PODCAST - Top 10 Reasons I Stopped Drinking (I Got Life-Changing Results)
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I'm your host Johnny Ha, an ultra runner endurance athlete, and yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer nor run a marathon, let alone a hundred K ultra. I prove them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get started.
Maybe you're considering giving up alcohol or maybe you have for a while and you are starting to experience some of these amazing results no matter what. Today I'm gonna share with you how [00:01:00] my journey of giving up alcohol and only drinking one or. Two times max per year has completely changed my life.
These are my top 10 reasons why I stopped drinking. Now for a long time, I have thought about how great of an athlete can I be? How great of a human can I be if I just. Didn't drink alcohol anymore. I'd already started eating healthier. I've never really smoked, done marijuana or any other type of illicit drugs, but I did really like drinking ever since I went and studied abroad in London.
I really enjoyed the social aspects of drinking. I enjoy feeling how I. Felt while drinking. Obviously when you drink too much, it doesn't feel great, but there is this sweet spot where you feel amazing. I get it. I lived that for a long time now. I would never consider myself an alcoholic. I've always been able to [00:02:00] take a step back and stop drinking, but I never really took enough time off to really realize how much of a superpower it is not to drink.
Now, back in 2015, I did wake up one morning, super hungover, went to a hot yoga class, and even though I was doing really well in the class, I thought to myself, what would I be capable of if I wasn't hungover? What would my body be able to do if I wasn't putting myself through this? And that really brings me to my first reason why I stopped drinking.
I am stronger and faster than I ever would be if I was still drinking. And this really clicked with me a couple of years ago talking to my buddy Robbie, and how he explained it to me, and I did a bunch of research to support this claim is [00:03:00] once alcohol or any sort of substance. That is poisoned to our bodies, enters our body.
Our body starts rerouting, redirecting energy away from the basic functions to expel this poison to get rid of it. This toxin out of our bodies. Well, what does this mean? Even with a little bit of alcohol, your body. Redirects energy that is supposed to help you function at a high level that's supposed to help you heal your muscles.
That is supposed to help you get faster and stronger because when we work out, we're putting pressure and stress on our bodies, and then our bodies recover. Our bodies heal and they rebuild and they rebuild even better. One of the things I used to do is I would take a really long bike ride and then have three or [00:04:00] four beers after I thought I was doing myself a favor, giving myself calories.
But instead, I was completely throwing my body off from recovering and really building myself up to be stronger and faster. Now that I don't drink for at least three to four months before a race, and I really only drink one or two times per year. Max, my body is able to stay stronger and faster. Now, I took 14 months off total from drinking, and then I took about another seven off before having half a shot of Saki.
Which is about this much. And, uh, about a week later I had this much wine, and it's been about another month or two since I even did that. So in the past three years, I've probably only drank three to five times total. And once I realized that cutting [00:05:00] alcohol out of my life made me stronger. Faster. It made my brain think about how much better I could get and be in other areas of my life, and then I realized that I am more motivated and productive more often.
What I find is even if I get a little bit of alcohol in my system the next day, I lack at least a little bit of energy. It is a little bit harder to get outta bed. It is a little bit harder to go outside and run to grab my weights and lift to go to that hi class to go to yoga. It is a little bit harder.
To record that YouTube video, it is a little bit harder to serve my clients, to serve you just because I had a little bit of alcohol. So what I've found is by taking alcohol outta my life, I'm more motivated, more productive, more often. And guess what? I never have hangovers. [00:06:00] I can stay up late hanging out with friends, drinking na beer.
I'm actually gonna do that tonight. I'm going to a game night. And everyone there like no one's gonna really drink that much, but. My friends know that I'm not gonna drink. They know I'm gonna drink sparkling water and I'm gonna drink NA beer. And guess what? I'm gonna be able to get up tomorrow morning and go run, go hike, go do a HIIT workout, and be at my best for the people around me.
Number four, I'm at my best for my family and friends. This is extremely important. When I was in college, I didn't have a bunch of people relying on me, or at least I didn't think I did. And that's really the older we get, the more responsibilities we have, the more people, the more animals, the more beings, the more things that we have relying on us.
And I know. It can feel real good to grab that beer, grab that glass of wine, grab that [00:07:00] saki, and have some at the end of a hard day, at the end of a hard week. But my thought is, and this is why I don't tell myself that I'm never gonna drink again. 'cause that is a hard ask that causes panic in my mind. Now, if you are an alcoholic, you have to.
Not ever drink again. You can't be like, oh yeah, I might drink next week. You can't do that. So I understand. I'm not a healthcare professional, and I highly recommend that you speak with your healthcare professional. You work with your healthcare professional. I have a disclaimer in the show notes and in the YouTube description, but when I look at this, this is so important to me.
I want to be able to be there for my family in every way possible, and by cutting alcohol outta my life, I'm able to do that. I'm able to get up in the middle of the night if I need to. I'm able to have deep conversations when I need to. I'm able to do all these things because I am at my [00:08:00] best. When you're at your best, you're able to give your best.
If you're not at your best, you can't give your best. By taking alcohol out of my life, I've been able to be at my best more often. This may be the number one reason why I don't drink more than one to two times per year. Number five. I can drive whenever I like. This used to stress me out so much. Even if I had one or two drinks at a brewery, at a friend's house, driving home, always stressed me out.
I was stressed that I would do something stupid. I was stressed that a cop would pull me over. I just never liked the idea of even driving on a little bit of alcohol. So to this day, when I do. Partake in alcohol one or two times a year. It is only in a controlled setting. It's in a setting. I know I'm not going anywhere.
I know that no one's gonna be relying on me, but I definitely make sure that I'm not driving [00:09:00] and now that I don't drink, I don't even have to worry about that. I can drive whenever I like. If I need to go somewhere in the middle of the night, I can do it. If I need to go somewhere first thing in the morning, I can do it.
If I need to drive home from somewhere, if I need to drive other people home who've been drinking, I'm able to do that. I can drive. Whenever. I'd like another practical one here. Number six. It's easier to maintain a healthy weight. This is just math. Even if you're having a light beer. One light beer a couple times a week.
Let's say that we're on the low end of how many calories in a light beer. So let's say one to two light beers a week. You're looking at a hundred to 200 calories per week. Extra calories now. This may not seem like a lot on a week to week basis, but let's say that this was putting you over the top for your caloric intake for the week, and this is [00:10:00] just if you're having a light beer.
If you're having a IPA one to two a week, you're looking at 300 to 600 cals per week. Now, you may be somewhere in between or you may be way above this, but this is fascinating. Did you know that there are 3,500 cals and one pound? One pound, so if you're looking to lose weight or maintain weight, and you are drinking.
One to two beers per week, and this is taking you over the top. Well, in 17 to 35 weeks, you're gonna gain one pound. Crazy. But let's look at, if you're having an IPA, just having one IPAA week, you're gonna gain a pound every 10 or 11 weeks for having two IPAs a week. You're gonna gain a [00:11:00] pound every five or six weeks.
Or you're just have to eat less. But these are empty calories. These are calories that don't have very much nutrition in them. So by cutting this out, you're immediately helping yourself maintain a healthy weight. It becomes so much easier. Not to mention when you do drink, you can have something called the drenches.
Or you start eating more unhealthy foods. So when you cut this out, you're not just cutting these calories out, you're cutting all those fast food calories out, or you are reducing them. When I work one-on-one with a client and they come to me and they're like, Johnny, I really wanna lose some weight. This is where I like to start because even if you reduce your alcohol intake, you could lose a lot of weight quickly, and if you keep your alcohol [00:12:00] intake in check, you can maintain it without changing much else in your diet.
That doesn't mean that your diet is supporting your body metabolically, but this becomes a cheat code in cutting. 3,500 calories at a time. Now, this is crazy. If you're looking at moderately drinking, which is defined by having one, we'll say it one beer a night, you're looking at 700 calories
a week having a light beer on the low end. If you're having an IPA every night, you're looking at 2100. I mean, that's more than an extra pound every two weeks, every five weeks, that's an extra pound. If it's light beer, it's crazy. It's easier to maintain a healthy weight. When you don't drink now, if you're interested in losing some weight and living a healthier life, I have my three [00:13:00] pillars of Healthy Living Guide.
It's linked in the show notes and in the description. If you're watching this on YouTube, you can also go to www.athletewithasthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy today. These are the exact same pillars I used to drop 30 pounds in 90 days and continue to keep the weight off. Today. I also use these pillars to adjust my weight and training based on my season of life, based on training for different races based on showing up in other aspects of my life.
So go grab your free copy and start implementing it into your life today. Next, I sleep better. Some people may think that alcohol helps them go to sleep, and this actually. Isn't totally incorrect because alcohol may. Help you quote unquote fall asleep. The problem is, even a little bit of alcohol in your system can prevent you [00:14:00] from having sleep that's worth anything.
Having deep sleep, having REM sleep, having the sleep that really allows you to rest and relax. So for me, along with the fact that alcohol is calories and. Typically we're taught that if you drink in the morning, that's a bad thing. I'm not saying you should drink in the morning. I'm just saying that society already tells us that if you're gonna drink it should probably be after dinner.
Don't drink at lunch, drink after dinner. Happy hour ends up being around 3, 4, 5, 6 o'clock. Well, technically drinking around happy hour, better than drinking after dinner when we're talking about sleep, but the later in the day that we consume alcohol or consume anything. That's why bars are open super late.
The culture of drinking is a late night thing. Well, even if there wasn't alcohol and alcohol and you are consuming calories, if you and I consume calories later in the day around 8, 9, 10 o'clock, that's gonna impact our sleep. 'cause our body has these. [00:15:00] Bits of energy that it has nothing to do with. So instead of going and burning the calories, you're laying in bed with these energy stores that are wanting to do something, these pieces of energy that just want to go out there and move.
Then you throw in the fact that alcohol itself impairs sleep, and it becomes a no brainer to not drink. Sleep number eight. I have deeper and better relationships. What I realized when I stopped drinking is that there were certain people that I really only connected with because I drank with them. And I also realized that I could hang out with other people that I thought I only connected with because I was drinking with them.
I could hang out with them without drinking, and we had more fun hanging out. Not drinking. We were able to have even better conversations. And this is interesting 'cause I know a lot of people, and maybe you're one of them, that feel like you [00:16:00] need a little bit of alcohol in your system to build relationships, to go out on dates, to hang out with friends.
And I get it. I am an introvert. And I used to, in order to build up the courage to go to parties, to go out, all these things, I felt like I had a drink. And to this day, I have found myself in situations where I used to drink and I realized I didn't even like the situation in the first place. I didn't like the big parties.
I would go to the big party and I would drink to get through it. Now I realize that there's a big party and I'm at it and I'm not feeling it. I can just leave. And this is the thing is I feel like drinking almost masks true feelings for me. Instead of going to a party and with a bunch of people drinking, I'd rather go to a game night, which is to handful of people and play games.
I'd rather go to the gym and go to a hit class and lift some weights. I'd rather go play tennis [00:17:00] with my friends. I'd rather have a game night at our house. I'd rather. Cook a nice meal, go to a nice restaurant, do these different things. I have learned more about myself and the types of things I want to do with the people in my life instead of putting myself in a situation where I feel like I need to drink in order to enjoy it.
So I want you to think about if this is you that maybe. The reason why you feel like you need to drink in these certain situations is because you don't like the situation in the first place. So let's find a new situation. Instead of going out to the bars, let's go out to a workout class. Instead of going to a brewery, let's join a run club.
Instead of going to a house party, invite your friends for a dinner party and go to a restaurant instead of going to a bar. Go to an arcade. You can try these different things. Pick up a new hobby, join a club. Do something that you actually want to do, not something you think that you're supposed to want to do, and then drink to cope with being there.
Number nine, I have more fun. I find that when I'm more present [00:18:00] in my life, I'm able to enjoy things more. Play Dungeons and Dragons for the last two or three years, and we do not drink while playing. We just. Eat good food and hang out with good friends. It's some of the most fun I've had in my entire life.
Playing soccer, playing tennis, going to the gym, just playing games with people. It is so much more fun to do the things I actually want to do instead of the things that I think that I'm supposed to want to do. And once I cut drinking out, I really realized what I actually want to do to have fun.
Actually, I enjoy going on a bike ride, going on a hike, taking a run, just going on a walk, sitting in nature, all these different things. So I invite you to discover what is truly fun to you, not what you think is supposed to be fun to you, and then putting up with it. By drinking. And number 10, I remember more of my life.
I'm creating more memories today than I did during college. Yes, my friends and I like to get together and recount our party stories in college, and that is a lot of fun. But I'll tell you [00:19:00] this, I don't remember what the heck we actually did on those nights. I just remember drinking a lot. Feeling good.
And those are really the memories that we share with one another. And yes, I cherish these memories. The cool thing though is in my life today, I'm able to remember more 'cause my brain is able to storm more, 'cause I'm able to sleep better. And I'm just more present in the moment with my interactions with my friends and my family.
I'm able to connect better. I'm able to have more fun and I'm able to remember. This beautiful gift that you and I both have our lives. I invite you if you have any interest in working with me one-on-one to check out the links in the show notes and in the YouTube description. Leave a comment and share what the biggest reasons for you have been for cutting, drinking out of your life, and I'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for tuning in to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may [00:20:00] have. Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about perfection. It is about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals, and if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
