Sober Curious: Learning How To Live A Booze-Free Life

There is nothing worse than a bad hangover to make you swear off drinking. Yet, a few days later, you are back to chugging a beer or sipping a cocktail.

But over the past year, this is changing because more and more people are choosing to stay away from alcohol, giving rise to the sober curious movement.

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There is a growing community of people who identify themselves as "sober curious". This term is super flexible and refers to those who are cutting out alcohol entirely and those who are more interested in limiting their consumption.

The increased desire to explore a life without booze can be directly linked to the wellness revolution. Aren't we all eating better, exercising and taking extremely good care of ourselves? So if we won't meat in order to lead a vegan lifestyle, it becomes very difficult to justify why we are consuming alcohol which is not great for our liver.

"I used to drink a glass of wine every single day after getting back from work. On a bad day, finishing a bottle wasn't rare for me. But I got really aggressive over time and decided to quit. I swear I have more energy and can get more out of my days than I did when I was drinking that glass of Merlot," said 27-year-old Kareena Gill* who quit drinking three years ago.

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But if you think cutting alcohol out of your life is easy, think again. For a lot of people, a good time always entails having alcohol. Some can't even fathom a party without a drink.

"For the longest time, I wanted to give up drinking. I never enjoyed it. I always liked a glass of chilled ice with coke. But then I would think of how I would have no friends, I wouldn't know how to eat pasta or what to do at a party. Getting ready and going for a night out with chugging shots haunted me and is the real reason why I hold a glass of whiskey for hours on end today," 31-year-old Anand Sharma* told Indiatimes.

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Here's how you can get 'sober curious' even if you are an occasional drinker.

"Well since health concerns don't seem to work in getting people to quit, we need to focus more on how alcohol is impacting people's lives and energy levels," says 33-year-old Simran Singh* who works at an alcohol rehabilitation center.

Research by Yale University, titled "How to live without alcohol," released in May 2018, spoke of all benefits except those health-related. For instance, how alcohol is the barrier between a more fulfilling social life, greater connect between friends and family and more peace of mind.

So do you have what it takes to quit alcohol and become sober conscious? Do let us know.