'Tis the season, but is it time to start thinking a little differently about alcohol?
We've all been known to love a tipple, or two, or three.....or maybe even more. And hey, it's New Year's so why not go all in, right? Hmmm.
Here are my top 5 reasons to stop and think before pouring that next drink tonight.
"Sometimes I drink water to surprise my liver." - unknown
Now before I dive in too deeply here, I'm not suggesting you don't have a drink at all (unless that's a journey you want to go on - and if so, go you!). I am simply giving you some facts to help you pull back and wake up feeling a bit more refreshed over this holiday season.
So when you are on the fence of having another drink, pull these facts from your back pocket, say "no thanks", and celebrate your sober curious self with the gift of a fabulous tomorrow!
Dehydration
Keeping hydrated is like a religion to me, but for good bloody reason! We are made up of over 73% water and if we don't keep ourselves at the optimum level of hydration, all sorts of bad stuff happens. In fact, even just 2% dehydration will slow down your cognitive function, attention span and memory to only 40%! For-ty-per-cent!
And while we want to keep our mental functions at optimum as we age, we also want our skin looking fabulous, am I right?! Well, one of the top ways to keep that supple skin is to keep it hydrated from the inside - aka, drink the damn water.
Btw, alcohol is a diuretic, so it's actually sucking the water out of you....double down on the water between alcoholic drinks if you can.
Sleep Quality
Okay, so you might fall asleep quickly after your night out (or we might classify it as "passing out"), but your body is not going to get a good night's rest. It's too busy metabolising that alcohol that's in your bloodstream.
For most of us, an alcohol induced sleep is disruptive....you fall asleep quickly, but then don't make it through your full sleep cycles and are waking up tossing and turning, or maybe running to the loo ;)
Basically alcohol lessens or completely takes away the REM cycle of sleep, so you are not going to feel rested AND that's also one of the reasons your memory from the night before is not going to be so great (REM is the stage of sleep where we process our memories).
Hangovers
Not sure I need to explain myself here, but just think how amazing it will feel waking up on New Year's Day feeling good?!
Listen, I've got some friends that don't suffer too much from hangovers, and that's great for them; however, their body is still dealing with the side effects of too much alcohol, it just doesn't seem to bother them so much.
Hangovers occur due to inflammation, dehydration, stomach irritation and blood sugar fluctuations. None of this stuff is good for us and, for the majority of us, it definitely does not feel good when it happens.
Speeds Up the Aging Process
I know I mentioned this before, but it deserves it's own spot on my list because none of us want to age faster than we have to!
Okay, so this might be a bit more of a long term effect than that one extra drink will have tonight, but I'm a straight shooter, so I'm going to tell you what your BFF might not tomorrow morning. You don't look good after a night out drinking!
Long term the effects of alcohol push the body to release more stress hormones, and that makes it difficult to absorb essential nutrients. That, along with all of that dehydration and poor drunken choices, will have your body, mind and skin moving at lightning speed towards old lady aging. It's not cute.
All My Other Reasons Wrapped Together
Haha, okay, so I have wayyyy more than 5 reasons here, so I thought I'd throw a bunch together in a list to wrap up this post.
Energy - don't you want to have some in the morning so you can enjoy tomorrow?
Reputation - nobody likes a drunk girl slurring her words around the party. Keep your cool and don't be that girl.
Immunity - Alcohol causes inflammation, which will suppress your immune response, which is something none of us can afford right now (I won't say the C word, but you know it!)
Accidents (and bad dancing) - haha, your reaction time is not great when you have too much alcohol in your system. This can lead to embarrassing moments like tripping over your own foot, or a case of very bad dancing.
Bad judgment - drinking lowers your inhibitions and we make bad decisions. Not much else to say here.
The Bloat - all of those empty calories and sugar ladened drinks will find you waking up with a bloated belly, and that's just uncomfortable.
Last, but not least, $$$ - if you are out on the town, keep a few extra bucks in your pocket tonight and spend them on something nice for yourself. Because really, do you need that extra drink?
Alcohol has a lot of long term effects, which is a different topic in itself, but these are meant to just get you thinking about what your night can look like tonight, so that your tomorrow feels like a beautiful start to the New Year (or just a great day)!
If you are sober curious and want to know more, get in touch!
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