The best thing about February is that it’s only 4 weeks long!
As you can tell I’m not a big fan of February I see it as an obstacle to overcome to get to spring and finer weather. Luckily for me though my booze ban in January is officially over. Maybe I should hit the bottle hard and stumble through February in a drunken haze just to make the time go faster.
My Dryathlon
So what have I learnt from abstaining from alcohol in January?
Well, not drinking on a school night was fairly easy and I realised that when I did feel the urge to drink it was mainly because I was just thirsty which was easily remedied with a glass of water. I found the weekends the biggest challenge. After a long week of running around Clapham Common I’d feel as if I deserved a glass or two of wine to relax just like many others across the UK.
The weekends aren’t quite the same without a drink and what I found myself doing for the first weekend was busying myself and preparing work in advance for the coming week. Not very exciting.
The key to a relaxing weekend was creating alternative non-alcoholic drinks to enjoy. I opted for ginger ale over ice and a good film, very nice indeed. You’re probably thinking that I’ve made a very poor choice as ginger ale is full of refined sugar. Well, give me a break! There’s only so much ginger ale one can drink in an evening. And very rarely will you find yourself swinging from the lamp shade singing from the top of your voice your favourite Spice Girls song after several pints of ginger ale.
Eating behaviour
When you drink you might often find yourself making poor food decisions due to your impaired judgement. By the third beer a big bowl of nachos or chicken wings seems like a great idea. Staying sober over the weekend meant my food choices where wiser and healthier, and no hangover meant I felt no need for stodgy food the day after.
Sleep
However, the biggest lesson I learnt was that my mood, drive and productivity were very strongly related to sleep.
With alcohol out of the equation it pointed out to me the importance of sleep. I wrote about sleep in a previous blog and again sleep can make or break you. Sleep can be the difference between an exercise session or taking a rest day, bad or good food choices, feeling positive and upbeat or feeling negative and depressed. The difference between winning and losing, just surviving or thriving. The reason for these sleepless nights was due to my son, a teething toddler. No wonder mums and dads of newly born babies look rubbish.
We all need rest and recuperation, so much more than what we think. Drinking alcohol can greatly reduce your quality of sleep too. A late night partying with lots of drinking and an early start is very tough on the body.
Momentum
So now after having completed a month of no boozing (apart from one BMF social occasion) I have made myself some rules to follow to make sure I get the most out of life.
1. No mid-week alcohol consumption (unless on holiday)
2. Bed before 22:00 on weeknights.
3. No drinking after 22:30 on weekends
4. And I should never declare my love for Spice Girls songs!
> For more information about your alcohol consumption visit Drinkaware