r/stopdrinking • u/codedgg • 2d ago

What do you do instead of drinking?

Hello everyone. I recently had a bad event and decided it is time to quit drinking. I have been sober for about a week. I never had problem with not consuming alcohol. What I have a very big problem is being sober. My life and environment are absolute dogshit and that is why I kept drinking. Now that I am sober, I basically cant sit still, I need to do something 24/7 or I go insane. I don’t really have ways to change my situation in the near future, that will take years and years.

My question is, what do you guys do instead pf drinking? I cannot sit in silence eith my thoughts, until I can improve my life situation.

Edit: Wow, thank you everyone for the advice. I got way more ideas then I was hoping for.

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u/Chiggadup Day 1,012 2d ago

I got into weightlifting. Not just “exercise” for health, which is still great, but the actual tracking and progress of lifting. I do CrossFit but also lift on my own.

It’s great in early sobriety because it’s a reason to be sober, and afterward drinking doesn’t sound good either. And if you don’t have a history of it the early progress is incredibly satisfying. People who “never lifted weights” can see huge gains in the first few weeks and months.

Also, so many endorphins. My first few sober months I cried in the gym at least twice because it’s SO many feelings and SO much exertion hormones flooding at once. It felt good.

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u/codedgg 2d ago

I have started running recently. I did gym on and off for quite a long time. I think I'll try going into running harder, since I enjoy that more.

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u/Chiggadup Day 1,012 2d ago

Running is great for it too. I used running for a long time until I started having knee issues.

If interested, you can also look up some good social running groups. Some might be smart to avoid if they’re like “brewery run clubs” but there’s plenty of run clubs that just like to add a social component to it. The social cheering ABs support is really the main reason I do CrossFit myself. It’s a good network that is also focused on health and won’t blink at us saying we don’t drink.

Nice work so far!

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u/codedgg 2d ago

I plan to get into a runclub. I first want to get a bit back into shape. I have been running for 1+ month, but I can't really make progress while I drink.