0% Alcoholic beverages

[allankay]

0% Alcoholic beverages.

Has anyone tried replacing alcohol with 0% alcohol substitutes like alcohol free beer? My cravings are so severe that I almost gave in to the monster today. I mean nicotine patches help smokers (which I gave up the same time) so why not have something similar for us?

If anyone has had any experience with this or knows of any articles or previous threads about this please let me know.

ALLAN K.

[Sunbeam]

0% Alcoholic beverages

There have been lots of posts mostly under General Discussion regarding favorite af beverages. For awhile I put various af beverages in a wine glass. Now, I don,t want to drink. I'm perfectly happy with my mug of coffee or tea, or even a plastic water bottle.

Welcome, Allan. You have been busy posting, that is a good thing. This is a great support community.

[allankay]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Sunbeam;1374156 wrote: There have been lots of posts mostly under General Discussion regarding favorite af beverages. For awhile I put various af beverages in a wine glass. Now, I don,t want to drink. I'm perfectly happy with my mug of coffee or tea, or even a plastic water bottle.

Welcome, Allan. You have been busy posting, that is a good thing. This is a great support community.

Sunbeam, thank you for your reply. My question was - is it a good idea to try alcohol free beer, wine... to help with the cravings or even provide a long term solution for parties and bar hangouts? Any thoughts?

ALLAN K.

[dixon]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Nice to see you everywhere !!
It passes the time and you will start enjoying posting .One primary tips is that you never get out in empty stomach ,whenever you leave your office please do not forget to fill up your stomach.

Regarding the craving , it can be helpful.




Now that you have stopped drinking, your main problem is not to start again. Here are a few practical tips, based on the experience of others, that should help make this easier for you.

1. eat as much as you can. You will feel less likely to want to drink on a full stomach.

2. If you do get a craving for drink, this may simply be the body's demand for liquid, which is often very strong. So drink plenty~provided its not alcoholic. Fruit juices with glucose, tea or coffee with plenty of sugar will best satisfy your body's need for plenty of liquid.

3. Alcohol destroyed your limited supply of vitamin B. Take plenty of vitamin tablets, especially those containing vit B compound.

4. A feeling of depression can be the result of being physically out of sorts. Keep your system regular.

5. Never sit gazing into spacewith your mind a complete blank. do something, anything positive.
a. Go for a walk.
b. Do a bit of gardening.
c. Have a bath.
d. Have a shave
e. Make phone calls.
etc etc...Any of these will break the mood period.

6. Never hesitate to conntact a friend. The person you call may need your call as much as you do. So never hesitate to ring.

7. Have a plan for your day. Dont just muddle through. You may not be able to carry it out but do your best.

8. Easy does it. Alcoholics tend to try and do too much too quickly.

9. First things first. Get your priorities sorted out, remembering always that sobriety takes precedence over everything else.

10. Losing your temper is a luxury you cant afford. Remember its even possible the other person could be right, so be tolerant and avoid emotional disturbance.

11. There is no problem which a drink will not make bigger, so keep all yours down to their true size by staying sober.

Ok enjoy your AF days !
Dix

[Nelz]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Ill give you my "opinion"

I personally am VERY thankful for NA beer. It helps with the cravings for sure. Ive heard others say its not a good idea to play with fire, but so far so good.

Its never made me want to get drunk, but it has eased my desires to drink, because I really really really like the taste of beer.

So, ultimately its up to you, I did wait a little while before I messed with the NA. At first I just used seltzer water with fresh lemon/limes, and convinced myself it was a beer....LOL



EDIT: Almost forgot about one of the positives to it, after a few I get all bloated and get reminded of all the empty calories I was putting in my body. My tummy does NOT miss AL

If you do try it, go for the Odulls Amber.....magnificent



Good luck

[whichwaynow]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Allankay, I loved the taste of beer so when I gave up alcohol ( will be alcohol free for 4 years this October), it was truely the taste of beer that I missed, so I have used the NA beers and found several that I enjoy for the taste once in a while. I made it a rule when I first started to drink these that one was all that I could have or that too would become another addiction for me. They now offer some dark beer NA varieties that are really very good. I decided the only reason I really need to drink them is to look like I'm drinking when I am out socially. I've also tried the alcohol removed wine, which by the way is excellent. This scares me a bit as I feel that once I open the bottle I have to drink it all up - again that addictive part of myself, so I choose not to buy this product. To sum it up! enjoy those NA products, but try not to have them too often. Good Luck on your journey.

[CanToo]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Hello Allan,

I am 52 days AF and loved loved loved my Belgian beer. At the beginning I found that soda water and lime helped my cravings. It gave me that feeling of 'downing' a nice cold beer at the end of the day with close to zero calories.

Right now I'm on an exercise / lose the beer fat kick and thinking about the number of calories I used to consume is helping me to think twice about any beer cravings that creep in.

I have to agree with Dixon. Have a daily plan, stay busy and stay close to this site. All have helped me to stay strong and AF free.

[K9Lover]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Hi Allan,

Please remember that "alcohol-free" beer is actually 0.5% alcohol. That said, I tried them YEARS ago but they gave me stomach problems, I won't go into details. LOL

For me, I don't want to "pretend" to drink any more than I want to "pretend" to smoke (using an electronic cigarette). I am trying to change my thinking...not just find substitutes for past behaviors. But that's just my 2 cents. If they work for you, then use them as a tool to get you by, for now.

[Nelz]

0% Alcoholic beverages

K9Lover;1380266 wrote: Hi Allan,

Please remember that "alcohol-free" beer is actually 0.5% alcohol. That said, I tried them YEARS ago but they gave me stomach problems, I won't go into details. LOL

For me, I don't want to "pretend" to drink any more than I want to "pretend" to smoke (using an electronic cigarette). I am trying to change my thinking...not just find substitutes for past behaviors. But that's just my 2 cents. If they work for you, then use them as a tool to get you by, for now.

Ive been wrestling with that very issue myself....that AF beers actually "do" have AL. I guess ideally the NA beer would be totally AL free, but its really just the taste or my formerly loved beverage I am looking for at this point and not the AL

Kind of a chicken and an egg thing......I do try and not drink them at all because they tend to bloat my stomach to the point of me looking preggers, but it would seem I am not AF since last May, I dunno

[Marshy]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Nelz;1380281 wrote: I guess ideally the NA beer would be totally AL free,

There are some over here which are totally alcohol free - Cobra and Bavaria to name two.
Bavaria is Dutch. I first came across it at a party in Amsterdam where there was a big ice box full of the 0% version and an ice box full of the alcoholic version. Lots of people were drinking the 0% version because they didn't want alcohol for whatever reason. Probably too stoned :H

[Nelz]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Marshy;1380573 wrote: There are some over here which are totally alcohol free - Cobra and Bavaria to name two.
Bavaria is Dutch. I first came across it at a party in Amsterdam where there was a big ice box full of the 0% version and an ice box full of the alcoholic version. Lots of people were drinking the 0% version because they didn't want alcohol for whatever reason. Probably too stoned :H

Well there ya have it...thanks for the info, Ill look for them Cuz I still LLLLLLLOVE my beer

[Marshy]

0% Alcoholic beverages

Nelz,
I'm not a fan of Cobra (either AF or the alcohol version when I used to drink) - it's too gassy and sharp for me but the Bavaria is pretty good.

[RingingCedars]

0% Alcoholic beverages

dixon;1374193 wrote: Nice to see you everywhere !!
It passes the time and you will start enjoying posting .One primary tips is that you never get out in empty stomach ,whenever you leave your office please do not forget to fill up your stomach.

Regarding the craving , it can be helpful.




Now that you have stopped drinking, your main problem is not to start again. Here are a few practical tips, based on the experience of others, that should help make this easier for you.

1. eat as much as you can. You will feel less likely to want to drink on a full stomach.

2. If you do get a craving for drink, this may simply be the body's demand for liquid, which is often very strong. So drink plenty~provided its not alcoholic. Fruit juices with glucose, tea or coffee with plenty of sugar will best satisfy your body's need for plenty of liquid.

3. Alcohol destroyed your limited supply of vitamin B. Take plenty of vitamin tablets, especially those containing vit B compound.

4. A feeling of depression can be the result of being physically out of sorts. Keep your system regular.

5. Never sit gazing into spacewith your mind a complete blank. do something, anything positive.
a. Go for a walk.
b. Do a bit of gardening.
c. Have a bath.
d. Have a shave
e. Make phone calls.
etc etc...Any of these will break the mood period.

6. Never hesitate to conntact a friend. The person you call may need your call as much as you do. So never hesitate to ring.

7. Have a plan for your day. Dont just muddle through. You may not be able to carry it out but do your best.

8. Easy does it. Alcoholics tend to try and do too much too quickly.

9. First things first. Get your priorities sorted out, remembering always that sobriety takes precedence over everything else.

10. Losing your temper is a luxury you cant afford. Remember its even possible the other person could be right, so be tolerant and avoid emotional disturbance.

11. There is no problem which a drink will not make bigger, so keep all yours down to their true size by staying sober.

Ok enjoy your AF days !
Dix

Perhaps you did not answer the question directly but stellar post Dix! Look at you and how far you've come. Great stuff!