Sleep and alcohol

I have heard that the positive impact on sleep is usually the biggest impact when someone gives up alcohol. I’m about 9 days in my month long experiment with no alcohol and I can say that this is the best I have felt overall in a long while.

I feel rested and energetic. I feel motivated to get stuff done. Mondays have been a slog for me the past year or so, but I woke up this past Monday ready to get after it. Beyond work, my energy is carrying over to my workouts as well. I set a new PR during my running class on Monday, and went hard on the weights yesterday.

Even after just a week and some change, I’m ready to fully acknowledge that drinking had severely impacted my overall performance, starting with my sleep. I had previously thought that a lot of this just had to do with the fact that I don’t sleep well and I’m very active, but it turns out it’s simply the alcohol impacting my sleep. I’m a bit disappointed in myself that I’ve let it gone on for so long, but I’m happy that I’ve addressed the issue.

As of right now, after a month long break from drinking, my hope is that I’ll be able to go back to drinking occasionally with a much more aware mindset of how it impacts me and my body. Perhaps a month off will allow my body to recover a bit and adjust. I know the mental side of things will be just as important.

I do know now that what was going on before was not sustainable. I feel relieved that I’ve figure things out a bit more.