January: No Alcohol (Dry January)
The healthiest month.
I started off The Challenge Year with Dry January. If you are not familiar, this is where you don’t drink alcohol for the entire month of January. This is a very common challenge and seemed like a natural fit for me to start with.
For context, I would say I am an average drinker for someone my age. So there were no tough habits I needed to overcome. With that said, I was immediately met with temptations for this challenge as I was in the middle of vacation when I started. I thought about starting the challenge a few days later, but I put the excuses aside and passed up a glass of whiskey at one of my favorite distilleries in Park City, Utah.
When I was back at home a few days later, I had the desire to grab a beer a few nights but was able to manage with alternatives. Then the weekend came along, and I was met with another tough test, going out for someone's birthday. While everyone was ordering cocktails, I was drinking Coke. The hardest thing here was this notion that I could not have a good time while others around me were drinking.
I experienced this unease in social settings where alcohol was involved for the first couple weeks. Eventually, I started to settle in and got more comfortable. It was around the middle of the month that I recalled what someone who gave up drinking altogether told me a while ago:
"I thought I used to have fun because of the alcohol, but it turns out I am just a fun person."
This led to one of the key takeaways for the month, in a social setting with alcohol, you don’t have to drink to have fun.
On February 1st, I wanted to have my first drink of the year, or so I thought. I poured one of my favorite beers, and then… I just watched the bubbles come up from the bottom for about 10 minutes. As the show of bubbles died out, I realized I did not want this beer. But I was torn. I just gave up alcohol for the past month; I am supposed to have a drink now, right? After another 5 minutes of watching the foam disappear, I took the beer to the sink and poured it out. It was not until a few days later that I had my first drink.
The truth is, I only poured that beer because I felt as though I was supposed to have a drink based on society's expectations. I learned a great lesson from this: “am I doing something because I actually want to or because society expects me to?” Breaking away from the norms and expectations is very freeing.
The most significant benefit I had from this first month was the impact on my health. Out of all the challenges I completed this year, this, by far, had the biggest direct impact on my physical health. I have a health tracker which monitors my sleep and overall readiness. In January, my scores were the highest they were all year. My overall readiness score was ~13% higher than my yearly average.
Being physically healthy is something I strive for as it sets the foundation for what I can accomplish. I have always known that alcohol has a direct effect on health. But it was not until I saw my personal numbers that my eyes opened. Although I still drink, knowing the personal impact alcohol has on my health has led me to not drink as much throughout the year.
I recommend this challenge for three reasons: One, it gives you a great reset on the amount you drink. It was great to take a break from alcohol, which led to me not drinking as much this year. The second is for the health benefits. My sleep improved, and I felt better throughout the month. Then lastly, not drinking helps save money when going out.
Overall, this was a great challenge to start with. I live in Minnesota, so my Januarys are cold and bleak. Despite the darkness and freezing temps, I was the healthiest I was all year. This gave me the strong base I needed to start the year on the right path.
