I'm going to spend February sober. (Well I'll try!)

LegacyUser

Ok I drank all weekend, and have basically smoked weed and drank for loads of January. I have worked out a lot too so it's not like I'm doing this totally for health reasons, but I'm really starting to get pissed off with my (and every elses) inability to have fun without getting drunk. Who knows, maybe I'll find a dead end and it will turn out that you actually can't have fun sober, but I really need to do this to prove to myself as much as anything that I can!

Why am I posting here? Well firstly, I'm a bit of a bitch and it will be nice to have a bit of support
Secondly, I need tips! What will I do when everyone else is drinking? Should I just avoid going out? (I really don't want to)

At this stage I usually have about 6 cans or bottles or the equivilant of vodka before leaving my house, and it sucks!

So...help!

LegacyUser

Just thought I'd add that I drink that much before leaving my house when going on a night out 2-3 times a week normally. Not before I leave my house to go about my day

rain on

I haven't drunk alcohol since last July. I get my entertainment on nights out by watching my friends get ridiculously drunk, score with ugly people, and generally act the arse. Then the next day i feel fresh as a daisy when they've got the hangover from hell and ten euros to live on for the rest of the week. It's suiting me pretty well

StupidLikeAFox

good luck with the plan, but apparently smoking and drinking and working out at the same time are really unhealthy

Karl Hungus

It's suprisingly easy to give up the auld beer if you keep yourself busy.

DoctorEdgeWild

Best decision I ever made was not to drink in the first place. 23 now.

But going from being a heavy drinker to non is a pretty hard one I'm sure. If you are into the keep fit buzz, then that's twice the incentive to give up.

It's a question of challenging yourself - seriously challenge yourself to do it and if you fail, you'll feel like sh1t but that feeling might inspire you to give up for real.

Other than giving up, try good old moderation. Dont get fked up every time - whats the point? Good luck whatever you decide to do.

dazberry

I gave up for Jan, and I feel great (both physically and psychologically) for doing so. Very tempted to stay off for another while tbh. I found it tough the first week because I was still in christmas mode, but once I got over that, any "oh I'd love a pint" urges pass after a minute or two. Not too much fun standing in a pub with a 7up but while sober I found so much more things I'd rather do than go to the pub at all Just have to be tough on yourself.

Best of luck!

D.

pickarooney

I do it every so often for a month. It's an awful lot easier if you're not on your own, so try convince a mate to do it with you, either for a month or for a bet - first to have a drink loses.

LegacyUser

Karl Hungus wrote:

It's suprisingly easy to give up the auld beer if you keep yourself busy.

Yeah it's easy to keep yourself busy...until thursday hits and everyone starts the weekend ritual...and it's not like it's even about going out - if I go roughly a week without drinking I'll get cravings for a beer.

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

Other than giving up, try good old moderation. Dont get fked up every time - whats the point? Good luck whatever you decide to do.

I'd rather not drink than have 1 or 2. 1 or 2 always turns into way more, and it really does take 4-6 before I'll even feel anything. I hope that this month off will help me combat this too. I havn't had a month off drinking since I was about 16...But I really think I can do this. Although it is easy to say it now, 2 days in.

It's not like when I smoke I just smoke a joint or two either. I always smoke waterfalls and just get so wasted and for what...I used to get so paranoid that I thought someone was going to kill me until I got home. Now I just get some crazy anxiety...I guess I'm just addicted to getting messed up.

I can't not go out either, cause I'm a young guy and I need to get out on the scene if you know what I mean but it's gotten to the stage that whenever I meet someone when I'm out I'm totally blotto, and I really need to sort this too...

monster_fighter

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

Best decision I ever made was not to drink in the first place. 23 now.

Some of my best memories, my fondest moments would never had happened but that I was drunk.
Alcohol is only a problem if it's a problem. I certainly wouldn't write it off, it helps shy people no end.

lacuna

Since February is the shortest month, it's probably the best for this sort of abstaining.

...Good luck!

stagolee

stayed off the booze for january myself, the hardest bit is all your mates trying to get you pissed, the majority of phone calls i get from mates are asking me to come out to a pub (although to be honest i still end most conversations with "we'll have to get together for a pint sometime soon").

i enjoyed the time off it, i found a lot of the time i wouldnt even notice till late on in the night that im the only one not boozin. and the obvious advantages of not feeling crap in the morning, being able to remember what happened, and not waking up with a ton of shrapnel in each pocket and an empty bank account were a nice change. drinking orange juice isnt cheap either but its a fraction of the cost of getting drunk which seems to increase exponentialy the drunker you get, a couple of years ago i used to sometimes spend €100 on a nights drinking, that would be 23 pints of guinness but theres no way i could actually have drank that many the pubs dont stay open long enough(cant remember tbh).

anyhow my advice to you is this: decide firmly that you are off the drink for the month whatever happens. if you are certain of this as a fact and resign yourself to it you will have no bothers getting through the month and you might even enjoy it.
otherwise what will happen is a mate will ask you what you want to drink and you will say "ahh well im kind of trying to take a bit of a break from the drink for a while" and they will think you secretly want a drink but you need them to talk you into it , which they will.
also if someone buys you a drink and puts it down in front of you, in a pub, your going to find it hard not to have "just the one" unless you have it already firmly set in your mind that you are a non drinker for the month.

anyhow well done, best of luck to ye, you might find youlike this non drinking lark or it might just make that first pint in march all the sweeter, either way its well worth doing

pickarooney

You sometimes have to pretend you're on antibiotics or similar before people will stop buying you pints. Madness, but hey...

Interceptor

I've been off drink for over two years, having stopped for similar reasons to yours. Moderation won't work, and if you reckon you have a problem, then you are probably right. Avoid pubs for the first few weeks, drinking 7-Up all night would turn anyone to drink. If you want to stay off, but find you can't stay off drink, find the number for your nearest AA meeting in the phone book, they will help when the folk on Boards.ie can't.

Your mates probably won't want you to stop drinking and may try to break your resolve, but once you make your mind up, the hard part is over. After that, decide when/if you want to start back and go the distance. Most people don't see a need to stop drinking and don't realise how hard it is to stop until they try. Seek the advice of people who have stopped and succeeded, not the opinions of those who never tried. Oh and one final nugget - avoid dope or you will just be substituting one crutch for another.

Good luck - its well worth it and you will realise after a while that the feeling of control over your drinking is miles better than the feeling of dependency.

'c

DoctorEdgeWild

monster_fighter wrote:

Some of my best memories, my fondest moments would never had happened but that I was drunk.
Alcohol is only a problem if it's a problem. I certainly wouldn't write it off, it helps shy people no end.

Thats cool for you, obviously you are fairly responsible but abuse of alcohol is the major reason why the streets of Dublin aren't safe for some people at certain times. That is a disgrace. It's not the fault of alcohol (it being an inanimate liquid) but the fault of those who cannot control themselves when drinking it.

I'm not having a go at you btw , just the attitude that drink = good times.

It can help shy people, help people have good nights but can also turn you into those broke guys wandering Temple Bar getting sick and fighting. For ME personally, not drinking has been the best decision and I wouldn't try to force that on anyone, just offer it as an alternative that is not really considered by many.