WELLNESS AUTHOR
Katerina Cotroneo
WATER IN MY WINE GLASS n I went sober for a whole year, and here’s what I learned from my alcohol cleanse.
JULY 2022
KATERINA COTRONEO
“I
’ll never drink again. This time, I mean it,” and I really did! At the end of August 2021, I was getting worse hangovers than before. That post-college atmosphere where you cannot drink like you used to hit me, and I thought, “I’m done drinking; let’s see how long this lasts.” As a social gal, I was preparing for peer pressure with phrases such as “I’m on antibiotics” and “I have to work early” to get out drinking. However, after a while, I began just saying, “I’m not drinking, thanks!” and nobody even batted an eye. I realized nobody cared and when I stopped, friends around me also actually started to drink less. It began a ripple effect of switching out ranch waters for rain waters, but not in a negative way. The physical change was slow and then sudden. I didn’t realize anything at first, possibly because I wasn’t on this journey to lose weight, but I woke up one morning and it was as if someone let the air out of me. I hadn’t even realized how swollen (and clearly full of gin) I’d been. I thought I was in shape and boy, was I wrong! I was full of calories, and my body was releasing all the toxicity alcohol does to your inner organs. It took about three months for my body to reset. I assumed it would take all my discipline to stay dry for an entire 365, but it’s actually simple when you think about the negatives of alcohol like cancer-causing, early menopause, wrinkly skin, migraine triggering
and an essentially swollen body. Waking up feeling great and knowing I’m taking care of my body mentally, physically and emotionally is a great comfort. Not to mention you get better quality of sleep and your wallet says thank you every night, having barely spent a penny. Try this for yourself. I challenge you to see how far you can go without drinking and see if afterward, you decide to go back or give it up for good. If you go back, I suggest a damp lifestyle — maybe only on weekends or special occasions. That way, your body gets a break and
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