My month-long detox

I’ve reached the half-way mark of my month-long detox, or rather a month of not drinking alcohol.

Have I been tempted? Well, only once but the kangaroo swept up my flute of champagne in a show of support.

Actually, I’m enjoying being sober on the weekends. I thought it would be hard sitting in bars with a cranberry juice in hand but it wasn’t at all. In fact, I was lucid and had great conversation as always. I think I naturally enjoy hanging out with people and just talking, which is a refreshing revelation.

I’ve got so many reasons why I made such a momentous move in my lifestyle:

*I’ve put on a lot of weight since I arrived in Japan and I’ve never been a big drinker till I stepped into the world of nomihodais (all you can drink) and cheap-ass booze (500JPY or SGD6 for a beer or glass of wine). Alcohol has disgusting amounts of sugar…

*I got sick of having hangovers. Although our Bali trip was enormous fun, I suffered from hangovers — from epic proportions to dehydrated spells — almost everyday. I also considered the fact that I spent at least one day of every weekend hung over since I started drinking at age 18!

*I’m a nasty drunk. Apparently, many Asians lack a certain enzyme that prevents the body from processing alcohol properly and hence they suffer from a flushed face very soon after a couple of drinks. Although my alcohol tolerance has definitely gone up, I get emo and aggressive when I’m stinking drunk, plus I fall over a lot and spew verbal garbage. The morning after is always filled with remorse and I frankly got tired of the rollercoaster going on in my mind. Perhaps my lack of that enzyme is to blame?

*I couldn’t gauge my limits. After the fourth or fifth drink, I leap over the point of no return and guzzle all kinds of drinks with no thought of the consequences. Re previous point — not a happy scenario. But having noticed this and talked to several people, a three-drink limit guarantees no headaches or exhaustion the next day. With a system reboot, I think I could be satisfied with one or two drinks because your alcohol tolerance goes down when you get less practice.

*Insomnia plagued me. I have a mild problem with sleeplessness and I realized drinking a glass of wine or two with the kangaroo at dinner turned into a toss-and-turn night. I tended to reach for some Valerian to kick in the snooze monster but that left me dopey the next day.

*My heartburn came back with a vengeance. I usually get this under control by following very simple rules — don’t overeat, eat before I drink, don’t lie down immediately after eating. But the binge in Bali caused terrible upset in my tum and that led me to rely on acid blockers twice a day for almost a month. Although there are no side effects on taking acid blockers, doctors don’t recommend this as the first line of defense.

What has been the result? I feel much better physically and emotionally. I sleep so much better and I enjoy a clarity of mind like never before. In fact, a perpetual rash on the back of my arms is gone — I was once told by a homeopathic consultant that it was a sign that my liver wasn’t functioning well.

I’m actually considering prolonging my no-alcohol detox for longer! Is that crazy?

The only thing that is holding me back is that drinking is a social obligation pretty much everywhere and Japan definitely has a strong drinking culture. If you don’t have a tipple, you’re kind of uptight and weird or people reel back in surprise if you club without any alcohol. Here are the snide anecdotes I received on announcing my detox plan:

I’m so envious of your grapefruit juice.
Are you Yu Ming?
I’m worried for you — you’re going to binge even more after the detox is over!
Beer is a good way to detox.

But the topic of my detox has been a fantastic conversation starter where everyone has their own opinion about alcohol habits and hangovers.

In all honesty, I will dip my hand into the cookie jar eventually, so I decided on following the three-drink limit. Maybe I’ll make it two months or celebrate the end of my sobriety at Christmas — there’s no escaping champagne with the kangaroo’s family as it would be almost blasphemous not to drink.

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