Alternatives to alcohol

When you’ve had a stressful day or you’re tired and wanting a drink, what is your go to alternative? Soda, Na beer?

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Welcome to the forum Ashtin! Usually when i have a stressful day, i unwind in other ways. I dont turn to an alternative of sorts. I like to unwind having a nice lavender essential oil bath, or i unwind thru exercise, cooking a healthy meal or ill have a nap (if time allows).

But what i found (in early recovery especially) is that i had to take care of my stress throughout the day, instead of letting it build up and then being so stressed out by the end of the day, that i wanted to drink or do drugs. If i took care of my stress as it came up, the day turned out not too bad :slight_smile: So deep breathing, positive affirmations, gratitude lists, pausing/slowing down, grounding techniques and becoming focused in the moment all help me to this day, to battle stress. It really helps to decrease cravings

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Welcome to the community!

Some great recommendations on the What are you sipping on today? thread. Hope you find something that helps you unwind and relax. I love all the ideas that Dana provided as well. :hugs:

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For me, fizzy drinks helped a lot like flavored carbonated waters, diet coke, or mocktails. If you’re on TikTok, I’d search for mocktail recipes.

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This makes me feel old… What happened to the good old practice of search engines?

Nothing. You can obvs google it as well.

I’m old too :joy: but I’m a more visual person/learner. :eyes:

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Welcome @Ashtin and congrats on 2 weeks!
My go to after a stressful day is an AA meeting either in person or virtual, depending on the day or picking up the phone and chatting with a like minded person. Changing the action was key for me. I was so accustomed to going for an alcoholic drink, that going for a non alcoholic drink was still the same behavior. My recovery is all about changed behavior.

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That’s a very interesting perspective, I am going to give that some further thought!

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