71: No Alcohol for 30 Days? Here’s Why You Should Consider It + What Happened When I Ditched It
No Alcohol for 30 Days? Here's Why You Should Consider It + What Happened When I Ditched It
Are casual drinks sabotaging your fitness progress? Learn how alcohol affects sleep, recovery, and muscle building, plus what happens when you take a 30-day break from drinking.
Weekend margaritas. Post-workout brunches. Wine after a stressful day. These feel like harmless rewards, right? Part of living your life and enjoying yourself. But what if those "casual" drinks are quietly sabotaging your fitness progress in ways you haven't even considered?
In this week's episode of the Broads podcast, Tara gets real about alcohol's impact on your body, from sleep quality to strength gains, and shares what happened when she decided to ditch it. And before you panic thinking this is going to be some preachy "quit drinking forever" lecture, relax. This is about understanding what's actually happening in your body so you can make informed choices.
Ready to find out if alcohol is holding you back? Let's dive in.
The Truth About Alcohol and Your Fitness Goals
Here's what most people don't realize: even moderate drinking can have a significant impact on your fitness progress. We're not talking about binge drinking or getting wasted every weekend. We're talking about the glass (or two) of wine with dinner, the beers on Friday night, the brunch mimosas on Sunday.
Those "casual" drinks? They're affecting your body in ways you probably haven't connected the dots on.
How Alcohol Sabotages Your Sleep
You might think alcohol helps you sleep, you know, that drowsy feeling after a couple of drinks that makes you pass out easily. But here's the reality: alcohol seriously disrupts your sleep quality.
Alcohol suppresses REM sleep, which is the restorative phase of sleep where your body repairs itself, processes information, and regulates hormones. You might fall asleep quickly, but you're not getting quality, deep sleep. Ever notice you wake up feeling groggy after drinking, even if you got "enough" hours? That's why.
And poor sleep doesn't just make you tired, it impacts everything:
Your recovery from workouts
Your ability to build muscle
Your hunger hormones (hello, cravings)
Your energy and motivation
Your stress levels and mood
When you're not sleeping well, you're fighting an uphill battle with every other aspect of your health and fitness.
Alcohol Kills Your Recovery and Muscle Growth
If you're strength training (and you should be), alcohol is working directly against your goals. Here's how:
1. It disrupts protein synthesis
After you train, your body needs to repair and rebuild muscle tissue. This process called muscle protein synthesis, is how you get stronger and build muscle. Alcohol interferes with this process, meaning your body can't repair and build muscle as effectively.
All those hard sets you're grinding through in the gym? Alcohol is literally diminishing their effectiveness.
2. It increases inflammation
Working out creates some inflammation, that's normal and part of the adaptation process. But alcohol adds extra inflammation on top of that, which slows down your recovery and can leave you feeling sore and beat up for longer.
3. It dehydrates you
Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it makes you pee more and dehydrates your body. Dehydration impacts your performance, recovery, joint health, and pretty much every physiological process in your body. Trying to recover from a tough workout while dehydrated? Good luck.
The Metabolism and Body Composition Impact
Let's talk about what alcohol does to your metabolism and body composition goals.
When you drink alcohol, your body prioritizes metabolizing it over everything else, including burning fat. Your body sees alcohol as a toxin (because it is), so it stops burning fat and focuses on getting the alcohol out of your system first.
This means:
Fat burning is put on hold
The calories from alcohol (which are empty calories with zero nutritional value) still count
You're more likely to overeat because alcohol lowers your inhibitions and increases hunger
Ever notice you make worse food choices after a few drinks? That's not a coincidence. Alcohol affects your decision-making and increases cravings for high-calorie, high-fat foods.
And here's the kicker: alcohol is 7 calories per gram (fat is 9, protein and carbs are 4). Those drinks add up fast, and they're not contributing anything positive to your nutrition.
What Happens When You Take a Break from Alcohol
Alright, so we've covered the problems. But what actually happens when you stop drinking, even temporarily?
Tara shares her own experience ditching alcohol, and the changes were noticeable:
Better sleep quality
Within days of stopping drinking, sleep quality improves dramatically. You fall into deeper, more restorative sleep. You wake up feeling actually refreshed instead of groggy. Your body can finally do the repair work it's supposed to do while you sleep.
Faster recovery and better workouts
When your body can recover properly, you show up to your workouts feeling stronger and more energized. You're not dragging through sessions feeling depleted. Your performance improves, and you're able to push harder and lift heavier.
More energy throughout the day
No more afternoon slumps. No more relying on caffeine just to function. When you're sleeping better and your body isn't constantly working to process alcohol, you have more consistent energy throughout the day.
Better body composition results
Without alcohol interfering with fat burning, protein synthesis, and recovery, you actually see the results of your training. Your body can build muscle more effectively, burn fat more efficiently, and respond to your training the way it's supposed to.
Mental clarity and mood stability
Alcohol affects your neurotransmitters and hormones. When you take a break, you often notice improved mental clarity, more stable moods, and less anxiety. You're not riding the rollercoaster of alcohol's effects on your brain chemistry.
How to Successfully Take a Break from Drinking
If you're thinking about trying a 30-day break from alcohol (or even just cutting back), here are some tips to make it easier:
1. Pick your timing strategically
Don't start right before a wedding, vacation, or major social event. Pick a month where you have more control over your schedule and fewer temptations.
2. Find alternatives you actually enjoy
Stock up on drinks that feel special but aren't alcoholic. Fancy sparkling water, kombucha, mocktails, herbal tea, whatever makes you feel like you're not missing out.
3. Plan for social situations
Think ahead about how you'll handle social events. Have your go-to non-alcoholic drink ready. Remember that most people don't care if you're drinking or not, and if they do, that's their issue, not yours.
4. Focus on how you feel
Pay attention to the benefits you're experiencing. Better sleep, more energy, better workouts, these tangible improvements make it easier to stay committed.
5. No judgment, just curiosity
This isn't about being perfect or proving anything. It's an experiment to see how your body responds. Approach it with curiosity, not judgment.
The Bottom Line: Knowledge Is Power
This isn't about never drinking again or feeling guilty about enjoying yourself. It's about understanding the real impact alcohol has on your body so you can make informed decisions.
Maybe you decide to take a 30-day break and see what happens. Maybe you just cut back to drinking less frequently. Maybe you decide the trade-off is worth it for you. Whatever you choose, at least you're making that choice with full awareness of what's happening in your body.
But if you've been frustrated with your progress, struggling with sleep, feeling like your workouts aren't paying off, dealing with low energy, alcohol might be a bigger factor than you realize.
Ready to Try It?
Curious about what a 30-day break from alcohol could do for your fitness, sleep, and energy? Listen to the full episode here to hear more about Tara's experience and get all the details on alcohol's impact on your training.
Want to maximize your training results? Try Broads for 7 days free and get structured strength training programs designed to help you see real progress. When you combine smart training with lifestyle choices that support your goals, that's when the magic happens.
Ready to ditch the BS and start feeling strong in your body? Work 1:1 with BroadsCOACH to get custom programming + nutritional guidance to finally reach your goals. Learn more HERE.
Find Tara on Instagram: @taralaferrara | @broads.podcast | @broads.app
