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Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

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Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#81

Post by colechristensen »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #79
colechristensen wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the poster seems to be doing it based on concern due to health posts on HN not because of hangovers or stupid behaviors. Also many people who drink don’t drink to get drunk so hangovers and stupidity aren’t part of the experience.

This is in context of all the experiences you'll miss out on. If you are drinking so little that you are not getting hangovers (and you are older than say 35), then you are drinking so little you might as well substitute the alcohol for something non-alcoholic and do the same thing, because your experience will largely be the same as that of a sober person either way.

I don’t know about you, but if I have two or three drinks in an evening I definitely experience the pleasant effects of alcohol and have roughly zero chance of a hangover unless I was drinking something awful.

People in here are acting like the only thing enjoyable about alcohol are the effects of binge drinking.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#82

Post by YellowTrooper »

_zjmt wrote: post #32

I'm a very big fan of good alcohol-free beer. There are some good ones, here in Europe at least. 7% of the beer sold in the Netherlands is alcohol-free based on recent reports last year. The cheap stuff in the states tastes silly, but if you can find a good brewery that makes it, I recommend as an alternative.

This is a still secret for me - how to enjoy alcohol-free beer. Even its sizes - 0.33ml - told what you might not need more.

Are there any advice on particular brand to try? Alcohol free Moretti is nice for my taste, but all other lager non-alco is frustrating.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#83

Post by marginalia_nu »

colechristensen wrote: post #81
marginalia_nu wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is in context of all the experiences you'll miss out on. If you are drinking so little that you are not getting hangovers (and you are older than say 35), then you are drinking so little you might as well substitute the alcohol for something non-alcoholic and do the same thing, because your experience will largely be the same as that of a sober person either way.

I don’t know about you, but if I have two or three drinks in an evening I definitely experience the pleasant effects of alcohol and have roughly zero chance of a hangover unless I was drinking something awful. People in here are acting like the only thing enjoyable about alcohol are the effects of binge drinking.

I have two beers and I get a hangover the next day. I'm approaching 40 though.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#84

Post by YellowTrooper »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #74
bostonsre wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The grass is always greener on the other side. I'm sure more solitary individuals will regret not being more socially active and having fun. On the other side though, you will also definitely regret partying too much if it impacts your life outside of it. I would guess that moderation is key and not being too far on one side or the other could optimize for happiness (but it's a guess.. I was too far on the partying s…

A lot of alcohol culture centers around this sort of vague FOMO that you will miss out on all the fun and regret this when you are older. But what is it you are actually doing? In order of increasing inebriation: Mostly sitting around gossiping, possibly making an ass of yourself dancing like a tube man, some occasionally hook up with a stranger for some mediocre to disappointing whisky-dicking. Weekend drinkers, whi…

It is actually my thoughts on my past life and I fully agree here! Alcohol is making you boring, just because a lot of your energy wasting on consumption, stupid things and recovery, but alcohol left nothing in your life. Even memories.

And while you drinking, especially hard, it is hard build anything or implement your ideas - alcohol very often acts as “reset” button (at least in my case) and you not able to develop and maintain any complex idea for a long time - next party will wipe it out.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#85

Post by _zjmt »

YellowTrooper wrote: post #82
_zjmt wrote: post #32

I'm a very big fan of good alcohol-free beer. There are some good ones, here in Europe at least. 7% of the beer sold in the Netherlands is alcohol-free based on recent reports last year. The cheap stuff in the states tastes silly, but if you can find a good brewery that makes it, I recommend as an alternative.

This is a still secret for me - how to enjoy alcohol-free beer. Even its sizes - 0.33ml - told what you might not need more. Are there any advice on particular brand to try? Alcohol free Moretti is nice for my taste, but all other lager non-alco is frustrating.

Go for strong, dark beer flavors like IPA that happen to just be 0.5% alcohol or less, which qualifies as alcohol-free. I could recommend some Dutch regional brands but even within the Netherlands they are not available too far beyond the places where they are brewed.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#86

Post by Eddy_Viscosity2 »

el_nahual wrote: post #29

I went from moderate (weekends, social, never alone) drinking to _zero_ drinking for about five years. This was during peak "social" life of after university and before marriage. I did the exact same things I used to do except with no alcohol: bars, clubs, parties, whatever. The toughest thing was realizing how...boring...some of these activities can be. There is, by default, an enormous amount of "down time" at a ba…

Also agree with the last part. I stopped drinking pretty much at the start of the pandemic, so two years in now. I noticed some differences after about two weeks, others after a month or so, but the took about 6-8 months before the full effects came in. One key change for me was the after 6-8 months, at about that point I stopped even thinking of drinking. It no longer took up any mental space and energy.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#87

Post by neom »

abirch wrote: post #37
neom wrote: post #4

Diet Coke, Documentaries, Weed, Hackernews, Discord, Teenage Engineering, Documentaries, Documentaries, Documentaries. As someone who drank v.copiously all day every day for years, it's somewhat easier than you might imagine, just gotta stick it out till you're in a new routine. (BTW something very unexpected, I had zero sweet tooth when I was a heavy drinker, gave up booze and a month or so later I was craving cake…

“I traded one addiction for another. But golf is the crack of sports. Once I took it seriously I loved it. It absolutely saved my life,” [Alice] Cooper said in Golf Digest magazine

HN certainly helped me greatly when I was in the throngs of removing myself from my daily engagements with alcohol. Whenever I was at my worst I could come on and have a stimulating conversation with someone kind, took my mind off the physical and mental stress of detoxing. I thought about killing myself many times, but HN was always there to keep me excited about life. I owe a lot to this community, I'd go as so far as to say it contributed to saving my life given the path I was on.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#88

Post by maga »

aurizon wrote: post #72
maga wrote: post #55

> For those of you who don't drink, how do you fill your Friday and Saturday nights? As life-long teetotaler, I always had more things to do than time: hobbies, sports, or simply talking to friends and family. I might be workaholic, since most of time I cannot find time for those things because of work, but if/when I do have free time the possibilities seem endless. It's Saturday evening where I am right now, I'm goi…

I am also a teetotaller. In my youth I watched peers drink, seek alcohol, get drunk, crash/burn etc - apparently with great joy. As for me, I got tired, lost coordination, etc, but had no apparent 'joy of getting a little/fully drunk'. As a result, I ordinarily never drunk alcohol = waste of $$/zero apparent pleasure/abandoned it. That said, the herd effect where other drinkers act to coerce drink for drink matching…

As a younger man I was a bit overzealous about this, and having an "assertive personality" (as someone put it) it was mostly me putting the pressure on my drinking peers. On the hand, I was incredibly lucky to find likeminded friends as a student and we needed no extra substances to enjoy each others company, although, people seeing us constantly laughing would assume otherwise. It still puzzles me when people call other people friends but need a drink to relax and/or enjoy their company.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#89

Post by nyokodo »

> I am going to stop drinking

It’s important you do what is best for you, however, in general I recommend avoiding excessive drink but enjoy one or two really nice drinks occasionally with friends who do the same. Why do so many tend towards drunkenness or prohibition? There is a third option in the middle.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#90

Post by arisAlexis »

sea_anemone wrote: post #7

I’ve decided to give up drinking after I caught Covid over the Christmas break… sort of a “complete recommitment” to my health. Add to that, hangovers have gotten fairly brutal north of 30. The ultimate life hack I’ve found for when you feel like a beer is Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher. They’re super tasty, zero alcohol, zero sugar, zero carbs. It’s basically seltzer flavored with hops and man is it delicious and nicely…

There is a super boom of hoppy or homebrew beers in the Netherlands and Belgium 0%. I mean every bar can have 5 different choices. Big difference than a bar in Southern Europe with only Heineken 0 (which is bad imo).
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