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Brenna Cooper
An American man who made the decision to quit alcohol for 1,000 days has revealed the surprising things he discovered on his journey to sobriety.
There has been a rising interest in the sober curious movement over the past couple of years, with more and more people deciding to explore a life which doesn't involve going heavy on the booze and spending the following day with your head in the toilet bowl, regretting all of your choices.
This trend is particularly popular among younger generations as well, with a recent study published by Drinkaware revealing that 28 percent of young adults weren't drinking.
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However, if you’re considering taking the plunge and cutting out the drink, but you just need that final push, here is some advice shared by YouTuber and self-improvement coach Clark Kegley - who regularly shares motivational videos on his channel.
After spending 1,000 days - which is just over two and a half years - sober, Clark explained that he had felt a whole host of physical benefits, which included: better sleep, greater mental clarity, and no longer experiencing the dreaded ‘hangxiety’.
Clark’s experience isn’t unique either, with advice from the NHS revealing that increased energy, feeling better in the mornings, and saving money are short-term benefits to going cutting down on alcohol or going sober.
However, it was once Clark pushed into the later stages of sobriety that he started to experience more surprising changes to his life.
Guidance from the NHS and Drinkaware adds that long-term benefits of cutting back on booze include lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and hypertension, as well as a decreased risk of cancer and liver disease.
For Clark, the most unexpected changes to his life didn’t involve improvements to his physical health but instead focused around how he felt about himself.
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The YouTuber went on to explain that he started to feel like he had more spare time after going sober, and that he was able to re-discover his hobbies as things now ‘became more enjoyable’ for him.
He also went on to add that drinking alcohol made him more 'tolerant' of his surroundings, and that going sober has helped him learn to be comfortable with confronting discomfort in his life.
Cutting out booze also allowed Clark to reassess his goals in life. The content creator explained that he still hadn't completed things his 18-year-old self wanted to do by the age of 30.
"I was able to reassess what actually mattered," he explained.
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He also noted feeling 'jealousy' towards his old self and people who were able to drink moderately, due to 'the magic charisma' that some people seem to gain after having a drink.
"I miss that two-drink feeling, yeah, I'm pissed I lost that ability to control, that but it's so easy to see the positives of things and not the downsides," he added.
"If you're going to compare, you need the whole context."