November 25, 2025 • 22 mins
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast, where we help
you make stopping drinking asimple, logical, and easy
decision.
We help you with tips, tools,and strategies to start living
your best life when alcoholfree.
If you want to learn more aboutstop drinking coaching, then
head over to www.soberclear.com.
(00:21):
When you stop drinking alcoholfor just 30 days, you can expect
to go through an incredibletransformation.
And today in this video, I'mgoing to guide you through 20
things that you can expect.
We're going to go one week at atime so you can be 100% ready
for the ups and the downsbecause it's not all positive.
Sure, there's going to be a lotof good things that happen, but
(00:42):
there will be some challengesthat you'll need to overcome.
So by the end of this video, youare going to be so well equipped
on tackling that first 30 days.
Very quickly, why should youlisten to me on this topic?
Well, my name is Leon Sylvester.
I haven't drank now for overseven years after 10 years of
struggle.
I tried AA meetings, I triedusing willpower, but the problem
(01:03):
is, is nothing worked.
I'd try all these conventionalways to stop drinking, and then
I'd end up drinking more.
Anyway, since stopping drinkingseven years ago, something
shifted and my life has neverlooked the same again.
Since then, I've created mycompany, Sober Clear, and I've
worked with almost 500 businesspeople and professionals to help
them get control of theirdrinking as well.
(01:23):
So I've helped literallyhundreds of people go through
their very first 30 days withouta drop of alcohol.
So not only have I gone throughthe first 30 days in my own
life, but I've also helped alarge number of people do it as
well.
People like John, who's overthree years sober, people like
Gordon, who's now over one yearsober, and also Jeff, who's
three years sober, and there'sso many others.
(01:44):
But if they can all do it, thenso can you.
So let's get into week one andtalk about the very first thing
that you can expect.
So the very first thing that youcan expect is your body will
start to look for a balanceagain.
See, we think that just becausewe've stopped poisoning our body
with this toxin with ethanol,that all of a sudden
everything's going to be okay.
And generally speaking, it willbe okay.
(02:05):
Obviously, anything's betterthan putting a toxin in your
body, but because of the waythat alcohol affects the certain
chemicals and neurotransmittersin our brain, when we finally
stop drinking alcohol, it'sgoing to feel extremely strange.
You may feel tired, you may getirritated, you may feel
restless, your focus might beworse than it's ever been.
If you've been putting a druginto your body and you stop
(02:26):
taking the drug, then of courseit's not going to feel quite
right.
And that's what most peopledescribe.
They feel like something'smissing.
And it's almost difficult toarticulate what's missing
because it doesn't feel likealcohol is necessarily missing,
but your body just feels likesomething is missing.
And this is totally okay.
A lot of people get afraid ofthis feeling, but provided that
(02:46):
you've got the right mindsetcoming into this, you can
actually use any bad feelingsthat you get in the first few
days as fuel.
You can use any negativefeelings as a reminder that your
body is starting to go through ahealing process.
Now, during the first 30 days,there's something that will make
a huge difference to you.
And it's mindset,accountability, and how you view
(03:08):
alcohol.
Now, if you want help getting toa place where you see alcohol
for what it is, so it feels likea logical choice to not drink
instead of this fight with allof these cravings and so on,
then I have good news.
So my company, Soberclear, usesa scientifically validated
system to help people getcontrol of their drinking
quickly.
You can actually go on GoogleScholar and search the word
(03:29):
Soberclear system, and you'llfind a scientific report that
shows how we get a 96%client-rated success rate, how
we get results for some peoplein under 24 hours, and you'll
see why so many people say thatit feels like somebody's flicked
a switch in their brain.
It's like the desire is gone.
Now, we are enrolling newclients right now.
It is designed specifically forbusiness people, for high-level
(03:50):
professionals, for investors,for very motivated and ambitious
people.
But if you want to see if it's agood fit and you want more
information on this, thendefinitely click the link in the
description, watch that shortvideo down below, and then you
can schedule a call to speakwith our team.
So let's get into the secondthing.
Now, the second thing that youcan expect is you can expect
large disruptions in your sleep.
That might mean you have troublefalling asleep at night.
(04:12):
It also might mean that you wakeup in the middle of the night at
say three o'clock in the morningand you can't fall back asleep.
And again, this is a very normalthing to experience.
What alcohol does is it reducessleep onset latency.
It shortens the time it takesyou to fall asleep at night.
And a lot of people are used tothat.
See, if you've been drinkingalcohol for a number of years,
then you're just kind of used tohaving some drinks and then
(04:33):
almost passing out at night.
So you might struggle to fallasleep at night, but one thing
to remember is whilst alcoholcan reduce sleep onset latency,
it destroys your sleep in thesecond half of the night.
Now, we will touch on sleepagain later in the video, but
you're just going to have tosuffer through it.
And the big thing to rememberhere is this is such a tiny
price to pay for what's to come.
(04:55):
Sure, you're gonna be a bitsleep deprived, anxiety might be
a little bit higher, but it'sokay.
Our bodies are incrediblemachines.
But just remember, this will geteasier.
It will get so much easierbecause soon you will experience
some of the best rest of yourlife.
I've worked with clients whohave drank for 20, 30, 40 years,
and they tell me that they'venever slept so well in their
(05:15):
entire life.
They can't remember when theyslept this good.
And you've got this to lookforward to.
You'll feel rested andrejuvenated, but at the
beginning, it can suck.
So the third thing that you canexpect are with cravings.
And no, I'm not necessarilytalking here about alcohol
cravings.
See, when we're drinkingalcohol, we are flooding our
brain with dopamine.
So when we stop drinking it, wealmost go into a little bit of a
(05:36):
deficit.
Things that we may find pleasurein, I don't know, five, six
weeks into our journey of notdrinking alcohol, might give us
zero pleasure when we firststop, especially in the first
few days.
Things like exercise, thingslike going on walks, reading
books, these are things that anon-drinker finds tremendous
amounts of pleasure in.
But in those first few days ofnot drinking alcohol, it's like
it doesn't give us enoughdopamine.
(05:57):
It's not a quick win.
These activities don't give usthat quick hit of the feel-good
chemical.
So our bodies kind of start tolook for it elsewhere.
So it might mean you, I don'tknow, binge watch a TV series,
it might mean that you'rescrolling on your phone, it
might mean that you're orderingtakeaway.
And do you want to know what Isay during those first few days?
So what?
You gotta learn to be kind toyourself.
(06:18):
What we don't want to do whenthis happens is we don't want to
replace alcohol with thesethings, but at least for that
first five, six, seven days,however long it takes, for me it
was only a few days, but I knowfor some of you you might have
drank for 30, 40 years.
Just go easy.
Be kind to yourself.
If you end up watching Game ofThrones and ordering a pizza,
whatever, it's so much betterthan poisoning your body with
(06:40):
alcohol.
Now, the fourth thing that youcan expect is you might just
forget why you're even doingthis in the first place.
And what I mean by this is, youknow, we live in a world that is
dominated by alcohol.
It's like everywhere we look.
You put on the TV, there it is.
You go to a sports game, thereit is.
You're watching a movie, thereit is.
You watch the news, and there itis.
It's everywhere.
(07:01):
And part of us can just almostforget.
And we can start to have thisself-talk of like, well, you
know, it's been a few days.
Do I really even want to do thisanymore?
Does it really matter?
And one of the most powerfulthings that you can do is before
you actually make the decisionto go 30 days or stop drinking,
is write down why.
Why are you doing this?
Why are you doing it?
(07:22):
Who are you doing it for?
What are you gonna gain?
What are you gonna lose if youkeep drinking?
One exercise that can be superhelpful here is just get
yourself a pen and paper andjust write down as many reasons
why you're committed to doingthis.
Talk about the bad things thatwill happen if you keep
drinking, talk about who it'simpacting, talk about the good
things that will happen if youstop and stay stopped.
That way, when all thisconditioning is just being
(07:44):
thrown at you 24-7, at leastyou've got reasons to override
them, to step above them.
And when you get a feeling ofmissing out, it's game over.
Because when you get a feelingof missing out, what happens
next?
Well, you get a craving.
And I don't know about you, butif I ever get an alcohol
craving, I'm pretty muchfinished.
Now, luckily, I don't getcravings.
I haven't had a craving in sevenyears because I see alcohol for
(08:05):
what it is.
Why would I crave putting apoison in my body that will
literally kill me, which hasscientifically been proven to
cause cancer and adds no valueto my life whatsoever.
So I don't feel any sense ofmissing out at all.
That's because I've reframed howI view alcohol.
So again, if you want help withthat, then definitely go ahead
and click the link down belowwhere you can learn more about
(08:27):
the approach that I could takeyou through.
Now, the fifth thing that youcan expect in that first week is
you may experience your firsttaste of clarity.
If you drank for a long timelike I did, then you don't
really get much clarity whenyou're drinking.
When I drank, I can alwaysremember it feeling like a fog
was over my eyes.
It was like I couldn't thinkclearly, it was hard to make
decisions, it was really hard tojust drag myself through the
(08:49):
day.
But for probably 80 to 90% ofpeople, depending on how much
and how long you've drank for,they're going to experience
their first real taste ofclarity in that first week.
But usually in that first sevendays, most people are over the
worst part of it andeverything's starting to feel
like, okay, I'm getting used tothis now.
But the real key here to getthrough that first week is just
(09:11):
be gentle.
You've got to see each day isyour body going through a small
act of repair.
It is repairing, it's healing,and it takes time.
And that's a big thing peopleforget.
There's so many people on theinternet that are just gonna
say, this is the benefit of notdrinking, that's the benefit of
not drinking alcohol.
But the reality is that firstweek can be rough.
Anyway, let's get into week twoand talk about the sick thing
(09:32):
you can expect.
So, almost guaranteed for 90%plus of people, at some point in
week two, your energy will comeback.
So instead of having to dragyourself out of bed, you'll kind
of wake up with a little bitmore of a bounce.
For the vast, vast majority ofpeople, they're gonna be
thinking clearer, they're gonnabe digesting food better, and
for a lot of people, they reallywill feel a physical difference.
(09:54):
Because think about it like thisif you've drank alcohol for 10
years, it's basically somebodypunching your liver, punching
your heart, punching yourorgans.
And when you stop consuming thatdrug that's just wreaking havoc
inside your body, of courseyou're gonna feel better.
Imagine if you'd been gettingpunched in the face every day
for 10 years.
You'd have a massive bruise, andthen all of a sudden the
swelling would go down, and youknow, people would start to say,
(10:16):
Oh, you're looking a bit better.
Like, what's changed?
Well, that's exactly what'shappening to your organs.
And I can remember when Istopped drinking alcohol, after
around one week, it was a surgeof energy.
I was immediately back in thegym, I was working with an
online coach, then I quit myjob, I started a new business,
it went well, and I was feelingpretty damn good.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'myoung, I'm only 33.
(10:37):
It's not like I stopped drinkingin my 40s or my 50s, but through
working with almost 500 peoplenow, I know that this happens to
almost everybody around thesecond week.
Now, the seventh thing that youcan expect, and this can happen
probably around week two, isanxiety can actually spike.
You've got to remember thatalcohol does reduce anxiety.
It's an anxiety-relieving drug.
(10:58):
So there absolutely will be arebound.
Now, I was very lucky here whereI didn't experience this too bad
because I think the big thingfor me is because I would often
binge drink, I would hammer itat nighttime, and then the next
day the anxiety would crush me.
So I'm pretty sure I got allthis out of the way in that
first week, but I know a lot ofpeople in that second week, it
can spike.
(11:19):
And I think a really importantthing to mention here is if you
ask me, anxiety is okay, there'sthe medical condition side of
it, but a lot of the times it'sa fear of the future.
And why it can often spike inthis second week is because if
you felt quite poor for sevendays after stopping drinking
alcohol and energy's beenfluctuating, and you know, one
day you might say, I'm gonna goto the gym, I'm gonna eat
(11:40):
healthy, and then you don'tbecause it's just a bad day.
Where the anxiety can then comefrom is we look back at the past
seven days and we start tothink, well, hang on, if I feel
like this every single day, howam I gonna deal with this
business problem, this careerproblem, this relationship
problem if I feel this bad?
And then combine that with thefact that your body chemicals
are just out of whack, then ofcourse this is going to happen.
(12:02):
But again, it's temporary.
I promise you.
I promise you that your anxiety,if you stick with this, will go
down to levels that I mean, I'mnot saying that it's going to
cure anxiety, but I mean, it'sthe next best thing.
Just because of how alcoholaffects the chemicals in our
body and the fact that when youdon't drink, you have the
confidence in yourself to tackleproblems in the future, which
(12:23):
naturally reduces anxietyanyway.
And I was talking about thiswith a new client of mine who
we're working togetherone-on-one at the moment.
And when I told him this, he waslike, that's exactly it.
If I don't drink, I know I'llhave the confidence to deal with
all of these problems.
So he already knew anxiety wasgoing to go down.
But again, this can take time.
Number eight, let's go back tosleep.
Usually, around this point,sleep will start to feel normal.
(12:46):
So, what I explained earlier isalcohol reduces sleep onset
latency.
Usually around the second week,you'll just start falling asleep
a lot faster.
But the great thing that happensaround the second week is that
the REM sleep that getsdestroyed in the second half of
the night that is no longerhappening.
So, this is when some of thereal deep rest starts to hit.
This is when you might startdreaming more.
(13:06):
You might even dream of actuallydrinking alcohol.
It's very, very common.
But I promise you, you'll startto wake up and you'll just feel
like, oh my gosh, I feelamazing.
You'll feel clear instead offoggy and gross.
I just remember when I wasdrinking, oh, it was terrible.
You'd wake up like this, like,where am I?
You know, you try to kind ofgather your memory and then you
(13:27):
go straight to the kitchen andget yourself a pint of water and
just down it and oh, yourthroat's dry.
That's gone.
That's finished.
Man, honestly, you couldn't payme to drink alcohol.
Honestly, I wish somebody wouldoffer me$100,000 to drink a
pint.
I wish they'd show me the cashand show me the beer, and I
would say, hell no.
I would not risk it.
There's no way I'm ever goingback to that life.
(13:48):
Anyway, the ninth thing that youcan expect is that you may start
now to get some real tests.
What can start happening is yourbrain can start thinking, hmm,
maybe I can start to have onedrink.
And this is usually when youstart to feel much better.
You start to think, well, maybeit wasn't that bad.
And that's why you need thatlist of reasons why you're
(14:08):
committed to doing this.
And you've also got to realizethat thinking about alcohol is
okay.
It's impossible to not thinkabout it.
But if you think about it andthen think, maybe I can have
just one, and then you see yourfriend or you turn on the news
and you see all these peopledrinking, and then you start to
make positive associations withalcohol, I promise you, it's
game over.
You need to see alcohol for whatit is.
(14:28):
It is an ethanol, there is noadvantage to consuming it.
So then when you start to think,well, maybe I could just have
one, instead, you think, well,hang on, I'm free.
Like I've freed myself from aprison, from a disgusting toxin.
Why would I even want to haveone?
Because there's no such thing asjust one drink.
And now the 10th thing that youcan expect, and this should
happen around the second week,is the bloating can go.
(14:51):
Drinking alcohol can often bloatus.
We retain a lot of water, andwhilst you're not going to have
made a miraculous transformationphysically in two weeks, that
bloating that we can get and theredness and puffiness that can
all just start to settle.
And that will get better overtime, but that's when you'll
start to see some realnoticeable differences,
especially in the face.
And at this point, you mighthave people ask you, What are
(15:12):
you doing?
You look better, you lookdifferent, you look younger, you
look like you've got moreenergy.
What's changed?
I can't promise that.
But the big thing here is thatin the second week, what you
need to do is really just focuson your commitment.
You need to be crystal clearthat you're not gonna go back,
that you're not gonna restartthe timer because you've got
through the worst of it, and nowjust things will get better and
(15:33):
better and better.
So let's get into week three andthe 11th thing that you can
expect.
So in week three, 99.9% ofpeople start to feel great.
Everything's starting tostabilize, focus, right?
Mood, energy, all of it is nowreally starting to come together
where you're just starting tofeel probably the best you felt
in a long time, especially ifyou've drank for a long time and
(15:54):
you've not had many breaks.
You start to feel calmer, right?
And that calm feeling feelsnatural rather than chemically
induced.
And pretty much all of the upsand downs that you've been
experiencing in that first twoweeks will have completely
leveled out.
The twelfth thing that you canexpect is you might feel like
you're ready to start exercisingagain and taking good care of
yourself physically.
And that's great.
(16:14):
Get yourself down to a gym, getyourself into a, I don't know,
some hobby that's active.
Play some sport, do whatever.
But because your energy's comingback and you're just feeling a
lot better about yourself, thatcan really ignite the desire to
exercise.
That's exactly what happened tome.
I remember that I was just like,right, that's it.
I'm getting fit, I'm gettingstrong.
I don't want to be a fat drunkguy anymore.
(16:34):
Like, I'm good.
And at this point as well, in myexperience and what I've heard a
lot of clients say, is thatbecause they're starting to feel
more stable, is that also it's alot easier to stick with a good
nutrition plan.
Rather than drinking and thenordering takeaway or skipping
breakfast because you're rushingin the morning.
A lot of people find it easierto just eat three solid
nutritious meals a day.
(16:54):
And I'll tell you one greatthing that can happen here, is
that if you can just commityourself to showing up to the
gym and getting on a goodnutrition plan, that will
increase your self-confidence somuch.
The 13th thing is I did say thisearlier, but you'll really start
to look different around the endof the third week.
The inflammation is gonna godown, the puffiness will go
down, your eyes are going tolook better, especially because
(17:16):
the sleep quality is justgetting better and better and
you're resting.
But you may have found that youmight have lost a little bit of
weight.
You might have lost one or twokg.
And that's why it's really goodto get yourself to the gym,
start eating properly, andreally just gain momentum with
your physical health.
The 14th thing is in your mentalclarity, and this one is huge.
At this point, the fog will havelifted.
(17:36):
Your executive functioning willhave improved so much.
You'll be sharper, you'll beclearer, and you'll be way more
decisive.
This is literally your brainrecovering.
And having mental clarity is oneof the most important things
that you can have and one of thebest benefits of all when you
stop drinking.
When you've got mental clarity,right?
You can make better decisions inyour work, you can make better
(17:56):
decisions for your family, foryour health, for your future.
You can start to really focus onlong-term gratification instead
of short-term gratification.
You can start to do things thatthe future you will thank you
for because you've got theclarity to know that, okay, if I
do something that I don't reallywant to do now, but I know that
the future me will be happy thatI do, you've got the clarity to
make that decision and do it,which means not ordering the
(18:18):
pizza, which means going to thegym.
And in that third week, the 15ththing that you can expect is in
your performance.
Everything will start to feelsmoother.
I've worked with a lot of peoplewho start making more money
around this mark, especiallythose that are working in any
kind of sales role or a smallbusiness around the third week
into things they start toperform at their peak.
A lot of people say that theirspouses are starting to treat
(18:40):
them nicer.
They're looking at them proud.
They're thinking, yeah, you'vereally done it this time.
Same with children as well.
And it's a great thing whenyou're not fighting yourself and
dragging yourself out of bed andjust kind of getting through the
day, you feel good.
You feel optimistic.
And the big thing here in thisthird week of not drinking
alcohol is it's all about doinggood things to build momentum.
You want to just start takingmassive action here.
(19:02):
Don't sit around and wait forsome change, just go for it.
So let's get into week four.
And this is the most importantweek of all.
The 16th thing that will happenis your body will start to
regenerate.
And listen, the changes thathappen in your body are just
unbelievable.
Fat accumulation andinflammation in the liver will
drop, hormones will start tonormalize, testosterone levels,
(19:22):
estrogen levels, your nervoussystem will have calmed down so
much, which means that the GABAand the glutamate systems will
have started to rebalance.
Just everything starts to getbetter.
Just imagine that.
Imagine the changes that aregoing on in your body, inside
your body.
Just because we can't see itdoesn't mean that it's not
happening.
It's very easy for us to getmotivated by, I don't know,
looking better in the mirror,right?
(19:43):
Or our clothes fitting usbetter.
But by not putting that poisonin your body, the inside changes
that are happening are so muchbetter.
The 17th thing that we canexpect is that anxiety at this
point should be down by such ahuge amount.
I'm not saying it's gonna gocompletely, right?
But I'm saying at this point itshould be 90% better.
And that's because, again, theGABA and the glutamate systems
(20:05):
will be rebalancing in thebrain, which means that the
chemical balance in your brainwill have started to normalize.
But that doesn't necessarilymean that you're not gonna have
worries and you're not gonnahave some fear in the future.
But because at this point you'vegot so much momentum, you're
feeling more equipped to dealwith those problems.
The 18th thing that you canexpect is appetite can start to
settle.
Blood sugar levels are startingto normalize now, which means
(20:26):
that you might not have thecravings for ice cream or
haribo.
And you can expect any fat lossthat you've experienced to
continue.
I've worked with dozens ofpeople who have all said that
they've not even tried to eathealthier, they just eat
whatever they want and don'tdrink, and that alone just makes
weight fall off them.
The 19th thing that you canexpect is clarity actually
starts to become the baseline.
(20:47):
You almost forget what it waslike when you didn't have the
clarity, when you had the fogover your eyes.
And just being clear-headed andthinking clearly just feels like
the new norm.
Now, one thing that we do needto be careful of is not to
forget how bad it was when wedrank, which is why I always
think that writing things downwhen you start this journey is
so important.
But feeling good will just bethe new norm.
(21:08):
And I can guarantee that thiswill happen in your final week.
Now I've saved the best tilllast, but the 20th thing that
you can expect is you will feelmore confident in the future and
in yourself.
When you drink alcohol, wearen't so confident at what's
around the corner.
We don't know if we're gonna gethit with a health scare, if our
partner's gonna leave us, ifwe're really gonna achieve the
(21:28):
life that we've always wanted.
And when you really commit tothat decision to not drink
alcohol for 30 days, I don'tcare how successful you are, I
don't care how much money you'vemade, how great your life is,
when you commit to that decisionand you follow through with it,
it will spread to every area ofyour life.
And the real focus here in thisfinal week is to focus on the
future.
It's really to keep lookingforward, it's to think, okay,
(21:50):
well, I've done this, I've donethat, what's next?
What more can I do?
Thanks for checking out the StopDrinking podcast by Soberclear.
If you want to learn more abouthow we work with people to help
them stop drinking effortlessly,then make sure to visit
www.soberclear.com.
Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast, where we help
you make stopping drinking asimple, logical, and easy
decision.
We help you with tips, tools,and strategies to start living
your best life when alcoholfree.
If you want to learn more aboutstop drinking coaching, then
head over to www.soberclear.com.
(00:21):
When you stop drinking alcoholfor just 30 days, you can expect
to go through an incredibletransformation.
And today in this video, I'mgoing to guide you through 20
things that you can expect.
We're going to go one week at atime so you can be 100% ready
for the ups and the downsbecause it's not all positive.
Sure, there's going to be a lotof good things that happen, but
(00:42):
there will be some challengesthat you'll need to overcome.
So by the end of this video, youare going to be so well equipped
on tackling that first 30 days.
Very quickly, why should youlisten to me on this topic?
Well, my name is Leon Sylvester.
I haven't drank now for overseven years after 10 years of
struggle.
I tried AA meetings, I triedusing willpower, but the problem
(01:03):
is, is nothing worked.
I'd try all these conventionalways to stop drinking, and then
I'd end up drinking more.
Anyway, since stopping drinkingseven years ago, something
shifted and my life has neverlooked the same again.
Since then, I've created mycompany, Sober Clear, and I've
worked with almost 500 businesspeople and professionals to help
them get control of theirdrinking as well.
(01:23):
So I've helped literallyhundreds of people go through
their very first 30 days withouta drop of alcohol.
So not only have I gone throughthe first 30 days in my own
life, but I've also helped alarge number of people do it as
well.
People like John, who's overthree years sober, people like
Gordon, who's now over one yearsober, and also Jeff, who's
three years sober, and there'sso many others.
(01:44):
But if they can all do it, thenso can you.
So let's get into week one andtalk about the very first thing
that you can expect.
So the very first thing that youcan expect is your body will
start to look for a balanceagain.
See, we think that just becausewe've stopped poisoning our body
with this toxin with ethanol,that all of a sudden
everything's going to be okay.
And generally speaking, it willbe okay.
(02:05):
Obviously, anything's betterthan putting a toxin in your
body, but because of the waythat alcohol affects the certain
chemicals and neurotransmittersin our brain, when we finally
stop drinking alcohol, it'sgoing to feel extremely strange.
You may feel tired, you may getirritated, you may feel
restless, your focus might beworse than it's ever been.
If you've been putting a druginto your body and you stop
(02:26):
taking the drug, then of courseit's not going to feel quite
right.
And that's what most peopledescribe.
They feel like something'smissing.
And it's almost difficult toarticulate what's missing
because it doesn't feel likealcohol is necessarily missing,
but your body just feels likesomething is missing.
And this is totally okay.
A lot of people get afraid ofthis feeling, but provided that
(02:46):
you've got the right mindsetcoming into this, you can
actually use any bad feelingsthat you get in the first few
days as fuel.
You can use any negativefeelings as a reminder that your
body is starting to go through ahealing process.
Now, during the first 30 days,there's something that will make
a huge difference to you.
And it's mindset,accountability, and how you view
(03:08):
alcohol.
Now, if you want help getting toa place where you see alcohol
for what it is, so it feels likea logical choice to not drink
instead of this fight with allof these cravings and so on,
then I have good news.
So my company, Soberclear, usesa scientifically validated
system to help people getcontrol of their drinking
quickly.
You can actually go on GoogleScholar and search the word
(03:29):
Soberclear system, and you'llfind a scientific report that
shows how we get a 96%client-rated success rate, how
we get results for some peoplein under 24 hours, and you'll
see why so many people say thatit feels like somebody's flicked
a switch in their brain.
It's like the desire is gone.
Now, we are enrolling newclients right now.
It is designed specifically forbusiness people, for high-level
(03:50):
professionals, for investors,for very motivated and ambitious
people.
But if you want to see if it's agood fit and you want more
information on this, thendefinitely click the link in the
description, watch that shortvideo down below, and then you
can schedule a call to speakwith our team.
So let's get into the secondthing.
Now, the second thing that youcan expect is you can expect
large disruptions in your sleep.
That might mean you have troublefalling asleep at night.
(04:12):
It also might mean that you wakeup in the middle of the night at
say three o'clock in the morningand you can't fall back asleep.
And again, this is a very normalthing to experience.
What alcohol does is it reducessleep onset latency.
It shortens the time it takesyou to fall asleep at night.
And a lot of people are used tothat.
See, if you've been drinkingalcohol for a number of years,
then you're just kind of used tohaving some drinks and then
(04:33):
almost passing out at night.
So you might struggle to fallasleep at night, but one thing
to remember is whilst alcoholcan reduce sleep onset latency,
it destroys your sleep in thesecond half of the night.
Now, we will touch on sleepagain later in the video, but
you're just going to have tosuffer through it.
And the big thing to rememberhere is this is such a tiny
price to pay for what's to come.
(04:55):
Sure, you're gonna be a bitsleep deprived, anxiety might be
a little bit higher, but it'sokay.
Our bodies are incrediblemachines.
But just remember, this will geteasier.
It will get so much easierbecause soon you will experience
some of the best rest of yourlife.
I've worked with clients whohave drank for 20, 30, 40 years,
and they tell me that they'venever slept so well in their
(05:15):
entire life.
They can't remember when theyslept this good.
And you've got this to lookforward to.
You'll feel rested andrejuvenated, but at the
beginning, it can suck.
So the third thing that you canexpect are with cravings.
And no, I'm not necessarilytalking here about alcohol
cravings.
See, when we're drinkingalcohol, we are flooding our
brain with dopamine.
So when we stop drinking it, wealmost go into a little bit of a
(05:36):
deficit.
Things that we may find pleasurein, I don't know, five, six
weeks into our journey of notdrinking alcohol, might give us
zero pleasure when we firststop, especially in the first
few days.
Things like exercise, thingslike going on walks, reading
books, these are things that anon-drinker finds tremendous
amounts of pleasure in.
But in those first few days ofnot drinking alcohol, it's like
it doesn't give us enoughdopamine.
(05:57):
It's not a quick win.
These activities don't give usthat quick hit of the feel-good
chemical.
So our bodies kind of start tolook for it elsewhere.
So it might mean you, I don'tknow, binge watch a TV series,
it might mean that you'rescrolling on your phone, it
might mean that you're orderingtakeaway.
And do you want to know what Isay during those first few days?
So what?
You gotta learn to be kind toyourself.
(06:18):
What we don't want to do whenthis happens is we don't want to
replace alcohol with thesethings, but at least for that
first five, six, seven days,however long it takes, for me it
was only a few days, but I knowfor some of you you might have
drank for 30, 40 years.
Just go easy.
Be kind to yourself.
If you end up watching Game ofThrones and ordering a pizza,
whatever, it's so much betterthan poisoning your body with
(06:40):
alcohol.
Now, the fourth thing that youcan expect is you might just
forget why you're even doingthis in the first place.
And what I mean by this is, youknow, we live in a world that is
dominated by alcohol.
It's like everywhere we look.
You put on the TV, there it is.
You go to a sports game, thereit is.
You're watching a movie, thereit is.
You watch the news, and there itis.
It's everywhere.
(07:01):
And part of us can just almostforget.
And we can start to have thisself-talk of like, well, you
know, it's been a few days.
Do I really even want to do thisanymore?
Does it really matter?
And one of the most powerfulthings that you can do is before
you actually make the decisionto go 30 days or stop drinking,
is write down why.
Why are you doing this?
Why are you doing it?
(07:22):
Who are you doing it for?
What are you gonna gain?
What are you gonna lose if youkeep drinking?
One exercise that can be superhelpful here is just get
yourself a pen and paper andjust write down as many reasons
why you're committed to doingthis.
Talk about the bad things thatwill happen if you keep
drinking, talk about who it'simpacting, talk about the good
things that will happen if youstop and stay stopped.
That way, when all thisconditioning is just being
(07:44):
thrown at you 24-7, at leastyou've got reasons to override
them, to step above them.
And when you get a feeling ofmissing out, it's game over.
Because when you get a feelingof missing out, what happens
next?
Well, you get a craving.
And I don't know about you, butif I ever get an alcohol
craving, I'm pretty muchfinished.
Now, luckily, I don't getcravings.
I haven't had a craving in sevenyears because I see alcohol for
(08:05):
what it is.
Why would I crave putting apoison in my body that will
literally kill me, which hasscientifically been proven to
cause cancer and adds no valueto my life whatsoever.
So I don't feel any sense ofmissing out at all.
That's because I've reframed howI view alcohol.
So again, if you want help withthat, then definitely go ahead
and click the link down belowwhere you can learn more about
(08:27):
the approach that I could takeyou through.
Now, the fifth thing that youcan expect in that first week is
you may experience your firsttaste of clarity.
If you drank for a long timelike I did, then you don't
really get much clarity whenyou're drinking.
When I drank, I can alwaysremember it feeling like a fog
was over my eyes.
It was like I couldn't thinkclearly, it was hard to make
decisions, it was really hard tojust drag myself through the
(08:49):
day.
But for probably 80 to 90% ofpeople, depending on how much
and how long you've drank for,they're going to experience
their first real taste ofclarity in that first week.
But usually in that first sevendays, most people are over the
worst part of it andeverything's starting to feel
like, okay, I'm getting used tothis now.
But the real key here to getthrough that first week is just
(09:11):
be gentle.
You've got to see each day isyour body going through a small
act of repair.
It is repairing, it's healing,and it takes time.
And that's a big thing peopleforget.
There's so many people on theinternet that are just gonna
say, this is the benefit of notdrinking, that's the benefit of
not drinking alcohol.
But the reality is that firstweek can be rough.
Anyway, let's get into week twoand talk about the sick thing
(09:32):
you can expect.
So, almost guaranteed for 90%plus of people, at some point in
week two, your energy will comeback.
So instead of having to dragyourself out of bed, you'll kind
of wake up with a little bitmore of a bounce.
For the vast, vast majority ofpeople, they're gonna be
thinking clearer, they're gonnabe digesting food better, and
for a lot of people, they reallywill feel a physical difference.
(09:54):
Because think about it like thisif you've drank alcohol for 10
years, it's basically somebodypunching your liver, punching
your heart, punching yourorgans.
And when you stop consuming thatdrug that's just wreaking havoc
inside your body, of courseyou're gonna feel better.
Imagine if you'd been gettingpunched in the face every day
for 10 years.
You'd have a massive bruise, andthen all of a sudden the
swelling would go down, and youknow, people would start to say,
(10:16):
Oh, you're looking a bit better.
Like, what's changed?
Well, that's exactly what'shappening to your organs.
And I can remember when Istopped drinking alcohol, after
around one week, it was a surgeof energy.
I was immediately back in thegym, I was working with an
online coach, then I quit myjob, I started a new business,
it went well, and I was feelingpretty damn good.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'myoung, I'm only 33.
(10:37):
It's not like I stopped drinkingin my 40s or my 50s, but through
working with almost 500 peoplenow, I know that this happens to
almost everybody around thesecond week.
Now, the seventh thing that youcan expect, and this can happen
probably around week two, isanxiety can actually spike.
You've got to remember thatalcohol does reduce anxiety.
It's an anxiety-relieving drug.
(10:58):
So there absolutely will be arebound.
Now, I was very lucky here whereI didn't experience this too bad
because I think the big thingfor me is because I would often
binge drink, I would hammer itat nighttime, and then the next
day the anxiety would crush me.
So I'm pretty sure I got allthis out of the way in that
first week, but I know a lot ofpeople in that second week, it
can spike.
(11:19):
And I think a really importantthing to mention here is if you
ask me, anxiety is okay, there'sthe medical condition side of
it, but a lot of the times it'sa fear of the future.
And why it can often spike inthis second week is because if
you felt quite poor for sevendays after stopping drinking
alcohol and energy's beenfluctuating, and you know, one
day you might say, I'm gonna goto the gym, I'm gonna eat
(11:40):
healthy, and then you don'tbecause it's just a bad day.
Where the anxiety can then comefrom is we look back at the past
seven days and we start tothink, well, hang on, if I feel
like this every single day, howam I gonna deal with this
business problem, this careerproblem, this relationship
problem if I feel this bad?
And then combine that with thefact that your body chemicals
are just out of whack, then ofcourse this is going to happen.
(12:02):
But again, it's temporary.
I promise you.
I promise you that your anxiety,if you stick with this, will go
down to levels that I mean, I'mnot saying that it's going to
cure anxiety, but I mean, it'sthe next best thing.
Just because of how alcoholaffects the chemicals in our
body and the fact that when youdon't drink, you have the
confidence in yourself to tackleproblems in the future, which
(12:23):
naturally reduces anxietyanyway.
And I was talking about thiswith a new client of mine who
we're working togetherone-on-one at the moment.
And when I told him this, he waslike, that's exactly it.
If I don't drink, I know I'llhave the confidence to deal with
all of these problems.
So he already knew anxiety wasgoing to go down.
But again, this can take time.
Number eight, let's go back tosleep.
Usually, around this point,sleep will start to feel normal.
(12:46):
So, what I explained earlier isalcohol reduces sleep onset
latency.
Usually around the second week,you'll just start falling asleep
a lot faster.
But the great thing that happensaround the second week is that
the REM sleep that getsdestroyed in the second half of
the night that is no longerhappening.
So, this is when some of thereal deep rest starts to hit.
This is when you might startdreaming more.
(13:06):
You might even dream of actuallydrinking alcohol.
It's very, very common.
But I promise you, you'll startto wake up and you'll just feel
like, oh my gosh, I feelamazing.
You'll feel clear instead offoggy and gross.
I just remember when I wasdrinking, oh, it was terrible.
You'd wake up like this, like,where am I?
You know, you try to kind ofgather your memory and then you
(13:27):
go straight to the kitchen andget yourself a pint of water and
just down it and oh, yourthroat's dry.
That's gone.
That's finished.
Man, honestly, you couldn't payme to drink alcohol.
Honestly, I wish somebody wouldoffer me$100,000 to drink a
pint.
I wish they'd show me the cashand show me the beer, and I
would say, hell no.
I would not risk it.
There's no way I'm ever goingback to that life.
(13:48):
Anyway, the ninth thing that youcan expect is that you may start
now to get some real tests.
What can start happening is yourbrain can start thinking, hmm,
maybe I can start to have onedrink.
And this is usually when youstart to feel much better.
You start to think, well, maybeit wasn't that bad.
And that's why you need thatlist of reasons why you're
(14:08):
committed to doing this.
And you've also got to realizethat thinking about alcohol is
okay.
It's impossible to not thinkabout it.
But if you think about it andthen think, maybe I can have
just one, and then you see yourfriend or you turn on the news
and you see all these peopledrinking, and then you start to
make positive associations withalcohol, I promise you, it's
game over.
You need to see alcohol for whatit is.
(14:28):
It is an ethanol, there is noadvantage to consuming it.
So then when you start to think,well, maybe I could just have
one, instead, you think, well,hang on, I'm free.
Like I've freed myself from aprison, from a disgusting toxin.
Why would I even want to haveone?
Because there's no such thing asjust one drink.
And now the 10th thing that youcan expect, and this should
happen around the second week,is the bloating can go.
(14:51):
Drinking alcohol can often bloatus.
We retain a lot of water, andwhilst you're not going to have
made a miraculous transformationphysically in two weeks, that
bloating that we can get and theredness and puffiness that can
all just start to settle.
And that will get better overtime, but that's when you'll
start to see some realnoticeable differences,
especially in the face.
And at this point, you mighthave people ask you, What are
(15:12):
you doing?
You look better, you lookdifferent, you look younger, you
look like you've got moreenergy.
What's changed?
I can't promise that.
But the big thing here is thatin the second week, what you
need to do is really just focuson your commitment.
You need to be crystal clearthat you're not gonna go back,
that you're not gonna restartthe timer because you've got
through the worst of it, and nowjust things will get better and
(15:33):
better and better.
So let's get into week three andthe 11th thing that you can
expect.
So in week three, 99.9% ofpeople start to feel great.
Everything's starting tostabilize, focus, right?
Mood, energy, all of it is nowreally starting to come together
where you're just starting tofeel probably the best you felt
in a long time, especially ifyou've drank for a long time and
(15:54):
you've not had many breaks.
You start to feel calmer, right?
And that calm feeling feelsnatural rather than chemically
induced.
And pretty much all of the upsand downs that you've been
experiencing in that first twoweeks will have completely
leveled out.
The twelfth thing that you canexpect is you might feel like
you're ready to start exercisingagain and taking good care of
yourself physically.
And that's great.
(16:14):
Get yourself down to a gym, getyourself into a, I don't know,
some hobby that's active.
Play some sport, do whatever.
But because your energy's comingback and you're just feeling a
lot better about yourself, thatcan really ignite the desire to
exercise.
That's exactly what happened tome.
I remember that I was just like,right, that's it.
I'm getting fit, I'm gettingstrong.
I don't want to be a fat drunkguy anymore.
(16:34):
Like, I'm good.
And at this point as well, in myexperience and what I've heard a
lot of clients say, is thatbecause they're starting to feel
more stable, is that also it's alot easier to stick with a good
nutrition plan.
Rather than drinking and thenordering takeaway or skipping
breakfast because you're rushingin the morning.
A lot of people find it easierto just eat three solid
nutritious meals a day.
(16:54):
And I'll tell you one greatthing that can happen here, is
that if you can just commityourself to showing up to the
gym and getting on a goodnutrition plan, that will
increase your self-confidence somuch.
The 13th thing is I did say thisearlier, but you'll really start
to look different around the endof the third week.
The inflammation is gonna godown, the puffiness will go
down, your eyes are going tolook better, especially because
(17:16):
the sleep quality is justgetting better and better and
you're resting.
But you may have found that youmight have lost a little bit of
weight.
You might have lost one or twokg.
And that's why it's really goodto get yourself to the gym,
start eating properly, andreally just gain momentum with
your physical health.
The 14th thing is in your mentalclarity, and this one is huge.
At this point, the fog will havelifted.
(17:36):
Your executive functioning willhave improved so much.
You'll be sharper, you'll beclearer, and you'll be way more
decisive.
This is literally your brainrecovering.
And having mental clarity is oneof the most important things
that you can have and one of thebest benefits of all when you
stop drinking.
When you've got mental clarity,right?
You can make better decisions inyour work, you can make better
(17:56):
decisions for your family, foryour health, for your future.
You can start to really focus onlong-term gratification instead
of short-term gratification.
You can start to do things thatthe future you will thank you
for because you've got theclarity to know that, okay, if I
do something that I don't reallywant to do now, but I know that
the future me will be happy thatI do, you've got the clarity to
make that decision and do it,which means not ordering the
(18:18):
pizza, which means going to thegym.
And in that third week, the 15ththing that you can expect is in
your performance.
Everything will start to feelsmoother.
I've worked with a lot of peoplewho start making more money
around this mark, especiallythose that are working in any
kind of sales role or a smallbusiness around the third week
into things they start toperform at their peak.
A lot of people say that theirspouses are starting to treat
(18:40):
them nicer.
They're looking at them proud.
They're thinking, yeah, you'vereally done it this time.
Same with children as well.
And it's a great thing whenyou're not fighting yourself and
dragging yourself out of bed andjust kind of getting through the
day, you feel good.
You feel optimistic.
And the big thing here in thisthird week of not drinking
alcohol is it's all about doinggood things to build momentum.
You want to just start takingmassive action here.
(19:02):
Don't sit around and wait forsome change, just go for it.
So let's get into week four.
And this is the most importantweek of all.
The 16th thing that will happenis your body will start to
regenerate.
And listen, the changes thathappen in your body are just
unbelievable.
Fat accumulation andinflammation in the liver will
drop, hormones will start tonormalize, testosterone levels,
(19:22):
estrogen levels, your nervoussystem will have calmed down so
much, which means that the GABAand the glutamate systems will
have started to rebalance.
Just everything starts to getbetter.
Just imagine that.
Imagine the changes that aregoing on in your body, inside
your body.
Just because we can't see itdoesn't mean that it's not
happening.
It's very easy for us to getmotivated by, I don't know,
looking better in the mirror,right?
(19:43):
Or our clothes fitting usbetter.
But by not putting that poisonin your body, the inside changes
that are happening are so muchbetter.
The 17th thing that we canexpect is that anxiety at this
point should be down by such ahuge amount.
I'm not saying it's gonna gocompletely, right?
But I'm saying at this point itshould be 90% better.
And that's because, again, theGABA and the glutamate systems
(20:05):
will be rebalancing in thebrain, which means that the
chemical balance in your brainwill have started to normalize.
But that doesn't necessarilymean that you're not gonna have
worries and you're not gonnahave some fear in the future.
But because at this point you'vegot so much momentum, you're
feeling more equipped to dealwith those problems.
The 18th thing that you canexpect is appetite can start to
settle.
Blood sugar levels are startingto normalize now, which means
(20:26):
that you might not have thecravings for ice cream or
haribo.
And you can expect any fat lossthat you've experienced to
continue.
I've worked with dozens ofpeople who have all said that
they've not even tried to eathealthier, they just eat
whatever they want and don'tdrink, and that alone just makes
weight fall off them.
The 19th thing that you canexpect is clarity actually
starts to become the baseline.
(20:47):
You almost forget what it waslike when you didn't have the
clarity, when you had the fogover your eyes.
And just being clear-headed andthinking clearly just feels like
the new norm.
Now, one thing that we do needto be careful of is not to
forget how bad it was when wedrank, which is why I always
think that writing things downwhen you start this journey is
so important.
But feeling good will just bethe new norm.
(21:08):
And I can guarantee that thiswill happen in your final week.
Now I've saved the best tilllast, but the 20th thing that
you can expect is you will feelmore confident in the future and
in yourself.
When you drink alcohol, wearen't so confident at what's
around the corner.
We don't know if we're gonna gethit with a health scare, if our
partner's gonna leave us, ifwe're really gonna achieve the
(21:28):
life that we've always wanted.
And when you really commit tothat decision to not drink
alcohol for 30 days, I don'tcare how successful you are, I
don't care how much money you'vemade, how great your life is,
when you commit to that decisionand you follow through with it,
it will spread to every area ofyour life.
And the real focus here in thisfinal week is to focus on the
future.
It's really to keep lookingforward, it's to think, okay,
(21:50):
well, I've done this, I've donethat, what's next?
What more can I do?
Thanks for checking out the StopDrinking podcast by Soberclear.
If you want to learn more abouthow we work with people to help
them stop drinking effortlessly,then make sure to visit
www.soberclear.com.
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