Benefits of 28 days with no booze

Minime2.5 · 19-04-2020 06:06AM #1

I can only imagine the benefits of 4 weeks off the booze . Would love some feedback from people who have actually done that and even beyond

Fingers Mcginty · 19-04-2020 12:26PM

Biggest benefit for me was being able to get a good night sleep again.
In my younger days i could get away with a session and lay on the following morning but these days , roughly 5 hours after i have my last drink, I'm awake and cannot go back to sleep.
I've read that when you drink alcohol your body produces stimulants to combat the depressive nature of the drug. When the drug wears off you still have deal with the stimulants for quite a long time. That's why i always felt extremely anxious after drinking.
Been trying to break free from the clutches of alcohol for the last 4 years.
I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Smashmouth · 19-04-2020 12:34PM

It's two and a half years for me now but I still find clear-headed Saturday and Sunday mornings to be a nice novelty. It's great to get up and go out or get things done during that time. For so long, weekend mornings were a write-off for me, spent either dragging myself somewhere feeling like crap or just laying around the house wishing I hadn't drank. Now it's my favourite time of the week.

Sunday evenings are also great. When I was a kid, Sunday evenings were always haunted by the ghost of non-done homework. I had started drinking regularly just after I finished school, so Sunday nights were always haunted by "the fear" from then on. Those horrible remnants of two days hangover which made me anxious about the coming week and wrecked my sleep on Sunday night. A terrible lead-in to Monday morning. Now since my mid-thirties and for the first time in my life I enjoy chilling out on Sunday nights without being burdened by anything.

Also the knowledge that I can drive my car 24/7 is very liberating.

Breezer · 19-04-2020 01:19PM

Minime2.5 wrote: »

I can only imagine the benefits of 4 weeks off the booze . Would love some feedback from people who have actually done that and even beyond

I’m not clear from your post whether you feel your current level of drinking is a problem, or you just want to do 4 weeks to see if you feel a bit better generally.

If it’s the former, there’s no end of benefits.

If it’s the latter, I’ll give you a simple one. A couple of years ago I was a social drinker. Not heavy, not problematic, but I enjoyed a few pints on a night out once a week. I did dry January during this time. I ate total junk the whole month, all the crisps and other crap we still had left over after Christmas, and a lot of crap in the work canteen. Despite that, I lost weight, purely from being off the drink.

19-04-2020 01:33PM

I’d be a two bottles of wine a week person, or equivalent. I regularly give up drink for Lent and can honestly say that I’ve noticed no difference whatsoever.

anniewilkes · 26-04-2020 08:03AM

Day 46 for me.

-better sleep
-more energy
-little to no anxiety
-able to regulate emotions easier
-waking up with 0 hangovers or regrets
-feeling fresh most of the time
-more time
-increased smugness on a weekend morning

Wanderer78 · 26-04-2020 08:36AM

Fair to you folks for not drinking, I'm sure it's tough enough, best of luck with it

drydub · 26-04-2020 08:54AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I’d be a two bottles of wine a week person, or equivalent. I regularly give up drink for Lent and can honestly say that I’ve noticed no difference whatsoever.

Lent is supposed to be a challenge of will and to give up something that you would miss, genuine question but if it's a challenge to give up the amount (any amount) would you not be satisfied with yourself for that?
That's a difference.

EltonJohn69 · 26-04-2020 08:57AM

Why isn’t anyone mentioning the terrible gas ??? And yes I’m talking ass gas....

Dj Stiggie · 26-04-2020 09:14AM

Minime2.5 wrote: »

I can only imagine the benefits of 4 weeks off the booze . Would love some feedback from people who have actually done that and even beyond

I recently went 90 days without drinking. I wanted to cut back and I felt like taking a break and building from there would work better than just trying to have a couple of less pints here and there. I work in hospitality so I'm around it a lot.

I felt really great. I was waking up early, feeling fresh and in a better mood. I found new ways to keep distracted, and reconnected with a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a while because they've had kids or gotten out of the hospitality industry and I don't see them in the bars anymore. Also I really fell in love with cooking again. I've always enjoyed it, but I often wouldn't be arsed when I wake up late hungover and then have to go back into work.

When I started drinking again, it was a shaky start. A few big events in the first two weeks and I felt like it was all for nothing. Then I took a good look at myself and thought about how good I felt. I was afraid the lockdown would be the end of me and I'd start drinking at home to fill the days, which I have never really done. But it's been the opposite, if I feel like a beer with my dinner I'll have one, which is rare, or I'll have a couple of cans and a whiskey over a video call on a Saturday night.

If you're thinking about it, go for it. If you think that maybe you don't need to cut back, take a break and save a few quid at least. The fact that you asked the question means you probably are thinking that it is too much. Best of luck!

26-04-2020 09:31AM

drydub wrote: »

Lent is supposed to be a challenge of will and to give up something that you would miss, genuine question but if it's a challenge to give up the amount (any amount) would you not be satisfied with yourself for that?
That's a difference.

You make a good point about a challenge of will. I always thought of it as giving up something that I like. I’d already given up sugar as a child and still don’t use it. Then chocolate, which I’d only have twice a week at most. Then cigarettes. Now THAT was a test of will! I’m still off them 40odd years later. About 10 years ago my best friend and myself decided to ditch drink for Lent. She found great benefits from abstaining, but I found no difference. I wonder if the fact that she’s a smoker accounts for the difference?

Benefits of 28 days with no booze

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