A Daily Mail columnist said she lost 21 pounds after reducing her alcohol intake earlier this year but has since regained about half a stone following a summer of holidays and frequent drinking.
The writer, 47, said she curtailed weekday drinking from last September through March, stopping alcohol from Monday to Thursday and exploring low- and no-alcohol alternatives. That routine, she said, reduced her intake from around two to three bottles of wine a week to about one and helped her drop roughly a stone and a half (21 lb), bringing her weight below 10 stone for the first time in several years.
She wrote that an early July trip to Cotignac in Provence, where she enjoyed rosé on a balcony, set the tone for a summer of heavier drinking. The break was followed by a stay at an all-inclusive resort in Turks & Caicos, where she said cocktails were routinely served at the poolside bar, and shorter trips to Watergate Bay in Cornwall for Salcombe Gin and a cider-filled weekend at the Camp Kindling festival in Kent.
Although she said she rarely became intoxicated, the columnist described returning to a habit of evening drinks — a G&T in the garden at about 6 p.m., then a glass of rosé or Sancerre — as a reward for family duties. The return to regular drinking, she said, coincided with celebrations tied to her children finishing key school stages and contributed to a gain of roughly half a stone over two months, mostly around her midsection.
She noted health considerations prompted the original reduction in alcohol, including attempts to ease perimenopausal symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia. Even while on hormone replacement therapy, she said, cutting back on alcohol produced both symptomatic and weight-loss benefits. During the months of reduced drinking she experimented with alternatives including Pentire, a botanical spirit, and Mother Root, a ginger switchel, mixed with tonic or soda.
The columnist said she maintained other healthy habits over the summer, including daily walks with her labradors, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and routine supplements, but that alcohol had the greatest impact on her waistline. She described typical holiday and resort behaviour, noting that spacing drinks, daytime naps and not needing to rise early for school runs often meant she did not feel overtly inebriated despite consuming multiple cocktails and glasses of wine.
After returning from the summer, she said she found jeans she had worn earlier in the year no longer fit comfortably and that she wants to curb the slide back into elasticated leisurewear. She has begun reinstating dry nights during the week and announced plans to abstain from alcohol completely during "Sober October" to see whether she can return her weight and well-being to earlier levels.
The columnist said she will report back on the results of her renewed abstinence. Her account underscores a trend cited by health advisers who point to alcohol as a source of excess calories and a potential contributor to disrupted sleep, though she described her own drinking as moderate rather than habitual intoxication.