The Cutprice Guignol

So, I chose to quit drinking alcohol a few years ago, and I occasionally write about the experience of ditching the booze on this here blog. Recently, I’ve had a few requests for a post covering my tips for getting through the initial quitting stage of going alcohol-free, and I know there are plenty of people out there who choose to go sober for a month or two around this time of year (whether for charity, for their own health, or just because they want to see if they can) so it seemed like a good time to finally get around to writing it. I have chatted a bit before about the mental and emotional changes I went through going alcohol-free, but this will be more focused on the immediate, practical stuff that got me through the first few months without going too far into insanity.

(I’d also like to make a quick note here to say that this is just reflective of my own experiences, and it is not an appropriate guide for anyone who’s dealing with serious alcohol addiction; quitting alcohol can be seriously dangerous if you have been drinking a lot for a long time, so please seek medical attention before you attempt sobriety if that’s something that applies to you. But anyway, let’s get into it!)

Book In Non-Drinking Events and Outings

Once you have a decent amount of sober-time behind you, it’s much easier to go to places you used to drink, like bars or clubs, without being tempted. But, and take it from me on this, those first few months are going to be mostly made up of you going “no, honestly, it’s fine!” as cheerfully as you can while you watch glasses of wine whisked passed you with the longing lust of a lover you haven’t seen in a decade.

It can be tempting to challenge yourself by going to bars and other places that serve alcohol early on, but why make it more difficult than it needs to be? One of the first things I did when I quit drinking was to book in a bunch of little alcohol-free adventures that weren’t going to bring me into contact with booze – coffee shop dates with my friends, hikes, afternoons perusing a quiet bookshop, alcohol-free club nights, whatever it might be. Give yourself things to look forward to that have nothing to do with drinking.

Figure Out What You Actually Want When You Crave a Drink

Okay, bear with me here – I know what you’re thinking. Sometimes, you just actually crave some booze, and I’ll get to that in a second. But, a lot of the time in early sobriety, I found that I was actually craving something I’d come to associate with alcohol that wasn’t drinking itself: a chance to let myself unwind, to spend time with friends, to switch off my brain for a while, all those things I had used alcohol to facilitate. When I first quit drinking, when I found myself craving a drink, I was often craving something else entirely. It’s not always easy to identify what that is, but sitting with the feeling for a minute and trying to work out what exactly the alcohol would be a bandaid over is genuinely helpful. There were times when I didn’t really want a drink, but I wanted to talk some silly shit with a friend and was so used to doing that with alcohol that I’d sort of forgotten it could happen without it. But that said…

Develop a Selection of Treaty Drinks

There are some times when you just really, really want a fucking drink, to be honest, and the best way to counter this (in my experience) is to give yourself a non-alcoholic drink you really look forward to. If there was ever a time to really fuck it up in the realm of tea, it’s now; if you enjoy coffee, take it to the most absurdly decadent level you can imagine. I found drinks with a bit of a “kick” to them (like spice, fizz, or sourness) really helped scratch the itch for something alcoholic, and I found this cayenne pepper-spiced kombucha that pretty much rescued me through the first few months of quitting drinking. Have this drink on hand or at least easily accessible, and serve it in your fanciest cup or glass. Make it feel special.

Over to you now – if you’ve quit alcohol for any length of time, what did you find helped you stay away from it in your first few months? I would love to hear in the comments below (also welcome: your favourite mocktail recipes. This is mine!). If you are planning to quit for whatever reason you’ve chosen, I truly wish you the best of luck – and I promise it’s more rewarding than you think.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/virgin-mojito-recipe-5092273