This, by my calculations, is roughly how much I drank each year when I lived in New York City.

根據我的計算，這大概是我在紐約生活時每年喝的酒量。

What the fuck?

搞什麼鬼？

After 22 years of heavy drinking, last summer, I decided to quit alcohol for good.

在酗酒 22 年之後，去年夏天，我決定徹底戒酒。

There were a lot of reasons for this that I'll get into in a second, and obviously there were benefits.

這其中有很多原因，我稍後會講到，顯然也有好處。

I lost some weight, I slept better at night, and I have no more ungodly hangovers.

我的體重減輕了，晚上睡得更香了，也不再有可怕的宿醉。

But there are also some life changes that happened that I was completely unprepared for.

但也發生了一些我完全沒有準備好的生活變化。

And once these hidden benefits kicked in,

一旦這些隱藏的好處開始發揮作用、

I knew that I was probably done with alcohol forever.

我知道，我可能永遠與酒精無緣了。

But first, before we can talk about the benefits of not drinking, there's a far more important fact to start with, and that is, what are the benefits of drinking?

但首先，在我們談論不喝酒的好處之前，有一個更重要的事實要先說，那就是喝酒有什麼好處？

To alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

對酒精而言，生活中所有問題的起因和解決方案都是酒精。

For me, the benefits were social.

對我來說，好處在於社交。

Like most, I started drinking as a teenager.

和大多數人一樣，我從十幾歲就開始酗酒。

And as someone who struggled a lot with social anxiety and codependency issues as a young man, alcohol was the only thing that allowed me to socialize with large groups of people comfortably.

作為一個年輕時經常與社交焦慮和依賴問題作鬥爭的人，只有酒精才能讓我舒適地與一大群人交往。

Then, at university, I discovered what I thought was a superpower, I could drink.

後來，在大學裡，我發現了一種我認為是超能力的東西，那就是我可以喝酒。

A lot.

很多。

And still, somehow, remain highly functional.

而且，不知何故，仍然保持著高度的功能性。

Combine this with a social environment that rewards an ability to drink with status, and by my early 20s, I had adopted an identity as the party guy.

再加上社會環境對酗酒和地位的褒獎，到了 20 歲出頭，我已經有了 "派對狂人 "的身份。

I was out almost every night, Tuesday through Saturday, drinking hand, having a blast.

從週二到週六，我幾乎每天晚上都在外面喝酒，玩得不亦樂乎。

This lifestyle continued throughout my 20s into my early 30s.

這種生活方式從我 20 多歲一直持續到 30 歲出頭。

And by this time, I had moved to New York City, and as anyone who's lived in New York City can tell you, it is an alcoholic's paradise.

這時，我已經搬到了紐約，住過紐約的人都知道，紐約是酗酒者的天堂。

That is, a ridiculous amount of alcohol.

也就是說，酒量大得離譜。

That is a ridiculously expensive alcoholic's paradise.

那簡直就是昂貴得令人髮指的酒鬼天堂。

I was married, a successful author, flying around the world, writing and promoting books.

我結了婚，是一位成功的作家，在世界各地飛來飛去，寫作和宣傳書籍。

Throughout all of this, the alcohol continued to flow.

在整個過程中，酒精一直在流淌。

But it was around this time that something started to change.

但就在這個時候，情況開始發生了變化。

My party guy identity had helped me survive my insecurities in my 20s.

我的 "派對男 "身份幫我度過了 20 多歲時的不安全感。

It helped me build the confidence and social experiences necessary to become the successful man that I was in my 30s.

它幫助我建立了必要的自信和社會經驗，使我在 30 多歲時成為一個成功的男人。

But it also began to destroy me in my 30s, because by then, life had changed, my values had changed, and more than anything else, my metabolism had changed.

但它也在我 30 多歲時開始摧毀我，因為那時，生活發生了變化，我的價值觀也發生了變化，更重要的是，我的新陳代謝發生了變化。

My body and mind couldn't handle the booze anymore.

我的身體和精神都無法再承受酒的折磨。

I gained a ton of weight, I fell horribly out of shape,

我的體重增加了一噸，身材也嚴重走樣、

I slept poorly at night and became stressed all the time.

我晚上睡不好覺，壓力一直很大。

Like many people, I decided to use 2020 as an opportunity to lose some weight and get back in the shape.

和許多人一樣，我決定利用 2020 年這個機會減肥，恢復體形。

Drinking less was a big part of that, and I cut back drastically, from roughly 10 to 15 drinks a week, down to just three to five per week.

減少飲酒是其中的一個重要部分，我大幅減少了飲酒量，從每週大約 10 到 15 杯減少到每週僅 3 到 5 杯。

But then, a few catalysts happened.

但是，後來發生了一些催化劑。

All around the same time, that made me quit for good.

差不多就在同一時間，這讓我徹底放棄了。

The first was that I actually started to notice how bad alcohol made me feel.

首先，我開始注意到酒精讓我感覺多麼糟糕。

When you're having 15 or 20 drinks a week, you're pretty much constantly in a state of being either drunk or hungover.

當你每週要喝 15 或 20 杯酒時，你就會經常處於醉酒或宿醉的狀態。

So you don't really realize the degree of damage that you're causing to yourself.

所以，你並沒有真正意識到你對自己造成的傷害有多大。

But when you cut back, and you're only having a few drinks each week, you open up enough gaps of clarity in your day to notice how fucking terrible you feel when you have a drink.

但是，當你減少飲酒量，每週只喝幾杯酒時，你就會在每天的生活中開闢出足夠的空隙，從而注意到自己喝酒時的感覺有多麼糟糕。

Even just one drink, one fucking drink, and it can just ruin a whole weekend.

哪怕只是喝一杯，一杯該死的酒，就能毀掉整個週末。

The second thing that happened was that a lot of new research on alcohol began to come out.

第二件事是，許多關於酒精的新研究開始問世。

This research showed that alcohol is actually far worse for us than anyone initially thought.

這項研究表明，酒精對人體的危害實際上比人們最初想象的要嚴重得多。

See, when I was young, the conventional wisdom was that a few drinks each week was actually good for you.

你看，我年輕的時候，傳統觀念認為每週喝幾杯酒其實對身體有好處。

Hell, a glass of red wine was supposed to make you healthy.

該死的，一杯紅酒本該讓人健康。

But now, we have better data and better studies.

但現在，我們有了更好的數據和更好的研究。

And sad to say, the news is bad.

不幸的是，消息很糟糕。

No, God!

不，上帝

It's all bad.

都是壞事。

Every last drop of it.

一滴不剩

Alcohol is bad.

酒精不好。

I'll never drink another beer.

我再也不喝啤酒了。

Beer here!

這裡有啤酒

I'll take 10.

我要 10 個。

Not only is it bad for you that day or that week, but if you're a consistently heavy drinker, like I was for many, many years, it can take up to a year for your body to completely reset.

酗酒不僅對當天或當週的身體不好，而且如果你像我一樣持續酗酒很多很多年，你的身體可能需要長達一年的時間才能完全恢復。

Alcohol is kind of a double hit.

酒精是一種雙重打擊。

It's causing changes in our brain circuitry and neurochemistry that, at the time in which we're inebriated, are detrimental.

它導致我們的大腦回路和神經化學發生變化，而在我們醉酒的時候，這些變化是有害的。

And it's causing changes in neural circuitry that persist long past the time in which we're experiencing the feeling of being tipsy or drunk.

它導致神經迴路發生變化，這種變化在我們體驗到微醺或醉酒的感覺之後會持續很長時間。

If people are ingesting alcohol chronically, even if it's not every night, there are well-recognized changes in increased stress when people are not drinking, diminished mood and feelings of well-being when people are not drinking, and changes in the neural circuitry that cause people to drink even more in order to get just back to baseline before they ever started drinking in the first place.

如果人們長期攝入酒精，即使不是每晚都喝，也會出現公認的變化，即不喝酒時壓力會增加，不喝酒時情緒和幸福感會降低，神經迴路會發生變化，導致人們喝得更多，以便回到開始喝酒之前的基線。

But the final thing, and perhaps the most important thing,

但最後一件事，或許也是最重要的一件事、

I left New York and I moved to LA.

我離開紐約，搬到了洛杉磯。

It is impossible to overstate how big of a deal this move had on my day-to-day health.

這次搬家對我日常健康的影響有多大，怎麼說都不為過。

Everything in New York revolves around bars, restaurants, parties, and shows.

紐約的一切都圍繞著酒吧、餐廳、派對和演出。

LA, on the other hand, is in many ways the opposite.

而洛杉磯在很多方面恰恰相反。

First off, you have to spend hours in your car to get anywhere, so you can't really drink that much in the first place.

首先，去任何地方都得在車裡待上幾個小時，所以你根本喝不了那麼多酒。

Second of all, the weather is perfect all the damn time, and there are beaches and mountains like 20 minutes away.

其次，這裡的天氣一直都很好，20 分鐘內就能到達海灘和山脈。

So you have healthy, fun activities in the sun that require energy and clarity and getting up in the morning.

是以，你要在陽光下進行健康、有趣的活動，這些活動需要精力充沛、頭腦清醒，需要早上起床。

Suddenly, hangovers actually have social costs and downsides.

突然之間，宿醉居然有了社會成本和弊端。

Throw on top of that the fact that everyone is so goddamn beautiful and healthy here.

除此之外，這裡的每個人都是如此美麗健康。

And yeah, you start to feel a little bit weird when you order a double rye Old Fashioned at 5.30 on a Tuesday.

是的，如果你在週二 5:30 點一杯雙份黑麥老式咖啡，你就會覺得有點怪怪的。

And by weird, I mean people look at you like you're fucking degenerate.

我說的 "怪異 "是指人們看你的眼神就像看一個墮落的人。

Finally, everything reached a head last summer.

去年夏天，一切終於有了結果。

I remember I went to an event, and it was an event I signed up for and paid for.

我記得我參加過一次活動，那是一次我報名參加並支付了費用的活動。

The first night, I ended up hanging out at the bar with a few guys that I had met and just got absolutely plastered, like just fucking shit-faced.

第一天晚上，我和幾個認識的人在酒吧裡閒逛，結果喝得爛醉，就像一灘爛泥。

And I was so drunk, I couldn't get up and go to the event the next day.

我喝得酩酊大醉，第二天再也起不來參加活動了。

So I gave it up end of July last year.

是以，我在去年 7 月底放棄了它。

Initially, I was gonna do three months.

最初，我打算幹三個月。

The three months was so amazing that I was like, okay, I'm gonna go to the end of the year.

這三個月是如此美妙，以至於我想，好吧，我要堅持到年底。

And so my goal for 23 is to actually do all of 2023 without a drink.

是以，我 23 歲的目標是 2023 年全年不喝酒。

One year's worth of alcohol, like that ran through my body.

一年的酒量，就這樣在我身體裡流淌。

It's pretty crazy.

太瘋狂了

Okay, let's talk about the benefits of quitting alcohol and why you should quit too.

好了，讓我們來談談戒酒的好處，以及為什麼你也應該戒酒。

First, there were the obvious benefits.

首先是顯而易見的好處。

I lost some weight.

我瘦了一些。

I slept like a baby.

我睡得像個嬰兒。

Date nights with the wife got much, much cheaper.

和妻子的約會之夜也變得便宜多了。

But there were some unexpected benefits as well that took me by a little bit of a surprise.

但也有一些意想不到的好處，讓我有些措手不及。

Number one, less insecurity.

第一，減少不安全感。

I actually began to notice this when I cut back drinking only to a few times per month.

實際上，當我每月只喝幾次酒時，我就開始注意到了這一點。

The two to three days after I would drink,

之後的兩三天，我會喝酒、

I would be more emotional the next couple days.

接下來的幾天，我會更加情緒化。

I would get crankier, more excited, more embarrassed.

我會變得更暴躁、更激動、更尷尬。

But since quitting drinking entirely,

但自從完全戒酒之後

I find that I am on an incredibly even keel.

我發現自己的心態非常平和。

This has been an unexpected boon for my productivity and work.

這對我的工作效率和工作帶來了意想不到的好處。

There's much less energy being spent on trying to manage my own emotions and much more energy being invested into creativity.

花在管理自己情緒上的精力少了很多，投入到創造力上的精力多了很多。

Number two, more clarity around my values and priorities.

第二，更加明確我的價值觀和優先事項。

Back when I used to drink a lot,

以前我經常喝酒、

I would get excited about three or four different project ideas in any given week.

我每週都會為三四個不同的項目創意而興奮不已。

I'd feel anxiety and FOMO if I passed up opportunities.

如果我放棄機會，我就會感到焦慮和 FOMO。

I would dedicate myself to a new idea only to start questioning that idea a few days later.

我會全身心地投入一個新想法，但幾天後又開始質疑這個想法。

I would ride this rollercoaster of emotion, one day feeling like I was doing exactly what I was meant to be doing, and then the next, having a complete existential crisis that I was wasting my time.

我的情緒就像坐雲霄飛車一樣，前一天還覺得自己在做自己應該做的事情，第二天就完全陷入了生存危機，覺得自己在浪費時間。

Now, I have a handful of goals that I know I want to accomplish and I focus on them.

現在，我有幾個目標，我知道我想完成它們，並把精力集中在這些目標上。

I say no to all conflicting opportunities and there's no drama, no bullshit.

我拒絕所有衝突的機會，沒有戲劇性，沒有廢話。

No more bullshit.

別再胡說八道了。

Number three, fewer but better friends.

第三，朋友更少但更好。

In my 20s, I drank alcohol at social events to bury my anxiety.

20 多歲時，我在社交活動中飲酒來掩蓋我的焦慮。

In my 30s, I drank to bury my boredom.

在我 30 多歲的時候，我酗酒來埋葬我的無聊。

The epiphany I had when I stopped drinking is that if I'm bored when hanging out with certain people,

我戒酒後頓悟到，如果和某些人在一起時感到無聊、

I should simply stop being friends with those people.

我乾脆就不跟這些人做朋友了。

For some reason, this thought never occurred to me in the 15 years that I was drinking, but now that I'm sober, it seems like the most obvious fucking thing in the world.

出於某種原因，我在酗酒的 15 年裡從未有過這種想法，但現在我清醒了，這似乎是世界上最顯而易見的事情。

It goes without saying, if you need to drink to enjoy a person or a thing, you don't actually enjoy that person or thing, and you should stop doing both.

不言而喻，如果你需要喝酒來享受一個人或一件事，那麼你實際上並不喜歡這個人或這件事，你應該停止這兩種行為。

Sober socializing is definitely a case of quality over quantity, and I like it that way.

清醒的社交活動絕對是重質不重量，我喜歡這種方式。

Number four, changed hobbies and interests.

第四，改變愛好和興趣。

For years, I thought I was really passionate about food and fine dining.

多年來，我一直以為自己非常熱愛美食和高級餐飲。

Turns out, I just like getting drunk at restaurants.

原來，我只是喜歡在餐廳喝醉。

I thought I loved the theater and live shows.

我以為我喜歡戲劇和現場表演。

Turns out, a lot of them aren't as entertaining when you're sober.

事實證明，當你清醒的時候，很多事情就不那麼有趣了。

I thought I liked certain events and networking groups and parties.

我以為我喜歡某些活動、網絡團體和聚會。

Turns out, sober Mark would rather be home.

事實證明，清醒的馬克更願意待在家裡。

Overall, from the outside, my life probably appears a lot more boring and dull, but strangely, I'm way more satisfied and happy.

總的來說，從外表上看，我的生活可能會枯燥乏味得多，但奇怪的是，我卻更加滿足和快樂。

Number five, better sex.

第五，更好的性生活。

This is a strong pipe, like a strong, firm, solid pipe.

這是一個結實的菸斗，就像一個強壯、結實、堅實的菸斗。

Definitely stronger than my old pipe.

絕對比我的舊菸斗強。

Wife seems very happy with this pipe.

妻子似乎對這個菸斗非常滿意。