Hi all,
Still very new to sobriety so still have a lot of thoughts running around in my head but this is something that I really want.
I’m not thinking about this for anytime soon but I was just wondering for in the future for like social events or like pizza with the family is non-alcoholic cider and beers okay or is that a slippery slope?
Also I’m a little self conscious at the moment of telling people I’ve stopped drinking (my friends are big drinkers) because I dont want the judgement or pressure (they’re friendly people nothing too bad just like peer pressure to have like one) is it better to just come straight out and tell them?
I’d say tell to shrink the chance of peer pressure compromising your recovery. But the non-alcoholic drinks seem personally like a slippery slope to me
I tried non alcoholic beer previously and wound up relapsing, haven’t tried non alcoholic this time and don’t plan to.
Being open and honest with your sobriety will help sort your friends from your drinking buddies. You’ll find out who will support and be there for you to be clean and find who will try to pressure you into drinking. You don’t have to hate your old drinking buddies, you just need to find a new common ground of friendship that’s not drinking.
Hi there, the beginning of my sober journey happened to be right before Christmas. I had set the intent that I was not drinking. My brother of all people tried pressuring me all night and I just kept saying I’m not drinking tonight. You don’t have to explain everything all at once.
If you are serious about sobriety, there is inevitably going to be some tests. For me personally, I didn’t even look at NA options because it was just too soon. I’m 5 months sober now, bought a bottle of NA wine, and still haven’t opened it.
I feel like maybe you should try being stronger in your sobriety- switch to things that have nothing to do with alcohol- then maybe see down the road if you are comfortable with it.
Treat yourself with kid gloves for the time being. And be strong. Ultimately your life depends on it.
I also wanted to add that while this is a completely normal feeling, it is a thought that I feel new non-drinkers have to reset in their minds.
Meaning we should not have to justify or defend our choice to live a life without alcohol. This is so backwards and crazy, but unfortunately in a society where drinking has become so normal, we feel we are the outcasts and that there is something wrong with us.
I recommend reading “This Naked Mind” by Annie Grace if you’d like to dive deeper into why you don’t need alcohol to live your life.
Buy it. Read it. There’s a lot of “ah ha”
points in there…
Anyway, that’s all
For me, when I got sober…actually sober without constantly relasping… I changed. I changed people, places, and things. If I thought I would lead me to drinking, I removed it from my life.
At first it seemed scary and seemed like my life was going to get boring. What I found (over the course of 1145 days) is that life got better. I do not miss that lifestyle.
Triggers are highly personal, of course. The entire situation might be something to avoid until you’re more solid in your sobriety. If you do go out with your drinking friends, I agree with others that you should avoid non-alcoholic beer. That seems hugely dangerous to me. As far as telling your friends, that would be ideal, but I also think you can just order soda or something else NA and not make a big deal about it. I guess that depends on your relationship with your friends, are they going to ask you about it, pressure you? You could also just say you’re taking some medication that prevents you from drinking.
I have drank non alcoholic beers in the past. It wasnt a big deal. It allowed me to do something that felt normal. Cold, fake beer on a hot summer day after work.
Today they taste like fake beer and it makes me crave a real one, so I don’t.
I’ve never drank for the taste of alcohol, I drank to get drunk, so having an NA beer that tasted like beer just made me frustrated because … it’s not a beer but it tastes like one. I see no point in it rly. I’m a huge advocate for bubble water though. You get to crack a can, hear the fizz and have something carbonated that doesn’t taste like alcohol to remind you of the real deal. Proud of you for asking and giving it a solid go.
Regarding NA beers and wines: for me, they were a slippery slope, as all they made me do is want the real thing.
Regarding “judgment”: anyone who’d judge me for doing something that by all objective measures would benefit my life, without diminishing their life, doesn’t deserve to remain part of my life.
I tried drinking non alcoholic drinks with friends so I could socialise but doesn’t work . It was okay for a while but i started drinking again because I was jealous of them getting drunk crazy thinking . I put myself in high pressure situations just to please others and in some weird way prove that I could do it . It didn’t last long and a few months of waking up hating myself again convinced me to stop drinking and stop for good again .
Motivation and meditation, my daily thread for years…i like the first quote on the pic,which sums up the topic for me …and…if you keep staring at the door that is closing,you won’t see the one that’s opening…thanks @Butch
I think this is very personal as far as the NA choice of beverages. I bought them because I was an everyday beer drinker for years it was my go to beverage, so I bought NA beers I like the taste it doesnt make me want to drink a regular beer but I also bought seltzer waters because I used to drink a lot of white claws. I have lots of other choices because a drink needs to be near by like a ciggerette beers were my oral fixation so as long as I have a drink near by im satisfied and fizzy drinks help like I said cause i was a beer drinker but I cant stand sugary sodas!
I on the other hand have not gone out to the bar. I was mostly at home drinker anyway, but my boyfriend and I would meet at the bar and have a few drinks and since I have quit hes asked only one time and I declined. Someday I will but for now I have no interest the only thing that made bars more interesting than a restaurant was the drinking w others and watching sports. It doesnt seem fun to me if im not going to drink. I was the same way, I didnt want to tell everyone at first and I have asked my boyfriend many times are you sure im still fun to be around he assures me im more fun its funny how we have that misconception of somehow we are more fun when drinking. Being aware of your triggers is so helpful, I journal everything that makes me want to drink and I protect myself from things that may bring me to drink im still in such early stages of my sobriety I feel its best. So if drinking a NA beer is just going to make you want to drink I would stay away from it. Your doing awesome and coming here for support is a really good way to show yourself self care and love through this very brave choice of sobriety!
For me personal I can not drink non alcohol wine, it makes me want the real to much at a point, and then its done: I go drinking again. From last time Im not taking any chances again with this
over the years I’ve been on both sides of the fence with this one but today I had 6 non alcohol lagers bc I just fancied a beer. Didn’t want to get drunk and it didn’t make me want anything stronger so now I’m sitting on the fence. There’s a time and a place and used sparingly it serves a purpose. At the end of the day it’s better than the real thing. Some days I want lemonade some days I want cherryade turns out today I wanted lagerade.
…and…if you keep staring at the door that is closing,you won’t see the one that’s opening…thanks 
fantastic.
