'd go out on Friday, get hammered, sleep til about 1, eat some grease and be good to go on Saturday and then on Sunday have casual drink days. I can't imagine that happening nowdays.

Also the stories that you told in the old days about drunk exploits. When you hit a certain age, those exploits go from sounding heroic to sounding just stupid.

I mean now even with all of the stuff and pain that I go through, I rarely drink, I think in the last year I've had a half a dozen beers and maybe a bottle of wine or two.

The funny thing with alcohol is its basically a poison and your body will literally shout at your brain that its time to quit. Dry out or whatever.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Not for everyone. Personally, I hate the way weed makes me feel. It usually just makes me too introspective and I dwell on all my faults. I end up feeling guilty for every negative thing I have ever done in my life or ever happened to me. I usually end up depressed for days after.

Weed + social environment is a definite no for me too.

I'm with Silver as far as the social drinking goes. I drink, but only ever socially. I find things are just a lot looser and more fun with some booze involved. There's no way for me to forget about things and totally cut loose without a little alcohol invovled.

I 100% get, and have witnessed, why that's not for everyone though. I have multiple friends who can't just drink occasionally and clearly need it throughout the week or even in the mornings. I also have many friends who just drink socially to the point it destroys their health.

As I get older, I also see how drinking's not as fun as it used to be. You're not full of energy, not picking up women, sense of humour has changed, etc...

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

So true. People tend to associate alcoholics or alcohol addiction with movie characters like Nic Cage from Leaving Las Vegas or William H Macy in Shameless but those are the extreme cases.

Or they think of extreme drug addicts like Bubbles in the Wire.

But like most things on movies and tv, the nuance of addiction and dependency is totally lost. So often it’s more related to other issues and self medicating but doesn’t become fully destructive the way media has conditioned us to think. There’s such a wide spectrum.

As for quitting, OP there are no shortage of non alcoholic beers available and more places carry them all the time. They’re about as expensive as regular beer but it may help you avoid feeling like the odd man out if all your friends are drinking.

If motivation is a factor, I used an app when I quit smoking that tracked the number of days since I last smoked and gave me little tidbits about the health benefits. I imagine you could find something similar for booze if you were so inclined.

Good luck!

This is something that annoys me, how drinking is portrayed in Movies and TV.

You see a character pour like 3 fingers of Scotch and slam it back and then have a couple more and then cut to the next scene and they're perfectly sober and saving the world or something.

Nah, nah, nah....first of all thats not how you drink Scotch and secondly thats not the way the next few minutes or hours are going to go down if you do that.

Its wildly absurd, but if someone who doesnt drink much sees that it massively mis-portrays how alcohol works.

Everything in moderation including moderation and for some people that doesnt work so they quit.

Long ago I realized the social pressures inherent with drinking and so I make a concerted effort to not only not pressure anyone into drinking but actively support them if they choose not to.

If I go out to a pub with friends and they dont want alcohol and someone says:

"Come on man! Just have one!"

No. If they dont want to drink then they dont want to drink, its fine, dont push it on them...like, what? Are you getting a cut of the alcohol sales or something? Leave them alone.

In terms of giving it up forever, thats tough, if thats the route someone chooses then good for them.

I do always get a bit of a chuckle out of: "But hey, in moderation alcohol has some health benefits though!!"

Sure. Maybe. But I'd contend that probably not as many health benefits as...I dont know, going for a short jog or something?

[Harry Lime]

I don't really drink all that much anymore. Not a conscious thing, just a natural curve to less consumption in my drinking habits.

I've always had a proclivity towards collecting, or getting into fandoms and being connected to a community in someway, even if I never have any real contact with anyone, it's nice to be part of a group. So at some point I became interested in the history and makeup of certain drinks. First Scotch and then wine, and recently gin. I found that the more I looked at the overall scotch/wine world as a whole, the less I was interested in the alcohol and the more I was interested in the flavor and experience.

I don't drink cheap stuff anymore. I'm not rich, but I'll splurge the extra 10 bucks for a better bottle of wine that will last me two or three days.

I don't see the point in getting drunk anymore, but a nice buzz in the evening in front of the fire, watching an old movie is a form of therapy, sometimes.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by oilfanforever

...I want in.

Tips and tricks much appreciated.

Sorry, man. It will be hard to stay sober being an Oiler fan forever... Just saying.

[Bill Bumface]

Has anyone tried any non-alcoholic alcohols other than beer?

I love beer, but NA beer just doesn't do it for me. I've had vir-gin cocktails before, and the strong juniper taste seemed to carry the main flavours a lot like actual gin. I've never tried it straight up, but I'm curious if there are any compelling options out there.

Sometimes I just want to sip something that has a bit of bite, and isn't water or sweet. Whiskey fills that spot right now, and I'm curious what else is out there.

[Cube Inmate]

If you think of quitting something you enjoy as final, forever, whatever... then you're liable to dwell on it as a loss. As in, I can't imagine living the rest of my life without beer, so I won't even try! And when you say "I've quit drinking," that becomes part of your identity that's easy to shatter if you ever do have a drink.

But if you look at it as a choice--one you make every new day--you empower yourself to make a positive choice every day for as long as you want. And you're less likely to feel like a single binge is a failure to follow through on your intentions. You just pick up and make a different choice the next day.

That's my psychology, not necessarily yours. And easier said than done, I know. Personally, I try every day to make good choices and sometimes fail. But try again the next day. And if I feel like going on a year-long bender when I'm 90, that option remains open to me.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Has anyone tried any non-alcoholic alcohols other than beer?

I love beer, but NA beer just doesn't do it for me. I've had vir-gin cocktails before, and the strong juniper taste seemed to carry the main flavours a lot like actual gin. I've never tried it straight up, but I'm curious if there are any compelling options out there.

Sometimes I just want to sip something that has a bit of bite, and isn't water or sweet. Whiskey fills that spot right now, and I'm curious what else is out there.

I've had these from Safeway and didn't mind them. Didn't really taste LIKE gin but it was good https://www.willowpark.net/collectio...non-alc-849240

[Winsor_Pilates]

I go back and forth on quitting full time often.
Have done sober 1st quarter (Jan-March) the last few years but never kept going longer.

On the one hand, I know I can still turn it off for that long if I want to, so that gives me reassurance I can drink again without feeling like I have a problem.

On the other hand, by the end of December I'm always back in the same place thinking my drinking has ramped up way too much and feeling like that sober 1st quarter was wasted.

Maybe this is the year 3 months will turn into 6, then 9, then 12...

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Has anyone tried any non-alcoholic alcohols other than beer?

I love beer, but NA beer just doesn't do it for me. I've had vir-gin cocktails before, and the strong juniper taste seemed to carry the main flavours a lot like actual gin. I've never tried it straight up, but I'm curious if there are any compelling options out there.

Sometimes I just want to sip something that has a bit of bite, and isn't water or sweet. Whiskey fills that spot right now, and I'm curious what else is out there.

I buy Seedlip.
It has the strong juniper taste as you've mentioned but can be good with the right mix.

I do equal parts Seedlip, Soda Water & 10 calorie Sunrype juices (grapefruit is my favourite).
Works out to about a 3 calorie drink and feels like a (girly) cocktail. I throw a rosemary sprig in when I'm really feeling wild.

Haven't yet found a mix that tastes like a more classic cocktail unfortunately.

[btimbit]

I've really cut down on my drinking lately. I still love it, and will still do it if hanging out with friends and family, but having 10 a night watching hockey and playing video games is just so damn unhealthy.

Here's my question for sober people though.... What do you do with all that free time? I haven't had a drink all month, and it's not really cravings that I have, except that sober life is just so damn boring. I'd smoke more weed but then I just wanna snack my face off so that goes against the whole "Be healthier" thing I'm going for

[MillerTime GFG]

@Shermanator -

My problem is that I binge drink. It is harder for me to have 1 beer than it is for me to have 0 beers.

- Wouldn't let me quote you.


"One is too many and a thousand never enough"

[Ducay]

Drinking is too big a part of social life to give up. Being sober amongst those drinking is the literal worst.

I've found a decent balance where I only drink socially (so no more 2-3 beers at home watching the game on Sunday). So cuts my drinking to 2-3 days each week.

That said, the reduced consumption means when I do drink, it hits harder....good and bad thing.

[KelVarnsen]

The truth is quitting drinking is different for everyone.

I hit rock bottom and decided to quit drinking. I simply quit by getting rid of the remaining alcohol in my place and talking to a couple of friends about it. I get high a few times a week, but I haven't had a drink in nearly 4 years. For me it was easy, but that isn't the case for everyone.

There is amazing amount of resources out there. Find one or more that work for you. And don't be afraid to ask for help.

[Fuzz]

It's annoying all these alcohol free drinks cost as much or more than their counterparts, yet have to pay none of the taxes. Are they really that much more expensive to make?