So, in the middle of the pandemic, just after Will’s birthday, we decided to embark on a mission to stop drinking booze for 90 days.

The decision was met with raised eyebrows and slight disbelief from friends and family, and a big WHY? If anything, isn’t drinking a little more a better choice when the world is ending? Isn’t a glass of wine as we enter Tier 5 and a half all we have left to look forward to?

And yup, we did not have to do this. We eat super healthy and exercise and didn’t really drink THAT much to start with. But wine has, for a long time, been a default setting for the weekend, and it’s good to re-set your defaults now and again.

Here are 7 things I learnt in the last 3 months without booze:

1. Hangover-free life is awesome. No headache, clear-headed ALL THE TIME. It takes a little while, but at around the 2-3 week mark that fogless clarity really sinks in and stays.
   
2. When life throws you curveballs in the shape of redundancy and health scares, a glass of wine is an option, not a must. Rioja is not the only stress reliever, it turns out!
   
3. Most pubs have an interesting selection of booze-free drinks, like a fancy ginger beer for example. And if you surround yourself (well, when we can again!) with the right people, it’s really ok to not have a ‘reason’ when saying no thanks to a G&T.
   
4. You save real money! The tracking app we used told us that overall we saved £459.00 switching to non-alcoholic drinks. PRESENTS FOR US!
   
5. Your skin glows. Kid you not, I have not had a single spot for the last 2 months, and my skin is usually quite temperamental. It’s like a goddamn miracle.
   
6. You lose weight. Between me and Will, we lost 6kg without any other changes in diet/lifestyle. Yes, my friends, it’s not a lie, alcohol has calories!
   
7. Reset your defaults. So, there wasn’t a big AHA moment. You don’t wake up one day and realise booze is evil, you have a new body and brain and you are never going to drink again. At least we didn’t. I’m sure for some people it would only be logical to ditch booze for good. And some do. I, however, still enjoy good wine and gin. But it feels good to know that I do so because I mindfully choose to.

If you are interested in reviewing your own relationship with alcohol, I strongly recommend committing to minimum 90 days alcohol-free. I have done several 30-day re-sets in the past and whilst rewarding, I believe real change in habits and thinking patterns requires more time.

Hit me up if you’d like more info or guidance on this subject!

Aggie McCabe
Your Thyroid Nutritionist
DipNT mBANT CNHC