Eight Weeks Without a Drink

I Feel Better But I Miss The Martini!

The Standard

Let me start with this: I didn’t quit drinking because I had a drinking problem. I quit because I wanted to see what would happen.

I like drinking. Not getting drunk (haven’t done that since high school) but just drinking. There’s a difference.

I love an ice-cold, (Grey Goose please) very dirty martini before we head out for Friday-night dinner not only because it sets up the evening, but because martini’s in Palm Beach are approaching $35.00. Then, I usually grab another before the rib-eye arrives, preferably with those little shards of shaker ice floating on top and the rest of the shaker sitting beside me.

Double Pleasure

Most evenings, there is nothing like a double Buffalo Trace over one big cube with an early-evening Montecristo. And as a reasonably informed wine enthusiast, few things make me happier than opening a good Barolo to use in my Sunday sauce and realizing, several hours and Sinatra tunes later, that somehow the bottle is empty.

Part Of My Sunday Routine

Eight weeks ago, I stopped. Completely.

No wine. No bourbon. No martinis. Not even the obligatory glass of Champagne at a celebration.

The experiment has been interesting because the biggest change isn’t what I expected.

I’m down about five pounds, although alcohol certainly can’t take all the credit. I’m interval walking/running 25–30 miles a week, which obviously matters. But my belly has noticeably changed. More specifically, it’s my upper stomach.

That area from my navel to my chest used to have a certain outward projection. Eight weeks without alcohol and that extension is easily one to two inches less. My stomach simply looks flatter and feels less bloated.

There’s some science behind what I’m seeing. Alcohol can irritate the stomach and intestinal lining and promote gastrointestinal inflammation. It can also increase stomach acid and affect the gut barrier. So while I can’t scientifically attribute my disappearing upper-stomach bloat entirely to giving up alcohol, the connection certainly isn't far-fetched.

Here, the measurable benefits of abstinence can happen surprisingly quickly. In a BMJ Open study of moderate-to-heavy drinkers who stopped drinking for just one month, researchers found an average 1.5% reduction in body weight, roughly 6% reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, a 25.9% improvement in insulin resistance and improvements in liver enzymes. Importantly, researchers found these changes weren't explained by changes in exercise, diet or smoking.

Sleep? Everybody told me I would sleep like a teenager.

Nope. Mine hasn't changed much. Alcohol is known to disrupt sleep architecture and can produce lighter, more fragmented sleep later in the night, but apparently my body didn't get that memo.

So after eight weeks, am I healthier? Probably. Do I look better around the middle? Definitely.

Do I feel some miraculous transformation that makes me want to preach the gospel of sparkling water and mocktails? Absolutely not. Because I miss it.

I miss the ritual, the taste and the civilized pleasure of a great drink at the right moment. That martini on Friday evening wasn't merely alcohol nor was the bourbon with a cigar or the Barolo alongside the Sunday sauce.

They were little punctuation marks in a life I enjoy.

Eight weeks without them has taught me something valuable: alcohol clearly wasn't necessary.

But that doesn't mean I don't want the damn martini!