Can we have a thread about surprising good stuff about having no alcohol?

[OhioOhioOhio]

I'll start. The sleep. I haven't slept so well in years.

This is MN.

Waking up without a dry mouth or headache.

No hangover.
I heard it's great for skin.
Less calories you need to burn off.
No need to try to remember if you didn't do something embarassing when you were drunk
Better for the environment.
No shame of throwing out a lot of empty wine bottles and seeing a neighbour that now suspects you of being an alcoholic.
No risk of turning into an alcoholic.
You don't reek of alcohol the next day.
Less chance of sending cringeworthy text to that ex.
You save money to invest in other nice things.

Reduced anxiety

Weight loss
Not waking up to find you've sent drunken messages to the ex
No hangovers
Spending weekends doing things rather than lying in bed groaning
Not smoking when drunk
Saving money
Being able to drive to nights out
Remembering how you got home and what you said to who
Not copping off with inappropriate men

Clear, wide eyes! 👀

And a non-porridge-y belly

No cringing at the fact you did take your top off, you did get up on a table, you did shag Dirty Dave in the toilets and you did get thrown out.

Clearer skin, better sleep, less anxiety, saving money, loose weight....but yet why do we do it to ourselves

I stopped drinking alcohol last year. Sadly have replaced it with cups of tea and biscuits so haven't noticed a weight change.

But my mental health is a lot better. My skin is clearer. I feel more confident now I don't use a drink to steady my nerves in social gatherings. No hangovers or the "hangxiety" that it created.

I had a bad relationship with alcohol and am so much happier without it. Not everyone has a problem and can manage it so they are free to drink as they please.

My friend keeps texting exes from years ago when she's had a few. She would never dream of doing this sober.

I am "sober curious" which is rather cringe sounding but whatever

Lots of good books out there supporting the theory that alcohol is the only drug where if you cannot tolerate it's toxicity, you are told that you are the one with a problem. Holly Whitaker "Quit Like A Woman" is an entertaining read.

I think alcohol may well be viewed as the new nicotine by the time we all emerge fat, spotty and poor when the current crisis is finally over...

I'm sworn to unaccustomed lockdown sobriety. I thought this would be a sensible, grown up decision; I didn't want my initial pandemic-horror magnified by alcohol.

But goodness me there are a lot of hours to fill right now - with none of their edges pleasantly blurred. All the money I thought I'd save on drink has been squandered on streaming films and ordering staggeringly extravagant cheese. All the weight I thought I'd lose has been multiplied by distraction-baking. All the unwelcome clear-headedness has only served to show me our hopeless future in a pitiless glare of light ...