It’s something I think about a lot these days, should I cut out the booze? For a lot of my 20s and 30s, usually in an attempt to lose weight, I would do some sort of “cleanse” where I would cut out caffeine, alcohol, sugar, dairy and gluten for two to three weeks a couple times a year. They were tough. And yet, I kind of liked the structure and certainly enjoyed having a “thing” I was doing, especially since it was to improve my health. How disciplined and hard core of me. Also, I always felt AMAZING afterwards. Usually 3-4 days in I’d start pondering why I’d ever stop eating this clean, the clear-headedness intoxicating.

In my last Sweet Tea Talk, I told you how I eliminated restrictions when I moved back to Georgia and in doing so, haven’t tackled anything resembling a cleanse in about 4 years. That is until this Summer when my gut started violently stabbing me from the inside and I promptly cut out eggs (sad but fine), more recently coffee (I’m still grieving) and added cabbage juice to my morning routine in an attempt to settle my angry stomach. Miraculously, it’s working.

But then there’s the alcohol. I wouldn’t consider myself a person who has a problem with it but I definitely sometimes wonder what I enjoy so much about drinking. Especially because I don’t even get drunk anymore. Over the course of a night out, I can easily take down a few cocktails or glasses of wine, feel maybe a little sleepy but fine and then wake up at 3 in the morning wondering why I had that last amaro.