The end of 2019 I started seeing a trend with drinking and I didn’t like how it was making me feel or what I saw it do to others. Now I didn’t drink much but had 5-6 drinks per week. I had gained weight not just from drinking the empty calories, but by making poor food choices along with the drinking.
I was going to go the month of January without alcohol. What surprised me was the will power it took. It is so engrained in our lives that it is what you do at the end of a bad day, how you celebrate good news, a way to pass time… The month of January was a battle to try and not drink, which really worried me.
This got me to doing some research and a friend had used a program called No Beer One Year. It is program run from Scotland and its members are mainly in the UK, but they have an online program. I signed up for 90 days, not knowing what I got myself into. The group chats have been really scary, with people talking about drinking bottles of wine or 8-10 pints nightly (it made me realize I didn’t drink much at all). But it has taught me to change my habits. When I have a bad day at work, going to the gym or for a run makes me feel better. I have lost 10 lb this year so far just by making these changes.
I have to say I am finally feeling better and so much stronger. I don’t have any desire to drink and I have managed several social and work events without drinking! Below is an excerpt from one of our daily emails.
The biggest challenge with creating any positive change in your life is breaking old habits… it’s no different when you’re trying to stop the drink.
Maybe it’s resisting the glass of red that calms your stress levels after work, or trying to avoid the weekend binge that leaves you feeling slow and sluggish.
Just removing alcohol from your cupboards and fridges isn’t going to have a lasting effect. It’s more of a cover up and thats why the majority of people cave in to their temptations so quickly.
The real key is to break those old habits and create new, more powerful ones… rewire your whole relationship with drink so it is no longer a crutch to you.
Not giving it up forever, but regaining control over how and why you consume it
The Johnsons 