I’m 54 with a 35-year-old body. It all started because I gave up drinking

As we begin Sober October, one personal trainer explains how and why she did gave up drinking – and the rewards reaped as a result

Personal trainer Annie Murray, 54, was not a problem drinker – she had drink-free days and never mixed her drinks. Yet, giving up completely has changed her life. Here, Annie, who is married with two children and lives in Steyning, West Sussex, reveals the milestone that tested her the most and how she transformed her body and her health. 
I grew up in a drinking culture. I was born in the 1970s and when I reached 15 everyone started going to the pub. Everyone was drinking – it was just the thing to do. At university, I got my degree in computing and then went into software engineering as a computer analyst programmer. We would go to the pub at lunchtime and after work. On Fridays, we would go at lunchtime and wouldn’t bother going back. 
I met my husband in my twenties, we got married in our early thirties and we had our first child when I was 32. After I had my second child at 36 I gave up work and began volunteering. I was still a social drinker – I loved to go out with my friends and I loved a party.  I wouldn’t mix my drinks – I’d have a few glasses of wine in an evening and, occasionally, I would probably have a full bottle. But I was a really happy drunk – always the one dancing on the table, probably with some sort of floppy hat on. I had the odd glass of wine at home.
When I reached my early forties I entered perimenopause and I could feel my body changing. It crept up on me from the age of 42, but it just got worse and worse as I headed towards 50. The problems would begin the day after drinking. I’d have ‘hangxiety’ – I would be sweating and anxious, I wouldn’t know where I was or what I was doing. It was just horrendous. And then I started getting heart palpitations as well. It was turning into this hideous journey every time. 
I decided I was not going to drink from Mondays to Thursdays, but would save it for the weekend. But then I found I was putting so much energy into trying to manage it. And when I was allowing myself to have a drink I started thinking ‘Oh God, I’m going to feel so bad the next day.’ I’d be invited to a party and I wouldn’t want to go because I knew I was going to drink, so I’d make an excuse. The trouble is drinking is so socially acceptable it didn’t really enter my head to give up forever. I just thought if I could manage it, be more sensible, not drink as much, have a couple of drinks and then say, “no thanks, I’ve had enough,” that would be fine. But I realised I wasn’t very good at it and going through this cycle every week was so much stress..
It was December 2017 and I’d been out on Friday night for a friend’s birthday and got carried away. I woke up the next day with a dreadful hangover and thought: ‘This is it. I’m done.’ The next night I had already arranged to go to a Christmas party, so I thought I’d have a drink for the very last time and then stop. Enough was enough.
One of my closest friends had trained to do Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT). I’d never really heard of it but she described it as a bit like hypnosis. I said: “I need your help, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do this on my own.” Actually I begged her. She gave me a session. I knew I was quite good at being hypnotised as I’d given up smoking that way, but it only works if you really want to stop. I had one session and came out with a tape which I listened to for 21 days. She taught me that my body is really precious, it was really quite powerful.
Giving up alcohol completely wasn’t easy. You go down the pub and the whole pub is drinking and you just want to join in. You feel like you stick out like a sore thumb. It wasn’t peer pressure – my gorgeous friends would support me no matter what – but I just felt uncomfortable. You go to a pub to drink, don’t you? It felt very odd at first, but I didn’t let that stop me, you just have to keep going until you get used to it and eventually it feels normal.
Christmas came along; usually I’d have a glass of Champagne at 11am, then a glass of wine with my Christmas dinner, then more wine. So it was a big change. I tried a few posh non-alcoholic drinks, and even though they’re nice enough, there was something missing. Again, I just got through it. The only way you are going to succeed in anything is to push yourself and eventually you get used to it.  
But actually the hardest milestone was six months later – going on holiday. Before we’d stay in a lovely hotel, get ready after a gorgeous day in the sun, go down for pre-dinner drinks at 5pm then have more drinks with dinner, then go listen to some nice music in a bar and have another drink. That was our routine, every day. So suddenly we’re on holiday, we’re going down for drinks and I’m thinking: “Hang on, what am I going to do?” But somehow I kept my resolve, rather than thinking maybe I should just try and have one drink again, something stopped me. At that point I thought, ‘I’ve done it.’ 
It turned out giving up alcohol was just the beginning. I’ve always been into fitness and I started studying to be a personal trainer. I built a gym in my garden to do one-to-one training with my clients and for my family to use it. 
At that time, my own fitness regime was mainly running and lighter weights. But because I was in menopause I wanted to make my body strong both inside and out to deal with all the hormone changes. Menopause lowers oestrogen and testosterone levels, which are essential for muscle maintenance. So when I was 50 I started to lift proper weights.
I began weight training with the progressive overload technique, which means very slowly and surely increasing the weights, reps or sets. It’s putting more stress on your muscles which forces them to break the muscle fibres and grow back stronger.
I couldn’t believe the progress I made – and not drinking alcohol definitely played a massive part of that. Alcohol reduces testosterone and increases cortisol, which can break down your muscles. I’ve launched a fitness app. I could never have done all this if I had been drinking. I would never have had the confidence.
With the progressive overload technique you do need to keep moving on to heavier weights, but that said, you can start with some weights at home. I started with a 5kg dumbbell and now I’m using a 20kg dumbbell for some moves. It’s not just about increasing the weight, you can progress by increasing the number of sets and reps with the same weight. If you give up alcohol at the same time you’ll have more energy and see better and faster results. 
When I gave up alcohol I was craving sugar, so on Friday nights I would get a stack of chocolate then wake up in the morning with no energy and headaches feeling sluggish – it was all because I was craving the sugar from the alcohol. I had conquered alcohol but now I was addicted to sugar.
In lockdown, I had a lovely group of clients and I said, “Does anyone fancy giving up sugar for a month?” We formed a WhatsApp group which I named Sweet FA. Then we started reading food labels and thought, “We can’t eat anything!” But I got to the end of the month and I felt great – my bloating was gone and I felt really good – so I decided to carry on. After I’d given up the drink, I thought: ‘If I can do that I can conquer anything.’
My gym has a machine that measures your BMI, body fat ratio, muscle mass and visceral fat and then gives you your metabolic age. My age came up as 35. I thought, ‘My God, that’s good!’ It’s down to low body fat and high muscle mass. My body now burns calories at the same rate as a 35 year old person.
I’m 5ft 3in and I eat more than my husband – and he’s 5ft 11in. Muscle uses more calories than fat, that’s the secret to increasing metabolism. Muscle is the most incredible organ. It’s the thing you need as you age and not just for your metabolism. It helps protect your bones, improves blood sugar regulation, increases mobility and strengthens your immune system. You need to build and maintain it. It’s your shield for ageing. 
As told to Miranda McMinn
Three times a week I do a full-body workout, which takes around 45 minutes. I do exercises for chest, back, biceps, triceps, shoulders and legs – such as squats, hip hinge, deadlifts and lunges.
I also do cardio two to three times a week, usually spin (group cycling) classes which last 45 minutes, including stretching. 
And I’ve got a little dog I walk every day. I like challenging myself so I just bought myself a weighted vest to wear when I’m walking.
All you need is a couple of dumbbells. Pick a weight that is challenging for the last couple of reps while maintaining good form.
Breakfast: Muesli (made with sugar)
Lunch: Sandwich, slice of cake or piece of millionaire’s shortbread
Dinner: Shop-bought breaded fish or chicken with frozen chips and baked beans
Breakfast: Yoghurt, berries and scrambled eggs (with a dash of milk). I use 200g natural 0% Fat Free Greek yoghurt, 25g mixed nuts (almonds/walnuts) and 80g mixed berries (I use frozen as they are more economical). 
Lunch: Chicken (100g) and quinoa salad (100g), with two boiled eggs and half an avocado. Dressing is a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, half a tbsp of Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. 
Dinner: Turkey chilli (375g turkey) with roasted broccoli. One tbsp of grated cheese. 
Follow Annie at @anniesfitnesssteyning