I have been teetotal now for three months. Are there any others here that are currently "on the wagon".

Any tips or words of advice/tips/anecdotes for a relative beginner in the art?



CC

Don't drink?

I'm not teetotal, but I rarely drink. I think I've probably averaged about a beer a month this year. Some years I drink a little more, some not at all.

Before, if there was beer in the house, I would drink it, I treated it like Apfelschorle (apple juice and sparkling mineral water) - and it had about the same effect. Since I've met Tina, I've often what remains of a 6 pack in the fridge for weeks on end, until we get around to finishing them off.

Last year, I bought a crate of beer for my birthday, in May. I think we finally finished it in October...

The best tip is not to think about it.

I've been forcibly tee-total for medical reasons for about.. three years now. The one piece of advice I would give is : don't try to maintain your old habits just without the alcohol. I spent a good few nights out having caffeine induced tremors and going to the toilet every 15 minutes because I was trying to drink soft drinks at the rate my friends drink pints. It just doesn't work.

If you don't feel like another drink, don't have one. if you feel like going home when they're all off onto a club, go home. If you feel like going with them, go with them. But recognise that you being sober gives you a different viewpoint and there are going to be occasions when you might have been having the time of your life before which now seem... a bit tedious. This is perfectly normal. If your friends are at all smart they'll recognise this and it wont be an issue.

Oh and be prepared to be giving people lifts a lot .

I gave up drinking in 2002. One too many hangovers so I don't miss it at all and it was easy for me to stop. Follow Rusty's advice, it makes sense.
When I am offered a drink and I say I dont drink, most people are fine with it, some say they wish they could stop and a couple thought I was a saddo.

I've been t-total since about Feb. 1992, which is almost 18 years now.
I used to be quite a heavy drinker and then one day I just stopped. I didn't shout about it and normally I still don't. I'm immensely proud of the fact I stopped and I make no apologies for it to anyone.
I think the key to your continued success (if you want to make this a permanent thing) is to keep reminding yourself why you gave it up in the first place.
It doesn't need to be a daily/weekly/monthly ritual, just when ever you think you might be finding it hard, which may be more often than you think to start with.
I never really had to change the way I do anything, but if you do feel tempted by anything in your day to day life then it's probably a good idea to develop alternatives to that.
Just try not to lose sight of why you stopped drinking in the first place.

Mark

Drinking has never been a problem. I have only been really drunk once, and that was by accident.

I have stopped because there is so much going on in my life at the moment I can do without my moods being affected by drink. Once I stopped I just sort of carried on.

I quite like not drinking now. However it is hard when in a pub finding stuff worth drinking.

Be prepared to pay more for a pint of lemonade that it costs for others to get a pint of beer.

Mark

Yeah I'm always shocked at the price of soft-drinks in pubs.

£2 for a coke (which I don't even think is a pint), or £2.35 for a pint of lager in my local. wtf?

As for me, if I'm driving I'll usually drink orange and lemonade. Nice and refreshing.

Well, good luck to you CC (and to anyone else who's going TT or has been for some time).

I'm not but I don't tend to drink for fairly large stretches of time. I find that if I have booze in the house it just sits there unless I have company and I refuse to drink on my own as I feel that's something of a slippery slope.

Good luck CC. Like any dependency, leaving the comfort zone behind is hard and can ultimately only be achieved by self-control, will-power and support from those around you.

Although we have a bottle of red wine now and then (we drank three over the whole of Christmas ), and Best Beloved will occasionally partake of a light beer if we're out for a meal or something, 2009 was generally a low alcohol year.

I feel better for it. I've never been much of a one for drinking anyway, a notable example being my 30th birthday when my sister and friends decided to get me ratted. I just couldn't do it. I got to the point where I was genuinely staggery and tipsy, but I couldn't force any more of the stuff down my neck.

A glass or two with a good meal, and that's my limit.

The hardest bit I found was the looks of incredulity you get from friends who treat every night out as an opportunity to get pissed. For some reason they seem to have it in their heads that it's a "normal" thing to do. Maybe I grew up before this kind of behaviour was deemed "normal" - sure, I used to drink when I was at University, but once I started working there were more important things in life than getting drunk, and I quickly found out I could quite happily get by without it.

Nice on a Sunday afternoon but no "kick" to it.

So far I have had some luck with

Orange and lemonade (Nice but I struggle to have more than one)

Ginger Beer (My number one choice so far but not many pubs actually sell it)

Ginger Ale (My number two choice but usually expensive for small volumes)

Tomato Juice with a splash of Worcester Sauce (Has kick but gets you strange looks)

Red Bull (Has kick but more than one has me buzzing like the Duracell Bunny)



P.s.

J2O All hype and no substance. I can't stand the stuff.

Try OJ and bitter Lemon. - Nice ( called a St Clements )

I rather enjoy a glass, or 2 , of nice wine with Dinner though so I wouldn't want to go TT. I can't remember the last time I was drunk it was many years ago.

That does sound worth a try.

The bitter lemon comes in little bottles what volume of OJ do you use?