Three Months Alcohol-Free: When It Stopped Being a Decision

This is my third month writing about being alcohol-free, and each month has felt genuinely different from the last. June was the decision itself, the moment I actually stopped - I thought just for the month, like a mini detox. July I just happened to continue being alcohol free, there was no clear intention to be honest, I was just working out what that decision meant in practice, day to day, glass by glass that I didn't pour for myself. August has been something else again, and it took me a while to put my finger on exactly what that was.

When It Stopped Being a Decision

By the time August came round, staying alcohol-free didn't feel like a choice I was actively making anymore. It had just become the norm, a habit, the way I live now, in the same way I don't smoke anymore.

It genuinely wasn't up for debate in my own head, which is a different feeling entirely from the earlier months, when there was always a small negotiation happening somewhere in the background.

Nothing tested me this month. I'd rather say that honestly than pretend there was some big test of willpower I miraculously passed. There was no big night out, no dinner where I sat there white-knuckling through, wanting a glass while everyone else topped up.

I genuinely just didn't think about it. It wasn't discussed, noted, mentioned it, and no one asked me about it either, which tells me it's stopped being remarkable to the people who know me, and that feels like exactly the right kind of progress.

Energy

This month I've felt noticeably clearer headed and more motivated than I have in a while. My sleep has properly improved too, though I can't put that down to the absence of alcohol alone.

I've changed a few supplements and habits around bedtime over the same period, and those have done a good chunk of the work. I'm also newly off Mounjaro after my last injection, and between coming off that and cutting the alcohol, my energy is noticeably better than it was even a couple of months ago.

I'll admit I'm still a bit impatient at times, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. That's more likely hormones and just me, not the alcohol. I know my own rhythms well enough by now to tell the difference.

Wine - Nectar Of The Gods?

Something I didn't expect this month: I've started thinking ahead to my upcoming holiday, and the old habit would have had me reaching for a glass of rosé or a gin and tonic by the pool without a second thought. When I actually picture the wine specifically, it makes me feel a bit ick, almost nauseous, in a way I wasn't expecting at all. A gin and tonic, I could probably still fancy. The wine, genuinely not so much.

I don't know if that's a lingering effect of Mounjaro on the reward pathways in the brain, or just my own tastes shifting after three months without it. There's emerging research looking at whether GLP-1 medications reduce alcohol cravings by acting on the same reward pathways involved in food cravings, though the studies so far are international rather than UK-based, and the science is still early [1].

I'm genuinely not reading too much into it. It's an honest observation about where my head's at right now, not a conclusion about what it means long term.

The Booze Bullies

Whenever I do mention that I might stay teetotal for good, people love to weigh in. Everybody has an opinion! The most common line goes something like this: you don't need to shut the gate on it completely, if you fancy one, just have it and enjoy it.

On the surface that sounds generous, like they're giving me permission to relax about the whole thing. In practice, it kind of defeats the object, because for me, one is never just one. The only "just one" I've ever managed is by the bottle, not the glass. That's not how I roll, and it never has been.

I've come to think of this as the booze bullies, the well-meaning chorus who can't quite sit with someone else's choice without offering an alternative to it. More often than not, it says far more about their own relationship with drinking than it does about mine. It's not their business what I do with alcohol, and I don't owe anyone an explanation every time someone raises an eyebrow at a soft drink in my hand.

How I Keep On Track

I'm well into my fifties now, and what motivates me and keeps me on track has genuinely changed over the years. I've noticed that if I don't set a rigid expectation, and instead stay curious about how something actually feels day to day, I'm far more likely to stick with it than if I'd decided in advance exactly how it has to look or how long it has to last.

If you're on day one, or you're thinking about going alcohol-free yourself, don't put yourself under pressure. You're not doing this for anybody else but you. Try it, or don't, and see how you feel, rather than deciding upfront what the outcome has to be or listening too closely to what everyone else thinks it should look like.

Holiday

Going into the holiday, it's genuinely a wait and see situation for me, and I'm comfortable with that. I might stay teetotal the whole time. I might have a drink while I'm away. I might just not have a drink at home again, full stop. I honestly don't know yet, and for the first time in a long time, I don't feel any pressure to have it figured out in advance.

Freedom - Three Months Alcohol-Free

What I do know is that the longer I go alcohol-free, the better I feel, in ways that go beyond energy and sleep. Stopping drinking gives the liver real capacity to recover, and for some people, measurable improvement can start within weeks of stopping [2].

And now, after going three months alcohol-free, knowing my own liver function hasn't suffered long term from years of over-indulgence it feels genuinely freeing. It's one thing off my health anxiety list, and after everything else this year, that counts for a lot.

Be well, my friends. Take good care of you.

With Love. Alex x

References

[1] Early international research on GLP-1 receptor agonists and reduced alcohol cravings via shared reward pathways, not yet UK-based

[2] British Liver Trust, Alcohol-related liver disease, britishlivertrust.org.uk