A scary and sobering moment when you realize alcohol can kill your looks!
The truth is being sober for 30 days can be a real eye-opener for many.
I often ask people to take two photos, one before 30 days of no alcohol and then after.
Being an alcohol reduction expert, I know only too well how going 30 days with no alcohol can be a great kick start to a blemish-free, chiseled, streamlined look not just facially but physically too.
It’s that puffy alcohol face before and after shot that can be the tell-tale sign that drinking is affecting not just your liver but your skin too.
A bloated face after a heavy night of drinking, which is often accompanied by redness, is because alcohol dehydrates the body. When this occurs, the vital organs try to hold onto as much water as possible, which creates a puffy look and it’s not just on the face; it’s everywhere!
If vanity isn’t your thing and you are not that worried about your before and after sober look, think a little more about your future.
It’s the regular dehydration that starts to open your pores from drinking too much, plus the dry flaky skin that occurs. Long term, this means you will age faster and your ‘real’ age may be a shock to some.
My top tip is to set aside a 30 day no booze commitment to see for yourself the before and after, then if you chose to drink, make a commitment to have 3-4 alcohol-free days a week to lessen the puffiness.
My 7 Days To Drink Less program can show you how to reduce your drinking, so you can enjoy your hydrated, youthful look every week and slow down the alcohol-related aging process! www.georgiafoster.com
Maybe you have a made a New Year’s Resolution to quit the booze, or maybe just quit for a month!
Which is a great thing to do for your health, liver and for your pocket!
But what happenswhen you stop drinking?
Typically, when you stop drinking alcohol for a week, you will start to see some big changes in the first seven days in the quality of your sleep.
When we drink, you find that alcohol, for most people, helps them fall asleep quickly, but the problem is that you may get to sleep quicker, but the amount of REM sleep is reduced.
REM ( Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is thought to be the most restorative part of our sleep cycle, so a disturbed REM sleep can steal precious hours of healing sleep.
Lack of sleep or a disturbed sleep pattern can also affect your immune system. Studies have shown that people who don’t get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, such as a common cold or worse.
When you sleep, your immune system actively releases proteins called cytokines, some of which help promote sleep. Some of these cytokines you need more of when you have an infection or inflammation, or even when you’re under stress.
Therefore sleep deprivation can decrease production of these protective cytokines. In addition, infection-fighting antibodies and cells are reduced during periods when you don’t get enough sleep.
Alcohol is known to irritate the digestive system. Drinking alcohol makes your stomach produce more acid than normal, which can, in turn, cause gastritis (the inflammation of the stomach lining).
If you suffer from any gut issues, you will start to see an improvement within ten days.
One of the biggest changes you will start to see as well as feeling better is simple weight loss. There are many empty calories in alcohol that are often not taken into account when we try to maintain our weight. Also, when we are drinking, we tend to eat slightly less healthy foods after a few drinks and tend to snack more as well, so cutting out the booze can also reduce cravings for salt or sugar.
So, what happens when you stop drinking alcohol for a month?
Alcohol has been proven to raise blood pressure, so you will naturally feel better after a month of the booze.
Reducing your blood pressure can be crucial as it can reduce the risk of health problems occurring in the future.
You should also start to see, literally…is that your eyes have become brighter and whiter. This is because your eyes have simply become more hydrated, as you will suffer less with from Dry Eye, which is common when drinking alcohol.
Your liver will also start to thank you. Taking alcohol out of your diet for just four weeks can help liver function, and as long as your liver is not too badly affected by your current alcohol intake, you can expect it to recover within 4-8 weeks.
Your skin will also have improved dramatically!
It takes on average 28 days for your skin to renew itself. As alcohol is a known diuretic, without it more water will be absorbed than wasted, so you are more likely to recapture that natural ‘glow’. The process itself varies from person to person and depends on age, but your skin should feel more hydrated.
With improvements in liver function and healthier-looking skin, you will feel like a new person!
You will be converting nutrients in food better, storing more minerals and vitamins and this will have a domino effect on every aspect of your health and your outlook.
All of these benefits can be achieved in just over four weeks, but what happens when you stop drinking alcohol for three months?
After giving up drinking for 12 weeks, your blood cells will start to renew, and you will feel much more energetic and healthier all round. You will be crazy productive as you realise how much time you actually spent drinking or thinking about drinking.
You may want to dive in and have a drink if you think that is what you feel, but I know many people who have used this time to develop a different relationship with alcohol.
There are over 140 Alcohol Free (AF) drinks available, not including good old water and the various soft drinks, so there is more choice than ever before for those that still want to have all the fun but without alcohol in their system.
You may even discover it is not the alcohol you crave, half of the craving is just the actual feeling of a cold, crisp and refreshing beverage and it does not have to be alcoholic. This itself will blow your mind!
I know from experience, with one of my clients who started with my 7 Days to Drink Less program with the initial idea to moderate his drinking and introduce AFD’s (Alcohol Free Days) but he used that as a springboard to sobriety. He emails me to thank me as it has literally changed his life, becoming a better partner and father and he has never been fitter in his life!
But not everyone wants to quit forever!
For those who want to use a few months off the booze to have a better relationship with alcohol, but are concerned about defaulting to historical over-drinking, 7 Days To Drink Less is just the ticket!
This tried and tested blueprint will re-educate the mind and body to drink less without using willpower!
The reason why I decided to stop drinking alcohol was to figure out why I needed to drink the first place!
I asked myself… ‘Is drinking a habit?’ Or ‘Am I addicted to alcohol?’
Many of my heavy drinking friends asked me why I stopped drinking because I knew they missed their booze buddy!
I was in slight denial that I was a massive drinker, and I knew that the question ‘Why I stopped drinking alcohol’ would come up frequently, so I needed to know the truth myself.
Of course, being someone who liked to drink… I have some funny stories to tell but equally some embarrassing ones too, such as waking at the end of train line and missing the last train back. The taxi fare was excruciatingly painful for me!
Then there was the time I overslept and missed an important meeting which had to be rescheduled. When I arrived in the office, the look on my boss’s face said it all. On a number of occasions, he had commented about my breath in the mornings that didn’t seem as fresh as it could be.
I was curious about my ability to stop drinking as well, and also if I am going to be honest I was tired of the pattern of drinking too much, so earlier this year I stopped drinking.
One of the first things I noticed was my social life changed as many of my mates didn’t invite me out as much, which kind’ve upset me but I knew my sober self had to find other sober people to hang out with.
There were more non-drinking friends than I realised and those who were happy to hang out with me sober because they weren’t big drinkers themselves.
The one thing I noticed more than anything else was my quality of sleep! It was amazing! I also loved the fact that I didn’t wake with the hangover anxiety or the dog breath too!
So one day I decided to test myself and see if the odd drink would be okay or not but I got really anxious and decided it was just easier to stay sober.
Then I asked a friend of mine who I noticed wasn’t drinking as much as I remember what he had been doing to help make this change.
The creator of the program Georgia Foster says ‘It’s the thinking before the drinking that is the problem!’
So, I decided to buy the program ready for the first experience of drinking alcohol. I wanted to make sure I had the tools to dabble in beer drinking or my favourite merlot!
The one thing I noticed is the reason why I stopped drinking alcohol was because I had a strong Inner Critic. What I didn’t realise is alcohol shuts down this negative part of our thinking.
I recognise this negative thinking had held me back! I started to see my sober self-esteem improve with the help of the program recordings!
This meant I didn’t need to drink alcohol to feel better, happier or more confident in myself.
I noticed that since going back to the odd drink now and again, I just don’t need to drink as much when I do drink. My capacity to drink less is easy and comfortable, whereas before I would finish the whole bottle and maybe a sneaky one after that too!
The one aspect of The 7 Days To Drink Less program is that it is private and you can do the program in your own time.
Georgia, the program creator, says many people actually decide to quit alcohol altogether after realising that they don’t need to drink to run away from their life!
If you are thinking about quitting the booze or want to drink less but don’t seem to be able to do it on your own, I highly recommend you look Georgia up. Her approach will give you great insight as to whether quitting or reducing is right for you.
The thought for many drinkers going alcohol free for a year may seem seriously daunting and rightly so because it’s a BIG GIG to commit to. Some people see an alcohol free New Years Eve as a personal goal or having an alcohol free January as a positive step in the right direction. Whatever you decide, remember even going sober for a month is incredible not just for your liver but your emotional wellbeing too!
There are so many benefits of staying sober for a period of time and here are just some of them:
More money in the bank, a good night out (or in) costs quite a lot these days, so over just one month, you will be surprised how much you save. The money saved from buying alcohol can be used elsewhere, such as on a nice dinner or a special gift to yourself or a loved one.
You’ll sleep better, alcohol interrupts our normal sleeping pattern, so give it a couple of days, and you will sleep so much better.
You’ll have more energy, if you sleep better, you’ll have more energy the next day. Not only that, better sleep improves mood, concentration, and mental performance, making you more productive and alert for your daily routine. (Not to mention you’ll have more time to do things if you’re not in bed suffering from a hangover)
You will lose some weight, (if you need to) alcohol is high in calories and actually mobilises insulin, a fat-storing hormone, which can lead to the production of fat cells around the middle, so cutting down can actually make weight loss easier because alcohol contributes to weight gain by reducing your metabolism, as the body breaks down alcohol first, so fats and sugars are burnt off slower.
Your skin appearance will improve, within just a few days you will notice your skin looking and feeling better than it has in a long time. That’s because alcohol is a diuretic which makes you go to the loo more often, which leads to dehydration which can cause dry skin amongst other things, plus your body can absorb more vitamin A, increasing cell turnover, which keeps skin looking healthier and younger.
I believe when you take some time out from drinking alcohol, whether one day, one week, or more, you start to build a true confident sober you!
It shows your mind and body that you can be sober and enjoy your life without a glass in your hand!
If you chose to go back to drinking, my suggestion is to try my 7 Days To Drink Less program that shows you how to have a healthier relationship with yourself before you drink.
The domino effect is you don’t need to drink as much or as often.
There are so many benefits of going sober for January…
There are so many benefits of going sober for a year!
There are amazing benefits of choosing to drink when you want to drink rather than the feeling of ‘I’ve gotta have that drink’ moment.
So going sober for a month or going sober for a year can be the perfect ‘reset’ button to get you into a healthier mindset about alcohol and more importantly your life!
