At the beginning of 2016, Benny Wallington set himself a challenge – to drink less alcohol.
Up until then, he said he had been drinking somewhere between four and five times a week and felt ‘terrible’ the majority of the time.
It was at this point that the Sydney-based man came up with an idea for his now-business – 101 Tokens.
Benny Wallington (pictured), from Sydney, came up with the idea for his alcohol app, 101 Tokens, when he was hungover on New Year’s Day 2016 – he originally designed it for himself
He would only allow himself 101 tokens – just under two a week – of alcohol a year.
After this improved Benny’s general health, happiness and well-being, he decided to stick to it.
And now, 101 Tokens is a growing community of people who want to become smarter drinkers by saying no to binge drinking while still being social and going out.
‘With 78 per cent of Aussies believing we have a collective problem with alcohol, it’s no surprise we have lockout laws and harsher regulations,’ Benny told FEMAIL.
‘I don’t agree with these and see potential in Australians making a conscious effort to shift this perception.’
Now, 101 Tokens is a growing community of people who want to become smarter drinkers by saying no to binge drinking while still being social and going out (pictured: Benny Wallington)
Explaining how he developed the app, Benny, 31, said: ‘Loving a beer myself, developing this lifestyle was a way to get the best out of both situations.
‘It’s a perfect excuse to say no to a night out, something we find tough to tell our mates in Australia, while picking the best ones to attend.
‘Some people call this accountability, we call it re-training your booze brain,’ he continued.
‘It works by allowing you to identify how to replicate the good nights. Then fix, or completely avoid, the bad ones.’
From January 1 to December 31, participants have 101 tokens – this equates to roughly two tokens each week – and either a sip or an entire night out counts as a token (stock image)
So how does 101 Tokens work?
From January 1 to December 31, participants have 101 tokens – this equates to roughly two tokens each week.
A token can be used with a sip of alcohol or through a whole night out, which helps to allow people to find their own limits.
After each token use, you simply ask yourself ‘was it worth it?’.
This, according to Benny, is how you re-train your booze brain, find the patterns in your drinking and make every single drink count.
The goal is to discover your personal optimal drinking habit, as well as allowing you to save money and get fitter.
However, crucially after every drinking experience you need to ask yourself if it was worth it; this helps to ‘re-train your booze brain’ (stock image)
The programme is on the rise around the world, too.
After originally starting as a Facebook support network in 2017, it has gone on to be turned in to an app.
There is also a calculator that will tell you how (rather terrifyingly) much you spend on alcohol, and how much you could save.
Now, 101 Tokens has participants form Australia, Europe and South Africa.
‘We’re really excited about the team we’re building and the conversations we’re having,’ Benny told FEMAIL.
‘Our group has increased ten fold plus and we’re looking to help as many Aussies in 2018 as possible.’
For more information about 101 Tokens, please click here.