We all have different reasons for cutting back - or giving up entirely - on alcohol. Here's why one of our immaculate co-founders gave up alcohol...and why she is feeling so much better!

"My journey to being alcohol-free is probably nothing unusual. There was no dramatic intervention or epiphany (though a stinker of a hangover after a wedding last summer may have been the final straw).

It was more of a gradual process over many years, as I became increasingly weary of hangovers, of taking days to ‘recover’ from having one too many G&Ts, of the dreaded post alcohol angst. Whilst becoming more and more fed up with the fallout from booze, I was also becoming increasingly focussed on my wellbeing and fitness. I was juggling two children at the time, work and a home, I simply had to be firing on all cylinders.

I had never been a hard going party animal but I’ve had more than my fair share of heavy drinking sessions over the years, from my university clubbing days to booze filled holidays, weekends with friends punctuated by pub crawls and bottles of fizz and wine-soaked meals at glorious seafood restaurants on Scotland’s west coast.

I gradually started to tune in to when and why I drank alcohol. As I moved through my forties and early fifties, I was really enjoying my fitness routine. running, lots of yoga and daily dog walks. A few years ago, I did Dry January and really enjoyed proving to myself that I could do it. I started using an app to track my weekly alcohol consumption, with the aim of staying below the recommended 14 units a week.  Most of the time I managed it no problem, with a few notable exceptions… like a family holiday in Tenerife, fuelled by copious amounts of wine and gin. Ah the joys of a crisp, cold rose wine sat on the beachfront on a hot day! Fun as it was, I came home feeling like I had poisoned myself (which I literally had) and it took me a week to feel back to normal.

Last year was the turning point. It had been a turbulent time, with a series of family illnesses and bereavements and I really needed to focus on my health and wellbeing if I was going to cope with the storms that life was throwing our way. Alcohol had been the stress reliever, the customary response to emotional overload, to grief and all that goes with it. Alcohol ‘takes the edge off’. For a while. But it’s still there and this time it’s got a stinking headache and post alcohol angst to go with it. Throw in perimenopause and you’ve got heart palpitations and anxiety joining the party as well.

I had never been a daily drinker but I knew it was something that I felt I needed – emotionally, socially. And I really wasn’t happy about that. Ask anyone who knows me well, I’m really stubborn. I don’t like the feeling that I need to rely on anything to cope. I was born in Lancashire, us Northern lasses are made of stern stuff.

So, I decided that moderation wasn’t enough for me. I simply had to stop completely. So I did...and I’m feeling so much better for it. The heart palpitations that I used to get after a couple of glasses of wine have stopped. My sleep is so much better. My overall health feels improved. I’m discovering the joy of social occasions where I’m fully present, tuned into every conversation and able to drive home at the end of the night too. What a bonus.

And the biggest revelation of all is probably this. I never needed alcohol at all. Its absence hasn’t stopped me enjoying Hogmanay celebrations, birthdays, parties or fabulous meals out. Staying sober at a wedding is quite frankly awesome.

Is sober me forever? I have no idea. I would really like to hit the 12 months mark as I think that will notch up my commitment to another level.

Do I miss it? Occasionally. But more the habit of it than the alcohol itself. Making a crisp, cold G&T on a Friday (thanks immaculate for letting me still enjoy the ritual and the taste), popping a champagne cork on a special occasion, pouring a glass of wine after a stressful day at work… There are so many moments in life that we are used to marking with alcohol. Old habits die hard so you just need to work harder at making new ones.

I’m enjoying trying all the alcohol-free drink choices that we now have available. I read a lot of ‘Quit Lit’ …The Sober Diaries by Claire Pooley is a particular favourite. And I joined Club Soda - it’s a fantastic community for mindful drinkers and the sober curious.

Bizarrely, we talk a lot in our society about giving up alcohol. What we should focus on instead is what you gain from not drinking. It’s the gift that simply keeps on giving."