Honestly, I think a lot of people can relate to over consuming alcohol in 2020. It was a terrible year and also one of the most historical years in modern day history. We’re gonna be able to tell our grandkids that we survived 2020! (I mean it was THAT kind of year.) It’s no wonder my alcohol tolerance approached a level that even I wasn’t happy about.
It began with the initial quarantine where a half a bottle of wine turned into a whole bottle almost every night. Then when summer came around, I thought well I might as well take advantage of all this outdoor seating before winter, which lead to more drinks, and a tolerance of up to two bottles of Rosé.
I think people choose to drink to escape real life, but what we don’t see in the moment is how it becomes an addictive, vicious cycle. It’s almost as if you don’t know how to enjoy yourself without alcohol involved. Some people can easily get addicted to the action of taking sips out of a glass or simply the social aspect and become addicted to always having a need to be around people.
Thankfully I don’t suffer from an addictive personality, but I have friends that do. I’m just glad I was aware enough to catch the bad habits that 2020 had created for me and to say no more. I got to the point where I just didn’t feel good about myself. I gained weight and stopped living for the simple pleasures, and I am not one of those people who doesn’t know how to enjoy the simple pleasures that life has to offer. I know how to self-love, cherish who I am and be present in my surroundings with gratitude. So, it became clear to me that the alcohol was starting to become a problem.
I remember thinking to myself ‘okay let me get through the holidays’ and I am going to do a dry January. Here I am today 18 days alcohol free (obviously I drank on New Year’s Day, lol, so I am one day off) and I feel the best I have in years. My clarity, energy, endurance, memory and sleep have all improved tremendously. Even my skin is smoother to the touch. I am also much more productive, I can easily juggle multiple tasks and not feel overwhelmed, as well as retain new information with ease.
There was actually a study performed in Europe that tested how alcohol decreases our brain’s ability to retain information. This test consisted of two groups of people learning new information on a Friday afternoon. Group 1 went out that evening to have drinks, while Group 2 stayed sober for the weekend. When they reconvened on Monday to test their knowledge on the information they learned, it was found that Group 1 had retained only 50% of the information while Group 2 stayed relatively close to a 90% test rate.
Decreased cognitive abilities is just one of the many underlying health factors that we don’t consider when drinking alcohol. Mostly because they are overlooked on the cellular level and we don’t see the damage in the present moment, but overtime that damage adds up to serious health issues that our bodies can no longer compensate for.
For me, it really came down to just wanting to feel healthier and optimizing my body to its fullest potential. I was tired of feeling drained. It had become a vicious cycle of drinking one day, recovering the next, drink again and then recover again. Never really operating at my fullest potential. I began to see drinking as wasting my time, energy, and my body. The only means of transportation I should truly cherish if I want to enjoy all that life has to offer many years from now.
I reminded myself that energy flows where attention goes, and I redirected my energy by going dry. Sure, you lose a little bit of your social life, but at the same time you gain back a better version of yourself that brings contentment. Presently, my energy levels are at an all-time high, my body doesn’t ache from alcohol induced inflammation, I wake up peppy and ready to start my day. Every day I work out, journal, meditate and work on my business. I have taken my focus away from wasting away the present time to building a life full of health and endless creative possibilities.
Feeling this good has led me to the conclusion that even after January is over, I will still remain dry. My fiancé and I love how we feel mentally and physically so much that we have decided to make a rule of no alcohol in the house and to only drink on vacations and special occasions. And if we can do this, so can you.
One of my biggest recommendations for those of you who want to take this leap, is substituting your nightly wine/alcohol beverage with different non-caffeinated herbal teas. It allows you to still have the action of sipping from a glass while watching a movie or TV show, but most importantly, it’s healthy for you. Plus, there are so many different flavors to choose from, it starts to become a nightly tea tasting event. I highly recommend the Tazo tea brand. Their Passion tea will plunge your palette into a paradise of hibiscus, orange, rose hips and passion fruit explosion—literally, it’s amazing. My fiancé and I look forward to our nightly teas now, a friendly reminder that health is wealth.
Thank you for stopping by and joining me today. I hope this post finds you well, and as always, I’m sending lots of love and light to all of you, beautiful souls.
-Erica Deligne
