10 Tips for Enjoying Hangover-Free Parenting
If being hangover-free sounds appealing right now so you can effectively be alert and make wiser decisions while you’re raising children during the coronavirus, here are tips to start you on your hangover-free parenting journey.
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1. Hangover-Free Parenting: Sign up for a 30-Day Challenge
You can try anything for 30 days! Going booze-free is easier when you have a support system. Try a challenge like One Year No Beer, a program that provides tips, tricks, and an online community. One Year No Beer provides daily motivational e-mails sent directly to your inbox each morning. Imagine thousands of participants cheering you on in the private Facebook Group. They also provide evidence-based research to keep you on your goal to succeed. Check out their public Facebook page for more info.
2. Replace Your Habits With Tasty Mocktails
Regular drinking has been associated with weight gain and obesity. Replacing your cocktail with a mocktail may be easier on your waist. It can also be a big boost to taste delicious new mocktail recipes. You can start with ordering an alcohol-free margarita and then move to more sophisticated booze-free choices. Now more than ever, choosing sober curious parenting is easy, with countless choices for amazing handcrafted mocktail recipes that you can find online.
Parents can sip hangover-free while feeling very much part of the in-crowd. In fact, this growing trend is being covered in the media celebrating the savvy social set that wants a tasty mocktail without any regrets. Accordingly, companies like Seedlip and Curious Elixirs are happy to meet the demand for artisanally crafted mocktails. Now you can enjoy their creations too.
Mai Stayin’ Alive Mocktail
Ingredients
- 1 ounce lime juice
- 1 ounce pineapple juice
- Dash grenadine
- 2 ounces no alcohol ginger beer (or club soda)
- 1 pinch grated ginger
- pineapple and orange lime slices (Garnish)
- ice to fill cocktail shaker
Instructions
Mai FamilyApp Stayin' Alive Mocktail
- Collect all the ingredients.
- Pour the juices, grenadine and grated ginger (optional) into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
- Shake well.
- Strain into a chilled martini or cocktail glass of your choice.
- Top with ginger beer or club soda.
- Garnish glass with pineapple wedges and lime.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
3. Be Clear About Your Why for Hangover-Free Parenting
Knowing your “why” is one of the first lessons learned in the hangover-free journey. After all, questions like “are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?” are good for you to strengthen your conviction. Understandably, asking yourself, “are you done with nursing a hangover while parenting?” is another question that can guide you toward greater self-care.
Don’t forget: revisiting your “why” gives you continued stamina and motivation without caving into self-doubt. Participants of the sober curious movement often post their reasons on a mirror. At first, walking away from boozy mommy dates and one too many drinks may not be easy. However, the rewards of effective parenting, calmer nerves, better sleep, clearer skin, and greater clarity in your life choices make this reflection on your “why” incredibly motivating.
4. Join Online Groups for Support
Hangover-free parenting doesn’t have to be lonely. In fact, there are several online groups that would love to have you as a member. Whether you choose Facebook or join one of many sober curious communities online, it’s important to have social support. It is important to realize that sober curious is a movement with parents just like you who are drinking without booze or regrets. You can find several online groups to join right now.
5. Consider Non-Alcoholic Beer
Non-alcoholic beer has evolved in a big way since our parents’ generation of tasteless knock-offs. Did you know that both craft breweries and big beer brands have taken the non-alcoholic beer market by storm? Equally important, some breweries have perfected the taste of alcohol-free beers so much that it’s sometimes hard to tell which one is non-alcoholic. Instead of grabbing your usual brew for game night, consider trying its equally tasty alcohol-free counterpart.
6. Get to Know Other Parents Who Aren’t Drinking
Once you have decided to push pause on the drinking, you will be surprised by how many other parents have done the same thing. In fact, there are many religious denominations that have adopted an alcohol-free lifestyle as part of their daily routine. Notably, Mormons, Southern Baptists, Muslims, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses are just a few religions that adhere to a booze-free lifestyle.
However, you don’t need to be part of a church to meet other families that aren’t heavy drinkers. Consider throwing your own mocktail mixer with other parents and start a trend in your neighborhood. Furthermore, joining an alcohol-free group online is a great way to meet new people and other parents that have decided to take an indefinite pause on drinking. This journey is a lot easier when you find like-minded people. You can find some great alcohol-free support groups online, too.
7. Replace Your Old Drinking Habits With Fun Activities
Research shows that analyzing your trigger, routine, and reward system can shift a bad habit. Furthermore, changing your habits requires self-awareness. It is important to realize that we don’t actually “break” bad habits, but we can shift them. By replacing an old habit with an equally pleasurable but healthier alternative, you are setting yourself up for a win-win situation. In addition, by knowing your triggers, you can anticipate your setbacks.
Furthermore, if your default is to pour a glass of wine at 5 pm when you cook, consider rewarding yourself with an equally tasty mocktail while listening to your favorite music. Having positive emotions around your non-alcoholic choices is critical for turning a new habit into a lifestyle. Exploring healthy alternatives is going to increase your rate of success. Even if there are setbacks, don’t knock yourself down with defeat. Instead, dust yourself off and choose to move back into balance.
8. Focus on the Perks of Being Booze-Free
According to research, drinking alcohol can impair the deepest levels of restorative sleep. Alcohol can also increase your chances of a heart attack, diabetes, and cancer. While you might experience increased sleep disturbances during recovery, it’s important to push through since the benefits on the other side are so worth it. Plus, how many weekends have been spent hungover and missing out on family life?
Even better, choosing not to drink often saves thousands of dollars per year.
In addition to a bigger bank account, not drinking means better sleep and making great decisions during your waking hours. Remember, it’s hard to function on a Monday morning when you’ve had one too many glasses of wine on a Sunday. The key to staying on the sober curious parenting track is shifting your mindset.
By focusing on how much more you are gaining by the pause, you may never want to return to wasted weekends again. Many people report increased income, calmer nerves, and a vast improvement in weight and blood pressure after they decided to pause on the booze. Often, by focusing on the right things in your life, you can move away from old habits that no longer serve you.
9. Hangover-Free Parenting – Don’t Fear Missing Out
Instead of focusing on the fear of missing out (FOMO), going alcohol-free means the joy of living your life on your own terms. When you decide to step on the sober curious train, you are choosing to embrace good health in all areas of your life. A key to staying on the hangover-free parenting track is getting out of the notion of missing out on anything and seeing that you are actually gaining so much more in return.
10. Get Professional Support if You Need It
If you suspect that your drinking habits are something more serious, it is time to reach out for professional help. There are substance and alcohol abuse counselors that can help guide you through your journey.
Importantly, if you find that you are unable to stop drinking, it may be time to seek professional help. Call your health insurance provider to see what resources are available under your plan. Furthermore, speak with your physician to see what they recommend. You do not have to go through this alone. Places like Recovery Centers of America are one of the national treatment centers that accept private insurance. Remember, you can still join an online community while you are getting the help that you need.
The Benefits of Hangover-Free Parenting
The sober curious movement has changed the stigma to a badge of honor for those who choose well-being over nursing a raging hangover! Sober-curious parenting has caught on in the media, and many parents have decided to take an indefinite pause on drinking alcohol. It used to be a buzzkill to watch a friend sipping a sad-looking club soda at a party. Not anymore! Raise your stylish mocktail and join the in-crowd! It’s important to note that sober curious parents are not alone in their journey. Finding a like-minded community is as easy as opening up your laptop.
By following these helpful tips, you can feel good about being hangover-free while still indulging in a delicious mocktail. Cheers to your health!
Sober Curious Books and Resources
- Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington
- The Naked Mind by Annie Grace
- The 28 Day Alcohol-Free Challenge by Andy Ramage & Ruari Fairbairns
- The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray
- OneYearNoBeer
- Del Ray Psych and Wellness offers online therapy
- Recovery Centers of America
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- Al-Anon
