Feeling as dusty as your wine rack? Then join me on the year-long alcohol-free challenge. Here’s why I’m doing this:
I consider myself healthy – I’m a yoga teacher, I eat a great diet, I exercise, meditate and all the rest. I also work really hard and so I deserve a glass of wine every, right? Well… it seems my body doesn’t think so.
I’ve always known that alcohol doesn’t really like me as much as I like it, but I have perservered – after all, wine has anti-oxidants, right?!
Even when I did an intolerance test and the results came back that I was 100 per cent intolerant to alcohol, I retreated into denial. One glass or a Gin and Tonic, really did feel like the perfect antidote to a long day.
But at the weekend my husband and I went on a very rare night out and it was at a fancy restaurant so I ordered a wine – and although the food portions were small the wine glass was very big.
I felt pretty light-headed, but I’d only had a glass and a half. But that night I had to crash out as soon as I got home, and I was wide awake at 2am – feeling pretty ordinary. I felt as if I had food poisoning and it was a real challenge to get back to sleep. I had two workshops to run that day so I berated myself for drinking.
For the rest of the day I had a headache that wouldn’t go away and I felt awful. In fact it took 24 hours for me to feel ok again, so I made the decision to do the 12 month challenge.
I’ve had a couple of friends do this over the past couple of years and I’ve really admired them and I’ve cut back – I mean it’s not like I am a big drinker, but as I’m getting older I’m aware I need to be even more careful about what I put into my body. So I’m even quite excited to swap the chardonnay for a kamboucha – so want to join me for the ride?!
and if you need a bit more inspiration…
Avoiding alcohol…
Even yogis are known to occasionally have a tipple or two, but did you know alcohol is more harmful to women than men? It is also linked to an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease. According to the 2018 Jean Hailes Women’s Health survey (which surveyed more than 15,200 women in Australian about their health), 9.5 per cent of women drink alcohol every day. And of this, 13.7 per cent of women aged of over 50 admitted drinking alcohol every day compared to just 2.2 per cent of women aged 18-35.
Experts from Jean Hailes recommend keeping weekdays alcohol-free, enjoying drinks such as soda water with cucumber and lemon and assessing why you are reaching for that beer or wine in the first place. For more information visit: Jeanhailes.org.au And check out Hello Sunday Morning – a non-profit organisation which gives ideas on how you can live alcohol free.