To ask you to tell me all the positives about not drinking alcohol

[Rachtoteach]

My mother is an alcoholic. I have only recently acknowledged this as she had been functioning ok but her health is now in such a bad state, her liver is failing and she has circulation problems which means she rarely leaves the house (but she will struggle to the shop to buy gin). Her sister is also an alcoholic. I am an only child and have three lovely kids and an amazing DH. My wine intake had been increasing and hangovers getting worse and I had a bit of an enlightening moment when I realised that I could choose life or alcohol (bit dramatic but am currently feeling my mum has chosen gin over us, by far). I am an all or nothing person and have taken the decision to give up the booze for good, rather than cut down. Alcohol no longer has a place in my life.

So... please help me think of all the fab things about not drinking! So far I've thought of - no hangovers, no memory loss, no embarrassment, saving money, weight loss.......

Inspire me please!!

alcohol is harmfull to all of your body tissues, there are no positives to drinking alcohol.
My understanding is that, for women, there is no safe amount of alcohol, relative to it's intoxicant effects alcohol is highly toxic

Another minor benefit but important to me - I can remember what happened in the book I'm reading when I come back to it the next night. When I've had even the smallest drink I struggle to remember what I read the night before.

The times I've read the previous few pages again just to catch up on the plot!

I don't drink at all. I've never regularly drank alcohol. I hate the taste, it's empty calories and just don't get what the fuss is all about. You won't regret giving it up!

Didn't have the usual share bottle with dh last night because of this thread and slept like a baby so able to post this. Usually sleep badly after a drink and sleep till the alarm at 7.

I think that sleep is one of the big bonuses of not drinking. If I dont drink then I go to bed earlier (no staying up and talking bollocks into the night) and, like thebody, I sleep better.

Ok - better skin
Better mood
No snoring - great sleep
No mild depression
Weight loss
Money saved
No hangovers

Best thing I've done in a long time.

Can we have a dry July thread?

It would be good to have some support.

Hi all, I'm so glad I started this thread, am finding it so helpful and encouraging. I think a dry July thread would get me off to a great start! xx

The biggest benefit for me has been unbelievable amounts of energy. I only cut back three weeks ago and I feel so much better.

More money
more control over life choices
Less likely to be in a vulnerable position where you can be taken advantage of
better health
less likely to gain alcoholic inches around your waist
No more hangovers & vomit

I have never drunk alcohol and it doesnt appeal to me, the smell of it makes me want to vomit.

I sleep better when I don't drink.

*Much more energy
*I get far more done
*I suffer far less anxiety and edginess
*Found out that I didn't really need a glass of wine or ten to socialise
*No more scary and humiliating memory gaps
*Life no longer feels overwhelming but at the same time it feels much larger and full of opportunity
*When I'm happy, which is far more often than it used to be, it's wonderful to know that it's a real feeling and not chemically induced.

That's on the basis of having had a strong psychological addiction and then going teetotal two years ago. I have not been entirely teetotal in the last six months although most weeks go by alcohol free. The most I have had since reintroduction was 4 glasses of wine in an evening. Peanuts to what I used to drink but the next day I felt crumby and edgy and it was astonishing to realise, even making allowances for tolerance levels, just how strongly alcohol affected my mood. Shocking too, to realise that having my mood thus affected was once a normal state of affairs!

I need at least an hour less sleep a night if I don't drink.

Your children will thank you for it you've shown them that history doesnt have to repeat itself

The soberistas website is brilliant for this

Good luck

Inspiring thread, thank you... Even though I don't drink a lot as I am BFing I have recently started to drink very regularly and when DC wakes early or in the night I feel awful and guilty.

I plan to cut down to one drink max, once a week until end July. I love the taste of good wine and spirits and my DH is the same so that's my challenge.

Time, in all senses.

More time on this earth.

More time when you have all your wits about you.

More time when you're not (as one poster says above) constantly preoccupied with how to get/hide/dispose of the next bottle.

More time when you're fully present for your family.

More time to think about the future, with all its possibilities, beyond just the next score.

Oh and better teeth! Did you know most wine is actually more acidic than lemon juice? It's just the sugars present disguise the taste.

I've cut out alcohol as I realised that my intake had soared recently and I swear I can see the difference in my face after just short of a week! My face is losing the puffy look I'd been cultivating recently and I love the feeling of waking up clear headed every morning instead of ever so slightly muggy due to the glass or 2 the night before.

Love this thread :) currently i am pregnant so have not been drinking for 6 +months and I am seriously thinking of not going back.

How about asking what are the positives of drinking alcohol? Because in my view that's not a long list and it baffles me how most of society is obsessed with it.

I'm not saying I didn't get drunk (many times) in my youth, and I'm still not teetotal, but I don't have any urge at all to drink lots, get drunk and then have a hangover.

So, what are the positives of drinking . . . . . ?

Penny
Erm.... Dickheads in the bar don't seem quite so dickheaded when you've had a beer or 2?

Positives of drinking for me?
It's nice
It relaxes me
I turn into the wittiest most beautiful person on the planet.

Oops, pressed post too early. So yes, wine creates a delusion, which I find more addictive than the stuff itself. I do like drinking. I do like the fun I have when drinking. However I have come to dislike the hangovers more than I like the being tipsy (not drunk, tipsy). As I get older, the hangovers become more severe and I find myself thinking "You're 38, this is ridiculous."

I have cut right back since we have been TTC and even if this fertility treatment all eventually fails, I don't think I will ever drink as much as I used to again.

So, what are the positives of drinking . . . . . ? Everything on the night, practically nothing the next day (or the next few days the older you get)

Rachtoteach - I am in a very similar situation. I also wish to cut the alcohol out completely, due to seeing the effects on my parents, various other family members, and now my DH . I need support in not slipping back into regular and increasingly heavy drinking. I also cannot be enabling my DH to drink, as he will use any excuse to drink excessively.

I will keep referring to this thread for encouragement.

Alcohol helps ugly uninteresting people get sex.