To begin my New Year, after a debaucherous holiday season,

I committed to three months of sobriety, taking alcohol out of the equation and attempting to continue my life as normal in every other way. Wrapping up the month of March, I've now officially completed my challenge and have some thoughts on how things went.

1. The basics: I saved money, I slept well, and now I look and feel amazing.

There are some very clear benefits to taking a break from drinking. If you're a social drinker, the amount of money you can save by opting for a water with lime every trip to the bar for 90 days straight is amazing. Calculating my weekly cost of drinks, at 10 drinks per week with an average price point of $8, comes out to be $80. That's almost a grand over a three month period that can be put towards much more productive uses. I opted for yoga classes, a couple nice dinners, and pocketed the rest. Another noticeable benefit from sobriety was the improvement in my sleeping patterns -- I started to feel more rested on less sleep, closer to 7 hours per night, where before I would have needed 8 or 9 to feel fully capable the next day. I also seemed to have more vivid dreams, or at least remembered them more often. Additionally, by the end of the 90 day period, I just felt amazing, perhaps from having a sense of accomplishment, but also because I just looked way better too -- my cheeks became thinner, my complexion brighter, and my muscles more toned. Cutting out the empty calories of alcohol turns out to be a really simple way to fix your diet, reduce inflammation, and keep yourself more easily hydrated.

2. Changing a habit is hard, especially a drinking habit.

It never ceased to amaze me how my mind continually jumped through hoops trying to rationalize why I should 'just have one drink'. Trying to be a better version of yourself is difficult because it requires stepping out of your comfort zone, and your mind is not a fan of discomfort. It will kick and scream the entire way, trying to make you stay in your comfortable bubble of habits that you've built up. This is very true when it comes to alcohol consumption, for a number of reasons, one of which is the positive feedback loop that occurs through this habit -- drinking makes you feel good as your brain releases happy chemicals in response to consumption, and then when you stop drinking you start to have withdrawals from this neurochemical and literal cocktail, ie you become hungover. Having this positive association with drinking, and then negative consequence of stopping drinking actually programs you into continuing this pattern, usually in more exuberant doses. This doesn't always lead to full blown alcoholism but can produce varying ranges of dependency on alcohol. So once you try and consciously leave this feedback loop, the neural pathways in your brain that have been built up in response to your consumption will try and pull you back into your old habits, and you'll find yourself leaning over the ledge of a cliff, staring down at a sea of booze, with a little voice in your head saying 'go on, jump! The water is warm.' The most difficult experience of my first 90 days was when I attended a friend's wedding, around day 60, where there was an open bar and a completely wasted wedding party. It seemed so innocent to have a few drinks, they were free for godsake! I managed to talk myself out of it, and I actually specifically told the bartenders to not serve me a drink even if I came up to them later and said I changed my mind, which brings me to my next point...

3. If you can withstand your monkey-brain long enough, it gets really easy.

Having that devil on your shoulder, constantly tempting you, can be dire if you're feeling especially vulnerable one day, but if you are stubborn enough, you will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and its influence will begin to get weaker and weaker. I found that right around the 70 day mark is when my temptations started to go away and I found a new sense of comfort in abstinence. The final month was easier, as by then I had understood my mind's tricks and could easily disarm them. By the end of 90 Days, I didn't have cravings to start drinking again, as the new habit of sobriety had become my norm. There are plenty of other points to be gathered from this experiment, but I will cap it at this for now. If you're looking to make a positive change in areas of your life such as health and fitness, finances, or emotional well-being, cutting out alcohol is one of the simplest ways to start. ---- *See for yourself what 90 days alcohol free feels like, I would love to hear your thoughts on it!* *Hit me up here on Steemit, or on Instagram and Twitter*