[Closed] Any teetotalers on here?

not yet but thinking of having a go at it to aid my weight loss as beer is my achilles heel.

work functions/occasional bike rides, aside I think for me it would be quite easy to do so why not!

I'll be a part teetotaler for 2010

Could never see much point in taking drugs

I was unpredictable, couldn't moderate at the time, all or nothing, lack of hangovers probably didn't help, just lost chunks of time and was banned from quite a few places from time to time when I wasn't in such a good mood - about 7 years without now I think and a great improvement in the quality of girls I woke up next to.

have thought about drinking again, but too indecisive as to what to start drinking

Only because i've got a bladder infection! 😥

Could never see much point in taking drugs

I thought you said that you very occasionally have a drink - no ?

v. similar to Timber - the mechanism that was supposed to say 'that's enough' went wrong over time and I was an all or nothing drunk and I hated myself when I was. For me it wasn't who i woke up to because that was the wife, but I'd know that I'd have treated her dreadfully the night before. I twice woke up in a bed full of cold vomit, and once slept rough in a subway by Waterloo being moved on by the police and the lot.

So I packed in 7 years ago for best part of 4 years, and while I have now relapsed to be able to enjoy the odd drink every now and then the valve is back functioning and I can spot when I'm starting to become unpleasant or likely to be and call a halt then. eg: count this Christmas so far is a large G&T on Christmas Eve while wrapping presents and then a glass of wine on Christmas Day and another on Boxing Day, both with family lunches.

aye,never drink.

I thought you said that you very occasionally have a drink

yeah, an occasional glass of wine, for the taste, hardly enough to have any effect - though I wouldn't attempt to drive afterwards (or any other time, if avoidable)

for the taste

an occasional glass of wine

........so not a teetotaller then ? Teetotaller = total abstention.

I very rarely drink btw - maybe 2 or 3 times in one year, maybe not at all. Sometimes enough for it to have an effect, but mostly not.

[i]"I wouldn't attempt to drive afterwards"[/i]

I thought you didn't have a car or [i]ever[/i] drove ? 😕

...... now you're going to tell me that you occasionally drive, but "hardly enough to have any effect" 😀

I have been virtually tee-total for the last 10 years. Have a beer or glass of wine perhaps 2 or 3 times a year, but often go months on end or sometimes over a year without a drink.

Whole host of reasons, age, lifestyle, health etc.

Can't say I miss it in the slightest and was probably one of the easiest things to give up.

I thought you didn't have a car or ever drove ?

I don't but sometimes I'm forced by circumstances to drive

Not a drop in more than 11 years (since my 18th Birthday in fact), and even prior to that I didn't drink much...

Why? Various reasons... Mainly I can't stand the taste of Alcohol! And no matter what anyone says, you can taste the alcohol itself in ANY alcoholic drink! Really don't like it...

Also don't like the way it makes me feel... Not a control freak or anything, but I like to be in control of my own body if you get me.

I like remembering things!

I like going out with £10 in my pocket and coming home with change!

I like the fact any girls I meet are definitely girls I want to meet again...

I think the turning point was when I was 16 (anything I drunk after this was purely to please my mates in a peer pressure situation), I had been out drinking with mates several Saturday nights in a row, and couldn't recall much that had happened on any of them. I wasn't feeling too special, was a bit broke, didn't like the taste anyway so decided just to drink coke or water that night... And I had the best night in ages!

If you drink fair enough... Whether you like the taste, like the way it makes you feel, like the fact it gives you confidence or whatever... No problems with it whatsoever! Drinking (or not) is a choice, I just choose not to...

Oh, and before anyone asks, no drugs either... Bikes, Music and cars are my vices... And women... Though they're too unpredictable of course 😉

Broke my neck a few years ago but didn't realise. Went to the docs to see why I was getting hangovers from hell, that's when they discovered the neck 😉

The injury really didn't mix well with drink so I gave up ... never looked back.

Teetotal for over 20 years, a few reasons why I gave up, as said above didn't like the taste, hate the feeling of being drunk, the nausea, dizzyness. I also had no compunction about smacking someone who I thought needed smacking, this is not a good thing. I would also do reckless things that endangered myself and my friends. This was exclusively down to the fact that I had to climb things or balance on stuff. God knows why but had some very close calls. I also suffered with hangovers from hell. So decided to stop. The only alcohol I will consume again in my life is to celeberate when Thatcher dies, 1 pint of cider.

Lol at Pigface. 1 pint when Thatcher dies. I'm waiting for WInehouse to croak. That'll be a heavy night.

The thing about teetotallers is that you're never in doubt as to their reasons. Mostly, they're just dying to tell you. Interested to hear that sfb [i]isn't[/i] teetotal though. That's news.

Haven't drunk for 4 years.

Used to like it a little bit too much and a little bit too often.

Like the OP, I'm not fussed about the taste. Certainly don't like beer. I'm not teetotal as I had a little Bailey's or two at Christmas but I'm really not fussed. I don't have many inhibitions so I don't need to be half cut to lose them!

Dont get that one Darcy, mostly I get "go on you big poof have a drink, whats wrong with you?"

or the classic "Oh God what did I do last night, wish I didn't drink like you"

Never had a drink in my life. Nothing about it appeals. I get my vicarious jollies hanging out with friends in the pub from watching them, without the after effects and I've never had to buy a round on account of my drink* being mostly less than £1. Cheapskate I am.

* I call it 'night of passion' - orange, blackcurrant, lime and soda with a wedge of lime. Tell your friends about it. Cordial by the way.

I get "go on you big poof have a drink, whats wrong with you?"

But you have to ask yourself, do they think you're a big poof because you don't drink or do they just...well...you know...I don't want to say...

Oh God what did I do last night, wish I didn't drink like you

Being fair, if one is having a few too many of these mornings, it's time to give it up. I'm a bit suspicious of people who get violent after a few too many. In general, I've been a happy drunk all my life. Or should I say happy when drunk rather than being happily drunk all my life. Occasionally an irreverent irrepressible one, nearly always [i]the[/i] greatest dancing one but never a violent one.

[i]In vino veritas[/i]

I'm not totally tea-total but I do have to be very careful. For darcy's benefit [ 😉 ] the reason for me is health ~ I have had bits removed leaving other bits that are apparantly 'cute' which can leave me rather uncomfortable, sometimes for several weeks if I over imbibe.

there's a very good chance i'd have died before now if i hadn't quit boozing over 20 years ago. i just don't like the taste of most* alcoholic drinks and i only used to drink to get absolutely wasted. stupid really.

*recently i have discovered that non-alcoholic beers can actually taste quite nice, especially wheat beers. i'm still not interested in the alcoholic versions though; i don't relish the prospect of having my head feel all weird again.
i say to each their own though; i agree with pigface in that it's always other people that make it into a big deal.

The longest I've been without a drink in the last twenty years is about two weeks, and that was only because I was at a lodge miles into the Amazon rainforest and there wasn't any alcohol available. Seriously going to try and stay booze free from next week and see how long it lasts ! The thing is my social life revolves around it, I'm single, my friends gather in pubs, work socialises in pubs, can't get away from the stuff.

Kev

Darcy you may have been a happy drunk doesn't mean that people around you didnt find you a pain in the a r s e.

If I was a big poof then..... oh hang on they may have been onto something :wink:ng

I still enjoy alchoholic drinks but have lost all interest in getting drunk. Normally in a week I have 1-1.5 pints on an Friday in the pub with friends, and sometimes 1-2 malt whiskies at home - about 5 units in total. Drinking a little bit more ATM because it's Christmas: port and wine instead.

I could manage teetotal if circumstances meant I had to. But it would be a shame not to enjoy fine beers, wines and whiskies.

been on the wagon for nearly 2 years. The reason why I gave up was due to getting older & it taking a lot longer to recover the next day. Biking is my passion (after Mrs C B) & loosing a day off the bike with a raging hangover was not my idea of fun.

I have found that once people realise that I don't drink they respect this & don't try to pressure me into taking part, they even get in non-alcoholic drinks just for me - sweet. Conversely I respect their wish to drink & I don't try to push my teetotal status on them.

One thing that I always find hugely amusing is watching what drunk people, especially those who are normally quite straightlaced, get up to & what they say or try to say - absolutely hillarious - even better when you tell them about it the next day & they can't remember a thing - Lol.

an unidentified kidney problem means every drink feels like a kick in the back (I had 2 bottles of beer 2 days ago and i'm still in agony) as a result I'm starting 2010 as a teetotaler. I guess it'll be good for my health and stop me acting like a ****, but I do like good rum/ red wine 🙁

I just wish our son would turn his back on it for good .We had some rough situations with him in the past .Enough to make him leave home with our help .Not a good situation and even now i can't relax about it .

Im not totally teetotal, But close to it.
I stopped drinking because alcohol seemed to affect a medical condition I have.
And to be honest I feel so much better for not drinking.
I guess you dont realize what a difference it makes untill you start to get older.
Socially, I did occasionally miss not getting bladdered with friends. Though its surprising how many people do not drink, or drink very little nowadays.

I will have a glass of scotch tonight with my son, its his 18th birthday. But I dont see myself having a drink again untill maybe next christmas.

deadlydarcy - Member

The thing about teetotallers is that you're never in doubt as to their reasons.

And up pops the voice of reason once more! Oh God, is there anything you've ever not got a (totally unjustified and totally wrong) opinion on?

As others have stated, it's the total opposite actually. I'd rather just blend into the background in social situations regarding my drinking habits. I would NEVER EVER go out of my way to let people know I don't drink. And if or when people do find out, I always play it down. It's my choice not to drink, I don't "not drink" cos I think I'm better than people who do drink or anything! Alcohol just isn't for me (and God knows I tried it enough when I was younger).

And FWIW I find these days when people do find out, a lot of them are outwardly quite admiring for one reason or another! Usually along the lines of wishing they didn't get hangovers, or because they only drink cos otherwise they can't relax in social situations at all. As I've got older too, more and more of my mates drink less and less, so much so that often on a night out, I'm usually not the only one stone cold sober any more! The biggest I've found strangely, is telling girls that you don't drink... I've found they go 2 ways... Either they think you're the best person on the planet cos you don't need to drink to have fun, or they think you're some kind of dirty pervert staying sober to prey on drunk girls every night (I can assure you, that I am NEITHER of these). Currently seeing a 22 year old student that I met 2 weeks ago, wouldn't say she's a party animal but she does like a drink or 2... Not told her I don't drink yet, so waiting to see what the outcome of that is gonna be!

ctznsmith - Premier Member

Haven't drunk for 4 years.

Hahaha. Was gonna email you back saying as you won't know anyone round here when you move down, I'd take you out for a couple of pints if you fancied it... Diet Cokes it is instead then! 😉

i am ok can take it or leave it only problem comes when i see a bottle of grey goose vodka then all reason is thrown out the window

having spent years being a total animal in the drink, drugs and rocknroll style I now very rarely drink. On average about 10 units a year. No special reasons other than the fact that I value my weekends and would rather be riding hard and spending time with my family rather than trying to find my liver and kidneys (last seen hiding in bottom of an absinthe bottle gently crying to themselves)

Sets off my Cluster Headaches and just not worth it

gave up drinking and smoking 5 years ago,as i was drinking/smoking myself into an early grave.i didn't have any control of the booze,so it was a constant downward spiral.was one of the best decisions i have ever made.i also wish the best of luck to anyone else who is trying to quit,whatever it may be.

ive cut down loads in the last 2 years, dont drink in the week anymore, if we dont go out for a meal or round friends houses on the weekend i dont drink.

35 now and the hangovers are just not worth it, i hate wasting the day walking round like a zombie.

baby on the way aswell so want to be in tip top form

You know it is possible to enjoy a drink or two without getting drunk 🙂 Alot of the on-the-wagon stories above seem to imply that it's either zero alcohol or completely wrecked with monster next-day hangover. There is a third way 😛

ah well, i'm perfectly happy with my choice so it's all good!

Thanks for the inspiration guys! I decided a while ago to lay the booze aside in the new year, and I've been telling everyone so I can't fall back.
I've had too many lost periods on it since I told my crazy ex to go away. It's all too east to 'self medicate' in these situations. My fitness is fubared because of it but I want to go racing in the spring.
Being drunk is fun, but it's damn expensive and my body isn't designed for that constant punishment.

Happy new year everyone!

You know it is possible to enjoy a drink or two without getting drunk

This is true. But I discovered that your head is [i]always[/i] clearer the next morning and you feel fresher, if you don't have a couple of pints the night before. It also means that you can sleep all night without having to get up to have a p*ss.

Plus of course having a couple of pints never [i]enhances[/i] your mood the next morning - I don't ever recall waking up on a downer because I hadn't had a drink the previous evening. Alcohol [i]always[/i] has some sort of effect - that after all, is the whole point........if it doesn't, then there's no point drinking the stuff. The "I like the taste", is a red herring.

Drinking imo, like many things in life, is one of those things which a lot of people grow out of
....... I also grew out of "I really enjoy eating really really hot curries" WTF was [i]that[/i] about FFS ? 😕

13 years, woke up one day and knocked all the drugs on the head. never looked back. no moral issue or danger of spinning out of control, just 'felt' i didnt need it. find i dont go to pubs and see old mates for coffee(mines a decaf) or lunch instead.

...WTF was that about FFS ?

So you had an excuse to drink 6 pints of cold lager with the curry? ❗

Not a teetotaler shall be at the in laws tonight and will be partaking of a few beers and some wine and will get up tomorrow and go and ride my bike no probs

"You know it is possible to enjoy a drink or two without getting drunk"

Depends. For my sister, only total abstinance works.

I don't drink anymore, i'm a total cock when i do...

It took me 40yrs to find out i can't handle my beer. and having my son helped cus waking with a hangover with a child to look after is awful.

@ ernie_lynch

It also means that you can sleep all night without having to get up to have a p*ss.

I just use a plastic sheet on the bed. That means I can sleep all night without having to get up to have a p*ss. Best of both worlds, my son!

don't like the taste or the effect 😀 .

I don't like the taste of alcohol either however I like fitting in with the majority of people and alcohol helps me mix with people I cant stand sober..

😉

No, seriously now. I love the feeling that two double-Jim Beams gives me. No way to describe it. EVERYONE needs a poison otherwise how dull would your life be?
After all, we are only marking time until we wither and die.

What are you saving yourselves for? Be the sprittliest pensioner in the care home? Genetics/DNA/hereditory has something to do with your health as well you know.

Gave up 2yrs ago, great no more hangovers
Felt it was getting boring after 24 years of it
Coincidently started running two years ago too !
Feel much better for it and raring to go each morning
Bike/Run/Work/Family Chores ...

To be honest the taste has never been very nice either

😆

Wave
Funnylly enough it's easier to be a teatotal in the UK than in France (if I don't want to explain my choise in the UK the "I am driving works a treat" too).

Never seen the point of drinking. Smell of beer/wine is enough to make me sick. The flat I am in was "deliver with a full up bar" vodka wisky etc etc.

I have so far sip the following (just because I was curious and no more than half a glass of shooter).
vodka (that shit end up as bike cleaner)
Obscure german stuff that makes you blind. No idea what it was so gave it to the expert (LBS) it's a oat stuff made from the lbs'owner's mum place. So they keep it.
Manzana sweet enough but the buring feeling in the throat is yeuurk.

So very disapointed with the actual taste of this stuff. I'll stay and posh tea, expensive coffee fruit juices and coke in glass bottle please.

Yes and No Drinking does not bother me
as I dont need a drink to be happy.
Tonight no drink have to pick me daughter
up from a party.

now that I have read the whole post I am impressed by the number of people on here who don't drink. Plus I am sad to discover I am not technicaly a teatotal.

The paternal side of my family were all heavy drinkers and I just didn't like what I saw. Also drinking any type of alcohol always made me ill.

I've been a teetotal for years. However tonight I am having a small Southern Comfort. The next drink will probably in a years time too.

"You know it is possible to enjoy a drink or two without getting drunk"

As per my post last night, once you reach the point where it isn't, or better said you don't trust yourself any longer that that CAN be the case - that's when you have to give up. Cutting down doesn't work at that point (I know, i tried). You'd set out with good intentions 'Just a couple to be sociable' then someone offers you another and you say yes to be sociable. Then you have to get them one back. So now that's 4, and suddenly the intent doesn't work, and you start having a scotch with every pint just in case you get to closing time and you aren't aresholed.

And the wife tries to remind you that you shouldn't and you get abusive to her because you're an arsehole when you've had a few. And then you're angry 'cos you hate being told what to do so you make the next one a double out of spite.

And the next morning your bed is full of cold sick, which could easily have killed you last night, you can't remember what you said to who, and you HATE yourself. But you can't cut down so you do it again next time round.

I'm back in control now, and can have a couple to be sociable, but it took 4 years of continually being the driver to get there.

I'm teetotal -I've just never liked the taste of the stuff, and never saw the point of spending money drinking stuff that tastes nasty, particularly when I've perfectly capable of making a complete tit of myself sober.

I do sometimes wonder what it'd be like to be drunk though.

And up pops the voice of reason once more! Oh God, is there anything you've ever not got a (totally unjustified and totally wrong) opinion on?

Steady on matey - I'd like to think that on sober (see what I did there?) reflection you'll see that your comment is a wee bit overboard. I limit my opinions here these days, mostly because somebody always overreacts and paints one as some kind of opinionated moron...even without the influence of alcohol. Do you know anybody that would do that MaverickBoy?

At the same time, you [i]do[/i] seem to be spending a lot of time giving your reasons. And hey, don't worry, given enough time, I'm sure we'll find something on which we'll agree. 😀

Haven't drunk for over 20years. Used to get into trouble everytime I was drunk so stopped it. Don't miss it and it's easy for my mates when I do go out as I don't mind driving them about in their cars and its a free night out for me!

Same here Mrs. Toast - Always making a fool of myself sober, especially on the dancefloor.

I've been a teetotal for years. However tonight I am having a small ......

So you won't be a teetotaller any more then.

The "tee" is to emphasise the "T" in [b]T[/b]otal, ie, [i]total[/i] abstention. A term coined by temperance movement for those who had made the pledge. Because just saying that were abstaining, wasn't enough. Otherwise everyone could fairly claim to be 'teetotaller'...... between drinks.

It's a bit like those people who say they vegetarian, except for when they have a bacon sani.

Oooh 'Gus' get you. 😉

I know, [i]italics[/i], [b]bold[/b], a bit of

quoting

Cannot see a time or reason when or why i will drink alcohol again. No great reason why, but it's never been important, and the last few years it has just seemed to be more irrelevent to me.

Used to like a few in my younger years though, so not a stranger to driving the porcelain bus 😕

the whole shazzam

Yep, that's 'cause some people can't seem to figure out what 'teetotaller' means (maybe they think it's something to do with drinking lots of cups of tea?) So it's presumably necessary to spell it out. Carefully. And precisely. 😉

After all, I don't drink, but I'm not a teetotaller. I don't eat meat, but I'm not a vegetarian:-)

I've been starightedge for about 25 years. I don't use any recreational drugs, regardless of whether they are legal or not.
I normally try to avoid the subject in conversation. Most people seem disappointed that I don't fit their preconception of teetotallers as recovering alcoholics. 🙄

Not teetotal as had a couple ofdrinks this Christmas but they are the first in over a year. Easiest thing in the world for me to give up.

1. Never enjoyed being drunk (like to be in control)
2. Never enjoyed hangovers
3. Not particulally fussed about the taste of alcoholic drinks

It still surprises me the amount of people who can not understand why I do not drink and usually follow it up with a suggestion that you need to drink on a night out 'to have a good time'.

At my Dads 60th last year he paid a £100 taxi fare for a friend to get home, just so his friend did not need to drive and could 'have a good time' I thought that was obscene.

You know it is possible to enjoy a drink or two without getting drunk

I got to the stage where I was sick and tired of being sick and tired

It was a situation ( I now know ) where 1 drink was too many and 2 was not enough so stopped ( with help ) just over 17 years ago.

Over time my circle of friends has mostly changed and the folks I hang out with now just accept that I don't drink, they don't know or care why and I don't make a fuss about it and all is well.

I'd like to stop drinking. I gave up speed and cigarettes but the drink one is difficult. Unlike most of the posters here, I like it, like the taste, like the feeling. Also, I get anxious about social situations so use alcohol as a crutch. I seem to have something in my mind that it's romantic or cool. Anyway, I have finished Dr Burns' Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy and am just starting on Dr Burns' The Feeling Good Handbook which I hope will help me with the underlying issues.

I did stop for six weeks. Felt exactly the same. Oh, and how boring that everyone else quizzes you on why. In the end I just said I was driving - people don't push alcoholic drinks on you if you say that.

BTW, when I say drinking I mean 2 - 3 bottles of wine a week and occasionally some JD.

My gf is teatotal. Its good to have a black box recorder to recall all the previous nights activities 🙄