Zero-alcohol policy
How I Transitioned From Party Animal to 82 Days Alcohol-Free
My Body’s Positive Response
I stopped drinking alcohol on January 12th and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Everyone knows that I was a party animal who could go head to head in a drinking competition with any man (or woman) on this planet.
Alcohol was a common thing in my social circle, and I never considered even for a second that I would stop.
Yet, once I did, I realized it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
As a result of the alcohol-free policy, I have increased my productivity, gained extreme levels of energy, and lost an insane amount of weight.
I’ll explain in a second.
But let’s first start with why I decided to stop drinking alcohol in the first place.
The decision was made for me
I never had any problems with alcohol.
I was always drinking responsibly and was considered a “happy drunk”.
I made myself and the people around me happy and was never angry or aggressive.
I used alcohol as an emotional enhancer (rather than an escape plan).
All in all, I was using alcohol in a (mostly) healthy way.
Even more — alcohol brought a lot of positive benefits to my life.
It made me brave
It helped me build relationships fast.
It gave me the courage to speak to beautiful women.
So why did I stop then?
The only reason is that I was preparing for a 7-day water fast. When it comes to fasting, the healthier you behave before, the easier the fast itself.
After I completed the fast, I continued my healthy life. The longer you consume healthy foods and drinks, the less you crave junk food and beverages in the future (at least, this is what the experts told me).
Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.
All of a sudden, I have been without alcohol for so long that I haven’t even missed it. I decided to challenge myself and continue to see what happens.
The positive benefits I experienced blew my mind.
Let’s dive into some of them right away.
My productivity skyrocketed
I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the more severe my hangovers are.
When I was 18, I could drink for five days straight, take one day off, and drink for another five.
At 31, I drink 1 day, and I feel bad for at least 2 days after (3 if the night was very wild).
Let’s put this into perspective.
I tend to go out every Friday night. In a year, that translated to (at least) 52 nights fueled with alcohol. On the flip side, that meant 100–150 days of extreme suffering with no possibility of productive work.
Basically, for 14% wild nights in a year, I suffered 28–42%.
And this is not even accounting for my vacations (and we all know how much alcohol is present during those).
As a finance graduate, I don’t find this math particularly attractive.
The numbers blew my mind, and a simple question arose: “Is it worth it?”
Once I stopped drinking alcohol, I got all these days back, and I could use them to focus on my new business venture. Work never stops when you are your own boss, and getting back time is always appreciated.
My available time expended
As mentioned earlier, hangovers are not kind to me lately.
I would spend the whole day doing nothing and feel guilty about how badly I was using my day.
I would feel especially terrible on the days when there is a lovely and sunny day outside. It almost felt like I was throwing my life away.
By implementing a zero-alcohol policy, I claimed those days back.
Now, instead of being unable to leave my bed on Saturday until 1 pm and feeling sorry for myself spending a whole day walking around like a zombie, I am waking up fresh at 7 am and starting my day with a 2-hour workout session.
At 10 am, when I am done with my workout, I still have the whole day to either focus on my business or explore the beautiful island of Bali.
I can’t put into words how amazing it feels when you are back in control of your time.
This reminds me of times when I wanted to do many things but “never found time.”
Now, I have all the time in the world to really focus on the things that matter.
Not convinced yet?
Allow me to share the next benefit that will 100% blow your mind.
My body lost incredible weight
I have lost more than 15kg in the last two months.
The alcohol was not the only driver that contributed to my extreme weight loss, but it did have a significant effect.
How come?
Well, alcoholic drinks are extremely high in calories.
Here are just a couple of the most popular drinks to give you a sense:
- Beer (0.5L): 150–250 calories
- Wine (150ml): 120–135 calories
- Gin Tonic (200ml): 150–200 calories
Let’s now break it down with a practical example.
On an average night out, I would drink around ten beers. That translated into 1500–2500 calories.
For the sake of simplicity, I will forget about all the shots I would be ordering on top.
We all know that alcohol makes us hungry (and since we already “messed up” with heavy drinking, we rarely decide on a healthy option).
Personally, I would always end a great night out at a kebab shop. One kebab would add between 500–1000 calories on top. And a kebab is not a kebab without a good old Coke. A small can of Coke would add around 140 calories.
You can already see where this is going.
Altogether, I consumed between 2100 and 3600 additional calories.
But that is not all.
When we wake up the next day, our bodies crave junk food.
I would usually settle for McDonald’s. My go-to would be 2 BigMacks (cca. 510 calories), 2 McChickens (540 calories), 1 large fries (520 calories), and 1 large Coke (280 calories), for a total of around 1850 additional calories.
So one night out = 4000- 5500 additional calories, give or take.
A grown man with a moderately active lifestyle needs around 19,000 calories per week.
That means that one night out accounts for 21% — 29% of the required weekly calorie intake (And we are completely disregarding foods and drinks we consume during our weeks).
Wow!
No wonder I always struggled with losing weight.
But that’s not all.
My sleep improved and my energy increased
I never had trouble falling asleep.
My sleep was always sound, and I rarely woke up during the night.
Yet I always felt tired.
I never realized alcohol has such a negative effect on my sleep until I quit drinking.
Although alcohol helps with falling asleep, it reduces the quality of sleep. It significantly reduces REM sleep in the first half of the night, which is critical for memory consolidation and emotional processing.
Not drinking alcohol leads to a more restful and undisturbed sleep.
As a result, both our energy levels and concentration are heightened during the day.
And I simply love it.
But there is one thing I love even more.
My financial situation has flourished
My budget is grateful every single day.
In simple terms — I started spending less money.
Let’s return to my previous example of drinking 10 beers and ending the night at a kebab shop.
Before the inflation, 10 beers in Slovenia would cost around 40 euros. Kebab and coke would cost around 6 euros. Since I am a responsible drinker and tend to hydrate myself during the night out, I would drink 4–5 bottles of water that cost around 10 euros. Drinking alcohol also brings out my nicotine addiction, and I would spend at least 6 euros on snus. On top of that, I would be buying rounds of shots.
A typical night out would rarely cost me less than 100 euros.
That results in 400 euros per month.
400 euros, which I now keep in my pocket and can either invest in assets that generate money (e.g., stocks) or keep in my bank account for rainy days.
Not a bad amount for eliminating only one thing from my life.
Let’s now dive into the last positive effect I’ve experienced.
My relationships deepened
Building strong relationships was the part I was worrying about the most.
People loved me when I drank alcohol. And in return, I loved them back.
Alcohol helped me portray myself as a strong, confident man (and everybody loves a strong, confident man).
Being tipsy gave me the courage I needed to approach new people and effortlessly engage in conversations.
It also enhanced my dating game.
The issue (that I only realize now) is that all those drunk talks were superficial and kept on the surface level.
In reality, I missed deep authentic talks.
I don’t want to lie to you.
It is indeed much more challenging to kick off a conversation or start a relationship after you quit drinking alcohol.
Yet, it is much easier to develop a deep relationship based on quality discussions.
Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second — aren’t deep relationships based on quality discussions what we are all searching for in the end?
They are for me.
Now that you know all the benefits that alcohol-zero policy brought me, it’s time to wrap this baby up.
Final thoughts
The zero-alcohol policy is one of the best decisions I have implemented in my life.
It increased my productivity.
It gave me back a significant amount of lost time.
It helped me lose weight.
It improved my sleep and energy levels.
It improved my financial situation.
And it improved my relationships.
All in all, it’s the easiest hack I have found to get both my mind and body in the best shape of my life.
That being said, I want to be honest here.
I am not saying I will never drink again — that would be a lie.
I do recognize many positive benefits that drinking alcohol can bring.
What I am saying, however, is that from now on, I will drink alcohol responsibly, taking into account both positive and negative sides.
So what does that mean for you?
I invite you to test it out for yourself and see how it goes.
Today’s action is simple — challenge yourself to stop drinking alcohol for the next 30 days.
You will be amazed at how much your mind and body will change.
P.S. If you manage to stop drinking alcohol until summer, I bet you will get a lot of compliments on your newly discovered summer body :)
That’s it, friends.
Talk to you soon! :)
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