At one time or another we have all sworn off of drinking after a heavy night on the gin. I personally have woken up countless times to no recollection of what I have done and who I have offended and wondered if it was all really worth it. Recently, I have given up alcohol for good – and reading other peoples blogs on this has made me realise I am part of quite a large club. So whatever the reason there are a few things to make it that little bit easier if you decide to go teetotal.

Don’t view it as a punishment

For the longest time I saw not being able to drink alcohol as a punishment. My mindset was “why me?”. I always wondered why it had to be me that suffered from medical conditions and had to take medication that meant I really shouldn’t drink alcohol, especially when all of my friends were able to drink without issues. But then one day, something just changed. I joined the gym, I started eating healthy and even though it has only been a couple of weeks the thought of putting something as bad into my body as alcohol is severely unappealing. I changed my mindset from “Why shouldn’t I drink alcohol?’” to “why should I?”.

Replace it

I met an amazing lady at a blogging event called Claire (from Club Forty) who has done incredibly well and given up alcohol for months and months. She said she tends to eat a bit more chocolate now, and I must admit I have had a few more treats than I should on a diet, but do you know what guys, you CAN. Alcohol has so, SO many empty calories in it, so it you want to enjoy a Dairy Milk when you would have been drinking go for it!

You could also think about replacing it with something healthy. I have got massively into traditional Chinese tea since I gave up drinking. I get all of my tea from Mei Leaf in Camden, and I have even gone as far now to get a Chinese tea set. I even had a camomile on a recent dinner with the girls, and I may have looked a bore but I spent £1.50.

Put the money away you would have spent on alcohol

As well as clocking up the calories, alcohol is mega expensive. It isn’t outrageous to spend £50 – £100 on a night out – especially if you live in London. Every time you go out, calculate how much you would have spent on alcohol and put it in a pot somewhere. Then when you hit a milestone and and buy ALL the make up’s.

Make your intentions known

If you have good friends and family they will understand you want to give up alcohol and won’t give you too much aggro about it. When people ask me why I am giving up alcohol and meat I point them in the direction of Lucy Watson. Now if I look REMOTELY like Lucy Watson by giving up alcohol then I will not drink for the rest of my life.

Make it part of a larger lifestyle change

Ok, I’m not saying you need to become a Buddhist. But if you are giving up alcohol you are probably doing it because it is good for you. If you mix up the giving up alcohol with a few healthier choices when it comes to food your body (especially your skin) will start to love you for it. Most of the benefits of giving up alcohol will start to appear after around a month but one of the main ones for me I noticed a week in was my sleeping pattern. I’d started to sleep incredibly well and then wake up ACTUALLY feeling refreshed in the morning. In the past I would wake up and think “dear God how many hours until I can go back to sleep?”.

Enjoy it

Giving something up that isn’t good for you isn’t a negative thing. People tend to forget that alcohol is a poison and many of the effects it has on your body are due to your liver frantically trying to filter it all out. Once you get going, the thought of a hangover will terrify you and you will be loving life getting up early and actually having your weekend days back.

I also had some help from an incredible book about giving up alcohol by Allen Carr. No, not THAT Allen Carr.