Now you may have decided to give up alcohol for some period of time and as someone who now no longer drinks alcohol you might be wondering what to drink when you go out with your friends to a bar or club.

There are the perennial favourites- coke/pepsi or lemonade. However your teeth can really start to feel it after a few of these plus you might want to consider healthier options. And one of them is alcohol free cocktails. I first thought about this when I wanted to go to a Chiquitos restaurant in London. This is a chain of Mexican style food joints.

They are mid-range level so not the cheapest and not the most exclusive of places but quite nice. I was looking at their menu and noticed firstly on their drinks menu they had a whole section on alcohol free cocktails but also they were half the price of normal cocktails.

Everything from the Cancun Sunset – Apple juice and grapefruit juice with grenadine to Playa del Paradiso – cranberry, passionfruit, pineapple and grapefruit juices with lemonade. Then when I went to a really funky bar in the City district of London, the bartender made an amazing alcohol free cocktail using 7 or 8 different ingredients, shaking it etc.

It tasted awesome. The great thing also if you order alcohol free cocktails, no one will even know that they have no alcohol so you are saved from questions about why you are not drinking etc. If you however want to make your own alcohol free cocktails at home or for your own parties, here are some delicious recipes: http://alturl.com/7mom

So, on top of alcohol free beers – most bars in London I goto now offer at least one alcohol free beer, alcohol free cocktails offer a great alternative to coke and other drinks. Plus they help you get your share of 5 fruit and vegetable servings a day!

Learn how to stop drinking alcohol and moderate your drinking now

We saw in another post that many people with low self-esteem drink a lot to make up for the emptiness or numb feelings inside. Alcohol can provide a warm, cozy feelings and slightly lessen the critical inner voice.

Well, as I understand it low self-esteem and depression can be related. This is one area which needs to be handled and by working on this, you can automatically start to reduce the need for alcohol as a way of relaxing you.

One book I recommend is Feeling Good by David Burns, which uses cognitive behavioral  therapy.

There is a chart in this book called Burns Depression Checklist. I recommend you fill it in to see what level you are at. Obviously this is only a rough guide and is not to replace advice from your medical practitioner but it is a useful guide to see where you are currently at emotionally.

http://tinyurl.com/lg999t

Do not panic if you have a high score! But it is a useful tool to see if this is an area you need to be seriously spending some time and energy working on.

Click here to check out my tools and resources to help you take control of your drinking.