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The benefits of giving up alcohol

1 lurker | 280 watchers

28 contributors in last 30 days

HappyG(rrr) Aug 2017 9:37am, 8 Aug 2017 27,077 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) I'm getting ads on Drink Compare from drinkaware.co.uk on the Fetch ads at the mo. Oh the irony. One of their questionnaires doesn't even have an answer for me. "On the days that you do drink, how many units do you have. 1-2, 3-4, 5-7, 8 or more?" Errr... I think today I'll have... 0-zero. Nada. It's funny, in the intro it didn't even specify that "drinking" meant drinking alcohol. I was reading "How many drinks do you have in a day?" And was thinking, "Hmm, 500ml bottle of water at desk topped up 3-4 times in day, so that's 2L of water, plus a coffee in morning and again in afternoon. Then a sparkling water with dinner, with maybe a bit of elderflower cordial in it. So if a drink is 300ml, maybe 10?" Lol! Keep it up TBOGUAers! G
LindsD Aug 2017 10:11am, 8 Aug 2017 18,706 posts	0 LindsD I got those as well, HappyG. Bizarre.
HappyG(rrr) Aug 2017 2:02pm, 11 Aug 2017 27,123 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Fri night gym. Def a BOGUA night! Rather than piling down the pub, or opening bottle of wine at home, I'm running home from work, to gym, bit of stretch and core work, then nice Jacuzzi and sauna. Might see if MrsS(rrr) wants to come down too and then we might have some nosh (20% discount for gym members!) Then home for movie, bed and up for parkrun (or other run) tomorrow morning. Try all that with a bottle of wine and a hangover! Happy Friday TBOGUAers! G
mrs shanksi Aug 2017 2:11pm, 11 Aug 2017 8,122 posts	0 mrs shanksi Sounds good G, happy Friday everyone, hope you are all doing fine. I have a packed weekend planned starting off with my Dad's first ever parkrun as a runner, a run and party at MikeR's, and walking Ring of Steall on Sunday with shanksi. All better sober that's for sure!
HappyG(rrr) Aug 2017 2:36pm, 11 Aug 2017 27,125 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Wow, sounds like a great weekend mrs s. Enjoy! G
HappyG(rrr) Aug 2017 2:31pm, 14 Aug 2017 27,137 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) There's a non-alcoholic drinks festival going on in London just now metro.co.uk imbibe.com Cool. Anyone tried Botanique botonique.com Hope you all had a great weekend. G
HappyG(rrr) Aug 2017 4:21pm, 16 Aug 2017 27,167 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Loved pics of you and your dad at parkrun mrs s. Would love to have done something like that with my old man. At least I've got to do it with my son. Only 5s off my course best at Livi on Saturday. I may get back within 30s of my parkrun best soon. Fingers crossed! Well done everyone. Hope all is going well. In one week two zero-alco "G&T" drinks cans have appeared in shops near me. Tried one set and not bad. A bit less sweet than just a glass of tonic. Loving all the non-alco, veggie, vegan, unsweetened, natural, organic type prods etc. that you can get nowadays. G
Grast_girl Aug 2017 7:27pm, 16 Aug 2017 214 posts	0 Grast_girl I tried a champagne style chenin blanc 0% wine from Tesco last week, but can't say I was that impressed. Although it did have a nifty plastic resealable champagne cork. Will probably stick to Schloer.
MH Aug 2017 7:47pm, 16 Aug 2017 506 posts	0 MH Popping in here, I confess that I'm not alcohol free - however I'm always on the lookout for anything that is alcohol free that tastes good. Heard about botonique on the radio the other day and I'd like to give it a go. One thing I have tried however is Seedlip - seedlipdrinks.com It tastes like a 'grown-up drink' although it's not cheap. I think this trend for decent tasting alcohol free drinks will continue to grow, which is a good thing. Personally, I cannot bear soft drinks, never really have, and things such as J2O are just horribly sweet to me, ditto grape juice - so I drink a lot of herbal tea! I do like the odd Erdinger alcoholfrei -athough apparently it's an isotonic health drink!
HappyG(rrr) Aug 2017 10:12pm, 16 Aug 2017 27,169 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Also always interested in new alco free grown up drinks MH. Thanks for posting. This thread welcomes anyone across a broad spectrum who is interested in non alco drinking. Cheers. G

About This Thread

Maintained by HappyG(rrr)

Looks as though this thread has become popular again, here in 2010 (it's now 2024, and it started in 2008, so I think "ever popular" might be more apt! :-)

G )

Good Luck everyone.

A recent plea for those struggling to "reach out" as they say in US of A!

"Anyone not feeling strong and confident, please shout out. Or fmail. Or any other comms that works. Don't drink alcohol when you don't want to, for lack of someone to talk to. Pick up the phone, not the bottle."

Some acronyms, in case people use them:
JFT - Just for today
ODAAT - One day at a time
KIS - Keep it simple
TBOGUA - The Benefits Of Giving Up Alcohol (the title of this thread!)

New feature: article/blog of the month (period may change randomly!) Swittle's wonderful 14,611 days blog: (see links below)

Linking Joopsy's 17 year blog too, cos it's awesome!

There is a GREAT article summarising some of the benefits, to save you having to trawl through the thread (includes links to helpful apps and other resources).

And a great list of Alternative Drinks started by the lovely LindsD:

Please add to these articles and make them as valuable as possible! Thanks! :-)

G

And one from way back when...
Dirt Monkey's brilliant blog on TBOGUA too - go try this...

Rebel has recommended a couple of good books:
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
by Catherine Gray

The Alcohol Experiment: 30 Days to Take Control, Cut Down or Give Up For Good
by Annie Grace

A great response from a health professional in Ireland responding to a question from a Guardian reader about why the warnings on alcoholic drinks that are coming in:

theguardian.com

"Alcohol is responsible for at least 1,000 cancer cases every year in Ireland, with one in eight breast cancer cases arising from alcohol use. Even one to two drinks per day increases the risk of developing cancer, and that risk is the same whether those drinks are wine, spirits or beer. Unfortunately, there is a very low level of public awareness that alcohol has been classed as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning it is carcinogenic to humans. That is why Ireland has passed legislation that provides for health information labels on alcohol products, including warnings about cancer, liver disease and the danger of drinking in pregnancy. It is unsurprising that the alcohol industry, which promotes its products with carefully crafted myths of good times for all, is objecting to the mandatory provision of facts (Anger brews in Italy over Ireland’s plans for alcohol health warnings, 12 January).
Dr Sheila Gilheany
CEO, Alcohol Action Ireland
"

And the all important fabulous services:
Alcoholics Anonymous
National Helpline (FREE) 0800 9177 650
help@aamail.org

Al Anon
020 7403 0888

medal

Contact TBOGUA medal

We're adding in our own Fetch offer of one to one contact too, for anyone who doesn't want to post in the thread for whatever reason. Please feel free to fmail ANY of the names listed below.

- - - -
HappyG(rrr)
( Oscar the grouch RIP )
mrs shanksi
Derby Tup
iaincr
Love Lettuce
DocM
LindsD
GeneHunt59
GregP