What did you replace it with?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-22-2006
What did you replace it with?
23
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 11:23am

Ok so I'm new here. Right now I'm trying to abstain. If I can't do it on my own then I'm looking up the local AA chapter. I live in an area where there are alot of drinkers. We are predomanitly Catholic and very social people. As bad as it seems, most social functions are focused around alcohol. And no I'm not in college. I'm 45 years old. So what did you replace alcohol with? Does anyone drink the non-alchololic beer or wine? Club soda and lime sound good but what else do you drink?

THanks for your input,

CC

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Avatar for lucky30605
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 12:36pm

I would like to hear everyone's answers, too. I would like to find a NA beer that doesn't taste like piss. Caliber is supposed to be good but I haven't tried it. I used to drink the ODouls Amber when I was pg.

My NA drink of choice is club soda with lime. I used to drink tonic and lime. You might try that.

LUcky

Avatar for rosolo
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 12:49pm

Hey ladies,

You know, when I first quit, I asked the same question. Of course, it still hadn't penetrated my brain that many people don't drink alcohol. They have any and all of a variety of beverages that we drinkers totally forgot about :)

Some people with long term sobriety will caution the NA beer drinking, as well as the
NA versions of mixed drinks, i.e. Virgin Mary, etc. The reason is that NA beer contains a small amount of alcohol. This can cause a problem for some, as it slowly awakens the alcohol addiction buds, and might lead to drinking again. These are just pearls of wisdom that have been shared with me.

I have occasionally drank a NA beer., although, it just made me feel bloated. I have had
a frozen drink, daquiri, etc without alcohol and enjoyed it. Mostly though, I drink
club soda, sparkling water, coffee, tea, etc.

The biggest hurdle I faced was not what I drank, but, the fact that I was not drinking alcohol. Getting my mind right to be in situations or places that might "trigger" my drinking was what took time.

I almost feel as though my brain has been reprogrammed. Whereas I viewed situations as
drinking or not before, now, the are just situations. My social life has changed some. I no longer even like being around a group of heavy drinkers, no matter what.

Finding activities to occupy what was once drinking time has is one way to fight the urge, when it hits.

Peace,
Rose

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-22-2006
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 1:13pm

Lucky, I agree with the non-alcoholic beer. No flavor at all. I also drank it while I was pg. That was 12 years ago. I was hoping they had come out with something better by now. I don't drink sweet drinks, like daiquiris. Does Rose's lime juice have alcohol in it? I used to drink that with vodka and club soda. I could leave out the vodka.

I live in Louisiana and there is a barbeque, crawfish boil, etc. every weekend. I can honestly say that I don't know anyone that does not drink. And I'm talking about every parent that my kids go to school with their kids. We do live in a small town, but it seems like a way of life.

I drink diet coke but after about 6 I really get the jitters. I am trying to drink crystal light right now, but it is pretty sweet also. I drink alot of boring water:).

CC

Avatar for rosolo
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 1:28pm

CC-
You know the irony to all of this, I never knew there were so many "normal" drinkers
until I quit.

When we are drinking, naturally we gravitate toward others who drink.

Peace,
Rose

Avatar for lucky30605
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 3:27pm

Rose's lime juice contains NO alcohol. I like that with club soda and a lime. I don't like mixers because they are too sweet so a virgin margarita would be the last thing I would order. I don't drink diet drinks so my choices are limited when I go out. I do wish I could find some of those flavored sparkling waters that don't have the aspertame or splenda in them. Talking Rain comes to mind but I can't find it.

CC, I am surrounded by heavy drinkers. All of my friends and family are either bar owners, restaurant owners or musicians. I like the lifestyle and have no plans on changing it (except for the heavy drinking part). You will also find on this board people who have had to change their lives completely. We have many different problems and I hope you have found that you fit right in. Whatever you choose to do to get healthy, you'll find support here.

How is the abstaining going?

Lucky

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-22-2006
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 3:46pm
It's only been one day. I've been at work all day today. I'll see again tonight. I don't have any open wine in the house and if I can keep from opening a bottle, I won't drink. DD has softball this evening so I will be at the ballpark until around 7 pm. I'm planning on walking after I get home. Like I said before, finding something to keep me busy until bedtime is a help and that's hard when the kids are at their dads. The only thing is I did not sleep at all last night. Got home at 10:30 pm and read until midnight and watched the clock until 5 this morning. I might take a tylenol pm when I get home. They normally give me a worse hangover than drinking though :)
CC
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-17-2001
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 4:37pm

Hi CC,

Good for you on working to become informed. Actually, there is no such thing as non-alcoholic beer or wine. If you check the label it will probably say Alcohol 0.05% more or less. Very low % to be sure but alcohol is not good in any form or amount when be are fighting a problem. Some folks make the mistake of taking medicine with alcohol like Nyquil(spelling?), which is aound 20%.

Substitutes? Hell, anything that doesn't have alcohol, I guess. I would try to avoid soft drinks with too much sugar or caffeine. There is nothing wrong with water as long as it comes from a reliable source and not from a contaminated well, for instance. Long time AA'ers like me probably drank to much coffee and I still love the stuff but I limit myself to two cups a day. Alcohol problems abound in every Christian religion. The Jewish folks have a much lower incidence and the Muslims I think even less.

I remember stories told by Catholic guys that admitted they had been in denial because
the observed lent by remaining abstinent for 40 days. On Easter sunday after mass they
collected in the local bar as bears to honey and got so damned drunk they missed family
Easter dinner. Talk about the Mrs. being totally pissed off.

In conclusion I would let common sense prevail. There are plenty of other beverages
available, some healthier than others. We really don't need to guzzle any beverage as a substitute in the amounts we consumed alcohol.Do we?

Service in recovery,
Paul

Castaway


A Friend in Recovery


Paul

Avatar for lucky30605
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 03-30-2006 - 7:16pm
How about hot chocolate?
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-11-2004
Fri, 03-31-2006 - 4:49am

GREAT QUESTION!!!!!!!!!


I go no alcohol all the way. So, I drink: water (keep water in the refrigerator with a slice or two of lemon or lime, it isn't as boring then); coffee, DH drinks iced tea, a good root beer (I am partial to IBC-but the bottle freaks out some people, as it looks like beer). I also drink diet soda, milk, DH drinks ginger ale.


You will find something.





Pediatric Stroke, even kids get them


iVillage Member
Registered: 12-02-2004
Fri, 03-31-2006 - 7:18am

Hi CC:

First off, welcome.

Secondly, I've got you beat (unfortunately) 'cause I'm 53 :-)

I quit drinking 16 months ago after a 25 year love/hate affair with alcohol and for me, I had to steer WAY clear of anything that even remotely reminded me of an alcoholic drink (such as N/A beer).

I loved my vodka cocktails, and even had a "favorite" glass that I always drank out of (I was a stay-at-home drinker). Do you know that I couldn't even LOOK at that glass in the beginning without feeling a pang inside?

So what did I replace my vodka with? Well for me it had to be something that wasn't in ANY way closely associated with what I was used to drinking. That way it didn't trigger thoughts of alcohol.

I drank lots of unsweetened decaff iced tea (still do); Splenda sweetened soda (not too much, but enough to help satisfy my sweet tooth); water. I also began drinking a couple large cups of decaff coffee w/Splenda & a touch of 1/2 & 1/2 during the day (helped my sweet tooth).

Don't underestimate a little bit of chocolate :-) You know alcohol turns into sugar in our bodies, thusly when we stop supplying ourselves with the alcohol our bodies have become so accustomed to, it gets irritable! "Hey--give me my sugar fix!" LOL

I found a few pieces of chocolate and a little ice cream in the late afternoons helped me when I started feeling edgy (i.e. needing a sugar fix).

Though I was very blessed in that I was not agonizing hourly over wanting to run and pour myself a vodka cocktail, I still had real urges for something sweet. I had read on this boad about this very fact, and the gals here talked about keeping brownies, ice cream, even Hostess Ho-Ho's (or was it Ding-Dong's?? lol lol) close at hand to help out when the urges hit.

Yes...just like I read, most gained a few pounds after quitting drinking (I gained 5lbs) but like they said "a few pounds is better than drinking!". And yes--I've lost the weight.

Oh--happily, it only took a month or 2 for the strong sugar cravings to subside. After 25 years of almost daily drinking, I think I lucked out that it only took 2 months for my body to START to get the alcohol out of my system!

For my continued sobriety, I have found it much easier to just steer clear of any drink (and even that "favorite" glass) that remotely reminds me of drinking.

That's my 2-cents :-)

Claudia

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