top of page
Take Control text with gold line and with OASIS on the bottom My Site 18
Take Control with One text on a white background, My Site 18
Woman celebrating success

Ready to start your transformation?

Join thousands of others who have successfully changed their relationship with alcohol.

“I feel like I can sparkle again” – Wendy Gordon

  • Writer: OYNB
    OYNB
  • Nov 17
  • 4 min read
Woman smiling on a beach, wearing a gray top and black jacket. Ocean waves in the background. Text: "I feel like I can sparkle again."


“I feel like I can sparkle again – I haven’t felt like this in years.”




From competitive triathlete to anxious, exhausted and stuck


A woman with blonde hair smiles in a warmly lit room. A landscape painting hangs on the white wall behind her. She appears content.

It all started six years ago when I seemed to “sign off” from many aspects of my life. At 56, I suspect my story will resonate with a lot of women who’ve gone through the “change of life”.


Almost overnight, I went from being an all-out competitive triathlete and runner to someone who was:

  • constantly injured

  • steadily gaining weight

  • feeling increasingly anxious


Alcohol became my way to cope – or so I naively thought. I had never been a big drinker before, but I was becoming one without even realising it.


How 3–4 glasses a night became “normal”

My days started to follow a very familiar script:

  • Stressful day at work? Drink a glass as soon as I walked through the door.

  • Great day at work? Same thing – glass as soon as I got home.

  • Cooking dinner? Drink a glass.

  • Eating dinner? Drink a glass.

  • Evening TV? Another glass.


Before I knew it, I was drinking 3–4 glasses of wine every single day.

Then came the dreaded 3am wake-ups.I’d bolt awake, anxious and wired, and often go to the lounge for a “small glass” of something to “settle my nerves”.


I knew I was in trouble at this point… but I still didn’t truly connect the dots between my anxiety and my alcohol intake. I just assumed anxiety was keeping me awake; alcohol felt like the solution, not the cause.

My stress and anxiety escalated to the point that I left my job at the end of 2018. I was overwhelmed and couldn’t cope. Even then, I didn’t see that alcohol might be the main thread running through this whole picture.


Knee surgery, weight gain and a big question

Around the same time, I needed knee surgery. My weight kept creeping up. I spoke with my partner about wanting to lose weight, and we both acknowledged the obvious starting point: give up alcohol and see what happens.

Almost on cue, Facebook started serving me content about quitting drinking – including One Year No Beer (OYNB). I devoured the stories and recognised parts of myself in so many of them.

I tried to go it alone. I lasted three weeks. I felt marginally better… but I craved alcohol and went straight back to old habits. Looking back, I was completely unequipped to make a lasting change.


The elephant in the room: anxiety


Despite starting a new job I loved as a nurse tutor at university, my anxiety was still huge – the same old elephant in the room.

OYNB posts kept appearing in my feed. I kept reading the inspiring stories. I kept trying to stop drinking, resetting my “Day 1” about six times.

Eventually, I realised I needed more than willpower.I needed accountability and structure.

So I joined OYNB.


My whys were clear:


  • I was sick of being anxious

  • Sick of feeling frumpy and overweight

  • Sick of feeling old and tired

  • And utterly unwilling to live the rest of my life like that


The first days weren’t easy. The desire to drink could be overwhelming. But I stayed close to the OYNB tribe and followed the guidance step by step.

Around Day 14, on a really tough day, I read Annie Grace’s This Naked Mind – and it changed everything. It was my light-bulb moment. For the first time, I clearly understood why I’d become so sick with anxiety, and how alcohol was feeding it.


What changed in 90 days alcohol-free

As the weeks went on, I started to notice profound shifts:

“I go looking for my anxiety in the morning – and it’s not there.”

  • My anxiety has diminished to almost nothing. It no longer rules my life. When it does appear, I can see why and address it without being crippled by it.

  • I’ve come off my antidepressant medication.

  • I’ve lost 5kg.

  • My face is less puffy, and the grey bags under my eyes have lifted. I now happily take photos without sunglasses – I’m no longer hiding my “sad eyes”.


I’ve also reclaimed my fitness and joy in movement:


  • I’m back on the bike and loving RPM classes.

  • I’ve discovered yoga and Reformer Pilates.

  • I do Reformer in a studio full of women 30 years younger than me, with loud, funky music – and they make me feel young again.


Woman in blue top leans on stationary bike in a gym with a brick-patterned wall. She appears relaxed, wearing a cap and leggings.

My external world has shifted too:


  • Friends keep commenting on how well I look.

  • I’m loving my university teaching; I feel passionate, present and truly engaged.

  • I’m even going back to complete my Masters in Clinical Education.


Reclaiming my life – and my sparkle


Most importantly, I’ve reclaimed my life – something I don’t believe would have been possible without OYNB and the support of the tribe.


I finally feel free:


  • free from the 3am panic

  • free from the endless cycle of “wine to cope, anxiety as the cost”

  • free to be myself again


“I feel like I can sparkle again – I haven’t felt like this in years.”

For that, I am deeply grateful.

bottom of page