It’s been really hard staying sober when it comes to the weekend. It feels like there is nothing at home for me so I end up just going out. I end up spending all of the money I make too. This is the has been the hardest part for me
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I can relate! I don't always look forward to the weekends. I try to find as many meetings as I can just to keep my mind off of it.
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Sounds like a different social environment over the weekend might help. I like the gym, and there are other things like going to the movies or a nice dinner, that may steer you better.
I’ve never tried a meeting on the weekend thanks for that. I had a experience this weekend that was a wake up call
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Hi Viktor, over time I made friends through AA. We don’t have much in common but it’s people to hang out with on the weekends and it’s fun. I also play disc golf. Hobbies are also a good way to spend your time and meet people.
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The hardest part for me is I serve and bartend at a restaurant on the weekends until late night. Sometimes I am good about getting just a mocktail while I hangout with them but other nights I cave. It feels nice to speak to people who understand how I feel
It's the hardest part for a lot of us, especially newly sober. Early on, I would certainly stay away from bar /club environments and try to hang out with your sober friends or family more , if you got them of course. Otherwise, stay distracted. Do things you used to enjoy and you may find you start to re-enjoy them because your neurotransmitter pathways (mostly dopamine ) are starting to normalize on the absence of your substance of choice. I distract myself with a list of 28 things I must do every day , from putting on deodorant and brushing teeth to kettlebell and cardio. You'd be amazed how much time it takes up just doing the mundane things we should be doing anyway. Eventually, when you are solid, you can go back out in that bar/club environment. However , you may end up not liking it seeing the dumb things intoxicated people do ...it actually reinforces my sobriety personally 🤷. Good luck my man.
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It’s all we know man. My sponsor used to say if you keep going to the barbershop, eventually you are going to get a haircut. He was right, as always, so I shaved 
my head in defiance lol. Sobriety is so much unlearning what we think is normal behavior. I thought everyone partied every chance they got and drank with everything they did. It takes time and many of us aren’t used to taking time to do things. Honestly, when the drinking stops then the real hard 
starts because you have to deal with your emotions and mental part of this disease. I lost a lot of friends because when I got sober I saw they really weren’t friends, just people that I got messed up with. Once I stopped bringing 
and handles of liquor around we didn’t have anything in common. Sobriety isn’t easy and anyone who tells you different is lying but going to jail and waking up in dirty places and always messing up my life was tougher. You can get there too, just be open that everything has to change to stay there.
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Thanks for this
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I understand that I’ve found doing stuff that’s outside gas been a good distraction for me hiking swimming playing basketball
As mentioned, try and hang out with AA people. We have a group of 11 women that go twice a year for a weekend somewhere and we call it the No Worries Weekend😊. We are going this weekend and it’s always something I look forward to when I’m with my AA friends. Get connected with people in your home Group, or other groups.
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For me if I plan what alcohol free option I’m going to drink before getting to the bar or party and even practice ordering it over and over in my head (a favorite is grapefruit and tonic with bitters. Chili bitters are even better). The first couple of “drinks” feel awkward but then you kinda forget you’re not drinking alcohol.
Bonus: you’re 100% present the whole time.
Or find a sober friend to hang out with and talk about how good it feels to not have alcohol in your system!
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I like ginger beer, cherry juice and lime. A local bartender introduced me to it
Hi Viktor!
Thank you for sharing this with the Loosid community, finding an enjoyable hobby that fits your lifestyle is sometimes a tough task, but also a very rewarding one that can bring many benefits to your lifestyle, feel free to ask other users what they might do for fun during the weekend that is also inexpensive
Again, thank you for sharing some of your story with us
Have a great week!
That is hard. Do you work till 4am? Because thats rough watching people just get even more drunk than they should.
I don’t know if it’ll help, but my trick was to go to a nicer bodega or corner store and get 3 or so really nice “expensive” sodas. I’d have em chilling in my ice well or fridge and open 1 up when ever I had a strong urge. Staying dry as a bartender is tough, in NYC even tougher with the later closing hour. I feel ya man, staying dry in NYC is hard as it is, but you can do it.
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