6 mogelijke pauze-ontdekkingen

You are well on your way to the finish line of your alcohol break. Just a little while and you can be super proud of yourself and let everyone around you know that you managed to complete this challenge! You may also have made new discoveries. For example about your own alcohol habits or about your view on alcohol. Do you recognize yourself in any of these revelations?

One hardly notices any difference with normal, the other misses drinking alcohol every day. An alcohol break has a different impact on everyone. Whatever the outcome, this personal experience will make you think. And that's exactly the idea. Because we can keep you for months spam with interesting facts and trivia about alcohol, ultimately the goal of this challenge is to experience the role alcohol plays in your life. By putting your alcohol use on a break and feeling what that is like. Below you can read a number of discoveries that other participants made.

1. Discovering that alcohol plays a bigger role than you'd like.

Perhaps the fair conclusion at the end of this alcohol break is that you're not too happy with the drinking habits you've developed along the way. Did you regularly have to fight against a strong appetite for your solid alcoholic drink during this period? Then this alcohol break might be the push to make a definitive effort towards more conscious alcohol use. Was this challenge a breeze for you? Great, that's a valuable discovery too!

2. Discovering You Can Do It: Keeping an Alcohol Break!

Drinking alcohol is so intertwined with our daily lives that taking a break for a month or so can seem like a long time. Especially when the euphoria of your healthy intention has ebbed away after the first few days. But hey, suddenly you are almost at the end of your challenge and you have discovered that you can do it! Feels good huh?

3. Discover which expectations and automatic thoughts you have unconsciously.

Whether you are a heavy or moderate drinker, chances are that your alcohol break has made you think more consciously about why you (sometimes) like to drink alcohol. You may have discovered that you secretly have some fixed associations with alcohol. See also the item 'Alcohol and automatic thoughts'. Now that you know more clearly which automatic thoughts you have about alcohol, it is easier to check whether you actually still support this.

4. Discover that you can beat appetite.

How often have you had moments this month when you had to resist a heavy appetite? And every time you've managed to turn down that drink! The beauty of an alcohol break is that you learn that you don't necessarily have to act on your appetite. In fact, such a moment of pull usually lasts only a few minutes to half an hour and then fades away. Furthermore, this alcohol break you have been able to perfect your technique of saying 'no' and you may have discovered the tastiest non-alcoholic cocktail ever! All these experiences make it easier to continue to be aware of alcohol in the future.

5. Discover that not everything has to be about alcohol.

A party, dining out with friends, relaxing at home; how many times have you experienced this alcohol break when an activity where you normally drink alcohol was just as relaxing without it? It sounds like an open door, but you may well have discovered this break that a relaxed feeling doesn't have to come straight from a glass. Noticing that drinking alcohol during pleasant afternoons or evenings is a possibility, but not must, is a fine and perhaps crucial discovery.

6. Discover that not drinking alcohol for a while is especially beneficial.

While taking part in an alcohol break may have felt like giving up something in the beginning, it may well be that you have now discovered that it pays you a lot. Think: a better night's sleep, radiant skin, smaller love handles, a fitter feeling and lots of energy. And why give that up after your break?