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8/22/2022

79. ALKOHOL: Alcoholfree Lifestyle med James Swanwick (English)

This episode of Biohacking Girls features an interview with James Swanwick, an alcohol-free lifestyle coach. Swanwick discusses the cultural conditioning that makes alcohol socially acceptable, the health benefits of reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption, and how to navigate social situations as an alcohol-free individual. He also highlights the importance of setting a good example for children and emphasizes that alcohol is not necessary for a fulfilling social life. Swanwick shares his own journey to alcohol-free living and the positive impact it has had on his health, career, and relationships. He encourages listeners to consider the 30-day challenge and provides tips on how to handle cravings and create a healthier environment.

00:00

In this episode, hosts Alette and Monika explore the effects of alcohol, emphasizing healthier lifestyles and featuring guest James Swanwick, who advocates for reducing alcohol consumption.

29:24

The speaker emphasizes the benefits of intentional phone usage and shares a remarkable success story of a client's alcohol-free transformation.

34:14

The speaker discusses programs to help individuals reduce or quit drinking, focusing on mindset, community support, and transformative lifestyle changes.

42:40

Parents should model healthy behavior around alcohol, as children learn by observing, and explore alternatives to cope with cravings.

46:05

Healthier choices can be inspired by vibrant, non-alcoholic alternatives and notable public figures embracing sobriety.

Transkript

Nevnt i episoden

Alcohol

Alcohol is discussed throughout the episode as a substance that can have detrimental effects on health, relationships, and overall well-being.

James Swanwick

James Swanwick, an Australian-American entrepreneur, is the guest on this episode. He is an alcohol-free lifestyle coach, author, podcaster, and sleep company owner.

Project 90

Project 90 is James Swanwick's online coaching program that helps individuals reduce or stop drinking alcohol.

Alcohol-Free Lifestyle Podcast

James Swanwick's podcast, where he interviews individuals who have successfully reduced or stopped drinking alcohol, sharing their experiences and insights.

The 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge

James Swanwick's book and program that provides a structured approach to reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption for 30 consecutive days.

ESPN Sports Center

James Swanwick's dream job, which he landed after 30 days of alcohol-free living, demonstrating the positive impact on his career.

Blue Light Blocking Glasses

James Swanwick's sleep company produces blue light blocking glasses, which are mentioned as a way to improve sleep quality and reduce eye strain.

Biohacking Week

An event hosted by the Biohacking Girls podcast, where James Swanwick's blue light blocking glasses might be available for sale.

Strava

A mobile app used to track fitness activities, such as cycling, mentioned in the context of a client's increased cycling mileage after quitting alcohol.

Gout

A painful condition that can be exacerbated by alcohol consumption, mentioned in the context of a client's experience with gout medication and subsequent improvement after quitting alcohol.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

A program for individuals with alcohol addiction, compared to James Swanwick's program, highlighting the higher success rates of his program.

Soda Water

A suggested alternative beverage to alcohol, emphasizing the importance of finding enjoyable non-alcoholic options.

Sparkling Water

A suggested alternative beverage to alcohol, emphasizing the importance of finding enjoyable non-alcoholic options.

Bouquet of Flowers

A visual cue recommended to create a positive association with health and vitality, encouraging healthier choices over alcohol consumption.

Jennifer Lopez

A celebrity who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Bradley Cooper

A Hollywood actor who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Donald Trump

The former US president, who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Joe Biden

The current US president, who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

George W. Bush

The former US president, who used to drink heavily but has been alcohol-free for several years, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Shana Twain

A US country singer who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Warren Buffett

A renowned investor and billionaire who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Larry Ellison

A billionaire entrepreneur who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Cristiano Ronaldo

A famous soccer player who does not drink alcohol, highlighting the growing trend of alcohol-free living among prominent individuals.

Russell Crowe

An Australian actor, mentioned in the context of discussing Australian celebrities who do not drink alcohol.

Kylie Minogue

An Australian singer, mentioned in the context of discussing Australian celebrities who do not drink alcohol.

Keith Urban

An Australian singer, mentioned in the context of discussing Australian celebrities who do not drink alcohol.

Nicole Kidman

An Australian actress, mentioned in the context of discussing Australian celebrities who do not drink alcohol.

Osher Günsberg

An Australian television personality, mentioned in the context of discussing Australian celebrities who do not drink alcohol.

Ruby Rose

An Australian actress, mentioned in the context of discussing Australian celebrities who do not drink alcohol.

GABA

A neurotransmitter that can have calming effects, mentioned as a possible alternative to alcohol for managing anxiety.

Alpha-linolenic Acid

An omega-3 fatty acid, mentioned as a potential liver support supplement.

N-acetylcysteine

An amino acid, mentioned as a potential liver support supplement.

Glutathione

An antioxidant, mentioned as a potential liver detoxifier.

B-vitamin

A group of vitamins, mentioned as a safe and beneficial supplement to take.

Antioxidants

A group of substances that protect cells from damage, mentioned as essential for overall health.

Maria Tissel

A person mentioned in the context of providing support for liver health.

Deltakere

Host

Alette

Host

Monika

Guest

James Swanwick

Lignende

Laster

Hi everyone, welcome to Biohacking Girls podcast. We are the show's host, and I am Alette. And I am Monika. We are good friends and colleagues, and we put together our experiences and knowledge to inspire you to become your own biohacker and optimize your life.

We follow new research and trends and ask the questions we think are necessary. We share information about biohacking, life coaching and fitness, and we hope you will feel inspired and ready to take a step to get in the best health-oriented form. Welcome to Biohacking Girls podcast.

It's so nice to get feedback from you listeners and those who follow us on Instagram. Thank you so much for that. We are super grateful. We get messages on Instagram and in the comment section. And many times you write below here on the podcast. And we appreciate that. Because we always want to try to adjust and be better and answer questions and have a little responsibility in relation to all the thoughts we put out.

Yes, and we have actually received some feedback on our coffee podcast. There are several who wondered why we didn't answer the question about which coffee is the one that breaks the fast. We had talked about that initially, and then we forgot to say it. So we'll have to take that up now, Monika. Yes, what breaks the fast is everything that has calories. I know that many don't want to hear it, but it's black coffee.

that doesn't break the fast. So if you add MCT and butter, then Dave Esprit would recommend this on a ketogenic cross-tool, because you're going to practice extending the fast window, and that can help us in periods, but it's black coffee or tea. Absolutely right. And we also want to read some comments. We get so many nice words, and we're very happy that you share the podcast with others and write feedback.

Yes, we drew a winner on a sheet, an earthing sheet. And that is also fun, and it was based on the comments that were under the podcast, not on Instagram. And then there was one who bathed a lot for six months, but then came winter, and then it's too cold and can't stand it. So then he or she would very much like to win a sheet. But there are tricks other than the sheet in winter as well. You can jump in the water, for example.

Ice bathing is a perfect earthing for the winter. It's actually possible to put your feet out even if it's cold. You don't have to do it for long, or you have these earthing layers you can use indoors. We'll take one more comment from Bamsemos before we jump into this week's topic.

Yes, that's the one we want to have.

But then I think we should jump into this week's topic, and today we will talk about alcohol. Alcohol is something everyone has a relationship to, either directly or indirectly. It is something we all know about the body, and gradually we start to consider and wonder what is normal, what is normal, what is too much alcohol, or maybe what is even a little too little alcohol.

You can see in reports that argue that a glass of red wine contains resveratrol, which is a polyphenol, that it is so healthy that everyone should take at least one glass a day. But the question is whether this is for a proper drinking or whether it is actually true.

Now we have pulled, pulled, it's called, sleep for several years, and it's not so difficult to see that alcohol does something with us. It sets our body a little out, and all our organs come in an alert mode. Immune defense is weakened, inflammations increase. There is not so much alcohol that should be added before we feel a very big difference in our sleep.

Yes, that's absolutely right. When you drink a glass of wine, depending on the amount, you fall asleep very quickly and feel that you get a restorative feeling, but you are just dead. The quality of sleep is not optimal.

But today we are so lucky to have with us James Swanwick. And the theme is, as I said, alcohol. James Swanwick is an Australian-American entrepreneur, and his mission and passion in life is to help casual drinkers. It's about me and you and the man in the street, with being able to reduce or stop drinking alcohol.

He is a journalist, presenter, investor, former ESPN sports anchor and Hollywood correspondent. James has helped thousands of people to a better and healthier life without alcohol since he was released in 2010.

Now he has also written the book The 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge. He does online coaching on the site called Project 90. And he hosts a podcast called Alcohol-Free Lifestyle Podcast, which is full of inspiration and guests who tell about their journey to become alcohol-free.

Let's hop into the conversation with James Swanwick.

Welcome, James Swanwick. So nice to finally catch up with you. This has been a long time coming. Thank you very much for having me. It's great. So where are you right now? Are you in New York? I'm in Amsterdam. Yeah, I've been traveling. The last four weeks I've been in Brisbane, in Australia, Puerto Rico, been to Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, London, and now Amsterdam.

Whoa. And how are you handling the jet lag and the time differences? I'm okay. I'm feeling good. Are you around the teaching or coaching people?

Yeah, just some business. I have two businesses. I coach people how to stop drinking alcohol and I also help people to sleep better. I have a sleep company that produces blue light blocking glasses. And so I'm doing some talks and then also just having some business meetings. About those cool glasses, we love them. Do you have any plans for opening sales in Norway?

Well, I think people could buy them online from Norway. We don't have a Norway store, obviously, but you can still buy them online, I'm pretty confident. I know in some countries it's a little bit more challenging. But yeah, the Scandinavians in general are very into what I guess biohacking or health optimization, which is terrific. I was in Helsinki recently.

some years ago at a biohacking conference there and we we took our blue light blocking glasses there and it was there were people from um from Finland and people had had flown over or traveled over from Sweden and Norway and Denmark as well so there's a very it seems like there's a thriving health optimization community in the northern hemisphere

We should have the glasses at the Biohacking Week, and we are hosting this fall, and maybe you next year. We'll see. But let's start with you. You have an Australian dialect, so obviously you're from Australia. We know that. Can you tell us a little bit about your story and how you ended up being a coach helping people to quit drinking alcohol?

Yeah, well, I was a socially acceptable drinker growing up in Australia in that I had one or two drinks a night. On the weekends, I might drink a little bit more, but I wasn't an alcoholic. I didn't get arrested. I didn't do anything too crazy, but I just drank the way the society would say it's pretty normal to drink. And then I woke up in my mid-30s one morning and I looked in the mirror and I realized, wow, I'm

tired and a little bit overweight and lethargic and I just felt like a six out of ten. I wasn't rock bottom, but I really wasn't thriving either. And so I decided to take an experiment

of 30 days with no alcohol. And in 30 days, I lost about five or six kilograms, which is about 13 pounds. My skin started to glow or look better because the toxins from alcohol had left. I slept better. I went for my dream job at the time, which was hosting a television show called Sports Center on ESPN. And I got the job because

And I started to attract a much higher caliber of person into my life, both energetically and also romantically and just like platonic guy friends as well. I just noticed that being alcohol free, all of a sudden I was on a different energy vibration. And the depth of the conversations I was having with people were different.

were considerably better or stronger. I thought, oh, I'll just keep going. Then I got to 50 days and thought, well, this feels pretty good. Then I got to six months and felt amazing. I thought, I'll just keep going. Then I got to one year alcohol-free and I was going to celebrate with a beer. In fact, I walked into a bar in Austin, Texas and I ordered a Budweiser Light and I

went to drink it. And at the last moment I put it down and I just thought, I said, wow, in one year I've lost about 25 pounds. Got my dream job. I'm sleeping better. I look good. I've got a new group of friends. I think I might just keep going. And so I did. And I haven't had a drink since. I mean, it's been since 2010 now. And then over the years I created a high level coaching program, which helps high performers to stop drinking and,

And, you know, now there's a worldwide trend really of people who are becoming so much more health conscious and aware of the damaging effects of alcohol. You know, this is amazing to hear. And I had one, I lived in California some years ago and,

New Year's Eve, I decided, well, I'm just going to take a month off. And I wasn't a heavy drinker at all. It was just because I'm working out, running a workout studio. And one month became two and three. And now this was 2016. But still, I do like half a glass of red wine. I mean, I'm not bothered by it. And I like it. But people get a bit like...

Not negative, but criticizing this lifestyle a little bit. What is your experience? Do you feel it's like accepted to be alcohol-free all over the world? Increasingly so. However, it's still, you know, people still default to, oh, you're not drinking? Oh, you must be an alcoholic because under any other circumstance, of course you would choose to drink.

And that's still the norm, but increasingly people are becoming a lot more relaxed around not drinking and people are becoming a lot more confident about sharing with people that they're not drinking. It's still a very small amount because we've got a long way to go as a culture because cultural conditioning for decades has been implanting this idea into our mind that

drinking and drinking a lot or even just drinking a little bit is just normal and healthy and good for connection and having fun whereas what i tend to argue or what i see is that the gift is really being alcohol free and you can have more fun being alcohol free and you can connect more being alcohol free i describe alcohol really as attractively packaged poison um

And you see it in marketing all over the place. They put champagne in beautiful gold bottles and they put wine in beautiful wine bottles and they put scotch and whiskey in these gorgeous bottles with these beautiful packaging and this lovely wording on the labels. And it looks so seductive.

And there are smiling assassins everywhere. I call them smiling assassins. They're waiters and waitresses and friends and family who are smiling when they say, hey, would you like a drink? Hey, can I get you a drink? Hey, would you like a drink? And they mean well. I mean, they're just trying to engage with you. But drinking that alcohol, there's not one element of health attributed to alcohol. There's zero nutritional benefits there.

Is one drink going to kill you? No. Is one drink going to be fine? Sure. But most people don't just have one drink. They have one drink every night all of their life and that cumulatively can add up to cause problems that you may not see in the beginning but which are very much felt over the long term.

Yeah, but I think that's so hard because the casual drinkers, they don't really recognize that they have a problem or that they have health consequences to their drinking. So that's why we really, yeah, how do you do that? How do you convince them to stop drinking? And what do you do in your workshops, courses? How do you catch these people?

Well, I'm not there to convince anyone to stop drinking. I'm there to help those who have convinced themselves that they need to stop drinking. So I'm not here frowning upon alcohol or judging people for drinking, but those who recognize that their drinking habits have got a little bit too much and they can see the health consequences are

I'm all for supporting those folks. So a lot of what we do in our training is rewiring their mindset around alcohol. So rather than looking at alcohol as this beautiful thing to savor and bow down and worship and, oh, this drink at the end of the day is so nice. And, oh, this beer with friends is so nice. And, oh, having wine with the ladies for brunch on a Sunday morning is so nice.

We turn it around, we flip it around and we go, oh, having this soda water ice and a piece of lime with the ladies is so beautiful. And oh, drinking this beautiful water and soda water and mocktails is so nice. And this feeling of clarity and focus and presence is so nice as opposed to what drinking creates, which is stress, irritability, anxiety, anxiety.

And then we walk through some scripts with our clients as well, where we show them what to say and how to say it to friends or colleagues or bosses or family who are encouraging you to drink. For example, I'll give you an example here. Most of the reason why people feel so uncomfortable about sharing that they're not drinking is

is because they fear that people will think that they're an alcoholic or they have a problem or that they'll be chastised for not drinking or there'll be a Debbie down or there'll be a buzzkill, like they'll be killing the fun and enjoyment. And the reason why people feel that way is because most people who have stopped drinking are apologetic about the fact that they're not drinking. They kind of go into a social function and they'll say, oh, yeah, sorry, I'm not drinking at the moment. Oh, I wish I could, but I'm doing this.

30-day challenge and oh, yeah, no. They think they have to retreat from society. That fun is for everyone else, but because they're not drinking, they have to retreat or they have to be apologetic. And when you bring that energy, society feels and sees that. And of course, they want to encourage you to drink because they don't want you to be a Debbie Downer.

But if you go into a social situation and just be like, oh, no, I don't drink. I'm good, thanks. I'll have soda water. Or, ha-ha, yeah, I'm going to get drunk on this soda water tonight. Ha-ha-ha. Or, yeah, if someone asks them for a drink and they say, yes, please, may I have a soda water? I'd love that. That would be great. Thank you. And the energy is just so confident and light and it's not a big deal, then most of the time society will just drop this incessant need to try to get you to drink.

It's just how you talk about not drinking is more important than what you actually say about not drinking. If you just go, yeah, I don't drink, haven't drunk for a while, feel great, that's 100 times better than, oh, no.

No, I'm not drinking. I wish I could. Yeah, being proud of your choices, of course, and not being a victim is really, really the most important thing. But also, you know, a glass of red a day keeps the doctor away. We have so many excuses. There are servotrol, the polyphenols and everything. Is that just a joke? Well, there are studies from the 80s that came out that seem to suggest that a glass of wine is good for heart health.

Now, when you really dig into this back then, you can see that those studies were funded by the companies, by the wine companies. Today, 2022, obviously we have the benefit of three decades more of science and research. Those studies have been debunked so many times now.

The World Health Organization put out a study about a year ago that said there is zero nutritional benefit to alcohol. The American Cancer Association put out a report about 15 months ago that advised people to have zero alcohol if they wanted to ensure that they didn't leave themselves open to cancer.

Um, is one drink or a couple of drinks per week on occasion going to kill you? I don't think so. I think the quality of your life will still be absolutely fine. However, if you're having a glass of wine a day for 365 days of the year, I'm not so sure. And the recent research, I mean, when I say recent, I mean,

2020 onwards seems to suggest that it's it does more damage than good it does more harm than good so you know it's a lot of these health claims when you really dig in you start to realize the people behind it who are pushing that it's in their best interest to have people you know consuming their product

So the drinking in moderation is debunked. Thank you. Yes. But almost everyone starts drinking at one point. Why do they start drinking? Why is this so socially acceptable? And addictive. Yeah, and addictive. Yeah, it's cultural conditioning, isn't it? I mean, this has been going on for years. I mean, the parents...

are culpable in my view because what do we tell our children when we're drinking they say oh no you can't have a drink now but one day when you're older then you can have a drink

And what they're really enforcing into their child's minds is like, oh, this is a rite of passage. One day when I grow up, I get to drink this attractively packaged poison. Oh, okay, great. I can't wait to mature and get into my late teens when finally I'll be able to join my parents and enjoy this glass of attractively packaged poison. So when you have cultural conditioning like that, of course it's challenging to

to start your adult life without drinking because your parents have been almost subliminally encouraging you to start drinking your entire life. And then from there, of course, you go to college or university and the culture is all about having fun and connecting and getting drunk and doing crazy things and

and hooking up and being promiscuous. That's college life. That's university life for the most part. Not everyone, but for the most part. And so you've grown up with your parents telling you that this is a rite of passage.

Um, on your 18th birthday, you drink champagne, right? You may be growing up. You've gone to weddings where there's champagne present and they toast the bride and the groom with the champagne. So you go, okay, this is, this is interesting. There's liquid in this gold bottle and everyone's drinking champagne with big smiles on their face. Okay. Um,

Then you go to college and everyone's drinking beer and wine and everyone's smiling as they're doing it. And you go, okay. And then you get into the workforce and people go, oh, let's go for drinks after work. And now it's reinforcing this notion again. Oh, okay. Let's go and drink more attractively packaged poison after work. It's so challenging to get out of that because the social drift, the cultural conditioning is just so strong.

And even if you add some insecurity or uncertainty to the mix, then you can really feel that sometimes alcohol calms your nerves. It's easier to enter a room or a party or a stage. So it's kind of understandable too. Yeah, well, look...

I get that. I get that some people feel socially awkward and they think and they feel and they experience that having a drink or two helps calm the nerves. And it's true that that may be the experience, that may be the feeling they experience. However, the ramifications...

of that are so severe that in my view, it completely counteracts any benefit, any short term benefit you get from relaxing. I think better to teach our children

And teenagers and young adults, social skills, you know, how to interact with people, how to build confidence, how to reduce anxiety or social awkwardness just through social skills. But we don't teach that. We just teach, here, have a drink. That'll calm your nerves. Surely people skills, connection skills, effective communication skills,

self-development programs would be far better for society at a young age and a teenage age and then young adulthood and education around body language and interacting in crowds and with people would be so much more effective for society for the individual and for society than simply saying here I know you're all feeling awkward have some poison that'll calm you down but um

If you see your friends, your family that they, in your opinion, drink too much, how can you approach and talk to these friends of yours without crossing boundaries? Are you just going to be an example or can you talk to them? Yeah, I don't approach them. Unless someone had a real problem, I don't say anything. I just let my actions be the example.

And I always encourage my clients, don't get preachy. Don't be going and trying to change anyone else. I like you do you and let others do them. Let's not judge other people. Everyone's got their own path, right? So, of course, I'm giving you my views here because we're having a conversation. But I don't proactively approach people and say, you should stop drinking. I never do that.

I just present reasons why I stopped drinking and anyone else who wants to stop drinking can come in and then we'll have that discussion. The best way I think anyone can

can influence anyone is by being the best example themselves. And we have had countless stories of our clients who've stopped drinking, who've now told us that they have inspired friends and family to either reduce or stop drinking, not by them having a conversation with them, but just by losing weight, by being happier, by being less argumentative, by...

excuse me, doing better professionally. And people will watch them and go, wow, what's got into you? Why are you so productive and effective? And then they'll say, well, I just stopped drinking and I got healthy. And that has been enough for them, for those people who've been witnessing that to take action themselves by having a better relationship with alcohol.

How big a percentage do have a real alcohol problem inherited or whatever? And how many are like just social drinkers who would like to have a better quality of life?

Yeah, that's a great question, which I don't have a very specific answer for you, I'm afraid. I don't know the exact numbers. What I can tell you is that surprisingly, most people don't drink alcohol, or rather I should say it's only about 50-50. Like there's only half of the world's planet are actually who can drink alcohol are drinking alcohol. So it's not like this huge...

90% people are drinking alcohol and 10% aren't. It was surprising to me to learn that only one in two people actually drink alcohol. The problem is that we have billions of people on the planet and those half represent a lot of drinkers in the world. Not drinking appropriately is

can cause so many societal problems. I mean, you saw it during COVID with lockdowns, alcohol consumption went up something crazy, like 20%. And it was funny, because at the same time, you saw bouts of depression go up about pretty equal, like it was a little bit more than 15%, a little bit less than 20, let's call it 17 and a half. I'm rounding up, of course,

But as drinking went up, so did depression rates went up. So did domestic violence incidents went up. So did stress and anxiety. So, you know, when half of the world's population are drinking alcohol,

And you see those kind of rates. Imagine if we just reduced it by 10%. All of society would change for the better if we just limited our amount of alcohol. So it's just about everything we believe in our societies today. It's not just alcohol. It's like whenever we get together to socialize, we need to either eat alcohol

do social media stuff and take selfies or drink or drink, whatever. We cannot just be anymore. Do you have any reflections on that? Or how can we inspire more people to fast more, have a healthier approach to all this binging?

Yeah, that's a great question. You know, it's funny because just this morning I went out for a walk here in Amsterdam and I saw a pancake place and I thought, oh, you know what? I'm in Amsterdam. I'm going to sit outside and I'm going to order pancakes. And I got the gluten-free pancakes. And I sat there and I was watching little boats go along the canal in Amsterdam. It was about 100 yards up from Anne Frank's house, just to give you context. And I

I sat down and I grabbed my phone as I was waiting for my pancakes to come and I started scrolling through my phone and about a minute in I caught myself and I thought, what are you doing, James? Like you're in Amsterdam, you're sitting outside, there's this beautiful scenery and you're scrolling on your phone. And so I was both appalled at myself but also quite impressed by myself that I caught myself doing it and I put it on airplane mode, turned my phone over and I just sat there and

And I just looked and watched the people. And candidly, it wasn't as easy as I would have hoped it would have been because I'm so used to scrolling in my damn phone that even just being there and just looking out felt challenging for the first couple of minutes. As I went along, it got a lot easier and I reveled in the fact that I could hear the

there was a church near Anne Frank's house that was chiming and I could hear the sounds of the boats going up and there were the chitter chatter of people. And I was listening to the Dutch language and,

Um, so I think to answer your question, being intentional about that, like going out and saying, right, when I sit down, I'm going to turn my phone off and I'm going to turn it over. So when I sit down at a restaurant with friends, for example, and we all put our phones on the table, I don't have it sitting up. I have it sitting down. So that way I can't see if any notifications come, but really, um,

I could be doing that most of the day. So you asking me that question has been a great reminder to me. So thank you. I'm going to be much better with my phone use now throughout the rest of the day. It's a learning road for all of us. Thank you for sharing that. It's so, so much every day. But back to your 30-day challenge. Can you tell us about the health benefit that you can find after these 30 days just to inspire our listeners? Yes.

Well, let me tell you the story about a client who I just interviewed for my podcast just last night, actually. I got into Amsterdam very late and I did a late night interview with him. And he's now two and a half years alcohol free. He's a 53-year-old man. He's named Steve Aguirre. He doesn't mind me using his name because he's out on the podcast.

And he's married and he works in California. And he joined my program in just before the lockdown started in March 2020. Okay, he's now two and a half years alcohol free.

He has lost 63 pounds. Now, I don't know what that is to your listeners. Do you guys deal with kilograms? Half, almost half. Okay. So he's lost about 30 kilograms. I have the notes here. His blood pressure, I'm not sure how you rate blood pressure, but in March 15, 2020, his blood pressure was 178 over 111, which to the uninitiated is very, very high. Wow.

178 over 111. Last night, as we did the interview, it was 111 over 72. That's a dramatic change. From 178 over 111 to 111 over 72 in two and a half years. And he was just a casual drinker. He was a casual drinker who was drinking two or three beers a night.

And that's socially acceptable. He wasn't getting drunk. He was just having a couple, two or three beers. In 2019, he tracked how many miles he cycled because he has the Strava thing on his phone and he can track distance. In 2019, he rode his bike 500 miles and

In 2020, when he stopped drinking, he 10Xed and rode 5,000 miles. And last year, 2021, he rode 10,000 miles. So he went from 500 miles to 5,000 miles to 10,000 miles a year in the space of two years simply from not drinking and losing all of that weight.

He also said that he used to be on gout medication because he drank consistently and he didn't eat particularly well. He took gout medication. If anyone's ever experienced gout, it's an awful thing.

It causes so much pain in the joints and it comes from eating poorly, from too much drinking and having anxiety and panic attacks to now being completely off gout medication, far reduced anxiety, no panic attacks. And he went from a strained marriage with his wife. I mean, his wife actually had an intervention with him, said he was drinking too much and

and put a tremendous strain on the marriage to now their relationship is beautiful and golden as he described it. So look, there's too much evidence to ignore that if you reduce or cut out alcohol...

all of your health metrics will likely shift in a positive direction. Weight loss, blood pressure drop, resting heart rate will drop, triglycerides, cholesterol, anxiety, depression will drop, stress, irritation, fogginess, lethargy, poor sleep will all drop. Your sleep improves dramatically when you stop drinking alcohol also.

And mood. And gout is then jikt in Norwegian. And I suppose it's from lowering the inflammation in the body because alcohol is probably a trigger for inflammation too. Yeah, well, yes, yes. And gout creates a very...

high amount of uric acid in the body and the body has a real really tough time getting that uric acid out and it forms as crystals and joints and it can show up in the big toe or the ankle or the knee so let's say we want to join your 30-day course uh we send you an email and we are ready what happens then tell us about the process what can we expect how hard is it

Yeah, well, I have a 30-day challenge, a 90-day coaching program and a 365-day coaching program. So if someone did the 30-day challenge, what would happen is you would get a pre-recorded training video each day for 30 days. So on day one, it would say, welcome to day one. Here's what I want you to do today to be alcohol-free. And then that would happen on day two and day three and day four,

Um, there's a Facebook group where you can go in and you can interact with other members and that would happen over the course of, of 30 days. And that's, that's more of like a do it yourself kind of program. If you did the 90 days, that's, um, for more executives, entrepreneurs, investors, um,

high achievers who really want to create lifelong power over their drinking habits and that's for people who are maybe feeling quite stressed and you know have tried to stop many times but have been able to have not been able to and in addition to 90 training videos you'd also get up to five group coaching calls per week and you can just join you know one a week that's fine

But you'll meet other people around the world on a Zoom call and we'll have conversations around reducing or cutting alcohol, a lot of health benefits, nutritional talk, a lot of mindset, energy. It's not just about stopping drinking. It's also about improving mindset and being conscious and how to have great conversations with people and reducing stress and anxiety in our life anyway that tend to lead to people wanting to drink.

And then if you do the 365 day, it's again much of what I just described in the 90 day. But in addition to that, we have in-person meetups and we have expert coaches come in and talk about marriages and relationships and how you can be a great conscious communicator. Because what I've learned over the years is that it's not just about stopping drinking. It's about stopping what's causing you to want to drink in the first place.

And so if we can coach people on how to just be happier humans in general, then their desire to drink will start to drop because most people are like craving a drink because they're stressed or they're anxious. But if we can remove a lot of the stress and anxiety, then we can remove a lot of the cravings for the alcohol.

So in your experience now with so many clients, how is the fallback? Are people quitting drinking for life or is there some people that start drinking again? Do you know? Yeah, I have anecdotal evidence. I can give you statistics of 92% of the clients who go into our 90-day program will

will stop drinking for at least 90 consecutive days on their first attempt. Okay. Now, if you compare that to AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous has a reported 7% success rate of people doing that program and actually stopping drinking for life, which is very low.

It's helped millions of people, absolutely. And if it works for you, do it, double down on it, keep doing it. However, it doesn't seem to work for 93% of people who attempt it.

Now, anecdotally, I can tell you because we stay in touch with many of our clients after the 90 days, but many of them we also lose contact with. So I can't give you like hard numbers. But what I can tell you is that most of the people, once they get to 90 consecutive days alcohol free, they tend to stop.

uh remain alcohol free and have remained so at least for you know four or five years that since i've been doing this particular program and of the ones who've returned to drinking they've told me that they only do so at a very moderate rate so that means they have a drink on occasion it's no longer having power over them they're no longer nightly drinkers they're

They might be having a drink once or twice a month, for example, and that's it. It no longer has power over them.

There's a very small number that complete the 90 and then we don't hear from them for six months or a year and then they come back and they say, actually, can I come and do the program again? Because it was amazing for six months. And then I went back to see if I could add it back into my life. And that started a spiral where I all of a sudden fell into bad habits.

Then they come back, they do the program again. And then after that, they seem to have really kicked it. And then they choose not to drink at all after that. So there's a few different variations, but for the most part, most people,

are completely transforming their relationship with alcohol for the better. How about those who would like to continue to have their social drinking but not in a lesser scale? Would they still benefit from a 30-day program? Would they change their patterns afterwards? Are they happy about it? Here's the thing. A 30-day program gives you a glimpse of what it feels like to be alcohol-free. However, if you are wanting...

to make long lasting lifelong change around alcohol. If you go into that 30 day challenge, trying to get to 30 days and then looking to celebrate on day 30, then it's kind of defeated the purpose in my view.

A 30-day challenge, like I said, gives you a glimpse. It's a great start. It gets you feeling what it's like to be alcohol-free. Maybe it starts to get the mindset switching to, hmm, maybe I could just reduce. Maybe I can do moderation. Anything that improves your relationship to alcohol, I think, is a win.

However, if you really want to make lifelong change, I would certainly encourage people to try to stop for at least 90 consecutive days in the beginning because then you really start to feel the benefits of that. And that will then trigger you into really contemplating, hey, maybe I'll just quit forever or maybe I'll just have a drink on occasion. That's great. So where can people find you? You have your homepage, right?

Yeah, so I have a podcast called Alcohol-Free Lifestyle. It's in Apple Podcasts and on Spotify. The website is alcoholfreelifestyle.com.

where you can find more about me and what we do. And you also share a lot on Instagram and the last inspiring post you had with the parents to stop acting or being too wild with the glasses on the table. Can you just tell us a little bit your opinion about how parenting should be around the dinner table, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or whatever? Yeah.

Well, look, I just think that parents need to be so conscious

that our children are watching our every move. They're watching us, they're studying us, they're studying our habits, they're studying how we relate to other adults, how we eat, how we drink, what we say, our mood. So anything you can do to be conscious of the fact that your kids are studying every mannerism and every sound and every facial expression,

I think is going to improve the role that we play in our children's lives. So I think having an intentional conversation with children about alcohol could be a good thing. Not drinking in front of them at all, I am all for. I definitely support that. If you are going to drink around them, I would do it.

very infrequently, so it's every night. Because again, if your kids are watching you and they're seeing you drink every night, what are they going to want to do when they grow up? It's just going to be do what my parents did because that's who they're learning from. So my invitation is, I mean, I am not here to teach parents how to parent, right? But I am here to just invite parents to

Really understand that our children are watching us. They're studying us and inviting you to be intentional about how you behave around them, especially as it relates to alcohol. So your Instagram is James Swanwick with two S's there and W, yes? Yeah, James Swanwick, yes, yes. Great advice and really nice talking to you.

Yeah, it was lovely. So is there any, in the end here, cool hacks we could use if we really crave the glass of wine? We just ordered some gaba, some sublingual gaba you can put under your tongue to calm your nerves a little bit. But do you have any tricks? Yeah, so a couple things. Number one is you don't really want to drink alcohol.

to calm your nerves or relieve your stress. You just want to calm your nerves and relieve your stress. And you can do that a thousand different ways that don't involve drinking alcohol. Some very simple things when a craving hits is to go for a walk, is to breathe for just 20 seconds. I mean, 20 seconds is nothing. It could just be... And just doing that will change your whole physiology, right?

It will start to just bring you down. The craving will start to subside. Again, you don't want alcohol to reduce your stress. You just want to reduce your stress. I like to go for a walk. I mean, I'm in Amsterdam at the moment. I like to get outside and just go for a walk around. That's a really good way to reduce stress. The other way is if you're at home, get alcohol out of your home because if it's out of sight...

And then it's out of mind. And a lot of challenges that people walk into is that they have wine cabinets and liquor cabinets and wine cellars. And so the alcohol is very present. And when you're in that home and you've got alcohol in your home, you tend to go there and consume it. So I just advise you get it out of the fridge, get it out of the cupboard, give it away, give it to friends. The other thing is keep really delicious drinks.

non-alcoholic drinks in your fridge. I mean, just there's so many great non-alcoholic options. Now there's some canned or bottled sparkling waters with beautiful flavors like mango and strawberry and lime and lemon. I mean, it's delicious. Also buying yourself a bouquet of flowers and just putting it on your, your dining room table.

or strategically putting a bouquet of flowers in your house, in your home, when you come home each day, you see that bouquet of flowers each day, it becomes this beautiful representation of health and vitality. And when you see those beautiful colors, like the tulips of Amsterdam that I'm seeing now all around the place,

It just inspires you to want to go to the fridge and drink soda water or sparkling water as opposed to going to the cupboard or the fridge to drink beer or wine. The flowers become a representation of your own body and your own health and your own vitality. So those little visual cues...

visual cues of health and vitality, a bowl of lime, buy six lime or lemons and create a beautiful bowl of lime and lemon with some flowers next to them and have a fridge filled with sparkling water with beautiful flavors. All of those things should inspire you to make healthier choices rather than just reaching for a bottle of attractively packaged poison. Yeah.

I also have seen during the last years that many high-end restaurants have presented like a non-alcoholic wine menu, like without the wine. But okay, this was fun. Is there any celebrities that you can quote here to let us know how the trend is going big all over the world? Yeah, so Jennifer Lopez does not drink. The Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper does not drink.

The two former or sorry, the former president of the United States and the current president of the United States, that being President Trump and President Biden, both do not drink. It was fascinating to me that President Trump has never drunk alcohol in his life. And Biden, I think he may have had a drink or two in his younger years, but doesn't drink now. In fact, the president before

Well, not before Obama. President Bush, he used to drink very heavily but then hasn't drunk for 30 or 40 years. There's a country singer in the US called Shana Twain. She doesn't drink. Warren Buffett, the world's greatest investor, billionaire, doesn't drink. Larry Ellison, who's a billionaire entrepreneur, also doesn't drink. Cristiano Ronaldo, the soccer player, the football player, he doesn't drink.

Any Australians? Any Australians? Let's have a think about that. Australians who don't drink. None of them come to mind. It's a great question. I'll find out. Maybe if I just Google Australians who don't drink. I met a few of them when I was working in TV2 here, Russell Crowe and Kylie Minogue. They don't drink? Yes, they drink. I think so. Russell Crowe.

Keith Urban, his marriage to Nicole Kimmon doesn't drink. He used to be quite a big drinker and drug taker, but not anymore. Osher Ginsberg is a friend of mine. Yeah, he doesn't drink.

Ruby Rose doesn't drink. I'm looking here. Maybe some of these names aren't immediately known to you guys. But yeah, there's a big trend. Everyone's, you know, not everyone, but increasing amounts of people are now becoming very conscious about alcohol. And you're right. There are many alcohol-free people

beers and alcohol free wines and alcohol free liquors on the market now which you can use you know which you can consume if if you want

Thank you very much, James. Yes, thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you so much for inviting me on the show. Thank you for asking me great questions and for giving me a platform to share this with the world. Yes. And keep leaving your phone on the table in Amsterdam and enjoy your stay in Europe. Yeah. Bye. Thank you, guys. Bye.

Yes, that was a lovely guy. Yes, very lovely. It's fun to talk to people who have passion for something. It's always inspiring for us. I also think that it's a part of our culture to both eat sugar and drink alcohol, so it's important to have a nuanced image of it. But if you're interested in resetting yourself and coming back to zero and getting rid of old habits, and all those things, then maybe a 30-day-old is either alone or if you want to stand up for him, a good idea.

Yes, I think so. Why should you be so afraid to try new things? It can only be that you start drinking worse than you are almost not.

And then we have, when we actually drink alcohol, and talk to many of those who have been on courses, we also talk about that you can find other alternatives than those who have extreme amounts of sugar. Yes, because you can choose vodka or dry white wine, in front of beer, liqueur and such things. Check a little on the sugar content. Now you can actually get wine without any particular sugar.

Yeah.

And glutathione is also a really nice detox for your liver, so it's also really cool to take if you've had a drink. B-vitamin is always safe and good to take. And then there are antioxidants, we can't do without them. Alpha-lineoleic acid or N-acetylcysteine as liver support. It's really cool to think about.

Yes, Maria Tissel, all the things that support the liver in the out-of-body exercise. So it's great to maybe lower the temperature a little in the bedroom so you get a little colder, because you get a little warm from alcohol. That's right. We put notes under, as always, and thank you again for listening to us, for sharing the podcast, and for asking us questions. We are so incredibly grateful for that. And we hope you enjoyed this podcast. And until we see you again...

Happy biohacking!