Update on no booze 2026
I mentioned in November that I was thinking of a year off the devil's nectar and so far things are going well. It's not the first time I've done dry January, fairly often I'll do dry January - February 17 in preparation for my birthday on the 18th, but this is the first time I've focused on the benefits to this change as opposed to stripping away the negatives from drinking and trying to keep them at bay. Things are more "experimental" this time, I feel.
What's going well?
Sleeping
Sleep improved dramatically after about four/five days. However, I was pretty sick and pounding a lot of cough syrup (the good stuff, too), as well as ibuprofen, so my body was in a state of globular cushioning that meant my usual fidgetiness didn't seem quite as pronounced when trying to fall asleep. That being said, the frequency of my dreams went up dramatically, and as someone who often doesn't dream that well, it was a key indicator that my sleep quality was on the mend. I also found that I didn't wake up nearly as much during the night as I usually do. This has also stuck around as a feature since getting more-or-less healthy, so I will chalk that up as a big win so far.
Mood
Feeling a lot calmer and somehow more engaged in my personal endeavours, as well as finding that a lot of other stressors are not coming into play as much as they normally did. I'm definitely letting go of the smaller stuff. I'm finding a lot of joy in random things, too! A lot more moments of silliness and laughter, which is really great. For example, earlier this week, I looked at myself in a steel pot we have and it warped my face in a way that just really cracked me up and it's been making me chuckle ever since. I'm usually pretty silly, but there's a bit more embracing of it now.
One of the thing's on my list of reminder's of why I'm doing this is, "to create better experiences for the around me". I hate the shame that often came after drinking, where I often felt I'd said something stupid or done something moronic that I needed to apologise for. Not having to deal with that is quite possibly the warmest embrace of this whole journey.
Tummy
While, I'm a pretty lean person, beer will always sit around one's midsection when left unchecked, but now the remainder that was there is burning off. Also, it seems like my guts are way happier: no bloating, feeling regular (gosh, I talk about my bowel movements a lot!); overall a marked improvement.
What's not going well
Honestly, nothing. I don't even feel like I'm missing out on anything. My buddy told me he was hungover this week and I almost wanted to vomit. Maybe in a few months as summer rolls around it'll get tougher, but for now, all upside, baby!
What's next?
Ramp up marathon training, get diet sorted to optimise for climbing and running somehow, be happy.
P.S. I type really messily and therefore I correctly touch-typed this entire thing and I swear it took me 4x longer than it should've.