No More Wine - 30 day Challenge (eek!!)

I LOVE red wine! In my opinion, it goes with everything. All food is better with a little red wine on the side. The way that it brings out the flavor in food... mm my mouth is watering just typing this. Don't even get me started on drinking wine while eating chocolate. There is nothing better with dark chocolate than a glass of red wine. I like to go wine tasting, I like to drink while I cook, I like to cook with wine; I'm not addicted I swear! I'm very strict with myself about sticking to one glass a day. (this is my personal justification of course, but still a good rule of thumb)

Alot of people ask me my opinion of alcohol, specifically red wine, when they hear that I am a health coach. I have no perfect answer that works for everyone, but I have some general information that is very interesting:

1. Italians drink far more red wine than Americans and Germans drink far more beer than Americans. Both countries have less heart disease, obesity, and diabetes compared to America. 

2. Alcohol is empty calories in the body. This means that you get NO energy, vitamins, minerals, or nutrients from alcohol. All it does is turn into fat.

3. Wine decreases your risk of heart disease, but increases your risk for breast cancer

Basically, these facts prove that alcohol effects everyone differently, and there are pros and cons to drinking it. Because we as humans love to justify our actions by focusing solely on the bonuses that alcohol gives, it led me to my 30 day challenge. 

I never ever give rules and restrictions when it comes to nutrition and diet plans. Let's face it, no diet ever works long term when you are forced to cut out all of your favorite foods and drink nothing but water. However, there is one exception. I do encourage everyone to set up rules when it comes to drinking. These should be your own rules that are based on how you feel when drinking alcohol. When you start to feel the negative effects of alcohol, that means it's time to stop. This includes headaches, stomach aches, dizziness etc. These signs are your body's way of telling you that the alcohol you're consuming is starting to negatively affect your health. (Nevermind the fact that you're also probably on the verge of doing or saying something stupid as well). These physical negative effects include dehydration, organs being overworked, blood sugar crashing etc. 

My rules for drinking include:

1. No more than one glass of wine a day. This means that if I am going to have chocolate dessert after dinner, I have to decide if I want my glass with dinner, dessert, or split it and have a little for both.

2. Don't drink more than 5 times per week. It's always good to give your organs a break. Even if you are drinking in moderation

3. Take a solid month off once a year to fully detox and recharge my body.

So, it is that time of the year where I'm going to take a month off to detox and recharge. I have vowed (as of yesterday) to not drink any wine until October 1st. (yes I know this is more than 30 days, just deal with it). There is one exception, I am going to a wedding in the middle of September, and I will be drinking there, because it's a special occasion. (again, we humans are great at justifying everything)

I will continue blogging about my month long hiatus to let you know how I'm doing! Hopefully I have encouraged others to make some "alcohol rules" as well.