An Australian man has shared how he lost almost six kilograms of fat around his stomach just by giving up the booze.
James Swanwick, founder of Alcohol Free Lifestyle, decided to try to stop drinking alcohol for 30 days but found the impact on his overall health was so dramatic he pushed to one year grog-free and now leads a sober life.
After the first 30 days of no drinking, the 46-year-old had lost an incredible 5.9kg from his stomach alone.
In May 2010, while sitting in a restaurant in America barely able to stomach food because of a throbbing hangover, James decided to try and go 30 days without touching booze.
The investor and business owner said after just 30 booze-free days, his life had ‘transformed’.
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James Swanwick decided to try to stop drinking alcohol for 30 days but found the impact on his overall health was so dramatic he pushed to one year grog-free and now leads a sober life
Before: In May 2010, while sitting in a restaurant in America barely able to stomach food because of a throbbing hangover, James decided to try and go 30 days without drinking
James said he was never a ‘big drinker’ or ‘alcohol dependent’ and saw drinking as a ‘fun social habit’ however it was making him unhappy.
‘The longest I’d gone without drinking in maybe my entire adult life at that point was maybe a week so stopping for 30 days was a lot,’ he said in an online video.
James said the first two weeks were the hardest.
‘When I went out with friends and ordered water, they gave me a hard time. ‘You’re un-Australian!’ they’d say,’ he said.
However, he stuck to his guns and committed and found after 30 said he lost 13 pounds or 5.9kg.
Much of the weight he lost was around his stomach where fat tends to build up in men who drink regularly according to Drink Aware.
Not only had he lost weight by making the one change, he was also sleeping better, feeling fitter, and looking healthier.
James committed to going 30 days without alcohol after which he had lost 5.9kg of fat from his stomach alone
‘I slept better I looked better, I joined a gym, I auditioned to be Sportcentre anchor on ESPN and I got the job,’ he said.
‘I was like, ‘Wow, damn, in 30 days of not drinking my whole life has seemingly transformed.’
After his 30 days, James decided to see if he could go sober for a whole year.
After 60 days he said he would crave a cold beer, red wine or a gin and tonic but by three months in he was feeling ‘terrific’ and inspired to continue.
James said he was surprised to find he could still be ‘fun, entertaining and attractive to women’ without getting drunk.
However, he was still feeling push back from friends, one of whom even tried to slip some vodka into his soda.
Not only had he lost weight by making the one change, he was also sleeping better, feeling fitter, and looking healthier and he landed his dream job as an anchor on US TV channel ESPN
‘Guys were always suspicious of my story, though. They thought I was a recovering alcoholic who ‘obviously’ had a problem,’ he said.
‘They’d call me a ‘p***!’ or say, ‘Just have one!’ Or, ‘An Aussie that doesn’t drink?!?! F*** off!’.’
After six months, James was ‘in the zone’ and thriving with his new found energy and better health.
‘My body returned to its natural circadian rhythm, and nothing good happened after 1am anyway,’ he said.
‘So I would party hard, alcohol-free, until 1am. Then I headed home to be asleep no later than 2am.’
Upon making one year sober, James went to treat himself to a celebratory drink but never ended up taking a sip.
‘Right at the last minute I was like, ‘Maybe just think about this for a second’. I put it down and I go, ‘Okay in one year I’ve lost 25 pounds, I feel good, I sleep better, I have attracted a higher calibre of friends and romantic relationships, I’m a host on a TV show’,’ he recalled.
‘I think I might just hand this beer back and I did and I haven’t drunk alcohol since.’
James has been open about his sobriety and is an advocate for others going booze-free through having designed a ’30-day no alcohol challenge’ program.
He previously shared how an innocent photo he took when he met Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston planted the seed that he had to make a change in his life.
James snapped the shot in 2009 at a time when he was drinking between one and three drinks a night, and recalls having to suck in his stomach for the shot to avoid Aniston spotting his belly fat.
‘I’m almost 18 kilos heavier in that photo compared to today. I’m barely recognisable,’ he told FEMAIL.
‘When I was drinking a couple of drinks a night, I was feeling tired and sluggish, I was unmotivated, irritable, I was waking up in the middle of the night, I wasn’t performing well at work.
‘I just felt average in every area of my life. But then I stopped drinking.
In 2009, when James was drinking between one and three drinks a night, he had to suck in his stomach for a shot with Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston so she wouldn’t spot his belly fat
‘I transformed from feeling slow and average and mediocre and having that puffy face and a few rolls of fat around my waist, to losing 18 kilos, feeling fit, lean, healthy, happy and energised.
‘Today, I feel I look the way nature intended me to look. I sleep like a baby. I’ve got great friends and family, I’ve built two businesses and I feel amazing.
‘And it all started from me cutting out alcohol. It changed my life.’
Within 10 days he noticed how seamlessly he was falling asleep.
Within 90 days he landed ‘my dream job’ with ESPN hosting a TV show in the US and within two years he had started a business that was generating $1million in revenue.
One of Mr Swanwick’s clients reportedly generated $250,000 in revenue for his company in his first 90 days of sobriety, which he credits to going alcohol-free because of the clarity and focus he regained by quitting drink.
‘Today, I feel I look the way nature intended me to look. I sleep like a baby. I’ve got great friends and family, I’ve built two businesses and I feel amazing,’ he said
Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council recommends drinking no more than two standard drinks a day, and no more than four standard drinks on any single occasion
The health guru believes Australians are losing millions of dollars in potential earnings each year because of alcohol.
‘You don’t need to be an alcoholic for it to ruin your life,’ he said.
But Mr Swanwick said there is little point in temporary abstinence if you are counting the days to getting drunk again.
‘I think it defeats the purpose if you’re going to go out and celebrate with alcohol,’ he said. ‘I encourage people to take at LEAST a month-long a break, then reevaluate.’
One of the best outcomes of cutting out alcohol was the better quality sleep Mr Swanwick was having, which are enhanced by the orange lens glasses he wears while watching TV late at night.
‘Only an orange lens can block enough of the blue light responsible for destroying your sleep,’ he said.
‘A clear lens can certainly filter or reduce blue light. But in the current universe we occupy, it is impossible that a clear lens can help you sleep better because it does not block enough of the blue light that is so damaging to our sleep.
‘I put my Swanwick Sleep blue-light blockers on within 45 mins to an hour before I want to sleep. I wear them while watching TV, scrolling on my phone, brushing my teeth, and reading in bed.
‘I only remove them once I’ve turned all the lights off. I remove my glasses in the dark, put them on my bedside table, roll over and fall asleep.’
He also includes a number of sleep-better foods like fish, chamomile, bananas and spinach in his diet.
Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council recommends drinking no more than two standard drinks a day, and no more than four standard drinks on any single occasion.
Doing so, they say, will keep your lifetime risk of death from alcohol-related disease or injury below one in 100.
But Dr Deb Cohen-Jones told Daily Mail Australia there is no such thing as ‘safe alcohol consumption’.
The GP from Perth, WA, says men and women who have two alcoholic drinks a night are more likely to develop cancer and other chronic diseases that could shave up to 10 years off their lives.
