A few months ago, I met a man at the gym who was in the middle of a 30-day detox. He not only exercised more and ate better, but he also stopped drinking and smoking cigarettes during the month. He did not stop drinking coffee or things like that, only alcohol and tobacco.
He explained how he had felt better at the end of his 30 day detox in the past and that he plans to do this type of detox at least twice a year.
He did not have a problem of addiction to drink or tobacco. He liked how his mind and body felt after being “really sober” for a while.
Truly sober means not taking any substance that could adversely affect your health, regardless of serving size. Small glasses of wine, occasional cigars, or even quick sips of your partner’s beer are not permitted.
After thinking about what he told me, I tried my first 30 day detox. The only things I gave up were a few glasses of wine on weekdays and the occasional beer on Sunday. Nothing major so I wasn’t expecting much of a change.
However, when those 30 days were up, I had no doubt that I wanted to live the rest of my life without touching alcohol again. He also didn’t want to try the occasional cigar. I’m done with all this.
What changed?
My Mental Attitude Changed
You don’t realize how negative your daily state of mind is until you’re really sober. After the first two weeks of my detox, I began to feel less repressed and more relaxed. I didn’t exercise more than usual and my work days were just as stressful as before, but I was able to handle it better.
Dealing with the world around you is a task that takes time to master. Distracting yourself from the world with substances like alcohol and tobacco doesn’t teach your mind to deal with it. Instead, these substances give your mind an easy way to deal with your problems.
At first, it was hard for me to deal with the stressful days. In the first two weeks, I often found myself staring at the bottle of wine in my fridge after I got off work.
I managed to resist this temptation by meditating. Instead of drinking wine and browsing Twitter after work, I was drinking water and accessing the Headspace app.
If you want to do a detox and continue to pick up the bottle of wine, do your best to replace it with meditation. You will feel better after 30 minutes of meditation than after 30 minutes of drinking. I also found that reading an interesting book will have a similar effect.
The way my body felt changed
Before my detox, I didn’t have a lot of pain and suffering. I like to think that I’m still on the younger side of life, so aside from the occasional soreness after training, I generally feel great. At least I thought I felt great until I stopped drinking and found out how good I really could feel.
Did you know that any type of alcohol consumption can damage your organs, including your lungs? Even in small amounts, alcohol damages your body and forces it to repair itself. After giving up alcohol, I realized how much it had really impacted me.
In just a month, my breathing went from what I thought was normal to another level. I ran longer without getting as tired, managed to work harder in the gym, and snored less at night.
This last one could belong exclusively to me because I am a big snorer due to congestion issues. My snoring decreased drastically because my lung function increased, which made my wife very happy.
Besides my lungs, I felt so much better after every workout. Don’t get me wrong, my body was already great after every workout, but now it seems unreal. Not only does my body feel better, it feels better for longer.
The way people perceived me changed
One of the hardest parts of deciding to get really sober is that friends who know you used to drink think you quit because you had a problem. They think you can’t stop just because you want to improve your health, it has to be because you’re addicted or something.
When I’m out with friends to chat and alcohol is an option, I always get strange looks from across the table when I decline and opt for water.
Sometimes they even ask if it’s something new I’m trying or if something is wrong. Other times, they just look at me and think I’m judging them for drinking.
Being really sober all the time reminded me how much I love to feel good. I strive to feel my best at all times, both mentally and physically.
If you have any doubts about actually being sober, I suggest you give it a try for 30 days. This can change your life more than you think.