Alcohol

It's hard to be what feels like the only person in your group of friends who doesn't drink. I understand that. When i first gave up alcohol I was faced with odd looks and flat out 'But why?' You wouldn't ask a non-smoker why they don't smoke so why a non drinker? It's almost as if choosing not to drink is incompressible to some people. My friend slowly start to accept it and while it felt odd to be sober on a night out i soon learnt to relax and have faith in my self that i was entertaining enough when I was sober as I was when I'd have a few drinks of a night out. 


Over the years i've actually lost the taste for alcholo. I will on the very odd occasion have a good quality glass of red with dinner but big nights out don't happen for me anymore. It's just not worth it to me to put that many toxins in my body.


I have a couple of questions for you: Your friends were into the whole ‘drinking’ and ‘partying’ thing. Did you end up losing those friends? And if not, did you and your friends find other beneficial things to do besides drinking & partying? I have friends who are still into that phase, but I’ve totally outgrown it and now I just want to have a healthy lifestyle but I’m afraid they won’t understand.”


Unfortunately, I did end up losing “friends” when I stopped drinking. Fortunately… it was just the people who weren’t REAL friends. REAL friends support you when you decide to do something healthy and good for you.. REAL friends will be there for you when you decide to chase your dreams. It’s the ones that try to drag you back to your old, unhealthy habits, or keep you in a place where THEY are comfortable that you should kick to the curb. 

For your REAL friends that stick around… just explain to them why you want to get healthy and why it is important to you. You don’t have to shut them out of your life to get healthy! Just come up with new ways to hang out that doesn’t require getting trashed.


There are plenty of fun things you can do that don’t involve drinking! You just have to get creative! Go out to coffee, go to the beach, have a picnic at the park, have a girls night with movies, do arts and crafts, get manicures and pedicures together, go on a shopping trip, find cool things or clothes at thrift stores, bake healthy protein bars, play tennis, put together a little football or soccer team and go scrimmage at the park, have a photoshoot… These are just a few options I came up with on the spot.There are SO MANY things you can do that don’t involve drinking.. I’m sure you can come up with even better ones than these! Muffintopless