The Internet is full of stories about people who’ve altered beyond recognition after giving up their bad habits. But what happens if one does the opposite? How would your health and appearance change if you decided to do something harmful on a regular basis?

The editor of FunnyModo has attempted a daring experiment to find out what happens if you drink a glass of beer every day for one month.

First off, I must say that I don’t have any serious bad habits. I often jog in the mornings, and I only drink alcohol on special occasions. Before starting the experiment, I went to the doctor to check my health and make sure that everything was in order.

In accordance with the alcohol unit norm, I decided to drink 17 oz of beer a day, yet do it 5-6 times a week instead of 4 times a week (as health experts advise). At the end of the month, I was going to have another checkup to find out how this affected my well-being. As expected, the first day of the experiment went cheerfully, with my mood much improved by the foamy beverage.

• First week. After a few days of drinking beer regularly, I started to get frequent headaches — something that’s never happened before. I tried taking pictures of my body every day, to record the changes. Having compared the photos, I noticed that my face became slightly swollen, and there were dark circles under my eyes.

• Second week. All of a sudden, going to sleep and waking up started to feel 100 times harder than usual. I found that I needed at least 40 minutes to fall asleep. I also acquired the habit of repeatedly resetting the alarm clock in the mornings (as a result, I began to oversleep and come in late to work). What’s more, it was now taking me about an hour of effort (and a cup of strong coffee) to fully wake up and start my working day.

• Third week. Colleagues began to notice me getting more and more irritable. Often, I would catch myself staring at the monitor, unable to concentrate. Before the beginning of the experiment, I could easily work for about 4 hours without a break and not feel tired afterward. Now, I felt the need to relax at the end of every hour. I kept looking at my watch, waiting for the working day to end.

• Fourth week. I often jog in the mornings, so I tried not to abandon this habit throughout my experiment. However, I had to make an incredible effort just to get dressed and leave the house. Before, even in bad weather, I’d run at least 7 miles in one morning. But as soon as I increased my beer intake, this distance suddenly diminished by half. At the end of the month, it turned out that I only jogged 5 times, although usually it’s 10-14 times a month.

The thing that surprised me the most was the really quick weight gain. Despite the fact that I never stopped exercising, a beer belly became noticeable before the end of the month.

When the experiment came to an end, I visited the doctor once again to sum up the results and find out how much damage I’d caused to my body. It turned out that my shortness of breath and swollen face were due to the overflow of blood vessels. The appearance of the beer belly was the result of endocrine system disorders, and the insomnia was a symptom of kidney problems.

• My appearance has worsened. Just one week of drinking beer on a regular basis gave me dark circles under my eyes and made my face pale and swollen. Also, I started to get a beer belly.
• Sleep quality deteriorated. It takes me much more time to fall asleep and wake up. Even after 9 hours of rest, I still get out of bed feeling tired.
• Working has become more difficult. Because of sleep disorders, I became noticeably irritable. I found it difficult to focus on the task at hand, experiencing a constant need for rest.
• Various health complaints appeared. Workout performance decreased twofold. Problems with blood pressure gave me shortness of breath and palpitations. Due to poor sleep, I suffered from frequent headaches during the day.

Before this experience, I mistakenly believed that a mug of beer on a quiet evening never hurt anyone. Of course, reactions to alcohol vary from person to person, but, speaking for myself, I definitely won’t be repeating such experiments ever again. Now I’m gearing up for long workouts at the gym and switching to a healthy diet. As for bars and beer shelves at the supermarkets — I’ve decided to avoid them for at least a couple of months!