600 days.

When I made the decision to quit alcohol I downloaded an app called I Am Sober and, using the prompts, listed the many reasons I wanted to do this. It was great having those daily reminders and watching each milestone arrive. I do love a visual so being able to see my stats in pretty colours helped spur me on a bit.

In 600 days there have only been a couple of real wobbly moments – thankfully I was stubborn enough not to fuck myself over and felt even better for flexing the willpower. I realised by removing alcohol just how much of my consumption was habitual more than a conscious decision. There are times when we are expected to drink and going against the grain is harder than I realised. Turns out being sober is the rebellious act – if I only 20 year old me knew!

I don’t have metrics to show how much I’ve reduced my risk of cancer (if at all) and I didn’t really have weight to lose so can’t attribute anything visual to the health side – except maybe my skin being better? But that could just be down to a better skincare routine before bed now I have the clear head to attend to those things instead of passing out knackered 🤷🏼‍♂️

What I can attest to is the time I have gained. I’m still not entirely sure how it has worked out. I have so much more time. Most likely due to – better quality sleep so less lethargic through the day, earlier to bed as sitting up til 3am sober just shows it for how rubbish it is, more energy so shit gets done quicker, no taxis or having to stay overnight anywhere. I don’t use this extra time wisely, far from it, but I love wasting it on my terms 😁

Another win is money. I have s̶a̶v̶e̶d̶ not spent at least £1,800 on alcohol. That’s a conservative number too, based on £21 per week. Doesn’t include holidays, nights out, lunches out, a bad weekday, etc. To make damn sure I was getting the benefit of this I set up a standing order for £20 per week to a savings account. I have money to waste as I see fit with no guilt over the frivolousness of it all. Tattoos, piercings, books I’ll never read, running weekends – no problem you treat your sober self.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TedTalk. Here if you wanna chat x