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Last Updated on March 9, 2023
Giving up alcohol isn’t easy. Many of us turn to alcohol as a form of stress relief and may even rely on it to be less anxious in social situations. It’s also difficult to get away from alcohol, because it’s everywhere.
Of course, giving up alcohol has many benefits. For some people, it could even be a necessity if health problems have already started to develop or negative behaviors occur as a result of drinking. But just how do you maintain the motivation to go teetotal? This post offers a few tips.
Keep track of your progress
Keeping track of the amount of days you’ve stayed sober can encourage you to keep going. You can start by setting yourself goals such as a week, then a month, then 100 days and then a year. You can then reward yourself whenever you reach one of these milestones (just make sure the reward doesn’t involve alcohol).
To keep track of your progress, you could simply tick off days on a calendar. Alternatively, you can use an app to help you track your sobriety.
Surround yourself with fellow non-drinkers
If you constantly spend time with people who drink, you’ll be more tempted to drink yourself. Many people feel social pressure to drink alcohol out of fear of missing out or being seen as boring. Spending time with people who don’t drink can eliminate these pressures.
Support groups can be great places to meet people who have quit alcohol or are trying to quit. There are many misconceptions about support groups including the idea that they are only for people battling serious alcoholism and that you have to open up in front of people. In reality, they can be a great place to meet all kinds of people striving to quit alcohol, and there is no pressure to speak about things you may feel insecure about.
Engaging in social activities that don’t require drinking can stop you from getting tempted. This could include grabbing a coffee, going for walks, partaking in sports and considering days out where you have to drive.
Explore non-alcoholic drinks
Many people miss the taste of alcoholic drinks like beer and wine. Fortunately, there are many non-alcoholic versions of these drinks now available – and some are very convincing.
On top of helping you to enjoy the taste of beer and wine, these non-alcoholic drinks can be great for helping you to fit in at social functions where everyone else is drinking beer or wine. It can get frustrating having to constantly explain to people why you’re drinking water or Coke – non-alcoholic drinks can disguise the fact that you’re not drinking.
Find a substitute form of stress relief
Many people turn to alcohol to help relieve stress. Without alcohol, you may feel that you have no easy source of stress relief and could find yourself becoming increasingly frustrated and depressed. This is why it’s important to find a way of filling the void.
There are many healthy ways to relieve stress from taking a hot bath to listening to music. Start exploring these different means of stress relief to help you unwind while at home instead of relying on alcohol.
As for recreating the thrill of a drinking session, there are many other ways in which you can achieve this high healthily. You could get involved in exercise clubs such as crossfit classes or running clubs. You could spend nights out doing activities like bowling, going to comedy clubs, watching live music or trying out new fun restaurants. Some of these environments may serve alcohol, but you’ll have another purpose to the night out beyond drinking to distract you.
Remind yourself of the benefits
Many people find it hard to give up alcohol because they let their mind linger too much on what they’ve lost as opposed to what they’ve gained. It’s important to remind yourself of the many benefits of abstaining from alcohol such as not having to deal with hangovers, being able to remember the whole night and being able to drive anywhere without having to worry about how much you’ve drank.
In the long run, giving up alcohol will also pay off. Almost everyone that drinks heavily will experience some health problems later in life as a result of this – the earlier you give up alcohol, the more likely you are to prevent these health problems. And you could also spare yourself of many future shameful moments caused by alcohol.
