The awful feelings at the beginning of getting sober are what you feel like because of the drinking, not the getting sober

Dating and sex are two other realms that alcohol seems to go hand in hand with. But they’re both far better when we’re sober. Take sex for example. Alcohol is something I've always been extra wary of (growing up with an alcoholic parent will do that) but even I found myself nodding along at parts. I reduced my own intake only when I began to have my children - I dread to think about how my life could have gone had I continued to drink the way I did when I was 18/19. This definitely made me examine my own relationship with alcohol and how/why/when I use it. THEY SAY: ‘CAN’T YOU JUST HAVE ONE?’ Oh, man, I never thought of that! You’re a genius! Just one, you say? Rather than five or six? Thanks, Captain Obvious.” The sad thing with that is you’re just putting off the joy of being sober. You’re just putting off the feeling of freedom and happiness and contentment of life in full color without hangovers. That is out there for you. I spent so many years trying to hang on to drinking, and didn’t realize how good I was going to feel once I finally gave it up. Yeah, I think I think it’s a really interesting thing, that these two things can coexist. At the same time. It’s, it’s more nuanced than if you were once addicted to something, then you’re addicted to it forevermore. Because I am not currently addicted to alcohol. I don’t crave it, I could, I don’t. But if I if I needed to, I could have it in my house and not drink it.Almost five years ago, I realised that my bottle-of-wine a night habit was stamping all over my relationships, career and wellbeing in the manner of King Kong crashing through a city. So I quit, completely. Not without absolute dread, mind. I felt like I was pawning a bejewelled party dress to get money to pay the gas bill, or selling a Porsche to put into a pension. I knew it was sensible for me to stop, but did I want to do it? Hell no. Each week, I’ll bring you tools, lessons and conversations to help you drink less and live more. I’ll teach you how to navigate our drinking obsessed culture without a bus, how to sit with your emotions, when you’re lonely or angry, frustrated or overwhelmed, how to self soothe without a drink, and how to turn the decision to stop drinking from your worst case scenario to the best decision of your life. I read this book during my dry January spell and I found it gave me serious food for thought. Catherine's experiences through her drinking were very open and honest. There were some funny stories however some very serious ones which was very brave of her to put in to a book for all to read.

You fantasize about just one afternoon drink. But the reality is that it usually resulted in a long drinking session that affected you negatively clear into the next day.Even after just two drinks, the next day I felt the smudge of tiredness, the roil of nausea, the ghost of sadness And so many of the books just ends when the when the day one comes along, or they maybe have one chapter or two chapters, about what sober living feels like. And so it feels like it’s all dark, there’s not enough light.

Yeah. And it takes a really long time to figure out all of those lessons, and you know what to do and what works for you. Because it really the approach that works for different people is completely different. You know, there’s no one way. Yeah, I mean, I I knew that on some cellular level right at the very beginning, that I wanted my sobriety to feel more about emancipation rather than deprivation. And I just wanted to tell everyone what it’s actually like, I think a lot of quit lit focuses on that struggle that painful bit, before you start even trying to quit, or the bit where you do have the 37 day ones. The lie that sober life is dull and undesirable, when it’s actually bigger and more joyful than life with alcohol Non-Fiction Books» Industry & Industrial Studies» Media, Entertainment, Information & Communication IndustriesThe hardest part might be social situations, many of which are in locations that serve alcohol. To beat this, try new places. You might go to a sober morning rave or invite your friends to an alcohol-free bar or restaurant. It was not when her boss heard how she had climbed into a hot tub topless with work colleagues, or when she began hallucinating insects and faces in bed. Drinking alcohol for health benefits is like eating burgers for the gherkins. Anyone still imbibing under this delusion needs to remove their head from the sandpit in the pub garden. Sober is too often equated with "sombre" in our culture. Gray's book turns that idea on its head. Her experience of sobriety is joyful and life-affirming. A must-read for anyone who has a nagging suspicion that alcohol may be taking away more than it's giving.' - Hilda Burke, psychotherapist and couples counsellor It’s easy to think that alcohol harm is inevitable. It isn’t. This report looks at alcohol in the UK today, and makes the case for key changes we must all work towards if we are to end serious alcohol harm.