What do you say when people ask "why don't you drink"?

Flip it around, and ask them "Why do you ask ?". Now, they'll need to start explaining why you should drink. Good luck with that :-)

'Because I'm allergic to it; whenever I drink I break out in handcuffs'

'It makes me an asshole'

I haven't told anyone my long term plans yet. I've just said "I'm doing a dry month"

Tell them you gave it up for Lent. The puzzled looks in August are hilarious......

It depends on who's asking. Some answers work better with some people.

Although usually:

"I'm having a sober month."

"I have lots to do tomorrow and I have to be clearheaded."

"I'm cutting back."

"Maybe next time. I can't stay long."

It helps to avoid those questions if you have a none-alcoholic drink with you, like coke or apple-juice. Often people assume it's alcoholic and wont bother you.

Often people try to convince me to have "Just one". In which case I half jokingly half pointedly answer "That is no such thing as just one." or "That's what I always say, but it never ends with the one.". Besides, often those people who advocate "Just one", are the ones who always try to encourage a second one after the first one.

Maybe you should try being honest if pushed. Do you think that would work? Some people respond better to very forward answers.

I'm usually pretty open about it, so I'll say things like "I like drinking too much, so I don't do it anymore". Most often people are content with that answer.

If they are not, I figure they might have a problem themselves and I may be able to plant a seed by being honest and making a good impression. Who knows, it might help someone someday.

"Health reasons," no need to go further into it than that. :)

"I do, just not today".

It messes with my diet.

I tell them that I used to drink, but I decided that it wasn't for me. If they ask follow-up questions, I tell them that it started to take me longer and longer to recover (getting old sucks, haha), and that I didn't like carrying the blah feeling from the weekend's drinking into Tuesday. If a conversation starts about how they have felt like cutting back, which shockingly happens fairly often, I'll go deeper into my reasons (wanting to get back the feeling of control, my inability to moderate and need to have ALL the drinks once I have 2-3, how drinking and being in bad relationships always had a lot of overlap for me).

Basically, I have found that honesty without oversharing (and potentially overburdening a stranger/acquaintance with some deep shit) works for me. I used to just say "I gave it up for a few weeks and it felt good, so I kept it going." But now, I realize that there are a lot of people hurting out there and feeling shame/guilt/unease about their drinking, so I feel honored to be able to potentially help them with my honesty, even if it's just because they finally put their feelings into words and start to reflect on their drinking (which was the first step in my journey many moons ago).

I haven't figured that one out yet. I kind of just want to be honest but I hate people knowing about my issues.

You don't want to witness the bedlam, chaos and carnage that results from me taking just one sip of alcohol.

I haven't had anyone ask. Then again, I have been hanging around with normal drinkers, and often they aren't drinking, either.

It seems that in the normal world, it's like heroin or smoking -- you don't have to go around explaining why you don't do it.

Mainly, I lost my taste for it, but also it started to interfere with my sleep. OR, and any amount seemed to give me nasty hangovers.

Alternative response: I'm shooting a porn tomorrow and I have to be at the top of my game.

I did Dry January and didn't miss drinking - which just happens to be true.

Maybe later.

I just punch them in the face.

Also saying "Because it tastes like fizzy corn stalks" also works.

I generally say something along the lines of "that's not really any of your fucking business." Then again I have no inner voice and even less of a tolerance for small talk and stupid questions.

I just said I overdid it during the holidays (this was in mid-January) and was taking a break. I guess for now you can say Lent. Going forward, I haven't figured it out yet. I know in the summer I can say it's too hot, but that's all I got lol. When you think about it there aren't too many answers you can give without having people think you're either sick, pregnant (if you're a female of course), or something. I just hate even having to address it because for some reason it makes people try to figure out what's "wrong" with you.