Staying sober: How to survive Dry January

January is a return to normality and for many of us, an acknowledgement that we’ve overindulged and want to rein it in. Nowhere is that extra obvious than in what we eat and drink – a current survey revealed that almost all of Brits set new 12 months’s resolutions and nearly all of these relate to consuming higher, exercising extra (to make up for what we ate in December, presumably) and slicing out alcohol, as a result of after Christmas it’s now not cool to begin on the Baileys at 11am.

But oh, it’s laborious to come stumbling out of the nice and cozy hug of Christmas into the soulless chilly shoulder of January. But wants should, and – trying on the intense facet – should you’ve overindulged at Christmas, January is the right time to reset, as boring as that appears. Alcohol is without doubt one of the essential issues we would like to in the reduction of on, and doing Dry January is an effective place to begin – one month, no booze. As easy as that.

Although anybody who has tried it after consuming closely all through December (and certainly, possibly all through the remainder of the 12 months too) will attest to the way it’s actually not that straightforward. But Alcohol Change UK, which runs Dry January, reviews that 88% of people that do it lower your expenses, 67% have extra power, and 58% drop extra pounds, so it’s most undoubtedly value it.

Get some sober help

As with any new behavior, just a little help can go a good distance. If your mates aren’t focused on slicing out booze for a month, you’re in all probability not going to get a lot help from them. That’s not to say that your mates aren’t good, supportive individuals – I’m certain they’re (as a result of in any other case, they wouldn’t be your folks, proper?), however the people who find themselves finest positioned to assist get you thru it are the people who find themselves additionally doing it. Find likeminded guys over on the MAN v FAT Forum, or there’s a myriad of Facebook groups you may be part of. For Dry January and past, Reddit’s Stop Drinking subreddit is a treasure trove of success tales, ideas and help.

Make small modifications

If alcohol is an integral a part of your life, because it so typically is for thus many people, you want to discover methods of incorporating your newfound sobriety as a substitute. If your default place to see your folks is within the pub, are you able to do one thing else as a substitute? It is a cliche to recommend this, however should you can persuade them to catch up over a espresso or if you’ll find one thing energetic to do collectively, it takes away the temptation of drink and you’ll nonetheless socialise. Although you would possibly get laughed at for suggesting it within the first place, going for a stroll is the right factor to do whereas speaking.

picture from SteadyDrinker

Embrace the non-alcoholic choices

If you’re used to socialising on the pub and really feel you could’t get away from that, that’s okay – pubs are a useful assembly place and we’re not suggesting that you just change into a hermit so as to stick to being booze-free. Stick to tender drinks or see in case your native has any alcohol-free beers or ciders. Companies are catching on to the very fact that there’s a big rise within the quantity of people that don’t drink – there are a great deal of respectable alcohol-free beers, and Wetherspoons, if that’s your native of selection, promote quite a lot of non-alcoholic beers and ciders in addition to tender drinks, tea and low. SteadyDrinker lately compiled an article for us about the very best low-alcohol, low-calorie beers, which you’ll find right here.

Stay robust

There are all the time going to be individuals who don’t help your resolution to ditch the drink. It’s a little bit of a thriller when what you’re consuming doesn’t have an effect on them, however nonetheless – unsupportive individuals exist and also you would possibly encounter a little bit of resistance to your resolution. It may not be apparent and can in all probability take the guise of little digs right here and there (“Barry won’t get the pints in because he’s teetotal!!”), however rise above it. You’re not doing this to please anybody, you’re doing it for you – in your well being, your waistline and your pockets. If you’re feeling your self wavering within the face of peer strain, do not forget that no is a wonderfully legitimate reply. No, I don’t desire a beer. No, I’ll have a Coke as a substitute. They’ll quickly get the thought.

“Soz, I’m the designated driver”

Fake it til you make it

If you’re actually struggling due to peer strain and don’t really feel robust sufficient to rise up to it, that’s okay – it’s a troublesome factor to face up to and to attempt to change the established order. Offer to drive, say you’re on antibiotics or make it your flip to get the drinks in (would possibly get a bit costly, this one, however non-alcoholic beer seems the identical as precise beer, so nobody will know). Alcohol Change has just a few ideas for alcohol refusal methods on their weblog here.

Live it

As with something, the extra you embrace the sober lifestyle, the extra possible you might be to keep it up. We’re huge followers of the e-book This Naked Mind, which is all about controlling your consumption and altering your life (if it seems like hippy nonsense, don’t fear, it’s not) and their podcast which tackles frequent issues those that go sober face, like how do you overcome your social anxiousness with out alcohol? MAN v FAT founder Andrew was featured in one of the podcasts too, speaking about his unhealthy relationship with meals and alcohol and the way they have been related.

Being ready to visualise how nicely you’re doing is a really motivational device too. Dry January has an app, which you will get extra data on here. The app is free and obtainable for Android and iOS. It permits you to file your alcohol-free streak and can let you know precisely how a lot cash you save by staying off the drink. There are plenty of other apps available, so you may all the time have a reminder of how nicely you’re doing in your pocket.

A couple of web sites you must add to your bookmarks are Steady Drinker (which options critiques of low-alcohol and alcohol-free beers), Hip Sobriety, Club Soda and The Sobriety Collective. They all characteristic fascinating articles about going sober in addition to recommendation and tales, so you may see that regardless of what that random pal of a pal thinks, being teetotal is just not for squares or losers. It’s an enormous motion and other people from all walks of life are shunning the booze and reaping the advantages of waking up and not using a hangover, and there’s no purpose why you may’t achieve this too.