Abstain: Restrain oneself from doing something.

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.” 1 Corinthians 10:23

Alcohol

• Organ damage: Brain, heart, liver, and stomach. 

• Increased risk of cancer: Liver, breast, throat, and stomach. 

• High blood pressure: can increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke. 

• Weakened immune system: More susceptible to disease. 

• Mental health conditions: Alcohol can cause anxiety, depression, and suicidal depression.

Caffeine

• Anxiety: High amounts of caffeine can increase anxiety.

• Leaches magnesium from the body.

• Hearth health

• Brain health

• Promote bone health

• Stress reliever

• Digestive support

• Better sleep and mood

• Blood pressure: Caffeine can cause health complications for people with underlying health issues like high blood pressure and inadequate heart health. 

• Sleep problems

• Dehydration

Refined Sugar

• Weight gain: The body stores excess sugar as fat, and eating too many calories from sugar can lead to overeating. 

• Type 2 diabetes

• Heart disease: Excess sugar in your blood can damage cells and tissues, especially blood vessels. This damage can lead to plaque buildup and increase your risk of heart attack and stroke. 

• Cavities: Bacteria in your mouth eat sugar and produce acid, which eats away at tooth enamel and creates cavities. 

• Mood swings and irritability

• Acne: Insulin production increases when you eat a lot of sugar, which can increase oil production in the skin and lead to acne.

Tobacco

• Cancer: Tobacco use can increase the risk of cancer in many organs, including the lungs, mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, colon, and rectum. 

• Heart disease

• Lung disease

• Diabetes

• Reproductive health: Tobacco use can harm sperm, which may lead to infertility. It can also make it more difficult to get pregnant, cause ectopic pregnancy, and cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight, and birth defects during pregnancy. 

• Immune system

Negativity

• As humans, we tend to:

• Remember traumatic experiences better than positive ones.

• Recall insults better than praise.

• React more strongly to negative stimuli.

• Think about negative things more frequently than positive ones.

• Respond more strongly to negative events than to equally positive ones.

• NEURO PATHWAYS - they can be changed 

• Rewire the Brain

• Stop Negative Self-Talk

• Reframe the Situation

• Establish New Patterns

• Savor Positive Moments

Apply the A’s

• Attainable (capable of being done or carried out)

• Lower intake everyday instead of cold turkey so the withdrawal isn't as intense.

• Speak positive things over yourself in the mornings and evenings.

• Who are you hanging out with? Accountability partners

• 80/20

• Affordable (inexpensive, and reasonably priced)

• It will save you money & enrich your life

• Achievable (able to be brought about or reached successfully)

• Give yourself a ONE WEEK GOAL. Abstain fully by one week.

• Write down an “Abstain Plan”. Use the 3-3-3 rule. Focus on a new habit for three days, then three weeks, and finally three months.

• Have support and accountability.