Julia - 110 days

“I tried 90 days without alcohol. Here’s what I learned.

Over the past six years, I’ve immersed myself in herbal and functional health, transforming my own struggles into a foundation for opening Nettle. Through this experience I found that alcohol in herbal medicine ~ it’s used to extract the essence of plants, drawing out their most potent properties. But here’s the irony, it did the same to me. Taking energy or happiness from tomorrow.

It’s easy to complain about not reaching goals or getting where you want in life. But so much power to create change is already inside us. It just needs clarity and action to surface. And let’s be real, that’s hard to do with a clouded mind. So, I got curious. I was your regular social drinker. Showing up at events, glass in hand, like everyone else. But when I stepped back and noticed:

~How many of my weekends and events were around alcohol.

~The health facts I was ignoring.

~And the question. What if sobriety actually does live up to the hype?

That’s how the 30 days, no alcohol began. Those first 30 days? Hit and miss. Some moments of clarity, some cravings, and a lot of “Why” am I even doing this?” 30 days in, it didn’t feel right to stop, so I pushed the goal to three months. The stretch between 60 and 90 days? Messy. I had to face some things I’d been dodging for years ~ old emotions, bad habits, unresolved issues. But here’s the wild part ~ by the time I hit 90 days, I didn’t miss alcohol at all.

~My social life? Still good

~My business & productivity? Improved

~Money, saved

~And me? Feeling... better

That’s not to say I have it all figured out. In the early days ~ and even now ~ I leaned a little too hard on caffeine, sugar, or my phone. It’s easy to swap one crutch for another in a world designed for constant dopamine hits.

But you know what helps keep me grounded? Nature. Walking outside, foraging, exploring ~ it’s the reset I needed. Will I ever drink again? Maybe. I’m definitely more equipped to have a better relationship with it. But honestly? I don’t see the point right now, and that’s a nice feeling in itself. :) I'm chuffed to have started challenging a negative generational habit.

If you’re thinking about exploring sober curiosity, what helped me most was starting with my “why.” Write it down. Remind yourself of it on the hard days. Because here’s my truth... Resetting my relationship with alcohol lived up to the hype.”