Well, friends, I did it. This girl (woman? nah, I still think of my forty-year-old self as a girl) gave up wine and spirits for TWENTY-ONE days & I have a few thoughts and feelings to share. To start, it was super helpful to not have parties or events to attend, where alcohol would be present and plentiful. Like many, my downfall is the social aspect of drinking…there is nothing like kicking back a few beverages with your besties and shooting the shit. Because of this terrible pandemic, we are pretty much chained to the house so the social drinking part of the 21 days was non-existent, therefore helped me to succeed.
The first few long days, I found that I would walk by the wine cabinet and think to myself how much a glass of cold pinot grigio would be such a treat. These occasions would happen when I was feeling stressed, bored, anxious or overall fed-up with this shit show we are calling life right now. Honestly, after about a week or so, I wasn’t looking forward to a drink at the end of the day. I was no longer checking out the wine selection that was at my fingertips I was more looking forward to time on the Peloton (I love you Cody Rigsby!), watching Netflix (Workin Moms is the best), or going to bed and reading (currently: Mary Trump’s book).
Unfortunately, my annoying anxiety did not magically disappear with my lack of alcohol intake. I was really hoping it would. Some days it even seemed worse- how is that even possible? Luckily I have some medicine to help me with that, so it was manageable. I did have an issue with my blood pressure at my annual physical- long story short but when I see a BP monitor I automatically panic and my numbers go through the roof. ANYWAYS- that is another blog post for another day. The doctor debacle had me worked up for a few days but I survived.
Physically, I think I may have lost 1 lb. ONE POUND!!! Don’t even get me started on weight loss. Being 5′ tall, I find it almost impossible to lose weight. You would think that cutting out a few hundred calories a week would shred a little more than a pound, but what do I know? In the mornings, my face wasn’t as puffy and I felt glowing sometimes…maybe my skincare routine contributed to that though. Side note: the brand I use is called Drunk Elephant, which is ironic.
When I did have a glass or 2 of wine at night (prior to these 21 days), I never would really wake up hungover the next day. I usually only felt like crap when it would be a night of many drinks, which happens rarely since we don’t go out and “party”. Avoiding booze for 21 days did not make me wake up in a better mood and certainly did not help me to wake up earlier. I could sleep until noon if I was able…the alarm clock on my iPhone is not my friend. So, I really didn’t see a difference there.
My Day 21 was on Sunday. I was so proud of myself and happy that I stuck with it. Monday came and went without a drink. I just didn’t want one. I ended up having an Aperol Spritz on Tuesday and was kind of unimpressed. Yes, it tasted ridiculously delicious (I really do love the taste of wine, which doesn’t help), but after one drink I was like, OK I’m done. I had a snack instead and went on with my night.
Moral of the story: I can give up alcohol if I want to, and need to drink in moderation. I guess I could have figured that out without the dry 21 days, but I think I needed to hit that reset button to really prove to myself that I am strong enough to do so.
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