#5 — More Energy
It’s Friday night after a long week. The kids are all asleep — finally. So you reach for the whiskey and coke. Enjoy the buzz now, pay for it later. That’s how a lot of my evenings used to go before I gave up alcohol.
I never thought I would be able to live without it. How could I? A stiff whiskey would chase away the tension and drama built up over a week in an instant. I would be in the zone and ready to live my best life. Or at least that’s how it felt in the moment.
The reality was that it was costing me in more ways than I realised and it might be the same for you. Once I quit I was able to appreciate the full price I was paying. Maybe you are in the same boat.
#1 — Better Sleep
One of the biggest benefits I saw almost immediately and you may too, is that the quality of my sleep improved dramatically. Whenever I had a drink I would wake up feeling like my mouth was dry and my body would feel it. I lacked freshness without fail.
This of course is not a surprise as alcohol causes dehydration in your system. Even when drinking plenty of water throughout a night of drinking I would still have the same feeling of dryness when I awoke and often times during the night. This seriously hampered my sleep.
Alcohol also raises the level of the stress hormone epinephrine in the body increasing your heart rate as well as heightening stimulation. These factors can lead to interrupted sleep overnight something I was experiencing regularly.
Once I stopped drinking, my sleep improved dramatically. I no longer had to worry about trying to sleep with a foggy brain doing cartwheels as I lay myself to sleep. There was no more waking up feeling like I’d eaten dust for dinner the night before.
Needless to say the improved sleep helped me in many areas of my life.
#2 — Fewer Mood Swings
Perhaps the most significant impact of giving up alcohol was on my moods. For many years I took it for granted that I would have fairly pronounced swings in moods. I could be flying high over the weekend then feel like I’ve hit rock-bottom by Tuesday morning. This was just life and I had gotten used to it.
