The ritual , yes! That resonates with me. Sometimes it’s the process and the association that is more addicting than the substance. Fitting in, feeling like you’re celebrating and giving yourself a reward is where NA beer works for me. It’s actually hydrating and helping my body recover after a hard workout rather than tearing it apart. Best of both worlds. But just like anything, balance and moderation, right?
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Absolutely moderation which I find I still have the ability to maintain with NA’s. I noticed, when I am hanging out with friends wherever, and they begin getting to that slurring, talking loud, sloshy part, I don’t have that tispy urge to "have just one more* like when I would hang out and two beers would easily turn into 12. Because I am not intoxicated so I still have my sober decision making and haven’t drowned my will power like I always did. After a few NA’s it’s easy to not over do it. With the real stuff once I was in, it was nearly impossible to not keep it going until blackout. Being able to cheers a mug with friends without sacrificing my sobriety is something I appreciate.
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But also NA anything kinda tastes like butt anyway. I just fly that sober flag. I never really drank anything boozy for the taste, to be honest.
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Yeah, new beverages, new habits!
I used to drink at night. Now I have a ritual of chamomile before bed, as I did years before drinking took over.
It’s a nice, sober way to signal to my body it’s bedtime. After a few years now, just the taste of it makes me sleepy by association.
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My personal opinion is that NA drinks don’t serve me well for several reasons:
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They literally remind me of the ‘real thing’ and what l’m missing out on (either the look, taste or smell), so it triggers a true craving.
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They place unwanted attention on me when l am at a social gathering ( my brother in law once publicly made a big deal of a ‘nice bottle of NA wine’ he had bought especially for me to drink at a family BBQ)!
I felt like l had 2 heads the entire time, and later, went home and skulled several of my husband’s beers in the garage fridge out of anger and resentment.
- Not sure how to articulate this one. It’s sort of like the 1st point, but different somehow.
An example is, if l start drinking NA drinks out of a wine glass. At first, it’s probably ok, but then as days go by, my resolve starts to weaken and l start fantasising about drinking. I dunno, maybe it allows the little voice in my head to be amplified?? Or maybe it’s the cunning and powerful voice of addiction looking for a tiny crack in my sobriety to penetrate.
In my earlier attempts at sobriety, l was more adventurous and would ignore my own intuition, and other recovering alcoholics advice. Now l am more cautious.
The debate about NA drinks reminds of the vegeburger debate.
To clarify, if you choose to go vegan in the name of animal liberation, why would you choose to buy a vegetable based sausage or burger? Wouldn’t you be happy to just eat whole unprocessed vegetables/fruits/grains rather than be reminded of meat products every other day. (Substitutes taste crap anyway!)
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I can relate to #2. Couple times early on people bought that Martinelli’s sparkling stuff just for me.
On one hand, that’s thoughtful and everything. On the other hand, they went out of their way to get something I really didn’t wanna drink 
and put a brief spotlight on me.
Then again, also had friends who noticed I always brought La Croix. And that I wasn’t the only one who drank it. So they started always just having some at hand. Setting trends. 
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