Beauty and the booze: incredible transformations of those who go dry
In the wake of the Melbourne Cup "carnage", where images of drunken racegoers making a mess of themselves made international headlines, a new discussion is brewing about the dramatic transformations of those taking the sober plunge.
Unbelievable "before" and "after" images have surfaced online, of people who have given up the booze: sporting slimmer figures, clearer skin, and appearing younger.
The images, posted to Reddit show the staggering health benefits giving up alcohol can have on your body.
One user, going by the name "britsuzanne" said she lost almost 16 kilos since making a new year decision to give up drinking and go to rehab.
“January 6, 2016 I put down the vodka bottle and January 11 I checked myself into rehab. 8 1/2 months sober now and 35 pounds lighter. I feel like myself again,” she wrote.
Reddit user Meatteo took pictures of himself wearing the same shirt with a noticeable weight loss, 300 days apart, after becoming sober.
“Hopefully this helps anyone looking to quit drinking. I promise you won't regret it. Just remember one day at a time,” he wrote.
Other Reddit users have reported having clearer skin, a more youthful appearance, being able to take up sports, and generally feeling like a new person, in the few months since they have stopped drinking.
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While the remarkable evidence shows how giving up the booze has transformed the lives of many, the choice to go sober appears to carry a social stigma among Australians.
News Corp columnist Angela Mollard, who said she was a "light drinker", shared her experiences on Sunrise of being “bullied” by friends for not boozing up.
“I feel bullied a lot of the time drinking around my friends. Everyone is trying to pour more into my glass. I’m taken fun of all the time," she said on Sunday morning.
“I’ve got a 16-year-old daughter. I don’t want all those bottles at the door at the morning.”
She felt there was a problem with the Australian culture which saw many failing to stop to ask themselves: “Why are we drinking so much anyway?".
Commentator Rachel Corbett, who was also present for the television discussion, agreed.
“If you don’t feel comfortable drinking by yourself – not my problem. If you need somebody around you to make you feel good about the fact that you can’t go out without a drink – not my problem,” she told Sunrise.
“It’s like the only legitimate excuse you can give for not drinking is ‘I’m raising money for charity’ – so you’re either doing FebFast or Dry July or whatever - or ‘I’ve just come out of rehab’."
“If you just say, ‘you know, I don’t really like a hangover and I want to be healthy’, they say ‘oh, come on mate!’.”
Weekend Sunrise host Andrew O'Keefe agreed, saying: “You do get viewed by a certain type of immediate suspicion if you say you are a non drinker."
They each agreed a social shift was needed to move the stigma away from sober people, who were often not socially accepted if they opted not to drink.
