Dry January is Officially Over! Thoughts on My Month Without Alcohol

We made it!

It’s February 1st, which means one month has passed since the last time I drank alcohol. If you participated in Dry January, how do you feel? A sense of accomplishment? I mentioned this already, but I know a month isn’t a crazy long time, and I know it’s not like we’re trying some new diet trend that is hard to stick to, but still, I feel proud that we made it.

A reader mentioned how drinking is a habit, and like any habit, it can be hard to break, even if you don’t regularly over-drink. I think that’s how it was for me at times. I enjoyed 1-2 glasses a night, maybe 6 nights a week, so I was used to drinking wine regularly. I love nothing more than pouring a glass of vino at 5p, putting on some Bossa Nova music and starting to make dinner. It became a ritual, one that I cherished deeply.

So when that was no more, I felt…discontentment. My routine was off and I had to change course. After a week, though, the desire to drink became less and less. Amazing how quickly things change, isn’t it?

Still, there were nights that I wanted to sip on a cold glass of Chardonnay while cooking or pour a nice cab while eating popcorn on the couch with PJ.

Overall, I feel like I have more energy (except for this week, but I blame that on being sick), I no longer have that morning/midday “haze” from drinking the night before, and I feel healthier. I know that no amount of alcohol consumption is good for us, so not drinking for an entire month feels like I’m on the right track.

I will, however, most likely start having a few glasses of wine a week now. It won’t be as much as before, but maybe I’ll go back to what I tried to do last year and just do weekends? Or one night a week + weekends? Who knows. What I do know is that I thought Dry January would be much harder than it was.

It’s always fun when you can surprise yourself.