The year was 2004 and I remember the day clearly. We had screwed up as the Account team on a packaged goods account and bad. I was panicked and fearful that I’d lose the ad job I had wanted forever. I was prepared with my pit stick and toothbrush in my drawer after spending a couple of nights at the office. After the storm had cleared, I approached my Account Director with bags under my eyes that carried the world. She got up from her seat, smacked me on the back and said:

And that’s why we drink!

It seems to be commonplace to swig one back when life throws you lemons.  Because hey, let’s drink one, two or you know what? Pass me the whole damn bottle because that jerk face cheated, my boss is unreasonable, I got fired, my family is pissing me off, wow I look fat, life is shit and I wish I could just get ahead in life versus paying a minimum payment on my credit cards that are making me contemplate whether I should sell my right kidney on ebay.

Let’s face it, at some point or another we’ve drowned ourselves and numbed out the bad shit and just had a drink…or two.

So here’s a suggestion I’ve put into practice: Drink only when you’re happy.

I say this to you and I’ve said this to some of my patients in private practice: When alcohol becomes your go-to source of stress relief, it produces on-going symptoms that you might not even realize that effect your liver that has over 500 functions.

Emotional hell

Alcohol erodes the production of serotonin (your feel-good hormone) and it creates Liver Qi stagnation according to Chinese Medicine. This produces symptoms of frustration, anger, depression and feeling feel-stuck in life. But what if we stopped the vicious cycle? Had ways to cope with our stress so that we didn’t reach out for crutches? I plan to show you how, in fact my Stress Detox webinar

Swollen ta ta’s

Ever get painful swollen boobs around your period? How you’ve treated your body the month prior to your period will dictate how bad your PMS will be the following. So if you’re drinking like a sailor the previous month because it was a trying time, get ready ladies to be introduced to planets nine and ten.

Junk in your trunk…and in every compartment

We all know that alcohol packs on the pounds but an overconsumption of it really screws with our hormones. And hormonal imbalance can create tricep chicken arm fat (increased insulin), the spare tire (increased cortisol) and on the backside and hips (increased estrogen).

So is it really worth it?

Your liver will love you for making the pact to drink only when you’re happy. I’m not saying it’s easy because for many, just give me a drink is the ego’s mantra when shit hits the fan. But then we numb ourselves to pain which can be one of our greatest gurus. So cry it out, scream if you have to, take some time, breathe and go for a walk – just don’t drink. You’ll find that if you don’t, you’ll be left with a fatter wallet, a clearer head and a tighter ass.

So the next time life throws you lemons, just think to yourself, hey free lemons and start living again.