It might not feel it, but summer is just around the corner. That means frigid Negronis, fruity pale ale and freshly iced jugs of Sangria lurk around the corner of the next Friday night for the foreseeable future. For our mates on the other side of the pacific, that means Irish coffee and stomach warming whisky to keep winter at bay. The only problem is that the six pack you’ve been working on for the last 6 months is soon to become a keg—and your dreams of landing any girl other than Emilia Clarke (who says her ‘ideal’ man has a ‘dad bod’) will be shot.
So what’s a man to do? Well, if one Reddit user’s impressive transformation is anything to go by; say no to the Negronis, axe the pale ales and pour the Sangria down your best mate’s pants. After giving up alcohol for one year, this man went from looking like Bigfoot’s little brother to Ryan Reynolds’ approachable cousin. He slimmed down, lost a few pounds around the chops, gained the confidence to shave off his beard, and got healthier skin. All thanks to not drinking, “The better part of a handle of whiskey or vodka a day.”
“I’d wake up and drink a pint before work, nurse a pint all day at work (pour off a handle into a pint flask), get home and attempt to finalize the handle. Rinse and repeat every day for about a year. Prior to that was drinking about a fifth a day for several years, it ramped up living alone in the mountains. When you can walk down the road drunk as hell drinking off a handle of whiskey and the worse thing that can happen is nobody stops to give you a ride, alcoholism can really spiral.”
“Back in the city now and can’t even really fathom how much I was drinking there for a time.”
Some users sympathised with his plight:
- “It’s crazy how fat your face gets when you drink alot.”
- “I do like a good IPA, and the man titty struggle is real.”
- “For years mom always wanted me to gain some weight. After a year off from hockey after an ACL surgery, depression, and beer becoming my best friend. I had a pretty nice gut and some man titties.”
While others had their own stories: “I took the summer off of drinking and the only thing about my diet that changed was that I stopped drinking. I was consuming about 1500-2000+ extra calories a day on average in booze alone but I still ate garbage (or rich, delicious foods with lots of butter) and lost about 25lbs by strictly cutting out the booze. But it looks like I lost 50lbs because of the bloating. If anything, I eat considerably more now than I did when I was drinking and I continue to lose weight every week. I recently just fit into pants that fit me when I was 26 (turning 35 in November).”
And others were more interested in his fashion sense:
- “Went from looking like a crazy homeless guy to what I imagine a tech employee in San Francisco looks like.”
- “Tbh he looks like he could be in tech there in both pictures now that you mention it.”
- “Work in tech, can confirm. Both would be suitable appearances at a Tech company.”
Whatever his job, everyone agreed that it didn’t really matter, as long as he wasn’t an Uber driver. The conversation then turned to Sober October, a challenge currently being posed by celebrity podcasters and professional athletes alike: “Sober October. Perfect time to start. Listen to the latest joe Rogan podcast got inspiration.”
Many people are getting on board, most of them in a bid to benefit their health. Most of them…
“I’m doing Sober October too. After that, it’s Bender November muthaf*@%!!!”
Whether or not you’re keen to try it in order to make a serious lifestyle change, or simply to make next month’s indulgences feel even better, it’s definitely worth a try.
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