Exploring life without alcohol: #SoberCurious
Ever wondered what life would be like if alcohol was not the key ingredient for your social calendar or options for relaxation?
Just pressing pause on it for a little while to notice how social events and wind-downs from busy days feel without that cheeky little glass in your hand? Imagine swapping the cocktails for mocktails, Pinot for soft drinks, or announcing “Ill drive tonight”. What shifts would change in your sleep patterns, your energy, your finances or your clarity if you were to swap to zero based drinks, even just for a little while?
Why do we reach for a drink?
- Habit – getting in from work, time to prepare dinner, kids are in bed, wine with dinner, open a bottle – finish a bottle, with a takeaway
- Trigger – the end of a Good day / Bad day, someone else opening a bottle, celebration, social event, being alone
- Emotions – drink at feeling happy, sad, frustrated, lonely, bored, scared and so on
- Life – the emotional stress bucket of life of bereavements, traumas, work, relationships, changes where a drink helps ‘switch off’.
If you think any of these apply to you, then maybe looking for an alternative way to respond just to see how it would feel to not have alcohol for that night.
7 Winning ways to cut or stop the units
- Start later – finish earlier. A quick way to cut units from your week by reducing the amount of available drinking time. So long as you aren’t chugging them down at a faster rate!
- Choose a smaller glass or buy a smaller bottle.
- The 12-Step approach talks about HALT – Ask yourself if you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. Drink a pint of water first in case you are dehydrated and grab a bite to eat. Alcohol provides quick sugar to boost energy so maybe rest if you are feeling tired.
- Investigate the zero-based drinks – nosecco (prosecco), alcohol free lagers, clean gins, ingredients for interesting mocktails. There are more options than just water or lime & soda!
- Check out the Dry months where other people abstain from alcohol. I’m personally a big fan of Sober October and do it every year. There are also lots of podcasts and ‘quit-lit’ books where people share stories of moderation or sobriety.
- Check out the apps on the phone – Try Dry is a good one for tracking sober days or measuring how many units you are consuming
- Plan alcohol free social events – theatre, bowling, cinema, spa type, throwing clay pots or whatever. Look up sober events in the area – there is a whole community of people who choose sobriety – your only commitment is to be sober and not drink whilst you are at the event.
- Just take it one day at a time. Be curious about how alcohol impacts you and how you feel emotionally & physically before, during and after a few drinks.
Liz is an alcohol counsellor, with 20 years of experience in helping people cut down or quit drinking. You can find more information on www.liveyourlifetherapies.com
Photo by Jordan Ryskamp on Unsplash