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| Nick Richards and Stuart Haystead who are both non-drinkers |
This is the sixth year in a row the spotlight has been given to alcohol in this way and the organisers hope to challenge everyone to give up booze for one day, a weekend or, if you're up to it, the whole week!
This will give you a chance to test how much of a role alcohol plays in your life and how easy it is, or not, to do without. The organisers are hoping that, whether you give up for a day, a weekend or a week, you'll use the opportunity to take stock of when you drink alcohol, why you drink, and how much you drink.
Liberte's Papillon Luck and Gareth Thomas make no secret of how little alcohol they consume - they are professionals in the fitness industry after all. But what about the members who workout in the park? We're all striving to get fitter and faster, so are there any benefits to not drinking if you're serious about doing Liberte workouts? I've been alcohol-free for under two months, while Bury member Stuart Haystead has been alcohol-free for much longer.
Here's how two Liberte members have handled giving up drink and how the tea-total twosome have found positive effects on their health.
What did you use to drink and how often did you drink it?
STUART: If we went to a pub it would normally be Guinness that I would drink, maybe two or three pints twice a week. I wouldn't drink beer at home, maybe the odd glass of wine with a meal. Never been a great drinker
NICK: Beer, vodka and wine. Not in any great quantity, but probably used to have a beer or vodka five or six days a week. I certainly didn't drink more than the average of 21-28 units a week for a man.
When did you last have a drink and why did you give it up?
STUART: I gave up alcohol about six years ago, It was making me feel really ill and causing stomach problems, I found out that I was actually allergic to it, but I went to a wedding four years ago and had three pints of Guinness. I felt so ill and toxic the next day. That was the last time I drank.
NICK: New Year's Eve 2011. I hadn't planned to give up but found I was driving a lot of Christmas and had cut down for that reason. I'd hardly had a drink for a couple of weeks and found that when I did, I was just going through the motions as it was Christmas. I also started to get bored and uninspired in the alcohol aisles of supermarkets and started to feel I was only drinking because it was the either the weekend or as a post Liberte session reward. The subject of New Year's resolutions came up as the clock raced towards 2012 and on the spur-of-the-moment I decided to banish the booze.
How hard was it for you to stop drinking and what benefits have you felt so far?
STUART: I found giving up alcohol very easy as it made me feel so much cleaner and healthier, my stomach problems went within a few days.
NICK: Much easier than I thought, even though it has only been 53 days so far. Someone asked me the other day if giving up drink was hard and I likened it to giving up going to China on holiday. If you don't book a ticket or go to an airport, you wont find yourself eating noodles in Beijing! You know what I mean. I've hidden all the alcohol in the house and told friends and family I don't drink. They haven't offered me a drop and I haven't had any desire to seek out what I know is there at the back of my cupboard.
What do you drink instead and do you miss it?
STUART: I normally drink orange juice and lemonade when we go out, At home I drink water, black decaffeinated tea, green tea or the newly discovered Matcha. I don't miss it one bit
NICK: I've got a new-found love of green tea and drink decaffeinated tea too, plus water, orange juice and milk and the odd hot chocolate if I am feeling naughty.
What health benefits have you found from not drinking alcohol?
STUART: I started cycling three years ago and my fitness started to come back and I am able to train better now without drinking I know if I was to drink now I wouldn't be able to train as hard as I do now because of the way it would make me feel.
NICK: I feel much less sluggish, especially in the park and generally better. Best of all it's nice to be able to drive everywhere without worrying if I've had a drink, nice to not wake up with a slight hangover and nice not to have to bother with buying drink in a supermarket. It may be a current novelty, but I am proud to say I don't drink and I know this alcohol-free spell, however long it lasts, will change my attitude to drink.
So that's the story with Stuart and me - we're not saying you have to stop altogether, but with plenty of other people giving up drink for a period over the next week, now could be a good time to lay off the booze, if nothing more than to see how it makes you feel. You can get more information by clicking here
