I Took A Month Off From Drinking
For the month of January I chose to not drink alcohol. I'm really not a big drinker to begin with, but I do enjoy my beer and wine with dinner. There are many reasons I chose to detox for a month. The main one being that I just wasn't feeling great. That's the only way I can think of wording it. Just didn't feel good in my body. Stiff, lethargic, bloated and food in general just didn't seem to sit well.
My next reason is that I know that my family has a history of addiction. And I know I have addictive tendencies with having my eating disorder. So I just want to make sure every now again that I can go without alcohol and be okay. I am very aware of this part of my personality. Not to say I'm constantly on the edge of addiction, but I just want to keep an eye on it.
I also wanted a reset heading into the new year. Last year (2017) was an awesome year of self discovery and switching around my mindset as a consumer. I fully expect this change to continue in 2018 and wanted to start off the year with self disciple. I hesitate to describe this new mindset as minimalism but that is kinda the direction I'm heading. Not so minimal that I'm gonna get rid of all my furniture and worldly belongings. But I want to actually use everything I own.
How It Went
Well, it went great overall. I really didn't find myself craving a drink ever. I would like to note that I did have two drinks during the month. Once with my birthday dinner I had a hard cider and I had a glass of wine at the end of the month on a girls night. The rest of the month I was totally fine not having wine with dinner. And taking a hike on the weekends rather then going wine tasting. It did open to my eyes that drinking on the weekend has been a huge part of what we do in our spare time and maybe we need to change that a bit.
How I Feel
I feel great!!! I feel so much less bloated. Just more comfortable in my own body. I wouldn't say I've lost weight, but anytime you are less bloated it feels like you lost weight. I did notice that my appetite balanced a lot. Much less indigestion and heartburn. And I found myself craving less fried food. Fried food is such a huge craving of mine and while I definitely had my weak moments where I ordered the french fries rather then the side salad, I didn't have those crazy, intense cravings throughout the month. So I wound up eating much more fresh fruits and vegs in the last month. Maybe its that snowball affect but by making one healthy decision I keep wanting to make more healthy decision.
Will I Go Back To Drinking?
Yes, I will go back to drinking now that my month off has come to an end. But, I'm not going to go back to drinking as much as I was before. Before we used to open a bottle of wine on most weeknights with dinner or we might have a couple of beers. I'm going to personally stop drinking on weeknights. I just sleep better and I feel better. Weekend drinks for sure though. But just beer and wine. I've never loved hard liquor (with the exception of tequila....I'm mexican...I can't help it) so moving forward I'm just not super interested in cocktails. This is totally a personal choice, and no judgement on those that like to have their cocktails, its just not for me. Except for margaritas, but even that I'm gonna hold out for a really nice quality margarita.
For me drinking is a social thing. Yes, wine tasting is something we do on the weekends and maybe we'll go a bit less. It gets us outside. It brings friends together. A lot of the time there is live music. We bring games with us. We bring books with us to read in the sunshine. We meet new people. I'm glad I took a month off and will most certainly do this a few times a year. But I do enjoy wine and beer and the culture that comes with it.
My next reason is that I know that my family has a history of addiction. And I know I have addictive tendencies with having my eating disorder. So I just want to make sure every now again that I can go without alcohol and be okay. I am very aware of this part of my personality. Not to say I'm constantly on the edge of addiction, but I just want to keep an eye on it.
I also wanted a reset heading into the new year. Last year (2017) was an awesome year of self discovery and switching around my mindset as a consumer. I fully expect this change to continue in 2018 and wanted to start off the year with self disciple. I hesitate to describe this new mindset as minimalism but that is kinda the direction I'm heading. Not so minimal that I'm gonna get rid of all my furniture and worldly belongings. But I want to actually use everything I own.
How It Went
Well, it went great overall. I really didn't find myself craving a drink ever. I would like to note that I did have two drinks during the month. Once with my birthday dinner I had a hard cider and I had a glass of wine at the end of the month on a girls night. The rest of the month I was totally fine not having wine with dinner. And taking a hike on the weekends rather then going wine tasting. It did open to my eyes that drinking on the weekend has been a huge part of what we do in our spare time and maybe we need to change that a bit.
How I Feel
I feel great!!! I feel so much less bloated. Just more comfortable in my own body. I wouldn't say I've lost weight, but anytime you are less bloated it feels like you lost weight. I did notice that my appetite balanced a lot. Much less indigestion and heartburn. And I found myself craving less fried food. Fried food is such a huge craving of mine and while I definitely had my weak moments where I ordered the french fries rather then the side salad, I didn't have those crazy, intense cravings throughout the month. So I wound up eating much more fresh fruits and vegs in the last month. Maybe its that snowball affect but by making one healthy decision I keep wanting to make more healthy decision.
Will I Go Back To Drinking?
Yes, I will go back to drinking now that my month off has come to an end. But, I'm not going to go back to drinking as much as I was before. Before we used to open a bottle of wine on most weeknights with dinner or we might have a couple of beers. I'm going to personally stop drinking on weeknights. I just sleep better and I feel better. Weekend drinks for sure though. But just beer and wine. I've never loved hard liquor (with the exception of tequila....I'm mexican...I can't help it) so moving forward I'm just not super interested in cocktails. This is totally a personal choice, and no judgement on those that like to have their cocktails, its just not for me. Except for margaritas, but even that I'm gonna hold out for a really nice quality margarita.
For me drinking is a social thing. Yes, wine tasting is something we do on the weekends and maybe we'll go a bit less. It gets us outside. It brings friends together. A lot of the time there is live music. We bring games with us. We bring books with us to read in the sunshine. We meet new people. I'm glad I took a month off and will most certainly do this a few times a year. But I do enjoy wine and beer and the culture that comes with it.
Hope you enjoyed this. Take care of yourself and simply feel pretty.
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