Cher - 149 days

“My relationship with alcohol started young and took stride in my twenties. My party-girl antics led to a nervous breakdown, after which I moved to China to escape the recreational drug scene in the UK. Unfortunately, my issues with alcohol stowed away in my hand luggage and would follow me around for years to come.
Despite finding success in Asia, there was always a limit to my potential. I blamed it on my bad memory and lack of willpower. Yo-yo dieting was a normal part of my life and I couldn’t stick to an exercise routine.
In 2022, I relocated back to the UK to be closer to my parents and moved to a tiny Welsh seaside town - a far cry from the fast-paced glamour of Shanghai and Singapore. Living in Barmouth, I had Snowdonia on my doorstep. I developed a passion for the great outdoors but had lost my ability to bounce back after a night of heavy drinking. I found myself cancelling hiking plans so I could recover on the sofa and could only remember bits of the night. The hangover anxiety was also getting worse.
I tried to moderate my drinking. Giving myself ‘rules’ such as the three-drink rule that went out of the window after the third G&T wore off. I even tried to have a soft drink between each alcoholic beverage but it was difficult to keep track. In reality, I had been failing to control my binge drinking for years.
After one uneventful night, I woke up with the worst hangover of my life and a sinking feeling that I had done something terrible even though I hadn’t. Suicidal thoughts flashed in my mind despite my life going so well. It was at that moment that I realised that there is no compromise with alcohol. I was going to feel terrible no matter how I tried to moderate. I quit the booze at that moment and never looked back. I started waking up with positivity, weight dropped off as I was able to stick to healthy eating and a regular exercise routine. I still go out and enjoy socialising but I now have better boundaries and know when to go home. I get up early on a Saturday to go hiking or complete my local Parkrun. I’m even training for a 10K race in June. Something the old me could never have done. I found that I’m fun and interesting without alcohol. Although I drank to gain confidence, in the end, alcohol was the one thing that was keeping me from it.
I’m now my true, authentic self. I can remember so much more, my performance at work has improved, negative thoughts have decreased by 90%, I’ve dropped 14 pounds, I’m always out in nature and most importantly I’m happy.
If anyone out there is thinking of giving the dry life a try, just do it. You never know your true potential until you remove alcohol from your life.”