Lose Weight By Not Drinking Alcohol

Bhaven Taylor, 41, from London, shares how he transformed his body—and his entire mindset—by changing his diet, giving up alcohol, and working out three times a week.

I was extremely fit when I was younger, playing all sports at first team level (rugby, football, cricket) while at school and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The negative change started to occur once I attended university, which often consisted of nights out binge-drinking, lack of good sleep, and poor diet. My weight began to creep up, and this continued into my work life in London from 2002 onwards. This lasted for almost 20 years, and a combination of unhealthy eating and inactivity meant that I steadily gained weight throughout my 20s and 30s.

I probably reached my heaviest around 35 years old. It had a huge impact on my self-esteem and overall confidence, both of which were extremely low. I did not feel good about myself or how I looked, and I was a prime candidate for Type 2 diabetes, which runs in my family.

Things I Learned From Not Drinking For 2 Years

Having spent a large part of 2020 indoors in the UK, coming into 2021 I decided I wanted to make a change. I decided that this could be a good opportunity as there were still so few distractions available due to lockdown. So in January 2021 I signed up to Ultimate Performance. I had come across them 15 years ago but when I saw the before and after pictures from their transformation program, I honestly thought that was not possible for someone like me. However, I spoke to a friend who went through it and achieved incredible results, so I immediately signed up. This was the first time in my life where I invested directly into myself, and thought I would put my all into it and see what happens.

The UK was in a strict lockdown from the moment I started until gyms reopened on 13th April 2021, so my trainer Jason and I had a weekly 30-minute call to focus primarily on nutrition and increasing my energy output. He aimed to improve my education on nutrition and how to ensure I was eating and tracking the right amount of calories, split across the appropriate protein, carbohydrates and fats. I quite enjoyed cooking and I got into it immediately, weighing foods and learning how to use spices to ensure the meal tasted good. I also cut out alcohol in order to get the best outcome from the whole process.

The first time I worked out with Jason in person three months later, I was blown away. We kept the workouts simple, did around 6 or 7 exercises per session, super-setting each exercise and ensuring we did a whole body workout. Jason started to educate me on weight training, proper form and slowly progressively overloading. My experience in the gym at UP was just incredible: the environment is set up for gear motivation and maximum output and I loved every minute of it.

Quit Alcohol To Lose Weight

From then on, I worked out with Jason 3 times per week and this really was enough to change my overall body. In addition, Jason set me a daily step target and I found a new appreciation for long walks—podcasts and audiobooks became my best friends during this time—but I was able to hit my weight loss goals without doing excessive amounts of cardio.

Within three months I lost about 17 kgs (37 pounds) and got my body fat, which was close to 30 percent when I started, down to 11 percent. When I saw my friends and family for the first time after lockdown, many of them were shocked, and some didn't even recognize me. I have now got myself back to how I looked when I was 17 years old, at the age of 41. My experience has motivated others to get fit themselves, and I have countless conversations about what I did. What blew me away is when an extremely close friend referred to me as an inspiration, and that he has never seen me this focused, and how proud he was.

The entire transformation journey was truly an incredible experience, but the most dramatic effect was not my weight or the way I looked: it was actually more on the mental side and how I felt. My sleep was transformed, I naturally became a morning person (not something I could have said for 25 years), productivity increased, my energy rose, and my self-esteem and confidence improved dramatically. I started to ask myself how far can I take this, and what could I be capable of? I actually got approached and started a new job during lockdown and have begun working in a new industry for a truly amazing company. This for me was a life transformation rather than just a body one.

Is Beating Booze The Secret To Losing Weight

If you want to make a change, just go for it: it's all about taking it one step at a time, and once you begin to see progress it is immensely motivating. Consistency is key, but if you're turning up every day, then it is amazing what you can achieve in just three months.

Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.

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Benefits Of Not Drinking Alcohol

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I was always the ‘bigger’ one out of all my friends, and once I had my son in 2013 and daughter in 2015, I began rapidly gaining weight over the course of a few years.

What Are The Benefits Of Not Drinking Alcohol?

I reached a point I had no rules, I never held back on junk food or wine. Comfort eating and binge drinking were a daily occurrence. Drinking was a part of my everyday life for almost 10 years, and it had reached a point where I’d usually drink a bottle of wine every night. My nightly bottles were followed with share-size bags of crisps and chocolate. I had accepted this is how I would be forever.

But in 2019, it began to dawn on me that other people didn’t drink how I did. They could have just one glass of wine at a meal and be satisfied, whereas I’d want a bottle. My children had started to comment on it too, which floored me – ‘mum’s favourite drink is wine’, they’d say. I knew I had to change not only for myself but for them too.

I was fed up of planning my life around drinking – it consumed so much of my daily thoughts. I’d finally become fed up of being in a cycle of drinking and hangovers, and the crippling anxiety that came with them.

How Dry January Will Change Your Body

By Annie Grace, which really helped me change my outlook – I’ve not touched a drop since I first opened the book last year. I now listen to sobriety podcasts daily and am in a few very supportive Facebook groups. I’m definitely not saying I don’t recommend professional help for anyone battling similar issues – I was just fortunate enough to find a way of quitting drinking that worked for me.

Was I an alcoholic? I’m still trying to figure that one out. I know alcoholism is a disease that progressively gets worse, and I’d found that was happening to me. One bottle of wine used to be enough, but in those last few months I found myself craving more and more. I wasn’t drinking to be social anymore – I was drinking mostly alone and out of boredom or to forget the stresses of the day.

The first few weeks were hard – especially the weekends. I would go to bed grumpy at 7pm on a Saturday night because I couldn’t have my wine. I had to avoid social media too. Everyone’s stories of them drinking just made me angry that I couldn’t do the same. But then came that fresh feeling on a Sunday morning – and it was those moments that made it all worth it. From then on, I just had to take it one day at a time.

Does Drinking Water Lead To Weight Loss?

At my heaviest, I weighed 13.4 stone. I did start slowly losing weight when I stopped drinking (about 0.7 stone) but my diet was still terrible. I realised I was using junk food as my crutch