One of the biggest health trends in recent years has been Dry January, a chance to give your body a break from alcohol and prioritize a fresh, healthy start to the new year. Seven years ago I decided to try Dry January. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to take a break from drinking at different times throughout that year and the next, then in 2019 thought I would try a challenge and not drink alcohol for a year. At the end of that year I felt so good physically and mentally that I decided to keep going. In 2024 I celebrated 5 years of not drinking and without hesitation I say that it is the best decision I ever made for myself, everything is better. Life moves with more ease, my brain feels ignited, and there is a baseline level of joy and peace that permeates throughout each day, even on hard days.
I have discovered that I am more productive, more focused, more confident in my abilities, more energetic, more motivated, more creative, more courageous, more empathetic to others, and I find myself with more time for things I love. I am less reactive, less scattered, less irritated, less concerned with what others think, less likely to come up with excuses not to do something, less late (though still late sometimes;), less jealous, and less intimidated by life. I have no time for gossip, meanness, snark, self deprecation, resentment, or letting fear or failure keep me from doing something.
Every single day I see how this one decision has improved my life - from my focus at work; to the way I am able to truly listen; to getting out the door in the morning organized instead of flailing; to socializing with a clear head; to recognizing the beauty and talent in people and lifting them up; to not stressing about every.little.thing; to how I communicate; to believing in myself.
The biggest flex I’ve learned is how to sit with my feelings. I didn’t really understand what that meant before, but when I stopped drinking I had to learn to actually feel my feelings instead of escape or numb them. What I learned is it is okay to not feel happy, in fact it is part of life. I gave myself permission to feel other feelings instead of trying to divert everything immediately back to happy. I didn’t have to react to everything, but I could go deep and on those hard days learn more about myself. What I found was that every time I allowed myself to feel, I came out with a new perspective, more gratitude, and stronger.
We all have the power to decide what drinking and balance looks like in our own life. I can only tell my story and hope that it may help somebody else. I do think it is worth learning about – how it affects mental health, how it affects our bodies, how it affects our energy. Awareness is empowering, no matter how you feel about alcohol.
Seven years ago my husband and I re-evaluated our relationship with alcohol and decided to cut out routine alcohol use. I was tired of buying into this heavily marketed theme that “motherhood is hard and the only way to have fun is to drink!” So I took a break and did Dry January and that curiosity began a health journey that was a game changer.
We live in an alcohol centric society in which everything we do revolves around food and alcohol. Birthdays, fundraisers, football games, vacations, after work social events, weddings, anniversaries, festivals, a romantic night out with your significant other, a girls’ night out, book club, brunch, and the list goes on. In recent years even children’s birthday parties and yoga classes have welcomed mimosas and wine with open arms.
For years I thought my husband had a tendency to occasionally drink too much, but I drank normally like everyone else, right? And then I pulled back the curtain to reveal the Great and Powerful Oz, and there was our dear friend alcohol. I saw clearly its role in low energy levels, brain fog, not being able to really focus, irritability, coming up with excuses to not exercise, feeling anxious when I read to my child at night continuously looking to see how many more pages I had to read. Then a writer friend who had chose sobriety told me about the afternoon ‘tick’. That the reason you want that 5pm glass of wine or cocktail isn’t you choosing to have a drink, it’s because after so many years of regular use, alcohol is telling your brain it’s time. And I didn’t like that. Then I began learning about the myriad of health issues big and small alcohol can cause.
For years I didn’t even realize that not drinking was an option. That you could simply opt out just like people do with cigarettes was a foreign concept. I thought alcohol was a part of life and you adjusted. If you had a bad night or couldn’t handle it, well then you needed to figure that out because alcohol is fun. Alcohol is not always fun as everyone knows. I thought by uttering out loud ‘I don't drink’ that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy nice dinners anymore, that parties would no longer be fun, that weddings would no longer be fun, that there would be no more tailgating on a SEC Saturday, but then I did those things alcohol free and they were fun, in fact even more fun than before because I was present in my conversations with people, I could listen really really listen, I remembered the conversations the next day, and I felt good the next morning. The conversations I have with people now are the most deeply inspiring I could ever imagine. For me, choosing to opt out of routine alcohol use has made everything better.
5 Ways Alcohol Can Affect You:
Taking Up Time and Space – I hear people complain often about not having time for this or that, and I do get it, some days you just do not have time. But I know for me years were taken up telling myself I didn’t have time when in actuality I did, it was just that the space was being taken up by something else. Almost everyday I was choosing that glass of wine (or 2 or 3) over exercise or that happy hour with friends over meditation or prayerful time. It is amazing the things you have time for when alcohol isn’t taking up that space. Now I have time for all the things that for years I made excuses to put off.
Your Skin – So you’ve seen that redness people develop that can become permanent, but there’s also dryness, flakiness, pimples and acne. That’s right in those years when my drinking increased I had breakouts and no dermatologist could explain why, alcohol can cause pimples and acne too. I no longer have breakouts, in fact my skin, besides some wrinkles, is in the best condition it has been in since I was a teenager.
Irritability – Maybe that coworker angered you, maybe you snapped at your child, maybe you just have this overall feeling like you aren’t in control of your days – alcohol can play a role in enhancing anxious feelings.
Cancer – Alcohol increases your risk for cancer, specifically breast cancer by 15%.
Eating Habits – Alcohol makes it very difficult for the body to absorb nutrients. Alcohol affects your taste buds. It also increases how much you eat. Those late night bowls of macaroni and cheese take a toll over the years.
One of my favorite things about not drinking are my Sober Sundays - I wouldn’t trade them for the world. To wake up ready to see the sunrise and start the day. To go on a 3 mile weight vest walk without a list of excuses not to. I’ll take my Sunday mornings clear minded and ready for any adventure the day might bring. With 5 years of not drinking booze, I am feeling all the feels. Life is more magnificent and exciting than I ever imagined. Thank God for this decision and all the people who have cheered me on. Cheers to those pursuing a better version of themselves day by day, hour by hour. It’s the daily habits that mold our lives. I encourage you to study how alcohol affects the brain and body, learning how it affects us in big and small ways was the biggest reason I started this journey.