Completing Dry January

Hello! I am aware that I haven't written anything for a while, this wasn't intentional I just haven't been doing anything! 

After having a lovely break at Christmas, I always find January to be so depressing (I know I am not alone here with that view). The days are short, Easter seems so far away, the trees are bleak, its cold.... We had booked a trip to Tulum in February to get away for some winter sun but with another lockdown we have had to reschedule to July. Last year we went to Morocco for a few nights in February and it was such a wonderful escape and it really did help with the winter blues but it's sadly not to be this year.

The only thing I am glad about moving our holiday, is that I am no-where near ready to feel good being in a bikini! So vain, but I'm being honest. I enjoyed the first six months of lockdown too much, I stopped working out and did so much baking and we had such a good summer I enjoyed far too much rose! 

I realised I needed to make some changes in my life. I wanted to get my strength back up, as I was used to lifting weights from doing Les Mills body pump classes 3 times a week. I also wanted to get my step count up, as I used to walk at least an hour each day and I needed to stop drinking.

I know you potentially set yourself up to fail if you set too many new years resolutions but I've always been a fit and active person, so it was just restarting my old good habits and getting rid of one bad habit.

Anyone who knows me knows I love a drink but my problem is once I start to drink, I then seem to devour the whole bottle. This is not good for so many reasons, my health was suffering, my sleep was suffering, it worsened my depression and anxiety and it was causing weight gain and lack of energy. I wouldn't call myself an alcoholic but I do have an addictive personality. It got to the point when I realised I was drinking to search for that 'hit', I was drinking daily and it was getting harder to achieve. I started to understand why people would move on to stronger drinks and in the end possibly drugs, so in that moment I decided to do something about it.

My friend recommended that I listen to 'The Alcohol Experiment' by Annie Grace, which I did each day when I went out for a walk. The premise is to be your own researcher on not drinking for only 30 days. I really liked the way the science of drinking was explained and I found it really relatable. Now, I was listening to this in December and I knew that I wouldn't not drink over Christmas etc but I wanted to prep myself, get my mindset right ready, for January. Even after listening to just a few chapters I had already changed my drinking behaviour. I counted up how much I was really drinking each week and, on average, it was 4 times the recommended amount. I would drink 3 bottles of wine over the space of the weekend and in the week I would have a few gins after work. I was in a horrid cycle of drinking too much, out of habit, and then having terrible bouts of anxiety-induced insomnia at 4am each morning. I would wake up groggy and tired and mad at myself for doing it again, having promised myself to not drink that day, only to be pouring myself a gin later that evening.

I am a creature of habit and I was drinking mindlessly. So once I started listening to the audio book I started to question myself; 'did I enjoy the taste?' 'what happens when you drink, was it all fun and games or would it lead to anxiety and insomnia?'. I started realising the truth and I didn't like it.

Christmas came and went, I enjoyed red wine and prosecco and baileys but, come January, I was ready to stop. Mr Poachie was fully supportive and we talked about things I needed to do to make sure I stuck to my no drinking pledge. I knew I had to stop or avoid any triggers that might make me want to drink, for example, on a Sunday, instead of spending all afternoon in the kitchen cooking a roast, I changed to an easy supper, as I used to love drinking red wine and cooking. I wrote a schedule for myself so that after work I had things to do as I was worried I would be bored and boredom led to drinking. So we found some good things to watch on Netflix, I spent a lot of time working on my photography and using Getty Contributor and Shutterstock. I focused on my work for Chiddingstone Castle, as I manage their social media and I tried to cook new recipes. I dedicated evenings for pampering and now do weekly face masks and hair masks. I do a 20 minute gong bath, which is a great way to truly relax. I ordered some new books. If it weren't for lockdown and I had had more exciting things going on in my life, I probably would have spent more time blogging! I decided to work on my LinkedIn profile and enrol in some Marketing and Social media courses. I also started a new workout routine so that I walk for an hour each day, regardless of the weather, and I signed up to Les Mills on demand, so I can do a weights class 3 times a week and I also do Pilates twice a week.

I stopped drinking on a Friday, which was annoying as that weekend I felt like I was really missing out by not drinking but once I had completed that, it actually wasn't that difficult. January has been a long month but I bought a lot Belvoir ginger beer and elderflower cordials and they have been great. I did think about buying a non alcoholic gin but they cost the same as real gin and don't taste as good, so I just stuck to soft drinks. 

I would also recommend you tell people what you are doing and ask for their support. You are more likely to complete this successfully if you make yourself accountable. Thankfully in lockdown there were no social occasions, so I wasn't missing out on going out with friends which made it easier. I wrote a diary each day about what I was feeling and I continued to listen to the audio book. After a few weeks I stopped doing both as I didn't feel I needed to keep listening to how bad it was for me and my daily reflections were the same; my sleep was the best it had ever been and it was great not to feel bad each day for drinking. I truly felt like my mindset had changed and that was as soon as I started listening to the book! Usually, on a Friday night, I would drink prosecco but the first Friday I started listening I decided to not drink so doing dry January was actually quite easy.

Don't get me wrong, there were certain things that made me think 'oh you should be drinking'.  If I was cooking something, cooking risotto makes me think of white wine, cooking lamb makes me want red wine. After while though I was choosing not to drink for all the right reasons and I really valued having a good nights sleep.

I didn't notice a surge in energy, in fact I was shattered for the first few weeks, but I think that was because I was eating more healthily and working out 5 days a week and going for an hours walk each day. I had actually gone to the doctors for a blood test to check my thyroid as I felt so low in energy (it came back normal, it must be old age!) But now I feel more bouncy and have more energy for conversations and annoying Mr Poachie.

Now that January is over, I am not in a rush to order a bottle of wine in the food shop. I have ordered some mini bottles for Valentines night as I know that if I ordered a normal sized bottle of pink fizz, I would drink the whole thing! I don't have much self restraint, if I take a biscuit I will eat the whole pack!

I am truly hoping this will change my habits and mind set for good. I feel I have lost weight from not drinking and upping my exercise, my mind is clearer and more positive and I feel more productive. If anyone is thinking of giving the booze a rest for a while I would 100% say go for it! I will not be t-total for ever but if I can drink more mindfully that can only be a good thing.