![]() ![]() In our house we practice the “three G’s”! Three things we’re thankful for each day before we go to bed to level set on how lucky we really are. OYNB offers a structure to follow and creates accountability, and a target to hit so you’re more likely to succeed. Perhaps an Iron man next – Any coaches out there? My experience with OYNB Nothing is stopping me from achieving more. ![]() Overall though, it’s the clarity not drinking brings to help you make better decisions and invest more time in yourself – and therefore others benefit too. I climbed mount Snowden with my Son for the big 4-0, I’ve been able to train for cycling Land’s End to John O’Groats in June 2021, early enough to have the rest of the day to spend with family. I’m learning to be present, to better value myself and my time and to be more confident. I’m far from perfect, but I take time to pause, meditate and check in with myself daily. My diet changed as I was able to assess how I felt after eating certain things and fuel for exercise (and life) properly. Not drinking meant I was noticing how I felt physically and mentally and could recognise triggers and cope better. No more wasted days and I was making the most out of every weekend – up early and in awe. Then your skin and overall appearance improve – for me personally 5 months was the wow factor to be able to see the drastic change and be really happy with where I was at, but others could notice earlier. The best bit for me though was once my sleep started to improve everything was a little easier. Most of what I wanted to achieve aligns with other members so it’s nice to know there’re common themes and that you’re not alone. Turns out, one year really isn’t that long! No desire for long drinking sessions either. Going to the pub in between lockdowns was fine – 0% beer choices, good company and a nice garden all help, and lunches/dinners were fine. Late Saturday afternoons were always hard, but that was just a habit I needed to break. With 365, once I started noticing the initial and continued benefits and improvements, I had no desire to negate on my challenge. I’d completed 90 days before so knew what to expect in a sense, but I fell back into bad habits. The benefits far outweighed the negatives, so once I started there was no looking back. I couldn’t be performing at my best could I, and my poor body was focusing on recovering from the weekend rather than being a well-oiled machine. I also felt I was missing out on certain physical aspects. The impacts on my mental health were clear – stress, anxiety, imposter syndrome, the fog, low confidence all a vicious cycle. ![]() OMG Monday’s were the worst – WHAT-A-GRIND and so much harder than they needed to be with the knock-on effects – tiredness being the main factor for me. ![]() I had also started smoking again when I drank which added to the list of shame.Īlthough I had a seemingly good weekday routine and got things done (work, crossfit, paddleboarding, cycling, chores), I was struggling, and Sundays were often spent hungover. It was quite clear that once the first lockdown wasn’t going to be over anytime soon, I could either come out the same (or worse) or come out better. The Covid Pandemic was the trigger for me to make the first step to 365. When I look back – in 20 years of drinking, alcohol has not done one good thing for me – other than offer an escape from dealing with my insecurities, mistakes and low self-esteem. I am a product of the 80’s, so the weekend binge drinking culture was very much part of my life (but it’s ok as I didn’t drink in the week right?!). Personally, I needed a break, and I was reaching a milestone birthday too. Similarly to a lot of OYNB-ers, I was noticing patterns that I wanted to change and that I wasn’t happy with for one reason or another. I needed to change my relationship with booze and take back control. ![]()
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