To ask what's so great about being sober

[sallysaysrelax23]

There's so much talk about how great sobriety is these days, I don't think it's ever been cooler to be sober.

I desperately need to lose weight and I know drinking isn't helping my case. I drink over the weekend (usually wine) and I may have a gin and tonic a few nights during the week. I'm certainly not one for getting sloshed like I did in my twenties but I'm afraid I still really enjoy that relaxed, tipsy feeling I get from one or two drinks at home in the evening.

I don't think it affects my sleep or my mood the next day particularly (I know many will say it does and I just don't realise it) but I know I make poor food choices after a drink and that the calories in wine and gin are pretty significant too. So I'm looking for inspiration to cut down - what do you love about not drinking?

You don't have that boozy smell oozing from your pores.
Reducing your consumption of anything helps the environment.
Saves you money.
Reduces your risk of cancer.

Apart from moral superiority?...

No hangovers, better sleep, more money in my pocket. More 'present' for my family. I'm 19 months AF and don't retreat it at all.

Yes! No hangxiety or paranoia ever!!

I stopped because although I could have one or two and stop at that and be fine on bigger nights out I was at risk of getting hammered and being a knob. It was a lottery and also I was on meds for anxiety so shouldn't have been drinking. The hangovers stretched over days and made me more anxious. So personally the benefits to me stopping are, better sleep, more time for exercise, less anxiety, relationship improved, amazing skin improvement, weight loss but this could be more related to exercise and not snacking whilst drinking. And the best is I don't have to mull over what I said or did for weeks after going out

😂… I laugh, because this is totally me, and it’s so hard to get the right balance!! I’m feeling a tad porky after DC and realise that my couple of glasses of wine on some evenings in the week really won’t be helping. It’s such a fine line between ‘I deserve to enjoy a treat because life is too darn short’ and ‘if I reigned in my treats then I would feel a bit better in my skin’. I’ve spent my day today batch preparing meals for me and DP to start healthy eating this week, and I’ve decided that I’m only going to have some wine on Friday and Saturday as I’ll have earned it!! The only reasonable suggestion I can make would be to cut down on wine nights and maybe have a couple of G&T nights instead, it’s far far less calorific than the old vino…but even if you do fancy a tasty wine, I think that’s totally fine if you’re managing to cut it down to only one or two nights during the course of a week.

Save money
lower cancer risk
slimmer
no hangovers
healthier teeth

@sallysaysrelax23

There saved me saying anything 🤔

Sorry? Are you saying non drinkers are morally superior?

For me it has been that my mind has become more fertile. I write text for a living and since I gave up drinking, my power of expression and active vocabulary has rebounded. The fog has lifted.

Honestly? For me, everything. But you’ve got to ride through the first few months before you start seeing proper benefits, in my experience. Aside from the physical and financial benefits, it’s so nice that there’s just no mental headspace given to alcohol anymore (shall I drive/have a couple? Will I be too tired to do XYZ tomorrow? Etc). Takes all the decision making away

If you want the relaxed feeling without the alcohol/calories, try Trip CBD drinks. I found I went from wine not bothering me the next day to a glass making me feel foggy, so now often have these instead.

Healthier
Save money you may spend on alcohol and watch it grow in a tin or glass jar by putting in weekly what you would have spent.
Clearer mind.
Do exercise to make you release the better happy feeling endorphins which are free and no calories
Stops the drinking slowly sliding into needing a drink.
Never be over the limit to drive.
Be 100% in control of your thoughts and actions...no naughty snacking😀🍕
Hope these help..good luck!😀

I didn’t realise being sanctimonious was the way to make lots of new friends.

For me it's not what's so great about being sober it's the down sides of drinking. I probably unlucky but I sleep poorly when I'm drinking, foggy the next day, make poor food choices and generally feel a bit ick

I cut right back last year. Was always quite a heavy drinker (except when pregnant or with young DC). DH remains a drinker (we are both Geordies, worked in pubs etc etc. it's a big party of who we are).

I have good skin and could always hide a hangover, so that was never an issue. But...
As I am aging, drinking affects my sleeping. My concentration. I would shake the following day and require a lot of sugar to sustain myself. This is after just a couple of drinks, I have never been one to drink to the point of oblivion.
I love sunrise now and often get up, watch the sunrise and then start my day with the kids.
I socialize during the early evening now, late evenings where people are slobbering all over each other, hammered, no longer interest me.

I live in a wine region, and the wine is delicious, but the calories aren't worth it for me. Plus I NEVER drink if I am driving, which is regularly (DH doesn't drive).

DH continues to drink, and mornings are never fun for him. But... while he is snoring away, I continue to get my quiet and peaceful morning...

The one thing that I wish I could solve is fun non alcoholic sugar free drinks. I don't want to have sugary drinks all the time. I can only have so many ice teas or apple juices. I don't like the furry teeth issue and I don't really have a sweet tooth. I end up drinking Coke Zero a lot but then I am buzzing from
Caffeine...

I gave up drinking at Christmas and can't believe how lovely the 'even keel' feeling is. I didn't realise how up and down it made my mood.

Something I read just flicked a switch in my head...it said that we use all the good times in our life (Christmas, Friday nights, birthdays, get togethers with friends and family) as an excuse to drink. Why not stop drinking and just enjoy the feeling rather than blur the good times?

Club soda (carbonated water) can be flavored with a lot of things and don’t have to sugary.

Probably not the greatest example for this thread but I’ve almost entirely swapped tonic in my G&Ts with club soda and lime.

If I want a drink I buy the slimline tonic gin tins from Aldi, measured so I don't over pour and I defo drink less. 72 calories a tin, 2 will do me usually.

I love a drink but find it so much easier to control my weight when I stop - so I regularly give up for a month at a time eg before a holiday
other benefits are I sleep better, obviously save money and really enjoy it when I go back to drinking on the occasion or holiday

Oh and to comment on the OP’s question. I just factored in the calories of my drinks when I was losing weight. Just like every other calorie choice some drinks are better than others (sadly whisky is one of the higher calorie options)

I have not given up drinking, but have vastly cut down from pretty drunk four times a week to a glass of fizz every so often and hands down the best thing is that mornings are no longer spent over sleeping, rushing about ironing dry work clothes, feeling shit and being late.
Now I have a lovely routine, my clothes and bag are sorted, I feel fresh , never run late and it’s such a nice feeling. Quite often I can treat myself to a coffee and a read.
The next best thing is not having that all day feeling that I stink of wine and that people know I was drunk the night before, it’s such a grimy feeling.

No more hangxiety

1. my sleep quality is fantastic now
2. Peri anxiety has completely disappeared since I no longer drink
3. lost weight and my skin looks better- glowy
4. Better mood and more motivated to exercise
5. I just feel like I’m firing on all cylinders instead of that tired, drained feeling the morning after a few glasses even if you aren’t actually hungover
6. Reduced risk of female cancers

End of hangovers is the best part for me. That and gallbladder now goosed!!.