{"id":26301,"date":"2019-09-27T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/?p=26301"},"modified":"2022-12-19T16:31:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T15:31:25","slug":"how-easy-is-it-to-not-to-drink-alcohol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/2019\/09\/27\/how-easy-is-it-to-not-to-drink-alcohol\/","title":{"rendered":"How Easy is it to Not to Drink Alcohol?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alcohol is the legal high. I\nassume we just believe it can\u2019t be that bad or it would be against the law to\ndrink it. No matter how much we are told how many units are okay though I just\ndon\u2019t think we seem to listen. Everyone it feels is doing it and they mostly\nseem okay. In fact drinking more seems something that we can boast about. So\nhow easy is it to not drink alcohol?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Tatiana Rodriguez<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Your Social Circle and Beliefs About Alcohol <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I guess if none of the above\nresonates with you then none of this applies. Firstly I guess it is your social\ncircle, and what drinking beliefs you are brought up with it. I was brought up\nwith the teach them to drink sensibly attitude (knowing when to stop, to make\nsure we ate and drank plenty of water, ideally in between; not to mix and so on)\nbut honestly I now think the not drinking at all is the best way forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Joyce Romero<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alcohol and My Children<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m pleased to say that my oldest two boys (ages 22 and 16) are just not interested. This is despite my upbringing with alcohol<\/a> that meant the oldest had my relatives dunk his dummy in whiskey and that they have always been offered a small drink (when old enough) at Christmas – but they have always refused. The oldest has tried alcohol (when he was over 18) and doesn\u2019t like it and the younger of the two doesn\u2019t want to try it in case he likes it. The thing is he believes that he\u2019d be stupid to drink alcohol as it doesn\u2019t do anything good for you (not really) but has plenty of negatives that go with it. In fact their attitudes have made me question and change my own beliefs and now I would never push alcohol on my own children (on go on it\u2019s Christmas\/oh I bought you some flavoured cider to celebrate letting in the New Year). The teen really didn\u2019t believe that I was capable of going without drinking alcohol so I thought I\u2019d try for a year to prove him wrong. But was it as easy as I thought it would be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Hard is Not Drinking Alcohol?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What I actually discovered about\nnot drinking alcohol is that it is really hard – socially. Physically I\u2019m fine\n– take it or leave it. I only really drank on a Friday night and special occasions\nI thought so it wouldn\u2019t be a problem. Funny I never thought about how many\ntimes a year I could consider something as a \u201cspecial occasion\u201d and it isn\u2019t\njust for the good times that I drink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Elevate<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My Alcohol Free Journey So Far<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So far I\u2019m coming up to 10\nmonth alcohol free – minus drinking too much after my Aunt\u2019s funeral (it felt\nrude not to be drinking to celebrate her life) and one tiny bottle of flavoured\ncider for my birthday (which was meant to be given me the Christmas before and\nwas going to go out of date). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cSpecial\u201d Occasions where Alcohol is on Offer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Have you any idea just how many occasions are \u201cspecial\u201d enough for alcohol to be on offer? So far alone, off the top of my head even, there\u2019s been when we have been bowling, to the cinema, leaving dos, spas, birthdays, leaving dos, reunions, BBQs, because you’re on holiday, there’s a sunset, after a run (we even got cans of wine in our goody bags!) and even school events!! Not to mention times when you\u2019d expect it – hens, weddings and pub openings\/anniversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Wil Stewart<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Drinking Alcohol for the Bad Times<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But apart from all the \u201cspecial\noccasions\u201d there\u2019s also the shitty days – from a diagnosis of Cancer to just it\u2019s\nbeen a plain old long day! Alcohol is seen as either some sort of medicine or a\nconsolation for all that you have been through – like you deserve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alcohol is Pushed on Us<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Not only is alcohol seen as an acceptable drink for everything I had never really stopped to see how much alcohol is pushed on us. Supermarkets have a whole aisle (if not more) for it (Waitrose even have a Wine Bar!). Keep your eyes open for it being at the front of the supermarket and how many reasons they can put it on offer (Halloween, Christmas, New Year\u2019s Eve are big excuses coming up). Or just because it’s the weekend. Not to mention the people who ask you what you will do for fun now or try to buy you drinks anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Scott Warman<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How I feel not Drinking Alcohol<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Strangely I don\u2019t feel better\nfor not drinking alcohol – not at all. But I know I must be better for it –\nphysically and mentally. Before I would get drunk and pretend people liked me –\nnow I just don\u2019t pretend any more. We don\u2019t seem to have more money for it\neither (actually when I\u2019ve been out with my friends and drunk fizzy drinks it\nis more expensive; especially with the sugar tax) – but I hope it means I\u2019m\nspending the money on better things (most likely the children). Another\nthing is seeing drunk people with sober eyes – it is quite insightful. You tend\nto forget not everyone else is drunk when you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I intended not to drink alcohol in 2019 but I\u2019m not really sure if I will drink after that – hopefully if I do it will be the odd \u201coccasion\u201d and not every excuse to have one. I have joined some Facebook groups to help support me with my journey and it interesting to see the different types of people attempting not to drink and their reasons why. It was a lot more acceptable to smoke cigarettes when I was younger and now here in the UK they are hidden out of sight. It has been made harder for minors to buy alcoholic drinks now too – so maybe it is all moving in the same direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alcohol is the legal high. I assume we just believe it can\u2019t be that bad or it would be against the law to drink it. No matter how much we are told how many units are okay though I just don\u2019t think we seem to listen. Everyone it feels is doing it and they mostly … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4799,4816,4561],"tags":[96],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1",800,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1",800,600,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1",800,600,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tatiana-rodriguez-D_Rfjj3XV8M-unsplash.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1",800,600,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"pinkoddy","author_link":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/author\/pinkoddy\/"},"uagb_comment_info":7,"uagb_excerpt":"Alcohol is the legal high. I assume we just believe it can\u2019t be that bad or it would be against the law to drink it. No matter how much we are told how many units are okay though I just don\u2019t think we seem to listen. Everyone it feels is doing it and they mostly…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pepM9j-6Qd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29474,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26301\/revisions\/29474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}