If you don't drink alcohol what do you do on a Saturday night?

[OhComeOn123]

So for years now - years - every single Saturday night has involved drinking wine. I've decided I want to fully detox for a while and give my liver a chance to recover, just have a good break. But... I'm curious and although I'm thinking of different things to do with my evening I'm wondering what you guys do on a Saturday night? So far I'm thinking film, takeaway and maybe a fancy caramel drink with a good book...

Yeah this.

So for me this is often, going out to eat cinema, theatre, film or box sets, crafting, takeaway, bath or just pottering. I often have my nieces over for a sleepover too!

I do also go to pubs and not drink.

I wonder if centering your evening around drinking is where your problem is?

I used to enjoy some wine on a Saturday night but wanted to give up. Waking up Sunday with a sore head even if I only had a small glass was not much fun. So I thought about what it was that the wine was giving me when I was drinking. And it was that warm relaxed feeling. So I bought a hot water bottle. I got a bag of lavender and tucked it inside the water bottle cover. I settle down on the sofa and chill watching tv or listening to music/podcasts. Worked for me so far but probably won't want it during the summer lol x

Just normal things.

Knit, jigsaws, bake, watch horror films. Eat crisps, when I'm not on a diet!

Nice soft drinks , bath with expensive oils, good book/film, paint my nails, face mask /eye masks ...

Like everyone else, we do the usual stuff - make a bit more effort with dinner and often make a pudding which we rarely have in the week. Watch TV or a film. Go to bed early, have sex, read and eat grapes in bed! (We have both started eating loads of fruit since we stopped drinking - i think it replaces the sugar in wine maybe? I don't really know).

It's lovely. Peaceful and calm. When we both drank we rowed a lot more I have to say. But we did both drink too much so that's probably why. I love not drinking - genuinely so much happier. But only since dh stopped too - when I wasn't drinking and he was I found that quite miserable.

If I go out with a friend we normally have dinner or do cinema or even theatre occasionally. My friend (I only really have one I go out with often) still drinks, and will have a glass of wine with dinner sometimes, tho she is actually more frequently joining me in a zero alcohol lager now - Peroni zero is our favourite! If she wants a full on drinking night out (if you see what I mean - not saying she is a problem drinker - but a pub or winebar night) she has other mates she does that with. I'd find it slightly dull - I don't mind being around others drinking in moderation, but my tolerance for the company of drunk people is lower now - I find people get pretty repetitive and boring. I am sure I used to be too!

Choose a film to watch. We have themes. We’ve done horror, Seventies, subtitled, etc.

Have some nice chocolate or crisps while we watch.

Game of backgammon.

Watch some old TOTP for a laugh and singalong.

DH Will sometimes make me a non-alcoholic margarita.

We usually have a bit of a special tea. A curry or something.

Interested in your scrapbooking. What does this involve, mood boards or memories etc?

I’m really into cooking. Since I gave up alcohol (which is the best thing I ever did btw), food has become my passion. Now, I literally record every cooking show I can find. I know quite a few people like this. It’s like us Brits are finally discovering what the French and Italians and Spanish have always known - that food is one of life’s big joys.

I’m in my 40s, and the fact that people in the U.K. drink less booze is one of the most positive changes of my lifetime. I remember going into town with a couple of Americans back in the ‘90s and feeling SO ashamed and embarrassed. Everywhere we went there were morons fighting and shouting and throwing up in the street. Disgusting. Alcohol is just such a horrible, overrated thing.

As for Saturday nights, I hardly watch TV anymore (woke garbage). Music, reading, video games, lolling in a hot bath, and conversation with friends are my main pleasures in life. I have a couple of friends who are also big readers, so my ideal Saturday night is cooking for one of them, followed by a rambling conversation about books (Dickens, Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Aldous Huxley, etc).

I go to gigs. If you take the car it means you aren't tempted.

You'll probably find you do more when you're not drinking.
A social life doesn't have to revolve around alcohol. I haven't had a drink for over 15 years and have a lovely life.

Pretty much what I do most other nights, dinner, kids to bed, depending on the week sometimes I have to do the bloody Tesco delivery order (usually that’s Friday night but sometimes it’s Saturday). Then depending on how exhausted I am, I will either go to bed with tea and a book or Dh and I will stay up and watch something (usually such riveting things as Masterchef or Bake Off). I have some special drinks usually, various AF cocktails or an AF beer, etc.

But on rare occasions, I go out and do something like a class or an evening run or I go to a sound bath maybe once every month or two.

Actually what’s great about not drinking isn’t what you do on Saturday evening, it’s what you can get done on Sunday. I get up and read a book, do some planning for the week, go for a run or a hike. Dh and I are going away for a spa break in a couple weeks and I have an early morning spa session booked and might do a yoga class before that. It’s much more enjoyable to be able to do those things than be stuck in bed feeling awful and full of regret for how much you drank.

I haven't drunk for 20 years. I do normal things. Just I don't drink. That includes stuff like a night out with like-minded friends, a meal, cinema, etc. If I'm in, it's watching TV, reading, catching up with friends on mobile, speaking to family, pamper night. Anything I just don't have alcohol with it. It's perfectly normal.

Inspired by this post myself and hope some of the helpful ones are of use to the OP. It’s actually really difficult giving up a habit like this.

I did dry Jan this year and husband did it too for the first time and I wished we could just have carried it on. Sadly dragged back into the usual Fri/Sat reward system.

We drank Becks Blue when we fancied a drink which seemed to kick in Friday/ Sat nights when we would usually have wine. That’s the hard bit I think- when you have drunk alcohol at home for years it becomes a habit. It’s highly addictive so the OP asking what you do I completely relate to.

It’s actually hugely difficult for some people ( myself here included) to just suddenly not drink so having something busy or different to do and a different focus that you value is important. I absolutely love those wake up fresh mornings, having more time, feeling more energetic and productive.

We both slipped back into drinking however although I have tried to cut down and finding the effects of it worse and worse even if a few glasses. Apart from the patronising ignorant comment from @Spanielsarepainless ‘that it’s such a strange question’ yeah strange to you maybe and people who don’t drink! )this has been an inspiring post and hope the OP manages to find a new way to enjoy her Sat nights alcohol free. I’m certainly going to start joining her now. It’s hard though when your husband won’t join in which I imagine will be the case in mine.

I have a good productive Saturday, whatever that entails. Usually make a nice early dinner, then I enjoy a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. I did yesterday and last night. Speaker couldn't attend last minute, so I was privileged enough to be asked to stand in as I came in. A group I have very rarely attended and a very last minute decision to go to that one. It was a good night for me. There is lots you can do without a drink, trust me!

I just do whatever I feel like. Sometimes relaxing and indulging. Sometimes chores or work from home. Anything off my home to do list. I’m not teetotal but really just drink socially so not drinking at home is the norm for me

OP- is it the case that 'wine on Saturday night' is something that symbolises something special/ a treat/ a reward/ something that differentiates it from other nights?

If so, is what you are looking for an alternative to wine that is something that serves the above function.

From your second post, it sounds like it needs to be something you can do by yourself and at home?

Have a think about what you like. A long bath with candles followed by a bath? A food 'treat' you wouldn't usually buy/ have. A bought film (one you can't get on any of your current prescription services?

Watch tv, play games with the children, plan my week, talk with DH, have a bath, sleep! Lots of things that you can do with or without a drink.
If you're on your own what's wrong with watching a film or reading?

This.

Less time is wasted either drinking or recovering from the effect of drinking. Otherwise, no difference.

I haven't given up drinking entirely but have occasionally had one glass of champagne or sparkling wine, or one measuring ouzo. That has happened on maybe five or seven times in the last year, certainly less than once a month.

Agree with PP about how much the pleasure of alcohol is about the associations of a treat, kicking over the traces etc.

I do drink copious amounts of water every day. Even when I have a 'proper drink' I have a carafe of water and make sure to drink lots of water interspersed with sips of the alcohol.

I really do savour the taste but don't miss it if I don't have any.

I do anything I fancy. There are so many options. If you’re talking about at home, watch a film, TV, chat, read a book, sewing. If going out, all the usual things, but without alcohol 🤷‍♀️

Drink alcohol free drinks and go to the pub

Interesting thread. Those who say you do the same things but without alcohol, would you say you have a thriving social life?

I rather like a CBD drink. There are several on the market and they tend to be more interesting flavours than a lot of soft drinks. But I don’t do anything particularly different in terms of actual activity.