#81 - Alcohol

A few drinks can be grand. The real question is what they quietly do to your week. We sit down to talk alcohol, calories, and the Irish social side of drinking, without the preachy tone and without pretending everyone should live like a monk. If you’re trying to lose fat, build consistency in the gym, or simply feel better day to day, alcohol can be the invisible speed bump, not just because of the drinks themselves, but because of what happens after.

We break down the basics that most people miss: alcohol is calorie dense (seven calories per gram), pints add up fast, and liquid calories still count even when you’re not “eating”. Then we get into the part that derails progress for nearly everyone, the next day. Poor sleep, low energy, dehydration, cravings, and the easy decisions that turn into a 1,500 calorie breakfast roll and a takeaway later. We share how we coach clients to plan for Sunday as much as Saturday, including simple food prep ideas, stocking the fridge with realistic options, and giving yourself permission to make it a rest day.

You’ll also hear practical strategies for keeping your social life while staying in control: calorie banking across the week, taking one day to maintenance, and the zebra striping approach (one alcoholic drink followed by a zero or water). We talk openly about social pressure, the awkward comments when you’re not drinking, and why a three to six month break can be the reset that changes everything, from sleep and anxiety to confidence and training momentum.

If this hits home, share it with a mate who’s stuck in the weekend loop, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. After you listen, will you try zebra striping or a three month break, and what do you think would be the hardest part?

Got questions? simply email or dm us with those questions

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Email : info@larrydoylecoaching.ie

Transcript

Welcome And Why Alcohol Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, you're listening to the Gen Pop Podcast with me, your host, Larry Doyle. Each week, I'm gonna bring in friends, guests, and experts to help enhance your health, fitness, and wellness journeys. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversations.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

You are welcome back to another episode of the Gem Pop Podcast, where this week, co-host Daniel and I were talking about alcohol. Daniel, what is the story with alcohol? Are you drunk?

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Okay. It's gonna be a funny one because uh coming from someone who hasn't drank in like what eight years to another person who's probably drank a handful of times, but you can probably count it in like one hand one of occasions you've actually drank. Twice.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Twice I've drank. My claim to fame is I've never been drunk.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Yeah. And I think I'm the opposite. Like anytime I drank, it was like I I never drank to the like I always drank to get drunk, so it was never like I I don't think I could actually there's probably two occasions where I actually drank. I didn't get drunk, so I'm like the opposite.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah, it's like it's I don't know, it's a bit of an Irish thing, it's a bit of a topic, like when you you bring and we're not coming here to preach, right? I don't want to sound like holier than thou. Uh we're here to discuss some of the insights in how you can fit it in to your intake within your calories, you know, things to be aware about, things to be conscious of, things that we coach clients through, uh giving some tips and insights and kind of like ways to manage it without removing yourself completely from the whole thing. But again, we'll obviously share our own stories and share bits and pieces of information that we've got from clients and how we manage that as well, too. But uh it's one of those ones like people think that they have to be like they have to cut carbohydrates, you have to cut alcohol, you have to cut all these things back completely. It's not the case. But if you find that you really struggle with chocolate, okay, maybe we need to really look at moderating that or maybe even pull it out completely. Same with alcohol. Um, you know, there's obviously a lot of varying factors with it all. So what's your general approach with you know, client comes in to you and says, Listen, how can I include this into my intake? How can I manage weekends that a little bit better, but still not remove my social life completely?

The Day After Is The Trap

SPEAKER_03 2:17

I always just kind of look at alcohol the same as you would like food, like it just contains calories, so you kind of need to work around your intake for that, but then also it likely requires a bit more of careful planning because let's say if somebody's going out for a night out on Saturday, for example, they likely are not going to have the best sleep going to Sunday, so they should probably schedule probably Sunday to be like a rest day from the gym. They probably won't feel like cooking or preparing much food on Sunday, or they probably won't be, you know, uh craving to eat like their chicken and broccoli that they usually eat during the week. So it's like having something kind of already maybe prepared, or else having your fridge stocked up with foods that are a bit less going to be like say pizza heavy, a bit less fast food heavy, um, that they actually will be able to eat. Because I think if it's something that's gonna be quick, easy to prepare, you're more than likely to actually have it. Whereas if it's somebody's gonna take you like 15 minutes to chop the vegetables and another half an hour for cooking, you're likely just gonna order dominoes or whatever it is. So I think even though you're gonna have to do a bit of planning to kind of work around say the calorie side of things in the lead up to it, you probably will have to kind of plan a couple of days afterwards as well because your energy is gonna be probably shot for two days afterwards, especially as you start to get older, it's gonna have longer lasting effects as well. So you need to factor that in as well. Um so I think firstly, you kind of just need to look at it the same as food, as I said, and just recognise that it does contain calories. And I think a lot of people forget that with a lot of liquids in general, even like just drinks you'd have like soft drinks or anything like that, that they still will contain calories just because you're drinking it. A lot of people think you just have it's the food you eat contains calories, but the stuff you're drinking also contains calories, so even your you know, latty, caramel, frappa, whatever the fuck it is from Starbucks, like that probably is a full meal in itself, but people don't even realise it. So firstly, just recognise alcohol has calories in it, and then just kind of plan your weekend or days around uh post-event as well.

Banking Calories With 5 2

SPEAKER_01 4:19

And this is something that I'll highlight a lot with individuals. It's like, okay, you're going out for a couple of drinks on the weekend, that's cool. The day of isn't really the issue, it's the day after is the bigger issue, and this is where it can you can end up over consuming even more uh despite the best intentions with it all, because okay, you go for a bit of a fix or a cure, you start to get a breakfast roll, you have to get a bottle of real coke with that, or a bottle of real fats, or whatever it might be with it. Now all of a sudden you're racking up like 1,500 calories. I don't know where now it's a brunch after that, and it's another thousand calories potentially coming in, where the night prior you might have just had like 1,500 calories. Now you've got like multiples over that again, and this is where it can just cascade. And again, like we're not trying to say it needs to be perfect, that you don't need to go out and have a good time. Uh, but again, it's just been aware and conscious of the implications that it can have in terms of offsetting the very hard work that you've done earlier in the week, um, potentially after reaching a new low weight, or you've achieved a little bit more fat loss, but now it's gonna so you maintain that a little bit further as well, too. There's also gonna be things you need to be mindful around that there will absolutely be fluctuations and variance on the scales. There's gonna be fluctuations and variance in your hydration levels, there's gonna be uh fatigue that's gonna be there, there's gonna be uh potentially disruption to some bowel movements, there's gonna be whatever as well. Um so there will be a disruption to a lot of things, uh, depending on the severity of the inputs, obviously, with it all. Um, but there's just a couple of things to be mindful and aware of. As you go, even two or three days thereafter as well, too, you can see it's still trying to settle back down that little bit more. Um, we will see some clients who are just a little bit more sensitive to it as well, that they go out and have a relatively tame weekend, but they'll be up like two or three kilos come Monday morning, and they find it very hard to even shift that, you know, within the next seven days. So again, it's just to be aware of how your own typical response is and to be mindful and conscious of that. Again, from the caloric point of view, yes, it is um something that needs to be aware. There's seven calories per gram of alcohol. It's something people aren't even really that aware of. You go out, you have four to five pints, you're probably looking at close to a thousand calories within that alone. You know, if you're having some food thereafter, whatever as well, it does really rack it up that little bit more. Some strategies that we look at, you know, I'm a big fan of the five-two approach, where we can keep intentional flexibility there as well, where we might pull calories back five days prior. Or Monday to Friday typically works a lot for people. They're uh more in structure with that as well, too. Kind of their normal work and week, uh, tend to not be as food focused, maybe perhaps with it all as well. So it leans into pulling calories down a wee touch. Let's say, for example, in the ease of math, you're on 2,000 calories a day, we pull you down to 1,800 Monday to Friday. You've got an extra 1,000 calories leading in towards the weekend to stay within, let's say, your deficit number, you can still go back up to maintenance a little bit further as well, too, based off that for the two days and a thousand calories as well. So again, it's it's quite easy to factor it in, but it's just being aware of it all as well, too. It's just being conscious and intentional around it. Now, you don't have to have every single calorie factored in as well, too. Like, you know, if you've got a thousand calories, but now you have two thousand calories, it's not the end of the world. Again, we need to be uh conscious and aware of the implications of going over the calories that a little bit more. Uh, but it is very easy to get back on track once you've got a structure to get back into as well. And I think that's the biggest problem. People go in blind into the weekend hoping for the best, it gets derailed like it does every weekend for them, and then they come out swinging on Monday morning, but with no strategy or plan in terms of how to get back in. And this can, again, have those kind of longer-lasted impacts and effects that you now try to cut your calories further, you put yourself into more of a uh hungry state, your recovery is shot after the weekend, and now you've got less calories coming in, it just kind of cascades, and you're ultimately setting yourself up for a pretty rough time with it all. That's where we can be a little bit more intentional around it. Obviously, you've got a hell of a lot more control, but you've got structure as well. Um, so what kind of strategies do you use and implement then, Daniel, leading in towards weekends with clients?

Zebra Striping And Social Pressure

SPEAKER_03 8:10

I think exactly what you said there about kind of like say banking calories or even just say taking the whatever day it is, say Saturday, up to maintenance. So instead of like having uh bank your calories, you can just say, right, we're gonna have six days out of seven out of deficit, just one day at maintenance. Because I think for some people, depending on like if they're on lower calories, they might kind of find it very hard to kind of bank calories throughout the week. So bringing them up to maintenance for that one day is gonna be a lot easier, um, especially if it's like a situation where it's just like a once-off that they might only socialize in that kind of situation once every four months, it's not gonna really be a big deal, the grand scheme of things. On the day, then itself, I kind of favour like having a bit more uh micronutrient-dense meals earlier in the day along with some protein. You can kind of bank calories that way, but again, you're kind of loading up on micronutrients leading into the event. But then for the event itself, one of my kind of favourite approaches with clients is like the zebra striping uh strategy where like you kind of chase every alcoholic drink you have with like a non-alcoholic equivalent or even just a soft drink or water, whatever your kind of choice is, because again, a lot of people it's the social element of drinking that they enjoy, or that's kind of maybe the reason that they do drink and they kind of feel like left out if they don't have you know their bottle of Heineken or whatever it is that they have in the pictures and they have to have the label perfectly pointed towards the camera to make sure it's like everyone needs to know why I'm drinking, whatever. Whereas you don't seem to kind of get judged if you have a bottle of like say Heineken Zero there, whereas if you had like a glass of coke, people be saying, like, oh, you're not drinking, but because you still have a green bottle, you kind of tend to kind of fit in a bit better. So, number one, you're kind of reducing the alcohol intake, but you're also kind of reducing the likelihood of you getting absolutely shit-faced, and you're gonna be reducing your calories to a degree because the non-alcoholic, again, is still gonna contain calories, but it's gonna be far less to a degree of an actual alcoholic equivalent. So I think the zebra striping approach is one of my favourite because it's still kind of a middle ground between you're reducing your intake and you're not cutting it out, so you're kind of getting the best of both worlds.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Yeah, and it's really key just to have again that strategy and structure. Like it's funny you were talking about like having the drink in your hand and people like not recognizing I was on one of the very rare nights where I actually go out and socialise. It was like around Christmas time. I was out with a group and I had um a pint glass with uh my wadi in it. And like people said to me, I was like, Do you not feel a bit stupid just standing there with the my wadi in your hand? And I was like, you're also holding a glass bottle in your hand with liquids in it. Like this is no different to what you're doing as to what I'm doing as well, too. And I kind of just feel like, Yeah, you're right, this is fucking pretty much the same thing, it's just got different things in the glass, and I'm like, Yeah, there's no like I'm socializing, you're socializing, we're both drinking liquid. It's like there's no big problem here, and as and this is something like people are really worried about that you know, their friends are gonna judge them, or that there's someone gonna pass a comment or whatever. Like first and foremost, that's the other person's issue that they're just kind of yeah, what's the what's the phrase I'm looking for? That they're shadowing onto you, whatever the fuck the phrase is, uh projecting I'm looking for. Um that's just their own shitting issues that they're projecting on as well, too. That it's their insecurities that oh, what would someone say to me if I wasn't drinking or whatever, so too? So there's never an issue. I kind of have a fun use of it where people will ask me, geez, why aren't you drinking? Like, because obviously, you know, if it's a woman, they're gonna be asked, Are you pregnant straight away? But for me, obviously, I can't be pregnant because men can't get pregnant, uh, even in 2026. But I'll be asked, uh, why aren't you drinking, or why don't you drink? And I'll just come back with something ridiculous. I'm like, why don't you do heroin? And people like look at me like I'm like fucking got five heads, and I'm like, Yeah, like why don't you do heroin? It's like, because I don't want to. It's like I'm fucking not into it. I was like, my point exactly, I'm not into it. I don't want to drink alcohol. Um, and it's not even from a the like fitness or the gym guy point of view, I'm just not into it. Um personally, like back in the day, I wouldn't have needed you know, alcohol in me to go up and chat to a girl or to get up on the dance floor or to do whatever. So it's like I also just assumed I'd be a bit too much of an arsehole if I did drink as soon as I'll do, and uh probably stripping off and doing my Chip and Dale impersonation or something that if it did have some alcohol on board, so it's probably why I don't drink. Um and I've never drank, it's just been not been something I've been into. But people will often pass comments, or people will say something, but again, that's their own insecurities and projections. But again, it's a long roundabout kind of interjection there with the someone asking me, like, what like do you feel awkward standing there with that in your hand? I'm like, no, you're the one who probably feels awkward by it, so it's all cool. Um have you ever had that in recent years where people are kind of commenting?

Quitting Stories And Grey Area Drinking

SPEAKER_03 13:06

Um not necessarily. Like, I think since I since I stopped drinking like eight years ago, I don't think I've really been in situations like in bars. Like I've literally been in a pub for 15 minutes in the last eight years, and that was literally to go in and click somebody. Um outside of that, it would have been like say if I was at friends' house and they're having wine, everyone kind of knows I don't drink, so they don't really care. Um so I've never really had that situation where someone's like kind of saying, like, oh, you you like why aren't you drinking or whatever? But to kind of go back to what you were saying, I did have a situation when I was living in Canada that I remember kind of thoughts in my head of like I think I'm gonna like reduce or at least stop drinking because it's it just does not suit me. And I actually um a person I was living with at the time kind of like noticed that there was some sort of a change and he just wrote to me one day saying, like, is everything alright? Like he sent a bit quiet the last couple of days, and I said, Yeah, I'll talk to you when I get home. And when they came home from work, they said, like, alright, what's happening? And I just said, I think I'm gonna take a step back from like drinking for a while and explain my reasoning why, and like their response to that was, but you need to have fun. And that kind of solidified in my head, okay, wow, I definitely need to take a step back from drinking. Um, but like it took me probably a year after that to kind of actually fully step back from it because I like still found it very strange kind of going out and not drinking. So I might have intentions of going out not drinking, but then that would quickly change once I got out. It's like I don't feel comfortable in a fucking crowded place, I need to just have a drink. Um it is such a common thing, and I've talked to a lot of people in the last eight years that would be you know in their early twenties, even mid-twenties, um, that they know that I don't drink, and they're asking me how do they stop? Do they want to reduce the amount they drink, or do they even want just want to straight out just want to quit, do want to stop, but they don't know how because again, especially as you said, like number one being Irish, number two, if you're living in like a rural area, there isn't much stuff for people to do. So like you kind of feel like that you're stuck doing that, and I think that's what it can make it hard for a lot of people to reduce drinking, as well as like, but that's how I enjoy my time with my friends, like we don't really have anything else to do, so like if I remove that from my life, that's gonna remove a big kind of connection between the friends' group, so that's why I can kind of completely emphasize feel a lot of empathy towards people when they kind of say they struggle to stop, like they're not alcoholics, but like I can see and understand like why they would find it difficult to kind of take a step back.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

Yeah, they could they kind of think there's gonna be this huge void that they won't be able to have that social life or to have those interactions, and uh again, like when I don't brag about it, but like people say you're not drinking, I'll be like, Oh, I don't I don't drink, and they'll come back and say, Jesus Christ, fair play to you. As if it's some massive accomplishment that you don't drink. But obviously, from my point of view, I've never drank, so I've never dealt with that kind of no longer drinking. This has just been what I've always done, and you know, so for me it doesn't really feel that different, but it's very interesting to see the inputs and feedback from people when they will say, Jesus Christ, fair play to you. Like that's incredible. Like to me, it's just like that's again normal, but it does show that there's a great fear around change or that the social life is going to change, or your social circle is gonna change, and maybe your social circle does need to change, and maybe that can be one of the major catalysts because again, it's like you know, the year the average of the five people you hang around with most, and if they're all piss heads and not really doing a whole lot other than pissing up again the wall on the weekends, well, maybe you need to change, and it can be a very good thing for you. Um, because obviously a lot of people listening to the podcast are going to be coming from an interest in their health and fitness and overall, I don't even want to say like personal development, but self-development can be a huge part, and alcohol can be a massive factor that is holding people back, and we'll have it from a lot of clients coming on board saying, you know, alcohol is a factor. I don't like who I am when I'm drinking, or I don't like the person I'm the day after, or you know, I get the fear, or I'm, you know, nice uh not so nice to be around with the kids or whatever it may be. And ultimately they're looking at making some form of life change, and it's very hard to keep up being that person when you are looking to make substantial change to your health and fitness as well, too. It's very hard to interlink both of those at the same time, and it is often one of those catalysts that creates a massive amount of change. And for those who are listening, it's something I would implore you to explore with it in terms of the avenues of removing alcohol, even for a short period of time. You don't have to be like, I'm now going to AA meetings or I'm now going to, you know, social clubs that only are involved with people who don't drink alcohol. Like you can still just remove it and not have to post about it on social media like you see a lot of people doing. Because it ends up being becoming a big thing, and the lit the you know, the bigger the thing you make of it, the more of an issue it can be. More of a red fucket button is kind of there. Um, but it's something I would implore people, and not again, I'm trying to be not preachy here coming from someone who doesn't drink, but to explore that and how you find yourself and the versions of yourself, because again, like when people are completely inebriated, they're the versions of themselves that they turn into aren't all really that good at times. So again, you might find some great positive change. You might find that all of a sudden you're out doing different activities on the weekend because you're finding that void that you were trying to fill has now been filled with something else as well, too. Um so what did you find? What was the the changes initially you found, right? Obviously the social setting is going to be one, but you were still going out enjoying it. Uh what were the other changes that you noticed like you started getting into your health and fitness and training that a little bit more than two, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:53

Yeah. Um funny enough, I think it was actually it was about six months before I actually originally signed up uh to be coached by yourself that I actually kind of like had the thoughts of like I need to kind of pull back on this and then signed up with you, and I think I drank once maybe No, I think. Two year old check-ins and I'll see I know it'll be in there because I can't I actually did. I still remember Cindy when email saying, like, oh I'm planning having a couple of drinks because a cousin of mine is coming to visit. I was living in Canada at the time and she was coming to visit, and I was like, Oh, I'm planning to have a couple of drinks. But I think I drank like three times that year, and then it was the end of that year is when I kind of like stopped. But like I kind of just like went I wouldn't say cold turkeys, it's the wrong analogy to use in this situation, but like I just kind of cut out a lot of socializing because I realized that like a lot of my socialising was just built around that. Um I used to go with people from work and I literally would like order coffee and they would they ever nice to be drinking, but like the main difference there as well was I was working with a lot of people from different cultures, different backgrounds, different nationalities and stuff. So like they had a completely different approach to drinking, so it was a social thing of like three, four drinks done. Whereas I remember going out with them one time and it was just before Christmas, it was like kind of like a it wasn't a Christmas party, but it was just like, oh, we're finishing next week, let's go out. And I finished at four, went out with people at four, then they started leaving. The next crowd of people started coming in, and they were everyone was saying, You have to stay, you're Irish. So I was like, and I almost I can remember feeling like a sense of pride that being like, Yeah, I am actually representing my country here.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

I have to kind of show them being Irish.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Yeah, I have to kind of like live up to that role, as you said. Like, I have to kind of prove to them, like, yeah, yeah, that we're known for drinking, we have to kind of do this. And I stayed there for the entire night, and again, not to give too much information. That night resulted in me falling down the stairs, uh, that I still actually can feel the repercussions of it because I bruised my tailbone and flew home for Christmas a week later, sitting in the middle seat, and I had to keep twisting and turning. Um I bent back my tome on my right hand that I can still actually feel weakness in now. I it was snowing over there at the time, and I walked home afterwards, but I ended up passing out in the toilet in the place we were, so they had to help me out, and I kind of felt like no no I can walk myself. Walked, but I'd have to like stop to puke on the street and way home. And I woke up in the morning after pissing the bed, and I was like, right, this definitely has to stop anyway. And that that was that was it. And like the thing is I think people listen to that and they might be like, that's a bit fucking mental, but like I wasn't an alcoholic or I wasn't alcoholic dependent. I'm what people probably would confirm would refer to as like gray area drinking, where you're kind of between like normal social drinking and alcohol dependent, because like I would never think about alcohol, but once alcohol became a thing, it was an all out thing, and I think that's where a lot of people kind of fit in because they don't feel like, Well, I'm not drinking Monday to Friday, like it's not a problem, but when they do drink, it is a problem then. And I think that's when people find it very hard to kind of take a step back because They don't necessarily see it as a problem because it's not affecting their work life or their relationships. Because when they go out at the weekend, they're with their friends and they're doing the same thing, so it's like it's all normal to them. There's a lot of them to have a situation like that where I had that. I was like, Jesus Christ, like I have to get a control of this.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

There would have been many times with my friends that I grew up with and in the younger 20s and stuff, been out with them, you know, we would have been out having a crack, we were all single lads and doing whatever. And the amount of times I can genuinely say, like, there was never fight, like there was never any fights in our group, like there was never a literally never a scrap. But like the amount of times I've saved them from completely breaking themselves up or walking out under a car or like genuinely, like if I wasn't there, there would have been some life-altering intervention like needed from it all. Um multiple times. Like one of the one of the lads in particular, I was known as his Guardian Angel, because like he was getting so fucked up that I like I I lost count of how many times I've genuinely got him out of like really potentially hairy situations that you know would have potentially had like massive repercussions with it all, or found him somewhere, or whatever. And it's like, you know, when you're in your 20s, obviously you're you're learning about the world and figuring shit out, but a lot of people are still carrying this into their 30s and 40s, and it's it shouldn't be considered normal as well, too. And again, I'm not trying to be preachy with it, but it's definitely something that you know, if you're listening to this and you are struggling with the intake, and we're not trying to become alcoholics anonymous here or whatever with it, but it's like you should probably reach out and get some help. You should probably have a chat with a professional on some level because you can see a massive amount of impact with uh people and their personalities and their lives as well, too, right? So again, I'm not gonna get too preach on it, but definitely worth looking into. Um, I would implore people not even to do it as a challenge with like a dry January or a dry fucking July or whatever it might be, but just like give it up for a little while, see how you feel. And chances are you're probably gonna feel better from it as well, too. Um, I've yet to come across anyone who said, you know what, I felt better while I was drinking more alcohol. Um now, again, you might have different social settings and scenarios and challenges with that, but that's fair as well, too. And I think it gives good change because it allows you different avenues, like you have to find different hobbies, different interests, um, different things to do, different activities. That doesn't have to be the gym. We're not saying you need to go out hiking every weekend or do whatever, but you will find out more fun things you can do that do involve other places than bars and pubs and clubs as well, too. Um we've chatted about how to integrate it, we've chatted about the caloric awareness, we've chatted about you know maybe bringing more lifestyle awareness there. Is there anything else you feel you know worthwhile to add in here, Daniel, to the conversation?

SPEAKER_03 24:52

Look, I think just to kind of like add on to what you were saying there about kind of like giving it a break, that uh I think it is like because when I stopped drinking, I think I said I'm gonna stop for a year, but then once I kind of reached the year point, and I've heard this from a couple of people as well that they've done the same thing, that you kind of feel like, do you want I actually don't think I'm ever gonna drink again because you've kind of seen the benefits of not drinking that you realize I actually don't need it. But I think that actually, again, I wouldn't use the word challenge, but I think just like committing with yourself to like saying spend the next maybe three to six months totally refraining from alcohol, and because if you're listening to this podcast, you're likely somewhat invested in your health and fitness, the gym, nutrition, whatnot. Invest more time and attention into that. You likely will find because you're not drinking, your sleep is actually going to improve, your weekends are going to be a lot more productive. You'll find that because you're actually going to the gym and you're committing to something for three to six months, you probably will start to look better, your confidence will naturally start to rise with that. You won't feel probably as stressed at work, you won't feel as anxious. So you'll actually find that a lot of the things that we were trying to solve with drinking start to improve already, and that's when you start to feel the benefits of it, and that's when again, as I said, you don't have to give it up forever if you don't want to, but like at least then you can kind of make a decision, okay. Do I actually really want to drink now? And then you can kind of maybe work on right, how do I actually just fit this into my lifestyle? Because I've actually created a new lifestyle for myself that I know that alcohol doesn't fit in fully, but at least I can kind of like have it here and there occasionally in kind of you know in controlled manner in controlled ways. So I think, as I said, like an as you said, just do it for maybe three to six months. And if that's an idea that kind of like scares you, then that's when you really do need to kind of like approach it. You really do need to kind of maybe speak to somebody because I think if the thought of just giving up something completely for three to six months, you know, causes fear, causes worry, then that is definitely a sign that there is a problem somewhere.

Reach Out And Coaching Options

SPEAKER_01 26:50

Well, it shows that there's a growth potential there as well, and you can lean into that challenge. Like, if you know if something makes you that little bit nervous or scared, it's probably worthwhile pursuing with that as well. Too. Um, let's wrap it up there. I think it's been very useful. I think you know it's gonna help a lot of people. It's obviously a very Irish thing, and there's a lot of Irish listeners with this. If you found you know some useful insights in this, if you feel like sharing your own stories with us, reach out touchbase, drop us a DM. Um, we're always here at the chat, always here to open up. And again, if you're looking for some coaching to improve the health and fitness and wellness, we're here for that as well. Uh, you'll find all the links within uh the show notes as well, too, in terms of how to be able to reach out and touch base and get a little more information from us. Daniel, it's been a pleasure as always.