I stopped drinking recently.
I spent a good portion of my last year working the bar/nightlife scene for a news outlet that I write for. Between writing, dating, and nights out with friends I really started to feel the effects of the constant stream of alcohol in my system.
While my eating and exercise habits remained fairly consistent, I definitely saw an uptick in my weight from liquid calories. Not only that, but my sleep was effected, my skin felt dry and patchy, and the worse part of it all was that I actually started craving alcohol.
That part scared me.
Luckily, a couple of months ago I was able to talk to my producer and work out a new column for myself, one that didn’t consist of cocktails six nights a week. When that changed I decided to go a month without alcohol to clear out my system, I’d overheard the term “Dry July” from a friend and decided that was my mission—one month of alcohol free living. Low and behold, my sleep habits started to improve, as did my skin, and well, I’m still working on taking the excess poundage off but I’m a little bit lighter than I was when I started out the summer.
The hardest part of my little experiment was going out. In the summertime it seems like cocktails abound, and friendly outings usually come with a frothy frozen margarita to accessorize with. I hadn’t actively decided to extend my dry spell into August, but as the summer progressed and more and more opportunities to imbibe arose, I found myself passing the drink menu along and ordering a club soda instead.
Tonight I met up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while, as the sangria got passed around I again opted for a glass of water and announced that I had given up drinking.
“Forever?” was the predominant response.
“For a while.” It wasn’t until I declared my teetotalling ways aloud that I realized that it was truly what I wanted. I’m not sure what I expected, perhaps the same sort of peer pressure that abounded when I was 16, but my friends took it in stride and resumed banter on queue.
I even overheard one say, “Kim’s always on a health kick.” It’s true, I am J
Breakfast
Frittata with mushrooms and spinach
Cherries
Lunch
Vegetable soup
Watermelon
Dinner
Chicken with avocado and hot sauce
Roasted summer squash
Exercise: Strength training- Shoulders and Arms
Wow, I’m impressed. I’ve really been contemplating my alcohol intake lately, too. I think it’s important to be conscious. Perhaps I will try a month without it and see how I feel. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Brava Kim! As the inventor of ‘Dry July’ I’m quite proud to see that it inspired you (though chagrined to admit I didn’t quite make it through the whole month…) Not drinking really did cause me some social anxiety, but as your friends have already shown you, people who love you want you to be as healthy as possible.
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I am getting more and more aware of my liquid calories that is for sure. I do have my tiny glass of red wine each evening, but I have to stay away from beer and mixed drinks, both of which seem loaded with too many calories.
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My Dry August is coming to a close, and both my husband and I plan to carry it through September until our vacation. We are going to an AI resort, so we’ll have a few drinks there, but I plan to be more cognizant of the intake this time (drank wayyyy too much last time we were there on our honeymoon!)!
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