Jodi Clark, 39, is alcohol-free and the happiest and healthiest she’s ever felt…
During my early 20s, I loved socialising and all the boozing that came with it. Even on a night in, I’d drink a bottle of red wine to myself and feel fine for work the next day. When I moved in with my now-husband, Dale, he only drank at weekends and although my daily wine habit didn’t bother him, I became a weekend-only drinker too.
But while Dale would stop as soon we got home from the pub, I’d crack open another bottle of wine and drink until bedtime. By the end of the weekend, there’d be two empty wine bottles in the recycling – not counting what I’d consumed outside the house. I didn’t think I had a problem. “I don’t drink every day,” I’d tell myself. I had a good job in marketing, went to the occasional bootcamp class and ate fairly healthily to maintain my size 12 figure.
In 2010, I gave birth to our son Dexter by emergency C-section. The labour was traumatic and I couldn’t exercise for a long time, afterwards. At 5ft 4ins, I’d gone up a dresss size and wanting to get back into a size 12, I joined a weight-loss programme. From Mondays to Fridays, I’d follow the eating plan religiously – eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and not having a drop of alcohol. But at the weekend, I’d allow myself to drink glass after glass of red wine along with bags of crisps and cheese and crackers. On Sunday morning, I’d wake up in a groggy haze to hear Dale call out from the kitchen, “Who’s eaten all the crisps?” I’d jokingly call myself Pacman and of course, I didn’t lose weight.
“I just need to get this weight off, then I can go back to drinking,” I kept saying to Dale. For a few weeks, I’d cut out alcohol completely and successfully shift the pounds. But when I started drinking at weekends again, the weight would creep back on.
In 2017, Dale and I had our son, Ollie through IVF and I continued on my stop-start relationship with booze. When I was drinking, Monday mornings were hellish and I’d spend all day at work fuelled with “hang-xiety” and unable to focus properly. I’d promise myself to drink Fridays and Saturdays only, however, come Sunday, I never could resist a glass of red with my roast dinner. Then the whole bottle would be gone. By now, I’d become concerned about my drinking and had started to read up about it online. I discovered I was a typical “grey-area drinker” – where you don’t hit rock bottom, and you can control the frequency of drinking, but struggle to stop at just one. You drink to cope with emotions, which begins to negatively impact your life, and you begin to regret the amount you consume.
When we were plunged into lockdown in March 2020, I co
