Our body is reacting to things all day, whether we’re paying attention or not. Food, sleep, stress, movement, caffeine and alcohol all give it something to respond to.
We usually don’t notice it happening. We just notice how we feel. We might feel clear or foggy, calm or restless, energised or completely drained.
I’m not saying our body is literally a machine. The point is that it responds to what we keep giving it.
Most reactions happen without us noticing
If we get hot, we sweat. If we haven’t eaten, we get hungry. If we sleep badly, concentration and patience may be worse the next day.
We don’t have to tell the body to do any of this. It keeps making adjustments in the background to keep us functioning.
So how we feel isn’t always about discipline or character. Sometimes our body is just responding to what happened earlier.
What alcohol asks the body to do
Alcohol gives the body a lot to deal with. It slows brain activity, affects coordination and gets in the way of normal sleep.
So the first result may feel like relief or drowsiness. Later, we could be awake at three in the morning, thirsty, anxious or unable to settle. The relief came first, and the restless or anxious feeling came later. But alcohol played a part in both.
Why the later effects get blamed on life
The quick feeling is easy to connect with the drink. We pour it, drink it and feel different.
The poor sleep, low energy or irritability may not show up until hours later. By then, work, age, stress or a busy life gets the blame. Then we drink again because we feel worn out.
The homeostasis trap explains how the nervous system can keep responding after the alcohol starts wearing off.
Our normal can change
When this keeps happening, we can get used to how we feel.
Broken sleep starts feeling normal. Brain fog becomes something we push through. Low energy becomes the reason we need another coffee, and anxiety becomes something we think is just part of us.
We’re still functioning, so we may not connect any of it with alcohol. But feeling that way often doesn’t make it normal or healthy. We’ve just got used to it.
What happens when we give our body something better
When we give our body proper food, water, rest and movement, we’re giving it what it needs. And when alcohol is gone, we’re no longer giving it something that keeps disrupting sleep, mood and clear thinking.
That doesn’t mean we feel perfect every day. The body still responds to stress, illness, poor sleep and everything else that happens in life. But we’re no longer asking it to recover from alcohol at the same time.
And that’s why it makes sense to treat our body like something worth protecting. That’s the point behind the Ferrari comparison too.
Our body responds to what we keep giving it. So why keep giving it the thing that makes us feel worse afterwards?
— Brent