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Original poster

Anyone else just 'gone off' drinking?

28 replies

LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 13:57

I have enjoyed drinking a various points in my life (not constantly), mostly a few units of whiskey or wine per week, nothing troubling really, but this did increase during the lockdowns.

Since then I have never become very drunk or had issues, but have noticed that I consume less as time goes by.
What is slightly odd though is that recently I have completely gone off it. It suddenly felt as if it was a huge waste of time, money and energy, and the 'good' feeling it brought never really lasted past 2 glasses.
I also began to dislike the taste and had previously loved it!

This is probably a good thing as I am sure many of us should drink less and be happier for it, but I wasn't planning or expecting it. I hear of many people who stopped drinking because of tolerance issues or bad hangovers, but I don't see many people who just get fed up of it and go off it naturally.

The feeling I get from even one drink is just like a slump, or a 'meh' now, whereas it used to be quite a nice little buzz. It all feels heavy and depressing. I am going through some big life changes (moving away, new business, leaving ex) and wonder if i have just had a psychological shift.

Anyone else just naturally lost a taste for the stuff as well as the feeling it gives? I would be interested to know since most of the stuff I have read tends to be on the side of having to cut down, rather than just going off it.

OP posts:
JaninaDuszejko · 03/08/2023 14:01

Are you going through the menopause? I've cut down (like you, never drank loads) and now never have more than 2 glasses of wine because I get such bad insomnia it's not worth drinking any more. So yes, one glass is nice but I don't want to drink much more than that.

Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 14:06

Yes, i am! I did feel like this in my early 30's too though and lost the taste for it for over 14 years. Picked up on it again in 2019. It must come in phases for me.

With me, I dont even desire that one glass, my interest just dropped right off before i had even noticed it happening, so I am intrigued.

OP posts:
Naimee87 · 03/08/2023 14:07

Yes! Me!

Went off it about 4 or 5 months ago... and not even be slightly tempted since. I used to love a drink and admittedly drank a lot in my teens/20s not sure how old you are? But i just turned 36 i dont actually see myself drinking again. I managed a hen-do, a 3 day wedding abroad, a holiday and a few birthday celebrations all tee-total. And the amount of people that were convinced I wasnt having fun because i wasnt drinking was so annoying. The events were great equally with or without alcohol and even better without for me because I was up running in the morning after some of those occaisions, while everyone else was sleeping off hang-overs or searching for another drink - hair of the dog - type situation. Or wondering what they had got up to the night before.

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Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 14:11

@Naimee87 Yes indeed! I also feel far better in such situations if I am not drinking. I had just never given it thought before recently.

One thing that might have impacted it was getting into yoga last year. On the couple of occasions per week where I would have a drink I began to resent the 'mood change' aspect of it, as the yoga had left me feeling great. In comparison the booze seemed to drag me down, even with one glass.

Having said this, I do not think alcohol is a bad thing and am happy to be around others who do it unless there's aggression, obvs.

OP posts:
Afonavon · 03/08/2023 14:13

Me too. I just feel that drinking doesn’t gain me anything. I don’t like the taste, the cost, the feeling or the after effects. There’s just no positives for me.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/08/2023 14:15

Yes. Cut down a hell of lot (at one point I was a bottle of wine a night girl), but lately it's like a switch has been flicked and I can't be bothered. I still have a drink (a beer or two at the weekend) but I can take or leave it.

Doing wonders for the weight loss, too.

Naimee87 · 03/08/2023 14:16

Same for me as well. I am more than happy to still go to events where my friends are drinking and wouldnt ever tell anyone not to if its what they enjoy. But it has made me realise though that a lot of people seem to only enjoy events with alcohol.

I havent ever said i will never drink again but the idea of a alcohol free cocktail is now way more tempting for me than one with alcohol. A few years ago i would never have believed that would be the case...

Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 14:16

I did the bottle per night for a few months during the first lockdown. I gained a bloody stone! Gone now though thankfully Grin

OP posts:
Beamur · 03/08/2023 14:16

Yup. I still enjoy an occasional glass of wine but by the second I have had enough. Having been quite a social drinker before this is a change. Back from a trip where I have had no alcohol for 8 days and was looking forward to a drink when I got home and it really didn't taste that good!

Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 14:20

Yeh, it is a strange feeling to just go off it as opposed to wanting to quit.

I love the idea of a crisp cold half lager on a hot afternoon in a country pub, but when I tried this a month ago I just felt sluggish for the rest of the afternoon.

I have just been reading and discovered something called a 'bottomless brunch'! I hadn't heard of that, although I do live a bit of a low key life in the sticks. That would probably knock me out.

OP posts:
MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/08/2023 14:25

LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 14:16

I did the bottle per night for a few months during the first lockdown. I gained a bloody stone! Gone now though thankfully Grin

When I stopped that bottle a night habit I dropped 3 stone without any other diet adjustments whatsoever.

YourCrackersMiLord · 03/08/2023 14:30

When I was young, the first couple of drinks made me feel like someone had switched all the lights on inside me. Alive!

Now they make me feel like someone's turned all the lights out and gone home Grin

Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 14:31

Hahaah perfect way to describe it!

OP posts:
LimitIsUp · 03/08/2023 14:35

Yes, now I am post menopausal alcohol seems to make me feel bleurgh

GinBlossom94 · 03/08/2023 14:56

I've had 1 drink this year, there's plenty in the house but literally zero interest in it. I have adult DC and even when they're home and offer to get me a drink I turn it down. Been off it for a good couple years now and honestly watching how much some people drink (instagram stories etc) I find it insane, they're the same age range as me - mid 40s

GinBlossom94 · 03/08/2023 14:58

YourCrackersMiLord · 03/08/2023 14:30

When I was young, the first couple of drinks made me feel like someone had switched all the lights on inside me. Alive!

Now they make me feel like someone's turned all the lights out and gone home Grin

You put it so well!

mfhtoeh · 03/08/2023 15:01

Is it the weather too? I find a nice cold glass of white wine refreshing in summer and a cosy glass of red warming in winter.

Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 15:25

I think i have simply gone off it - the taste, the feeling, etc.
This happened with chicken breast too (prefer fish now) so I suppose it's just swings and roundabouts!

OP posts:
Aurora2023 · 03/08/2023 16:42

Yep me too. I was quite a big drinker and then suddenly I literally just went off it. All of it. I actually look at drinks adverts on tv etc and think I wish I still liked it because it all looks so delicious. But nope. I have zero desire to drink alcohol ever again. It's very strange and also very handy (can do all the driving, I sleep well, no hangovers ever, dinner dates are cheaper) it's endlessly beneficial !

Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 18:38

Aurora2023 · 03/08/2023 16:42

Yep me too. I was quite a big drinker and then suddenly I literally just went off it. All of it. I actually look at drinks adverts on tv etc and think I wish I still liked it because it all looks so delicious. But nope. I have zero desire to drink alcohol ever again. It's very strange and also very handy (can do all the driving, I sleep well, no hangovers ever, dinner dates are cheaper) it's endlessly beneficial !

It's funny you mention that, because I have been thinking recently about how we associate drinking with relaxation or luxury, good food and good times.
And whilst this is probably true for many, the reality of it never worked out that way for me. We live in a society which almost seduces us to drink, to mark almost any emotional situation or celebration.

I used to walk into Booths and feel the 'pull' of the wine section - the displays, the lighting, the 'essence' and anticipation of that first glass of an evening, it's all very tied up with our cultural perceptions of decadence and sophistication, whether we care about that or not. It's quite insidious and creeps in one way or another.

I have never had issues with alcohol but I can see the temptation. Especially on holiday, where I once drank a bottle of wine every night on a trip to the Peak District ... felt dreadful every day recovering from that but still plunged back in later on..it was like 'This is a holiday! This is how I celebrate!'

The novelty of that wore off fast, thankfully. It made me realise that the idea of drinking often overshadows the reality.
I remember someone on here once wrote that they were dependent on booze as it took the pointy edges of life away, but I feel the exact opposite; that it causes life to feel more pointy!

OP posts:
Aurora2023 · 03/08/2023 19:18

Yes ! I've also found that people have said to me things like "you'll drink on holiday tho won't you surely?" As if I couldn't possibly have a good time on holiday (or at a party/Christmas) etc without having a drink. But admittedly I was like this for years - thinking how do people actually have a nice time if they are not having a drink ! Same goes for anything really - I had a good friend who had weight loss surgery and the ONLY thing she was worried about was if her planned holiday was going to be ruined because she wouldn't be eating very much.

It's strange how we think isn't it. But I feel amazing and wish I'd had this feeling of going off booze years ago ! - for the embarrassment I'd have saved myself aloneConfused 😂

Original poster
LittleDrops · 03/08/2023 20:10

Aurora2023 · 03/08/2023 19:18

Yes ! I've also found that people have said to me things like "you'll drink on holiday tho won't you surely?" As if I couldn't possibly have a good time on holiday (or at a party/Christmas) etc without having a drink. But admittedly I was like this for years - thinking how do people actually have a nice time if they are not having a drink ! Same goes for anything really - I had a good friend who had weight loss surgery and the ONLY thing she was worried about was if her planned holiday was going to be ruined because she wouldn't be eating very much.

It's strange how we think isn't it. But I feel amazing and wish I'd had this feeling of going off booze years ago ! - for the embarrassment I'd have saved myself aloneConfused 😂

You are right, it is strange how it gets into our heads.
I would love to be able to have the time, energy and money back that I squandered on those couple of holiday's drinking splurges, to visit them afresh without the allure of the wine glass. When I look back I see that it literally eats your time and energy, whilst seducing you into believing this is 'really living'!

I have also noticed that I prefer the state of my mind without it, even one glass or measure. The last time I had 1 single whiskey and coke my mood altered drastically - nothing noticeable to others, but certainly to me. I have grown really fond of being present, still, calmer. I appreciate that this will possibly sound pompous!

OP posts:
Catlady1978 · 06/08/2023 22:05

After my eldest DS was born 16 years ago I kind of stopped drinking - don’t get me wrong I enjoy the taste but I can’t be doing with the sluggish crappy feeling it gives you the next day. I just find it easier not to - problem is our culture sees you as ‘boring’ if you don’t drink and you are constantly questioned as to why you aren’t drinking. I’ve reached the point in my life where i prefer a nice meal or theatre trip rather than a bottomless brunch - unfortunately I seem to be alone in this one though 😩

Ontobetterthings · 19/11/2023 17:44

I'm the same. I would prefer lunch and a couple of nice glasses of wine than a bottomless brunch. Cba binge drinking in the day now.

Theresit · 19/11/2023 17:46

Me! Like a wee gin or a port occasionally but much of the time could take it or leave it.
My mum cannot understand it at all and will try to pressure me into having one which I hate!