Tag Archives: newyear

Dry January Recap

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Have you ever gone into something completely blind? Well I did with dry January but  I successfully completed it so here’s everything you need to know. 

Beer

Going into it, I wasn’t really sure what I should expect. All over my social media I saw a bunch of posts saying how 31 days alcohol free can be life changing. Better sleep, less inflamed face, brighter skin, better brain function, these were all things I kinda expected to see throughout the month but honestly, I didn’t notice much of these…

To break it down from the beginning, I didn’t find it thattttt hard to not drink, I mean sure sometimes it was harder than others but my main goal was to take it day by day and filling up my days definitely helped. Near the start I was mainly craving the taste of drinks but not really the buzz. But near the end I was definitely ready to throw some back with my friends. During my sober streak, I put myself into a couple social settings where there was drinking and my main tip for that was keep something in your hand – my go to was Diet Coke, I drank a gross amount of Diet Coke over January.

Refreshing

So what did I notice? I think my sleep was better? I mean I’ve never been the best sleeper so maybe I was just making myself believe I was sleeping better. I was really looking forward to notice my face getting less puffy and inflamed cause I saw that a lot over social media but I saw no difference, actually no physical changes whatsoever. Maybe I’d have to get a bit longer to notice those. Who knows.

What I did notice was my days were 10000% more productive and my mood was a lot better. Waking up on a Saturday morning without a headache was a huge game changer for me. Getting up and going without feeling gross was the best part and I did not miss the hangovers at all. My weekends were filled with walking the dog, Diet Coke, and more walks. 

I drank for the first time Sunday night and I woke up with a hangover that honestly made me want to go back to my sober days. I felt disgusting and gross and dirty. I don’t think drinking is worth it anymore and that is a huge statement coming from me. Prior to January I’d never in a million years thought I’d say that at the young age of 21 but here we are. I used to liveeee for drinks on the weekends but dare I say I’m entering my grandma era? Yikes. 

So the million dollar question? Should you do it? Kinda depends. Do you want to be pleasantly surprised with how after you suddenly just don’t care to drink as much? Or do you want to keep the party lifestyle up? I mean in the end you only live once right? 

 

Why Is January So Awful?

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For a month that’s practically built up around new beginnings, fresh starts, habits, and being the best version of yourself, January kinda sucks. And it isn’t just me who feels this way, I talked to 3 separate friends and my mom and we all came to the same conclusion – January sucks. 

Fireworks

“January is just one of those months you feel every day of” my friend told me this today and I’ve never resonated harder with something in my life. I mean it;s so true. I have felt every day. Something has happened every day. Most months I just feel it slip away before I can even blink twice, but January is feeling like all the months in one and I’m starting to be done with it. 

There’s even a “blue Monday” in January. As if Monday’s aren’t the worst already! Now we need to title a monday “blue Monday” like cmon! Give me a break! It’s literally known as the most depressing Monday of the whole year and duhhhhh of course it falls in January. For those of you who skipped over it without noticing, I’m envious, but I certainly did it, it was one week ago today where I bought a lovely vanilla latte, put it on the roof of my car to put my back in, and drove off. And on top of that. My window was down. At least the bright side was that my freshly washed hair smelt like vanilla … hip hip hurray. 

For there to be such a huge culture around having January be the beginning of turning your life around, I sure feel like my life is just heading in a backwards direction. The days are still short, it’s freezing, and let’s be honest, going right back into the swing of things after a gorgeous holiday off just sucks. I’m beginning to think I’d rather just have no holiday then I wouldn’t get a taste for that freedom and crave it in the months after. 

Without Snow You'd Never Know People Were Here

I think a big reason January can be such a let down is because everyone usually has such high expectations for it. Like “I’m going to run 5k everyday and drink so much water and only eat kale!” no kidding you only lasted a day, that’s just setting yourself up for failure which will lead to the January blues. Mix those emotions with all the dry Januaryers (me) and you got the recipe for disaster. But don’t worry, the countdown is on only 4 days left till February.  

Dry January: Day 23

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Well it’s day 23 of dry January and this has been the hardest day yet by far.

Maybe it’s the school stress getting to me, maybe it’s seeing all my friends out and about having, or maybe just hearing everyone get excited for their Friday plans. But whatever this is, this feeling sucks. Right now all I want is an icy cold beer in my hand. That’s it. Nice and simple. But no, I made a promise to myself and I’m seeing it through.

I’m honestly kinda confused why I’m having these feelings and cravings today. I thought I’d be long over that hump by now but I guess it’s different for everyone. And it’s not like it was a bad week or anything, it was a good one. I felt a positive vibe all week and was honestly loving this lifestyle I’ve created for myself over the last month but a switch flipped today and I’m not having this anymore.

At the start of the week I was even talking to my friends how I thought if I really wanted to I could continue this dry streak into February and if not dry then damp. Life is about balance and moderation anyway so maybe limit it down to a couple times a month. But those ideas I had at the start of the week are certainly not what I’m feeling now,

I’m agitated, irritated, and frustrated. And all I want is beer. I guess this feeling of struggle is good. I’ve had it easy so far this month with no real bad cravings like today. All that’s going on in my head right now is just to get through this night remembering this needs to be taken day by day. 

Then I thought maybe I’m overthinking this too much, maybe I just need to chill out. I’m trying, and I’m trying hard but being so close to Friday and not having any plans to look forward to this weekend is just destroying my attitude towards this whole thing. 

For the first time this whole month I made drinking plans with friends to have something to look forward to help me push past these last 9 days. Lucky for me, February lands on a Saturday, Perfect. Or is it? Does drinking the day after kinda just defeat the whole purpose? See, I’m back to overthinking again.

More of my friends also dropped out of dry January and now are running with a “damp” January but my pride will not let me do that. I need to finish so I can know for myself I can do hard things. 

This has been a rollercoaster of a month and I’m nervous for this upcoming weekend. I feel like it’s going to be a struggle to get through but I’m just going to take it day by day and if that gets hard, hour by hour.

Resolutions? Hit Or Miss?

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Without a doubt every year, people make or know people who make new year’s resolutions. It’s inevitable. Everyone wants to start the year off on the right foot and make some promises to theirselves to change, do, or be accountable for whatever they think they need to work on. Or something they may have slacked on in the past year. 

Lists...

As the halfway point of January is here I think it’s a good time to look at your resolutions or goals for the year if you made any, see how it’s going and even make adjustments if you find things aren’t working out completely how you imagined.

I feel like resolutions are a huge hit or miss. You either are a fan of them and make your list at the end of December or you just avoid the whole thing and enter the new year in a nonchalant manner. I for one like the idea of resolutions and starting the new year with a clean slate. For me, making my resolutions leaves me with a good intention set for the year and the mindset to make the new year better than the last.

However, I do completely understand why some people are against the whole resolution thing. Sometimes it just makes you feel bad or disappointed. Not living up to your own expectations that you set can be tough, especially cause you set them for yourself, thinking and wanting to attain them. This is where I see resolutions getting messy because then it’s kinda doing the opposite of what it should do which is making yourself feel better. 

I am no stranger when it comes to failed resolutions – if you are reading my dry January stories then you know I’ve failed that one once. Or how I always say “this year I’ll drink a gallon of water a day” and if I’m lucky maybe I’ll get one of my stanley water cups in a day. So this past December when I sat down to write my yearly list of resolutions I thought long and hard about what real changes I wanted to see in my life and from there I made the list. I feel like a lot of the time resolutions will stick for the month of January and then as February comes on and then the spring approaches they are all completely out the window and that just leads to disappointment. 

So this year, I kept my resolutions simple:

  • Keep my room clean
  • Fold my laundry right away – no more laundry pile in the corner of my room
  • Try at least 2 new activities 
  • Less take away food
  • Complete dry January

Laundry


So who knows what will happen with these guys. I have a pretty good feeling so far, so hopefully I can keep this up. How do you feel about resolutions? Do you stick to them? Or is it just a January thing?

Dry January: Day 15

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I’m almost at the halfway point of Dry January and today felt good. 

Dry January !

I think when you’re 21 and in college there is a huge culture around drinking and going out and from my perspective it’s “a part” of the whole college experience. Every single one of my friends goes out and I don’t really have any friends that steer clear from going out and drinking so when I mentioned I was doing dry January to them they were honestly just surprised but obviously supportive and aren’t the type to pressure anything. However I asked a couple if they wanted to join in the dry month with me and all I got was hard NOs! 

Saying no to something that is so normalized in my demographic seemed a bit awkward at first but I found you get over that initial hump and once everyone in your close circle is aware it feels good.( I have yet to try actually going out and staying sober but once I reach that point I’ll fill you in.)

I realized today just how much money I’m saving as well. It’s a great feeling to not have to wake up and check my bank account to see the damage. I don’t think I realized just how much I was spending on going out. All the little things can add up fast, the Uber/taxi, cover, drinks, and of course you cannot forget the after bar pizza. 

Since there is such a huge culture and presence of going out in my life I’m definitely hitting some FOMO here and then but I totally expected that going into this so it’s no surprise to me.

If you’re also doing dry January and having a hard time handling the FOMO I have a couple of tips for you. 

  1. Plan your weekends before they hit. Instead of just letting the weekend roll in, come up with some plans so that when Friday night comes you’re not just sitting alone at home left not enjoying your weekend, just because you aren’t drinking doesn’t mean there isn’t nothing to do. 
  2. Go see a movie. I feel like I never see movies anymore, it’s also not a drinking thing so you won’t feel awkward and have to say no to any drinks. 
  3. Plan something in your mornings. I’m finding that when I wake up with something planned for my morning I feel happy I’m doing the thing not hungover. 
  4. Go do a workout and while you’re working out think of everyone laying in bed with a bad hangover – trust me, this is an ego booster. 

Dry January is not the easiest task out there but honestly nearing the halfway point I can confidently say I’m not missing it that much at all.