Dry January: Lessons Learned

[ToddFrench]

Yes - with no alcohol I sleep better, have more energy, and work out harder.

It’s totally not worth it.

[John_O]

My second year of Dry January and had all the same experiences. I drink a lot of wine and it’s good to know I can put the brakes on for a month.

I joked with my wife (but it’s true) that Dry January is a lot easier than 1 glass a day January.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Yes - with no alcohol I sleep better, have more energy, and work out harder.

It’s totally not worth it.

While funny (I hope) I’m really not kidding. I do see improvements in sleep and in energy, but I was sleeping reasonably well and had good energy before, so it’s not like I was suffering or really needed the boost. And I honestly don’t think those improvements balance out the loss of the great pleasure I get from drinking wine. It makes me very, very happy to choose, open and enjoy a bottle in the evening. Or afternoon.

Even aside from the pleasure factor, there are other benefits I associate with the wine hobby in my life, and which I miss when I’m not indulging. Some obvious things like seeing friends less often (my choice since I’m usually food dieting as well when I am dry and I prefer not to be tempted), but also less obvious things like I find our meal times at home are shorter, with the family dispersing to individual activities sooner, when there’s not a bottle to linger over. I dedicate less time to reading and listening to music without the pleasure of a glass of wine beside me. It takes me longer to let go of the day’s stress without the ritual and the suffusion of pleasure that comes with choosing a bottle and consuming it with my husband – that is the de-stressor, even more so than the alcohol. And yes, I know that a lot of this needn’t be the case, and of course I could spend just as much time over dinner without wine as we do with. But the reality is that we don’t. And I notice the difference.

I will continue to do it from time to time because it speeds up the diet process when I find I have a couple of extra pounds hanging about, but I never find it easy on an emotional level. My husband is much better at it, despite drinking more than I do in general. He shares John O’s feeling that dry is easier than slightly damp.

[Matthew_King]

Yes, a taste of honey is worse than none at all.

Sarah, I agree it isn’t easy on an emotional level. But that’s actually the payoff for me.

It’s instructive to have to will yourself away from old habits. At times, I use alcohol as a crutch – say that burning impulse to open up a beer the minute I walk in the door after a “hard day at the office” and smooth away the cares of the day. Or having a cocktail or two as a “social lubricant” at a gathering where I don’t know anyone. (These kinds of events are hard on introverts.) Having to consciously re-program myself from these defaults proved very empowering to me.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Yes, a taste of honey is worse than none at all.

Sarah, I agree it isn’t easy on an emotional level. But that’s actually the payoff for me.

It’s instructive to have to will yourself away from old habits. At times, I use alcohol as a crutch – say that burning impulse to open up a beer the minute I walk in the door after a “hard day at the office” and smooth away the cares of the day. Or having a cocktail or two as a “social lubricant” at a gathering where I don’t know anyone. (These kinds of events are hard on introverts.) Having to consciously re-program myself from these defaults proved very empowering to me.

I hear you for sure.

[Justin_S1]

I agree with Justin. Losing five pounds in a month, with no other apparent lifestyle changes, is significant.

Just for a point of reference, I probably swung 3-5 pounds during the cycle. So it varied a bit. No idea what “water weight” is …

The body retains water in the muscles, fat cells, and in other places for all sorts of reasons. By way of example, if you carb load or eat a lot of salt, your body will retain more water. This is why some people think they gained X pounds after a fun weekend, but then claim to have lost it the following week. Boxers essentially sweat out water to “make weight” before a match.
Given natural fluctuation, when I was interested in tracking my actual body fat % over time, I weighed myself every day and compared only the 7-day averages at the end of each week. Without doing something like this, hard to say how much weight you actually lost.

Anyway, I’m with you on drinking in a more targetted fashion.

[Viet_Ly]

Also did dry January for the first time and had pretty similar observations: a realisation of how many low value drinks I could drop with ease, much better sleep and not missing it as much as I expected. The one component I did not expect: resuming drinking last weekend was vastly less enjoyable than I thought it would be.

My wife has been getting headaches now EVERY time she drinks - used to be just when she’d be at game night with her girlfriends drinking cheap wine, now it’s the good stuff, too. That will suck for her if she can’t shake it!

Wow, that’s a bummer. Does the headache come soon after or the next day? I’m sure she already hydrates really well pre/post drinking?

[George_Chadwick]

It’s great reading this discussion from Berserkers rather than in an online article. You folks aren’t trying to convince anyone, nor are bots for the cannabis industry, you’re just reporting your experiences in a trustworthy narrative.

[ToddFrench]

Also did dry January for the first time and had pretty similar observations: a realisation of how many low value drinks I could drop with ease, much better sleep and not missing it as much as I expected. The one component I did not expect: resuming drinking last weekend was vastly less enjoyable than I thought it would be.

My wife has been getting headaches now EVERY time she drinks - used to be just when she’d be at game night with her girlfriends drinking cheap wine, now it’s the good stuff, too. That will suck for her if she can’t shake it!

Wow, that’s a bummer. Does the headache come soon after or the next day? I’m sure she already hydrates really well pre/post drinking?

She’s always good about hydrating during - I’m not, but I don’t get the headaches or hangover so I don’t learn my lesson well.

[George_Chadwick]

Todd sounds like an allergy to histamines or similar. Does she ever take allergy meds? If so a half dose might prevent headaches.

Counterintuitively she should avoid young reds and old whites seriously. You’re not old yet.

[Mike_Kuller]

We don’t drink at all during the week, and not a huge amount on weekends, and we will skip weeks sometimes just because of circumstances. Going “dry” would not be a challenge, but wouldn’t lead to shedding 5 pounds either!

I’m with you Neal.

I don’t drink usually between Sunday and Thursday. I call it “detox” and I do sleep better.

Then I make up for it on Friday and Saturday nights.

[CFu]

My wife has been getting headaches now EVERY time she drinks - used to be just when she’d be at game night with her girlfriends drinking cheap wine, now it’s the good stuff, too. That will suck for her if she can’t shake it!

Wow, that’s a bummer. Does the headache come soon after or the next day? I’m sure she already hydrates really well pre/post drinking?

She’s always good about hydrating during - I’m not, but I don’t get the headaches or hangover so I don’t learn my lesson well.

there were a few months last year that whenever I had very specific hazy IPAs i’d have really bad allergies after. Dunno what caused it but they’ve generally stopped after a long layoff of purposely avoiding them.

[Mike_Kuller]

My wife has been getting headaches now EVERY time she drinks - used to be just when she’d be at game night with her girlfriends drinking cheap wine, now it’s the good stuff, too. That will suck for her if she can’t shake it!

Wine Wands

www.amazon.com/PureWine-Removes-Histamines-Preservatives-Headaches/dp/B0771H8V5H

[Vuk_K]

Thanks everyone for sharing.

Unlike some people, I am perfectly capable of staying away from any kind of booze during the day. Don’t need it - and it doesn’t go down well actually.

But the trouble starts when it gets dark… oh boy, I’m a different person then.

If I don’t cave in the end, the thing I enjoy most the next day (among many others) is my level of concentration. Closely followed by increased confidence.

[Robert.A.Jr]

From Michael Apstein, MD. Hope it is OK to post.

http://www.apsteinonwine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Alcohol-after-effects.pdf

Wow, quite a major difference in impact between men and women. Like 1:2, right? So a woman is potentially drunk, legally, after 2 drinks in 90 minutes. My wife said the article is bunk . . . .

[Craig_G]

My wife has been getting headaches now EVERY time she drinks - used to be just when she’d be at game night with her girlfriends drinking cheap wine, now it’s the good stuff, too. That will suck for her if she can’t shake it!

I’ve had trouble with this too. Sometimes alcohol can trigger an almost immediate headache that may not go away for a day or more. The thing that has helped me the most is to stay in really good cardiovascular shape (lots of hilly cycling for me).

[JDavisRoby]

I’ve done Dry January last five years. Only made it three weeks this year for various reasons. I tend to pair it with a time of fasting from solid food as well for 5-7 days.

It’s been a great reset of mind, spirit and body. For me the holiday season is a marathon of family, social and professional events that tend to include lots of heavy food and lots of wine. As an example I attended ten holiday parties, dinners, happy hours, etc in the five days leading up to Christmas Eve. This year with the alcohol fast and six days of juice only I lost about ten pounds and a spot in the belt. Some water comes back after the fast but I tend to hold off the fat for a while. Weight loss isn’t the goal for me. It’s a time to reflect on my prior year and reset priorities for the new year.

[MChang]

One of the police departments in WI has a charity event where you can drink alcohol in the police department and be breathalyzed every 30-60 minutes. The amount of alcohol you need to consume to exceed 0.08% at least on a breathalyzer is more than you think.

From Michael Apstein, MD. Hope it is OK to post.

http://www.apsteinonwine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Alcohol-after-effects.pdf

Wow, quite a major difference in impact between men and women. Like 1:2, right? So a woman is potentially drunk, legally, after 2 drinks in 90 minutes. My wife said the article is bunk . . . .

[Ron_Slye]

I don’t think I have ever deliberately done a month without alcohol. But I do stop from time to time, for days, and maybe even a week or so. It obviously helps a bit on weight, but the most important things for me are, in this order:

1. Having control. Last night we had chili for dinner and I was thinking which wine I should open. Then I thought, do I really need it. It was a bit of the angel and devil on each shoulder debate. Then I was a bit appalled that I was finding it difficult to not have a glass of wine. In this case I really did not have a wine that would have enhanced in any significant way the meal, but I was still tempted.

2. Definitely on sleep and concentration. I am not sure that the difference means I am less productive (though we are usually bad judges of ourselves on these things). But I do feel better.

3. And like the OP, my sense is that when I do break down and open that next bottle of wine, I am more attune to its nuances and appreciate it more.

Along with others here, I also am becoming much more selective about what I drink. If I don’t like a wine then I stop drinking it. If I am out at a work function I generally don’t drink the alcohol unless it is something that might be good. I am generally trying to move more towards higher quality and less quantity. Which (depending on how one does it), can also be a nice relief on the bank account.

[ToddFrench]

I don’t think I have ever deliberately done a month without alcohol. But I do stop from time to time, for days, and maybe even a week or so. It obviously helps a

1. Having control. Last night we had chili for dinner and I was thinking which wine I should open. Then I thought, do I really need it. It was a bit of the angel and devil on each shoulder debate. Then I was a bit appalled that I was finding it difficult to not have a glass of wine. In this case I really did not have a wine that would have enhanced in any significant way the meal, but I was still tempted.

Last night was steak night (Flannery, of course) because Jen’s out of town - when it’s me and Braydn for dinner we have steak, since Jen doesn’t like it. I can’t NOT have Bordeaux with steak, so I completely understand your point. However, interestingly, we had chili on Monday night and I had no desire to open wine for it. Certain foods are much more difficult to resist pairing with wine, and for me, nothing is more difficult to resist than Bordeaux with steak.