what did you replace drinking with?
So much more rewarding and I wake up feeling good with dogs and cats on my bed with me. 
Guest
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 600
Originally Posted by Recovery999 
An eating disorder. That's the wrong approach, don't do that...go to meetings, develop new friends and hobbies, read, play games, join a gym.
This is gonna sound really corny, but eventually you'll actually start to enjoy your own company. It used to drive me nuts to be alone in my own skin. But now it's no big deal if I don't have a zillion friends. They were mostly superficial anyway.
There's nothing wrong with trying to develop friends in recovery, since we all can relate to each other. It took me a few years to not get disappointed when others didn't want to be friends with me. My home group is kinda standoffish and now I finally get why. Because we're there to recover, not to make friends.
I know I gotta let that stuff go and continue to work on making friends with God and with myself.
The longer I've been in recovery, the less socializing I actually want to do. It used to just be a crutch for me. It was all one big facade. I used to think I was this social butterfly extrovert, until I finally started to become authentic. And now I see I was mainly everyone else's source of entertainment. I now know who my true friends are. I go by quantity now, not by quality.
I once heard a guy share about the first time he was able to sit home on his couch and watch a football game without drinking or drugging and actually enjoy his own company. And enjoy the game without his mind going off in a zillion other directions.
When you live in the present moment, these things just get easier.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 701
Healthy, clean eating. When I was drinking, I didn't really think about it and ate too much processed foods, etc. It's nice now to put energy and effort into something that is helping my health rather than destroying it.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: California
Posts: 2,693
I just accepted the fact that I would have to start spending my evenings like the rest of the world. No alcohol but other than that, I can literally do whatever the hell I want. I still love driving places at 9 PM.
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,649
You mention depression. I have a lot of friends who recovered and then finally were diagnosed for various problems, from depression to bipolar. They got proper meds for the first time and realized they had been self-medicating with alcohol.
In early sobriety it is not an uncommon question: what do I do instead of drink?
I won't make any specific suggestions, but I will point out that is is very common in early recovery to put some structure in your life. Make rules for yourself that you will do A,B or C instead of drinking, and stick to it. It may feel like drudgery, maybe you won't find the activity interesting, but, well, just do it. Because:
the beauty of it is that as you develop further in recovery, you won't have to come up with ideas for replacing alcohol, the newly formed interest in life and even in other people will have you filling up your schedule.
It's not an empty promise or idle talk: it really does happen just like that.
In early sobriety it is not an uncommon question: what do I do instead of drink?
I won't make any specific suggestions, but I will point out that is is very common in early recovery to put some structure in your life. Make rules for yourself that you will do A,B or C instead of drinking, and stick to it. It may feel like drudgery, maybe you won't find the activity interesting, but, well, just do it. Because:
the beauty of it is that as you develop further in recovery, you won't have to come up with ideas for replacing alcohol, the newly formed interest in life and even in other people will have you filling up your schedule.
It's not an empty promise or idle talk: it really does happen just like that.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 469
What did I replace drinking with? Church, meditation, prayer, books, yoga, lots and lots of tea (Republic of Tea is the bomb), and shopping. (I'm working on the shopping thing because I know that's not a good habit).
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