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Abstract

were the things that I noticed a year into sobriety:</h2><ul><li>My sleep is glorious and I sleep every night. I don’t miss a whole night of sleep tossing and turning. I wake up feeling rested and ready to tackle the day.</li><li>My skin is glowing and not red. It is smooth to the touch and the deep wrinkle lines are gone. There are no bags under my eyes. I am drinking a lot of water, too, which is something I didn’t do when I was drinking. I look years younger now than I did when I was binge drinking.</li><li>My eyes are clear and bright. The whites in my eyes are white like they are supposed to be.</li><li>My blood pressure and all of my lab results are normal. I am so thankful that the human body can be resilient.</li><li>Poof, all my stomach issues are gone. Well, colitis doesn’t just go away but I am in remission without a flare in the past 10 months. I’ve had solid bowel movements for the first time in years. I am not bloated or constipated either.</li><li>My memory is slowly coming back and I am present. I can focus, think straight, and can have intelligent conversations. Sadly, it’s been some time since I’ve had meaningful, intense conversations.</li></ul><figure id="10ac"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*X5QgOk1p2HEWGtjlmPv7jA.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo Credit: Author</figcaption></figure><h2 id="70e6">Now at over two years sober, I have noticed even more heightened positive impacts on my life. Some of these are weird and specific.</h2><ul><li>I can remember books that I’ve read and shows that I’ve watched, with more details. Previously, I would forget all details.</li><li>My sleep continues to be deep and impactful. I wake feeling rested and pop up every morning around 5 am. I rarely have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, which was nightly before.</li><li>I no longer use Visine daily.</li><li>I’ve been testing myself with my grocery list. I can go to the store with a 5–10 item list in my head and remember it all. This may sound dumb to many people but I couldn’t remember two things on a list before.</li><li>I haven’t felt any anxiety in months. This is huge. We even went to a late birthday party and a club after this past weekend. Yes, I agreed to step foot in a club after dinner just to appease my friend whose birthday it was. I wasn’t anxious at all. I just didn’t like it and went home within 10 minutes. Normally, I would have so much anxiety

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going to the dinner part but I felt so calm. But honestly, who wants to go to a club anymore at 45 years old?</li><li>I am genuinely happy most of the time.</li><li>I am not stressed. I even had a deadline this weekend for a book that I am working on with some other writers and I wasn’t stressed. I was in a time crunch but not freaking out about it. Again, not normal for me.</li><li>My hair grows. It doesn’t break off anymore. It is so long right now and has never been this long in my life. Time to cut it tomorrow though because it is growing too fast.</li><li>My abs are getting defined. Say what? 45 and getting some abs. I am sure it’s because I am not binging alcohol and then binge eating unhealthy food after.</li><li>My hot yoga practice is strong. I can finish classes without taking a break now. It feels incredible.</li><li>My teeth are whiter. No alcohol = better-looking teeth.</li><li>My conversational skills are getting better. This is never going to be my strong suit but it’s not as painful as it has been.</li></ul>Quitting alcohol is hard, I am not going to lie. Everyone drinks. Well, almost everyone, it seems. Non-drinkers are definitely the minority.Social situations sober are hard to navigate sometimes and although that has gotten a lot easier, I still would choose to stay home over going out most times.Maybe it is because I am so comfortable being with myself now and not looking for a way to escape feeling like me, which is why I am totally fine with nights in over nights out.So, if you are thinking about quitting alcohol, just try it for a month and see how you feel. If you are experiencing any of the negative side effects from drinking, you’ll be delighted with all of these positive changes that being alcohol-free brings.No more itchy red skin, horrible sleep, red face, thinning hair, bruises, bloodshot eyes, stomach issues, or awful brain function.Sobriety is a healthy game changer.If you liked my story, become a member and <a href="https://soberveganyogi.medium.com/membership">subscribe to Medium</a> to read all you want each month, including my articles. If you use my subscription link, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.Thanks for reading!Much love, Michele</article></body>

The Positive Physical and Mental Changes From Being Alcohol-Free

Alcohol takes a major toll on your body

At a little over two years sober, I feel that my mind and body have had significant time to renew and repair. Alcohol use, especially excessive alcohol use, has a negative effect on the body.

It is poison to our human bodies, an intruder. It’s no wonder that when we first drink, say as a teenager, 90 percent of us throw up and feel sick. The body is trying to rid the alcohol as fast as possible.

As we get older and continue drinking, our bodies adapt yet if you take it too far, the sickness comes around. The hangover you feel the next day is topped with anxiety and tiredness from the lack of quality sleep.

Towards the end of my binge drinking that happened almost every weekend, I was hungover, tired from not sleeping, my skin was red and flakey, my eyes never clearly white, and my mood was down. On the last day that I drank, I could smell the alcohol oozing from my pores.

My skin was rough. The bags under my eyes were deep. I looked a lot older than I was and I saw my alcoholic mother staring at me in the mirror. When that happened, I knew I had to make a change for good.

I was never going to drink like a normal drinker, which now we see as someone that has one or two glasses of wine a week. Even when I would have 1–2 glasses of wine every night while making dinner, that wasn’t me being a normal drinker so there is no way I would ever get there.

When I was a year sober, I wrote about the physical toll of alcohol. I explained all of these negatives and then went into the positives so I decided to revisit that and see how much I have changed since then.

If you are new to sobriety and waiting for the magic to happen, let me tell you that it does. If you are trying to quit drinking and feeling all of the negatives, trust me when I say it is worth being uncomfortable for.

Here were the things that I noticed a year into sobriety:

My sleep is glorious and I sleep every night. I don’t miss a whole night of sleep tossing and turning. I wake up feeling rested and ready to tackle the day.
My skin is glowing and not red. It is smooth to the touch and the deep wrinkle lines are gone. There are no bags under my eyes. I am drinking a lot of water, too, which is something I didn’t do when I was drinking. I look years younger now than I did when I was binge drinking.
My eyes are clear and bright. The whites in my eyes are white like they are supposed to be.
My blood pressure and all of my lab results are normal. I am so thankful that the human body can be resilient.
Poof, all my stomach issues are gone. Well, colitis doesn’t just go away but I am in remission without a flare in the past 10 months. I’ve had solid bowel movements for the first time in years. I am not bloated or constipated either.
My memory is slowly coming back and I am present. I can focus, think straight, and can have intelligent conversations. Sadly, it’s been some time since I’ve had meaningful, intense conversations.

Now at over two years sober, I have noticed even more heightened positive impacts on my life. Some of these are weird and specific.

I can remember books that I’ve read and shows that I’ve watched, with more details. Previously, I would forget all details.
My sleep continues to be deep and impactful. I wake feeling rested and pop up every morning around 5 am. I rarely have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, which was nightly before.
I no longer use Visine daily.
I’ve been testing myself with my grocery list. I can go to the store with a 5–10 item list in my head and remember it all. This may sound dumb to many people but I couldn’t remember two things on a list before.
I haven’t felt any anxiety in months. This is huge. We even went to a late birthday party and a club after this past weekend. Yes, I agreed to step foot in a club after dinner just to appease my friend whose birthday it was. I wasn’t anxious at all. I just didn’t like it and went home within 10 minutes. Normally, I would have so much anxiety going to the dinner part but I felt so calm. But honestly, who wants to go to a club anymore at 45 years old?
I am genuinely happy most of the time.
I am not stressed. I even had a deadline this weekend for a book that I am working on with some other writers and I wasn’t stressed. I was in a time crunch but not freaking out about it. Again, not normal for me.
My hair grows. It doesn’t break off anymore. It is so long right now and has never been this long in my life. Time to cut it tomorrow though because it is growing too fast.
My abs are getting defined. Say what? 45 and getting some abs. I am sure it’s because I am not binging alcohol and then binge eating unhealthy food after.
My hot yoga practice is strong. I can finish classes without taking a break now. It feels incredible.
My teeth are whiter. No alcohol = better-looking teeth.
My conversational skills are getting better. This is never going to be my strong suit but it’s not as painful as it has been.

Quitting alcohol is hard, I am not going to lie. Everyone drinks. Well, almost everyone, it seems. Non-drinkers are definitely the minority.

Social situations sober are hard to navigate sometimes and although that has gotten a lot easier, I still would choose to stay home over going out most times.

Maybe it is because I am so comfortable being with myself now and not looking for a way to escape feeling like me, which is why I am totally fine with nights in over nights out.

So, if you are thinking about quitting alcohol, just try it for a month and see how you feel. If you are experiencing any of the negative side effects from drinking, you’ll be delighted with all of these positive changes that being alcohol-free brings.

No more itchy red skin, horrible sleep, red face, thinning hair, bruises, bloodshot eyes, stomach issues, or awful brain function.

Sobriety is a healthy game changer.

If you liked my story, become a member and subscribe to Medium to read all you want each month, including my articles. If you use my subscription link, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Thanks for reading!

Much love, Michele