A month without alcohol

You might know this

It’s Friday evening and you’re chilling with your friends. Of course a wine or two can’t be excluded. The next day you go to party, which also involved some alcohol.
Your friends made a nice diner and invited you; a glass of red wine was the finishing touch. A birthday party, everybody has a beer. A friend came over for a good old movie night… of course cocktails are there. You meet up with a friend to discuss the latest news, he also bought some great new whisky you have to try.

You get my point, I felt I was drinking too often. Not too much, but too often and my brain started to see this as a habit and poked me when there were a couple of days without alcohol. I could not shake this bad vibe and decided to take some rigorous measurements. No alcohol for a month!

The start

Wasn’t difficult at all. I presumed that I would be a bit grumpy or sad when I saw my friends around me sipping their beer… but I felt completely neutral. I had no problems with my own delicious tea.When I saw people around me getting drunk, I was happy about the prospect of waking up fresh and well rested the next morning. Something that would not happen with any alcohol intake. I never knew how even one alcohol beverage affected my mood, but it became clear to me what a life without alcohol means.

 

The change

In the first 2 weeks I didn’t notice much change. But the third week showed some alterations.

• Better skin.  My skin becomes dry easily, after two weeks of detoxing it became much smoother.
• Better mood. I was and am happier now. The day after alcohol makes my body more moody, pressumably because everything takes more effort. Without any alcohol these days are in the past. I feel more energetic and happy.
• Different taste in food. I eat spicy and salty food. Let me reframe this… I eat very spicy and salty food. But after a week of detoxing my cravings for spicy and salt became less, almost to the point of leaving any chill pepper out of my food.
• Wanting to exercise more. This one I love the most.  Because I became more energetic, I felt the need to have some healthy outbursts. I started swimming once a week and also picked up Pilates again. I won’t turn into some #fit or #health girl, but I do love to keep up this routine.

Week 5

My tolerance dropped to zero, I can feel the alcohol immediately after one beer or glass of wine and the day after drinking I have difficulties getting myself out of bed.
I just like the new me way more. That doesn’t mean I’ll completely ban alcohol out of my life, I would just ask for water or tea more often and during the week I’ll only drink on special occasions.

I love to make the best out of everyday and alcohol isn’t contributing towards that goal.