Transcription
Have you ever wanted to quit drinking? Well, in this video, I'll tell you 20 amazing things that happened when I stopped drinking for just 30 days. I'm gonna put each number down in the bottom corner of this video to make it easier for you to skim through each one of the 20 topics. Each one of the topics, I'm going to give about a paragraph or two of an explanation, so if some of you have a shorter attention span than others, you can skip through it. Okay, number one: My blood pressure went down dramatically. So I went to the doctor right before I started this journey of 30 days of no drinking, and I had just come off a night of drinking White Claw, tequila, and moonshine. So they did my blood pressure, and it was 160 over 90. Yeah, it's kind of high. So I told the nurses, uh, yeah, can you check that again? That seems a little unreasonably high. It's never been that high in my life. So they did it again, and they actually did an average of three, which took 10 minutes, and it was consistently 160 over 90. A healthy range for somebody in my age category is roughly 124 over 83. So after the 30 days, I had my blood pressure taken again, and my blood pressure went all the way down to 120 over 70. That puts me in the category of somebody that's 20 years younger than my age.
Okay, number two: Better quality of sleep. So the first week was a little inconsistent, but now I'm naturally getting tired at a normal time, and I'm waking up at a normal time. But just quitting drinking alone doesn't do this; it's also having a healthier diet, less fast food, not eating before bed, less sugar, less caffeine, and less of, you know, whatever else you're doing too. Also, if you're quitting alcohol but say not quitting weed, you're still affecting your ability to get to REM sleep, which is the most critical and important stage of rest.
Number three: I dream again, because I'm actually hitting REM sleep, which alcohol and other substances keep you from doing. You're not hitting that quality level of sleep where your body recuperates.
Number four: Improved memory. I now seem to have less ADD than I normally do. I'm actually diagnosed with adult ADHD, and I always worry about things falling out of my short-term memory, and now I can recall names and dates and things on my to-do list a lot easier now.
Number five: Improved concentration and mental clarity. So you may be already noticing a pattern that one thing goes into another thing, and it's true; your brain is a supercomputer, and the more resources that we give it, like sleep, diet, exercise, the more we can do overall. But what I noticed specifically is that I'm able to have deeper levels of concentration, and I'm more fully aware of what I've put on my brain's table, so to speak, versus having great thoughts and ideas and getting overwhelmed and having those ideas kind of get lost in the brain fog. You know what I'm talking about—the brain fog.
Number six: Higher productivity. Because I have more improved memory and better concentration, I have higher productivity. And now that I've had all this extra free time, I've gotten a lot more done, and that makes me feel proud of myself, which helps me sleep better at night, and it also helps me to wake up every morning feeling a little bit better about myself and tackling my to-do list. And I'm proud of where I'm at now, and you should be too for taking this step.
Number seven: Better gym results. I've spent most of my adult life exercising about three times a week, even when I was binge drinking, and I always had a hard time seeing any kind of progress; at best, I was just kind of staying the same. It turns out that drinking alcohol decreases your protein synthesis by as much as 37%, enough to impair muscle growth significantly. Also, in men, alcohol reduces testosterone production because alcohol is toxic for the testicles. This effect corresponds to reduced anabolic signaling, muscle protein synthesis, and muscle recovery.
Number eight: Weight loss. Speaking of the gym, you know what's frustrating about working out so often when you're drinking every day? Is that it becomes really difficult to see your abs. Guess where all those French fries and hamburgers live? Right around my belly button. An average beer is 150 calories, and not only that, when we drink, we tend to gravitate to unhealthy foods, because what tastes better after drinking than something greasy and salty?
Number nine: Less aches and pains, and less inflammation. I personally had what felt like a bulging disc in the back of my neck for years, and in just one month of not drinking, that inflammation is gone. It was a noticeable lump on the back of my neck. So now when I wake up, I don't feel like I have to crack my neck or stretch every day. I even had one of those devices that hang on top of your closet door, and your head sits in this cradle, and you pull the string up, and it lengthens your neck. Not only that, but I also don't feel like I have the same blood flow issues that I used to have. Every morning when I wake up, I would get intense pressure in my head and behind my eye; I just felt like my blood wasn't circulating the right way. And you know what else? I don't have cold, clammy hands and feet. It's a thing. I've also experienced less tinnitus, which is the ringing in your ears, and since I don't have any more hangovers, I don't have any more headaches, and I'm also having more regular bowel movements. You know what else I noticed? I've also had dry, itchy spots on my skin that were there for months and years, and I actually just checked at day 30, and some of those spots have gone down dramatically. So less itchy skin too. We'll put that one on the list; it'll be an honorable mention.
Number 10: I have way more time to achieve my goals. Since I'm not drinking anymore, I have less anxiety and less depression, which I'm willing to guess that you're also experiencing. I wake up in the morning now knowing that I can count on me, and go to bed at night knowing that I did things all day to make my life better, and that is a great formula for a good night's rest.
Number 11: An overall sense of well-being. When you're drinking, it is so easy to be stuck in a loop of existential dread. You dedicate the first half of your day to recovering from a hangover, and once you eliminate alcohol, your mood is way more consistent, your energy levels are higher, you're more hydrated and well-rested, and you'll be able to tackle more of that to-do list, which will make you feel more accomplished, and that will make you feel like you're making some progress overall in your life.
Number 12: The alcohol cravings go away. Not right away, but results vary. For me personally, it was about one week. Day one, my craving level was probably a six out of ten, and day two it was probably an eight out of ten, and day three it was also an eight out of ten. But again, that was me personally. But after day three, my cravings went down to about a five, and then after about five days or so, that level of craving went from about a one to a four. Now it doesn't mean that the thought didn't pop in my head, and it's not like the thought might not pop into your head; you're capable of tens of thousands of thoughts in a day, and I know that I have an addictive personality. So my main focus was to find something to replace alcohol, which also included replacing the bar scene and the usual suspects from the bar scene. I chose to replace my love of drinking—who doesn't love drinking—with something that I actually love and find value in, which for me was my art, my photography, my videography, this channel. I will say though that with regards to cravings, my cravings for sweets actually went up. Now I'm not a sugar person, but eating sweets can cause your brain to release dopamine, the feel-good chemical, and after you quit drinking, your brain knows that it can replace that dopamine by taking in more sugar. So you have to be smarter than your brain. Good luck.
Number 13: Less FOMO. The fear of missing out. Oh no, you missed the party. Somebody puked. Cool story. Some guy punched another guy, and a table fell over, and a lamp got broken. Also cool story. I know what I'm missing out on, and I'm cool with it. The unfortunate thing is there are still people trapped in the cycle, and they don't know what they're missing by having a greater sense of accomplishment in their life. So more positive role models needed. Comment below. And once you're proud of yourself sober, you're not going to look at alcohol the same ever again.
Number 14: Feelings. One of the scary things about quitting drinking, if you look at it this way, is to have to feel again, but not just the bad, the good feelings too—the wholesome ones, the loving ones, the vulnerable ones. Basically, you've not gained any experience on getting through your emotions; you cheated. Alcohol is basically a cheat code for life. People who figured out how to be social, to give a presentation, to do family gatherings, or have a home life without a crutch, they gain the experience, and they know how to do it. Alcohol becomes an easy button for life, and you're left without the proper experience or personal substance—no pun intended.
Number 15: Less phlegm. Drinking alcohol lessens the urge to cough or sneeze, I bet you didn't know that, which results in more liquid getting built up into your lungs. I literally didn't know that either until I wrote this episode. Also, drinking alcohol causes a person to become more dehydrated, which results in the mucus in their lungs becoming thicker and therefore harder to cough up. Now imagine you drink and smoke—sounds like double trouble.
Number 16: Less baggy eyes. Now I know I still have baggy eyes—don't judge me or comment, they still have big eyes, I know—but they're less baggy. And because I have less congestion and I'm well-hydrated, I have less phlegm, I breathe easier, and my face looks less puffy. My skin looks better, and I just feel better overall. People start to notice. You can actually go back to some of my earlier videos and see how much luggage I was actually carrying under these baby browns.
Number 17: Do you like money? Well, guess what? You're gonna have way more money. During my worst times, I was spending on average about thirty dollars a night going out drinking and whatever. So my fun trade-off was to take the money that I would have spent on booze and spend it on things that I might want or need. And yeah, you're still spending the same amount of money, but it's okay if you have it, because now you're surrounded by things that you can actually use instead of stuff that went down the toilet.
Number 18: You'll have more energy again. As you can see, one thing kind of leads to another, and that's also the case when it comes to negative decision-making. And once we manage our time and our efforts accordingly, you'll find yourself having more energy. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still a sucker for an afternoon nap—working from home perks—and you know, rainy days still zap my soul, but it's okay; it's natural. Not every day is gonna be awesome; some days are gonna be cloudier than others. Sometimes your calendar is going to be full of a bunch of stuff you don't want to do. I still have to drink an entire pot of coffee to do things that I'm totally not in love with, but that's just what it's like to be an adult. Shitty situations are still shitty, but I'm gaining more tools and more experience on how to deal with my life instead of numbing it. No more hitting that easy button; life actually just becomes easier the more that you're able to handle and the more that you're actually in control of.
Number 19: A greater sense of contentment. Now I'm going to be totally transparent with you—non-scripted—it's been amazing to be able to positively influence people that I know and people that I don't know. I genuinely like reading the comments and responding to everyone that I can. Fortunately/unfortunately, my channel is still small right now, and I still have a bunch of free time to be able to talk to every one of you, and I still get text messages from friends saying, "Hey, thanks again." I've positively influenced some of my other friends to go sober, which I didn't invent this; I'm just doing it. When I look back at these past 30 days, I see a series of accomplishments that I know that I wouldn't have right now if I hadn't made the decision to go sober. I would have wasted my time at the bar; I would have wasted my time drinking; I would have wasted my time socializing with other drunk people, because that's what alcohol does; it kind of helps to suppress those feelings of, "I should be doing something more with my life; I should be taking that course; I should be watching that tutorial; I should be reading that book." I'm willing to bet that you've said to yourself, "I'm just gonna go get drunk instead." And when I look back at these 30 days, I know that I would have spent or wasted nearly a thousand dollars, and I would have nothing to show for it. Instead, I have a thousand dollars of new equipment; I literally invested the thousand dollars that I would have spent on drinking to buy more equipment to improve this channel that you're watching. Did I mention the comments? Comment below. But seriously, also commenting helps people find this channel; it helps other people; it doesn't help me.
Last, but not least, number 20: What is it? Less bathroom breaks. I bet you didn't think I was going to say that, did you? No longer am I waking up two or three times in the middle of the night to have to go to the bathroom. No longer am I waking up in the morning in the middle of the desert like, "Oh, where's my water?" Waking up in the morning and seeing the trail of disaster that you've left from the kitchen to your bedroom—there's chips and shit everywhere, a half-eaten bowl of soup next to you, a Hot Pocket missing a bite. But because I was drinking alcohol so much, I was also struggling to stay hydrated all day. So the formula for staying hydrated is you take your body weight and you divide that by two, and you convert that into ounces. So if you weigh 100 pounds, half of that is 50; you would drink 50 ounces of water a day. But if you're drinking a lot of alcohol, you should drink more than that, and it's kind of a chore, to be honest. And now because I'm not having to get up to go to the bathroom at least once or twice a night, I'm getting more of that REM sleep, more restful sleep, and I'm waking up feeling more happy and energized and less terrified of the day and my to-do list. I don't have so much anxiety and so much depression because I didn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish the day before. You see how that cycle happens over and over and over again. Now again, I'm not a medical professional; I'm not saying that these 20 things are guaranteed to happen to you, but they're definitely possible. And if you like this content, help other people find it by liking—that's the purpose of liking—and if you like my channel, subscribe. I make two different types of videos: funny ones and random, but generally helpful videos. Goodbye. [Applause] [Music]