What REALLY happens to your body, mind and waistline when you give up alcohol… This is how long it took me to feel free from ‘hangxiety’ – but pitfall means you might not lose as much weight as you hope: GEORGINA FULLER

As the minute hand on the clock clicks past 6pm, I am gripped by an all too familiar urge. Crisp gin and tonic or reviving glass of malbec? Which is it to be?

Then I remember it’s the first day of the month and I’m ­supposed to be doing Sober October. Damn.

I’ve never done Dry January because I have a birthday in the middle of the month and it’s so bleak and miserable, why make it even worse? But, in recent years, I have denied myself several times throughout October and found it useful in resetting and reframing my attitude to booze.

I do it primarily for health ­reasons, increasingly aware at the age of 47 and in the throes of perimenopause that daily drinking affects my sleep, my skin, my anxiety levels and my weight (10st 5lb at the start of October). As someone who routinely knocks back between 14 and 16 units (that’s around seven to eight medium glasses of wine) a week, I know I need to cut back.

In fact, a study by the British Medical Journal showed that a month off the booze in moderate to heavy drinkers could help achieve weight loss, lower risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and even reduce the risk of cancer.

After doing the Sober October reset last year, I managed to last another six months on what I’d call a semi-sober regime, laying off the booze from Monday to Thursday. I lost about 21lb as a result and to my delight weighed just under ten stone by this spring – just in the healthy BMI range for my 5ft 4in frame.

I also felt better than I had in years. I was sleeping well, my skin was glowing and I had so much more energy.

This was all derailed by an enjoyable booze-fuelled summer – rosé in the garden, cocktails in the Caribbean and generally ­having a very nice time which left me half a stone heavier.

Sober October 2025 was my chance to take back control. So how did I get on, weight, skin, sleep and all?

Week one

I get through the first week by swapping my usual favourites for some no and low alternatives. I find a glass of Wednesdays Domaine, a very decent non-­alcoholic wine, helps hit the spot when I’m looking to reach that slightly fuzzy state of calm oblivion I usually get from wine.

It’s not going to help me save any money, though: at £29.99 for two bottles, it costs more than the real stuff I usually buy.

I also sample a couple of so-called ‘functional’ drinks, a drink which is meant to have ­specific health benefits, and, in this case, helps give you a natural buzz. One of my favourites is ­Sentia Spirits, £32 a bottle. It’s supposed to help calm the brain’s neurotransmitters and contains the stress-relieving herb ashwagandha to help relaxation.

It goes well with tonic and at just nine calories per 25ml serving, it’s good for the waistline, too. It could be a placebo effect, but I’m sure I feel calmer after a few glasses. It doesn’t give me the same buzz I get from alcohol, but I feel quite chilled, as though I’ve just done a yoga class.

Although I do find myself ­struggling making the usual ­Sunday lunch. I normally open a bottle of wine for the gravy and have a glass while I cook. It has, I realise, become a ritual.

I manage to distract myself by taking my two labradors for a walk and by the time lunch is over, I am ready for a short snooze.

Week two

I realise I largely drink out of habit, to help mildly blur the hours between the end of the working day, helping my three children (Jemima, 11, Eddie, 13, and Charlie, 16) with homework and dinner. Once I’ve got past that initial booze urge, it becomes easier.

I’m noticing the brain fog I often experience has lifted and I’m feeling much sharper. It usually takes me ages to get started on a Monday morning, but this time, I’m raring to go.

At the weekend, I have a girls’ night away with three friends. Inevitably we end up having a few bottles when we get together, which means this time I’ll be the party-pooper. I am quite depressed by the prospect of an alcohol-free night away and wonder if this means I have more of a problem than I’d thought.

I decide to bring a nice bottle of Wild Idol (£29.99), which looks just as beautiful as champagne or cremant but has zero alcohol. I also take cans of Jukes Cordialities, which taste a bit like a healthy cider and are rather moreish.

As the evening wears on, my friends become a little tipsy and I have to resist the urge to join in, especially when they are shrieking away in the hot tub.

The next morning, however, when everyone wakes up with a sore head, I feel gloriously smug. Plus, rather than waking up in the early hours like I usually do after a skinful, I sleep in till 8am and feel great.

Week three

I’m feeling calmer and looking forward to early nights with a good book. Normally, I’d stay up till 11pm doomscrolling with a glass of wine in hand, but I’m now in bed by 10.30pm.

Two of the children have a two-week half term. After the juggle of trying to work from home and occupy them, I’d often reach for a restorative drink to help take the edge off a stressful day.

My eldest and I have arranged a day trip to London to see an exhibition. After a coffee and a stroll around Soho, we head to Tower Bridge for some sightseeing. We even visit a rooftop bar where my Amaretto Sour mocktail tastes very like the real thing. I realise as I tuck into a salted caramel mochi that I’m eating more sweet things in lieu of drinking. This will not be helping my weight goals.

Week four

During the second week of half term, I’m lucky to have a work trip to Dubai. I find it very hard to resist the wine on the plane and at the all-inclusive hotel, but I do. Sigh.

Fortunately, as it’s a Muslim country, there are plenty of mocktails available and I enjoy a lot of alcohol-free mojitos. I even develop a taste for sparkling jasmine tea, which tastes delicious.

I don’t miss the ‘hangxiety’ that I so often get on these trips. During my Caribbean summer holiday, for example, I sent friends regular picture updates, only to wake up the next day in the grip of hangxiety – worried I came across as insufferably smug.

On the penultimate day of October, I finally give in to temptation when I’m offered a chilled glass of sauvignon blanc on the flight back from Dubai. But I made it to the 30th, right!

Two days later, I hold my breath and weigh myself. I’m disappointed to see I’ve lost only 2lb. Obviously, all those sugary mocktails and desserts haven’t helped.

On the plus side, I feel calmer. I am thinking more clearly and I’m sleeping better. I’ve noticed I’m less prone to anxiety, which is a welcome respite.

Do lots of other midlife women obsessively question their behaviour after a drink or two like I do? I think very many of us do.

The best thing is, I feel proud of my achievement – that I’ve managed to stay sober for 30 days.

Now it’s November, I’m back on the booze, but I am pacing myself more than I did before Sober October.

I’m just glad I gave my liver a break before the Christmas celebrations begin in earnest.

Saying that, the next time I feel that familiar 6pm urge for a G&T, I may just make it a non-alcoholic one.