SOBRIETY

[Sleazy]

fubar thanks for the shares. it's good to hear someone 4 years deep still stoked

Enrico 7 months is a solid milestone. bet you feel great.

i'm closing in on 4 months and feeling great. i've also not been drinking coffee first hour of the day which my wife calls a life hack. she started doing it also. it's a cool thing to try. the idea is that your body releases cortisol to wake you up in the morning for the first hour or so and drinking caffeine disrupts the process. doing this has me feeling super alert and awake all day and it's pretty easy to wait if your not hung over from drinking.

[FUBAR]

Keep it going, Sleazy! Four months is rad! I’m not sure I can go an hr each morning without caffeine tho…I try to get a walk run in before work and if I’m not all hopped up on caffeine, it won’t happen.

[EdLawndale]

Halloween weekend can be tempting so stay strong, ladies and gentlemen.

I went to a concert last week and only had a couple of redbulls.

I've kind of become accustomed to that sour look I get from strange bartenders when I only order a non-alcoholic beverage and they realize I'm not someone they are going to make a lot of money of of. I get a thrill of that sour look now and savor it.

[LUGR]

Ya, coffee is the one thing I let myself neeeeeeeeed. I enjoy it. The ritual, the light craving, the flavor…

I switched to tea 6 years ago bc I was too dependent on coffee and if I didn’t have it, I was going to have a bad day. The smell of good quality coffee is one of the most beautiful smells in the world. I’ll probably start drinking it again at some point.

[FUBAR]

Coffee and energy drinks are my thing. When I hang with people that are drinking, I’ll get all hopped up on a couple Monsters and I can talk nonsense with everyone else that is drinking. I do find that having a non alcoholic beverage in my hand when in a setting where people are drinking makes me feel better…it’s hard to describe. I read about that tactic somewhere, but it really works for me.

[Sleazy]

Coffee and energy drinks are my thing. When I hang with people that are drinking, I’ll get all hopped up on a couple Monsters and I can talk nonsense with everyone else that is drinking. I do find that having a non alcoholic beverage in my hand when in a setting where people are drinking makes me feel better…it’s hard to describe. I read about that tactic somewhere, but it really works for me.

the NA beers have gotten really good. my wife and i really like heineken 0. definitely helpful to have a good social drink figured out. if there's no NAs then i'll go with a soda water

[Mr. Kamikazi]

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Coffee and energy drinks are my thing. When I hang with people that are drinking, I’ll get all hopped up on a couple Monsters and I can talk nonsense with everyone else that is drinking. I do find that having a non alcoholic beverage in my hand when in a setting where people are drinking makes me feel better…it’s hard to describe. I read about that tactic somewhere, but it really works for me.

[close]

the NA beers have gotten really good. my wife and i really like heineken 0. definitely helpful to have a good social drink figured out. if there's no NAs then i'll go with a soda water

Heineken 0 rules. That is my go to, along with the Athletic NA's. They have 4-5 options. The Samuel Adams NA is also a great option as it has a nice crisp taste. This June will be two years for me. There's no going back. Stay strong out there mates. You will all be happier with a hard day missing drinking & not giving in instead of waking up & saying "it got me".

[Coastal Fever]

This past summer I went to Trader Joe’s and bought a variety pack of Eighteen Twenty Brewing Co. NA beers, probably the best I’ve had, highly recommended if you can find them anywhere.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

One of my good friends went to a grad program that had a policy that required an EANAB (Equally Appetizing Non Alcoholic Beverage) at all school functions and that acronym now gets tossed around in our friend group and between my wife and I (“enabs” or “nabs”) whenever we’re going to a party.

Never liked IPAs, but for whatever reason I’ve been enjoying the Athletic Brewing IPA - not having that 6-10% ABV kick makes them way more palatable I think.

[Easy Slider]

Throwing in Guinness Zero, I really like it, comes close to the OG taste wise.

[Sleazy]

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Coffee and energy drinks are my thing. When I hang with people that are drinking, I’ll get all hopped up on a couple Monsters and I can talk nonsense with everyone else that is drinking. I do find that having a non alcoholic beverage in my hand when in a setting where people are drinking makes me feel better…it’s hard to describe. I read about that tactic somewhere, but it really works for me.

[close]

the NA beers have gotten really good. my wife and i really like heineken 0. definitely helpful to have a good social drink figured out. if there's no NAs then i'll go with a soda water

[close]

Heineken 0 rules. That is my go to, along with the Athletic NA's. They have 4-5 options. The Samuel Adams NA is also a great option as it has a nice crisp taste. This June will be two years for me. There's no going back. Stay strong out there mates. You will all be happier with a hard day missing drinking & not giving in instead of waking up & saying "it got me".

atheletic is also great. peroni's good too. for me though, i'm probably pretty boring with it. if they have the heineken 0 it hits the spot every time.

[ralf_]

thought of y'all today. 11 months. lately, in fear of autumn depression, been drinking a lot of cola. love this guarana cola. guarana is different than coffein, coffein just releases it's powers on you at once, guarana is slowly sneaking its energy into your system. lol.

[JoseCansnake0]

thought of y'all today. 11 months. lately, in fear of autumn depression, been drinking a lot of cola. love this guarana cola. guarana is different than coffein, coffein just releases it's powers on you at once, guarana is slowly sneaking its energy into your system. lol.

Congrats on 11 months! You started this journey around the same time last year! Cheers to a year

[FUBAR]

Yeah man congrats!

[srfoden]

I got sober two years ago. I was admitted into a psych ward four times then spent seven months in rehab and four in outpatient. I do miss getting high I think I always will, but I had to kinda accept that I can not take one hit without wanting to be high 24/7. Im off everything now but low key really just wanna finish the deal and get off nicotine and porn. I know that I am still technically sober and that nic and porn is literally nothing compared to real shit but I’m this close to literally not a single mental vice might as well just finish the deal.

[Sleazy]

congrats @ralf_ !

[Coastal Fever]

Still holding strong over here, hope you guys are too.  It’s my first sober holidays/winter and it’s def a bit daunting, as I historically always pile out this time of year.  Had to skip my work staff party this weekend, just couldn’t do it.

Got a pool membership and been doing laps/hitting the sauna a few times a week, which has been great.. but also eating too much junk, overspending, and sitting around on my phone more than I should. 

I guess I should look back gratefully on this, mostly, clean year and use it as motivation to keep it going.  Hope you’re all feeling good and get to enjoy yourselves this holiday season.

[RembrantQeinstein]

Respect!
The first milestone stuff is hard. Fortunately, I pulled a “life hack” and hit a wall a couple of weeks before Christmas..so my first Christmas was white knuckle shame and the second one was not only easier, but kind of a milestone.

Good call on skipping that party. That took some balls.

If I were you, I wouldn’t beat myself up about eating or overspending right now. The advice I got was to shoot the Alligator closest to the boat (fight one battle at a time)

Sounds like you have a good attitude. That’s what’s up. Thanks for the stoke. Onward and upward, no doubt.

[EdLawndale]

Congrats on staying sober, Coastal Fever. Only 6 months on my clock here so this will be my first holiday season without drinking as well. So far so good. Sometimes you have to miss the parties, esp in the beginning. Oh well. And it sounds like you have things more in balance than you may be giving yourself credit for. Keep it up!

[Easy Slider]

Skipped office party as well. No fun watching others getting drunk.

 Try and surround yourself with sober people as much as possible, even if that means reducing a few relationships. For the parties you can‘t avoid make sure people know you don‘t drink from the beginning. If they have any decency they will then not try to convince you to make „an exception“. If they do they suck.

 Also, when in a restaurant, the first time the waiter comes around and asks what you drink, immediately tell em no alcohol so they will remove the wine glasses and not come near you with a bottle of wine the entire evening even if everybody else is constantly being served.

[yghartsyrt]

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Coffee and energy drinks are my thing. When I hang with people that are drinking, I’ll get all hopped up on a couple Monsters and I can talk nonsense with everyone else that is drinking. I do find that having a non alcoholic beverage in my hand when in a setting where people are drinking makes me feel better…it’s hard to describe. I read about that tactic somewhere, but it really works for me.

[close]

the NA beers have gotten really good. my wife and i really like heineken 0. definitely helpful to have a good social drink figured out. if there's no NAs then i'll go with a soda water

Still drink occasionally, but usually resort to non-alcoholic beers.
There are quite a number of non-alcoholic IPAs out there that I really enjoy. The higher amount of hopes really counter balances the additional sweetness non-alcoholic beers usually have. The brew dog Punk NA and Nanny State NA are some widely available and pretty affordable beers that avoid the typical non-alcoholic taste

[mrselfdestruct]

over a year sober forced to quit but im happy about it now.

[Sleazy]

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Coffee and energy drinks are my thing. When I hang with people that are drinking, I’ll get all hopped up on a couple Monsters and I can talk nonsense with everyone else that is drinking. I do find that having a non alcoholic beverage in my hand when in a setting where people are drinking makes me feel better…it’s hard to describe. I read about that tactic somewhere, but it really works for me.

[close]

the NA beers have gotten really good. my wife and i really like heineken 0. definitely helpful to have a good social drink figured out. if there's no NAs then i'll go with a soda water

[close]

Still drink occasionally, but usually resort to non-alcoholic beers.
There are quite a number of non-alcoholic IPAs out there that I really enjoy. The higher amount of hopes really counter balances the additional sweetness non-alcoholic beers usually have. The brew dog Punk NA and Nanny State NA are some widely available and pretty affordable beers that avoid the typical non-alcoholic taste

this is the brand we've really gotten into. they are pretty easy to find in austin but i'm not sure about other places. they only do na beer. all that said i'm probably drinking to many lately. i've lost around 15-18 pounds without dieting or exercising and i'm getting into bad habbits. i used to work out 30-1h our day and now i just walk a lot and i've started eating chocolate most days and my diet is just not as on point as it used to be. good problems to have but if i actually pushed it like i used to when i drink id probably get in great shape which would feel good for a guy in his 50s.

https://athleticbrewing.com/collections/beer

[breezy_again]

i've only gained pounds since being sober but everyone always comments that i look good and that it looks like I've lost weight. i think it must have to do with my face not being bloated and red from drinking. today is 6 months for me but my time on probation is drawing near. it really is amazing how much better i feel and all the things i've accomplished these past 6 months that i wouldn't have done if i had been drinking.

[ralf_]

celebrated my first full year last saturday. had a pizza.

congratulations breezy!

i feel like i look better and healthier too, despite also gaining some pounds. weighed myself for the first time in ages the other day. it's not that bad. don't let the holiday season bring y'all down. cheers

[PaulHarwood856]

 I did the sober stint a while back. Good stuff: clearer head, saved some cash, and better sleep. Bad stuff: social situations were a bit awkward at first, but got easier over time. Overall, it's a solid choice.

[hmmoookay]

i've only gained pounds since being sober but everyone always comments that i look good and that it looks like I've lost weight. i think it must have to do with my face not being bloated and red from drinking. today is 6 months for me but my time on probation is drawing near. it really is amazing how much better i feel and all the things i've accomplished these past 6 months that i wouldn't have done if i had been drinking.

this is something I'll never, ever take for granted. when I look back at pictures from when my drinking was at it's worst, it's not even the same person. even when I was starting to ramp up, but still generally looked like a normal functioning person (2016/17 (when I started thinking I might have a problem but as we all know, sometimes it's gotta get worse before it gets better)) doesn't really look like "me" to me anymore. it's a strange feeling but a good one, really. getting a compliment like "you look healthy" probably means more than anyone other than those in recovery will ever know. what a gift.

congrats on 6mos, I hope you feel incredible and the accomplishments continue to stack up pal!

it's that time of year; shitty weather, holidays, family stuff, cabin fever (for us winter weather folks) be sure to check up on yourself and your homies!

[breezy_again]

i appreciate the kind words ralf and hmmmokay, yall are the best

together we are stronger

[Noble Experiment]

Giving it another go. Tried earlier in the year during summer and managed to taper down to just a few drinks here and there a couple days a week. Not fully sober but with how much I was drinking before that (anywhere from 7 to 10 drinks a night every night), it was a huge improvement. Fast forward to November and December, went through a rough patch that was extremely hard to handle and of course, I turned right back to booze. Went from drinking a few drinks a couple days a week to drinking every night. The second I was off work it was go time. Not only that, but I looked back and did the math and I was at 12-13 drinks a night! Whether it was beers or shots, it usually added up to 12-13 drinks throughout the course of the night. I did this every night from November all the way until mid December, so that’s a good month and a half straight with 12-13 drinks a night every night. The plan is the same as what I did the first time: going to taper off slowly just like how Brian Anderson stopped drinking, deducting 1 or 2 drinks every few days until the number dwindles down, this is to avoid withdrawals. Its been a few days now and I went down from 12-13 to 9-10. Feeling good about this, just gotta stay consistent with it and watch my self control like I did the first time.

[Noble Experiment]

Also any advice or feedback from y’all who are currently going through cutting back or quitting or those of you who are sober would be greatly appreciated! Feels good to have a place to vent and rant and talk about it.