During college I got introduced to the drink of the gods thru some very sophisticated friends I made.  They were 3 siblings that used to share an apartment in Chicago and two of them enjoyed cooking and opening bottles of wine every night.  I was blessed to get invited to their dinners and developed a taste for all kinds of wines from reds to whites and everything in between.  My older siblings had always liked drinking wine and once I went back home it was something else that helped us bond.  Wine tastings became a weekend hobby.  We’d cook delicious meals to pair with our preselected and researched bottles.  We were becoming wine snobs to say the least.  This went on for my entire twenties - an entire decade! 😱.  

After I had my son, my body changed and spending a year without alcohol in my system from the pregnancy and then breastfeed made me realize that even a couple of glasses of wine would dehydrate me very easily and made my focus hazy the next morning.  I also felt lethargic the next day and needed extra coffee to get me thru the day.  It was extremely hard to focus on hard tasks because all I wanted to do was take a nap and drink liquids.  Yes - it was a full-on hangover with just one or two glasses of wine.  I was in denial because I would tell myself it was only one glass of wine so it could not have possibly make me hungover! Plus, wine drinking had been such a big part of my lifestyle for so long that it felt like I was betraying my siblings whom I shared this pleasure with or my younger self.  I kept this up for a couple more years until Covid hit and taking care of my health and my immune system became a big priority.  I also found a new passion which was to launch my own company of wide width footwear - Starwide.  It was a new and exciting venture but one that would require a lot of extra work, challenges and time.  I knew that in order for me to juggle everything I already had on my plate plus my new passion I needed my mind and my body to be in better health.

I decided it was finally time to stop having my evening glass of wine.  I started with giving it up during the weeknights and would still have it on the weekends.  No matter what studies show about red wine being good for the heart ♥️, if it makes you feel like crap then one health benefit against so many negative side effects are not worth it in my opinion. 

Here are all the benefits I gained from eliminating my evening glass of wine:

1. Regained ability to focus and concentrate on challenging tasks.  Especially when it came to launching my new company - Starwide and developing the perfect wide and extra wide with shoes for plus size women like me.  One of the most satisfying ventures I’ve started in my life 🤗♥️🙌🏼.
2. Felt less lethargic because I was no longer dehydrated so I could start walking or doing some exercise for fun.
3. My skin felt more hydrated, and my facial serums seemed to work better
4. Got a better night sleep because even if the wine relaxed me at first, it made me wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and then I couldn’t fall back asleep.
5. I felt less anxiety and depression.  I’ve always been susceptible to these two conditions and alcohol being a stimulant, made me feel extra on the edge even if I just had one glass of wine.  
6. Lost some weight although that was not the goal.  That glass of wine would make me double down on my servings of food at dinner time.  It increased my appetite so once I replaced it with water, I no longer took in the extra calories from my second servings or from the wine.  I still ate until I was full just not over the top. 
7. Found alternative ways to relax in the evenings after a long day of work such as taking a warm bath, reading a fun book, or drinking a warm cup of tea instead. 
8. Better conversations with my husband and quality time with my son.  My glass of wine was usually paired with either my dinner or I’m front of the TV watching some trashy reality TV.  Once I stopped the wine, the TV or phone browsing stopped so I started having more meaningful conversations with my loved ones. 
9. More positive self-talk.  I noticed that since drinking alcohol would increase my anxiety, I was more prone to negative feelings about being overweight or my body image in general. Giving it up helped me reconnect with my body in a positive way because I wanted to nourish it rather than damage it with alcohol.  
10. Saving money on expensive bottles of wine helped me reinvest that money into self-care items like getting my hair colored professionally more often (gray hairs were becoming very noticeable) and buying more plus size clothes and wide width shoes that felt and looked good in in my current body type while I developed my own wide width shoe brand. Now I just wear my own collection which you can find here.  Enjoy!

You’re probably thinking that only one glass of wine is not enough to wreak havoc on your system and that perhaps I was drinking a lot more, but the truth is that there have been studies done of people that are extra sensitive to alcohol and unfortunately, I happen to be one of them.  Overall, everything I gained from my wineless nights has improved my quality of life so much, that now I can go weeks without having alcoholic beverages.  I enjoy one mostly on holidays or very special occasions. 

So, there you have it, something that seems so inoffensive Can actually wreak havoc on you quality of life.  Share in the comments if you’ve been one to let go of the daily glass of wine and what the benefits have been for you. 

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With love,

Jackie Prado