[Weekend Column] My Story of Taking a Mini-Break from Alcohol with Yowanai Lemon-do

Good work today!

On weekends and holidays, I will be writing some lighthearted, column-style articles.

Do you like "Yowanai Lemon-do"?

I love it, and it's a staple for my evening drinks.

However, for a while after returning from the US, I was quite a heavy drinker, and my future health was in jeopardy.

I'd like to write about how I used "Yowanai Lemon-do" to transition into a mini-break from alcohol.

I hope this will be helpful for those who also feel like "I know I should stop, but I can't."!

The Trigger: My Numbers Were Terrible!

The trigger was really simple.

My liver function test results had deteriorated significantly during my medical checkup after returning to Japan.

My γ-GTP was in the triple digits. Also,
my uric acid levels were on the verge of gout.

For the first time in my life, I was taken to a separate room and had a smiling doctor explain the excruciating pain of gout that would likely occur if I continued like this, which was a truly agonizing experience.

It was obvious that a temporary break from alcohol wouldn't solve the root problem, so I decided to quit drinking.

3 Measures for When I Failed to Quit Drinking

Serious abstinence

...However, humans are very weak.
...Or rather, I should say my willpower is very weak.

I would try hard to stop drinking for the first few days. But eventually, I would
reach my limit.

I tried this for a few cycles, but I never managed to go a full week without alcohol...

Sparkling water and zero-sugar drinks

So, I decided to steer toward getting that refreshing feeling after a drink by using sparkling water or zero-sugar beverages.

I've heard that for some people, this works well.

But,for me, it was a no-go...

How should I put it,I couldn't feel any satisfaction from drinking it, and in the end, I'd just end up drinking alcohol again. It's true.

This, too, unfortunately ended in failure.

Late-night snacks

Alright, if drinking doesn't work, I'll just eat!
I even tried a strategy that was so flawed I don't even know what I was thinking—the idea that if I ate a full dinner, I wouldn't have room for alcohol. It didn't work.

Naturally,it just increased the amount I ate, and it never reduced the amount I drank...

The Path to Successful Mini-Sobriety

The Encounter: Wait, isn't this good enough?

...Well, I messed up in various ways, but that's when a turning point arrived.

Yes, it was my encounter with "Yowanai Lemon-do" (Non-alcoholic Lemon-do), which is also in the title.

I remembered that the Lemon-do series was released just before I went on my overseas assignment and became a huge hit, so I never imagined there would be a non-alcoholic version.

I quite liked the taste, so I took the plunge and bought some, and it was delicious.
It was incredibly delicious.

On top of that, it gave me that "I've had a drink" sense of satisfaction like a lemon sour, so I thought, "Wait, isn't this good enough?" and started buying it on a subscription basis.

Changing My Mindset Toward Sobriety

I also changed another underlying mindset.

Until now,when it came to sobriety, I had been imposing a complete zero-tolerance policy on myself. When I did that,
my lack of willpower would be exposed, and I would repeat the cycle of going right back to how things were.

When changing something, there are times when it's better to change everything at once, and times when it's better to change gradually; I thought at this time that for me, sobriety might fall into the latter category.

So, I redefined it from "practicing sobriety" to "practicing mini-sobriety." Specifically, I decided that
it was okay to drink up to once a week.

On the days I drink, I drink as much as I like, and for the other six days, I have a mock evening drink with Yowanai Lemon-do.

Once I changed my mindset to allow myself to drink once a week, it was strange how, as a human, I found it wasn't actually difficult to go an entire week without drinking at all.

Reflecting on why it went well

Why did it go so smoothly?

First of all, it's true that Yowanai Lemon-do suited me well.

Other sour-flavored beverages tend to be 'all-zero'—zero sugar, zero alcohol, zero calories—and I think my previous failures stemmed from the lack of satisfaction that comes with that.

In contrast, Yowanai Lemon-do contains a fair amount of sugar and other ingredients, even if it is non-alcoholic. This
leads to a sense of satisfaction, so I don't feel like drinking more than one a day, you know.

With zero-based drinks or sparkling water, I would feel hungry no matter how much I drank and didn't feel like I was really drinking anything, so I would often open several at once.

It is possible that even if it wasn't Yowanai Lemon-do, any drink containing sugar might have worked just as well.

And while it's true that Yowanai Lemon-do itself suited me, I believe this shift in mindset also had a significant impact.

After all, I thinkstarting with small steps was the right approach.

Summary

Well, this time I've written about the process that led to my mini-sobriety through 'Yowanai Lemon-do'.

For now,I have been using this method for about four months, and I haven't consumed any alcohol except at social gatherings.

I hope this helps those of you who are worried about your health checkup results.

Thank you for reading this far❗️