31 days of being completely alcohol-free aka ‘Dry Jan’

Intro

The clock hit midnight and I took my last sup of cheap wine that I cannot remember for the life of me the colour, name or thankfully the taste and traditionally gave the girls (see right) a peck on the lips whilst dancing to some throwback tunes.

I hadn’t drunk so much for the best part of a year, living abroad and away from my friends and family, this year had its downfall. The friends I had made from the past year and a half of living in Italy had moved on to other countries and I remained in limbo stuck in different parts of Lombardy trying to find the dream.

The truth is, I don’t even know if I had anything else to drink after the first hour of  2018 rolled by, I was caught out by the inebriated me, free and careless and a terrifying flirt. I'm disappointed by the fact I almost forgot the promise I had made to myself – Dry Jan.

Week 1 – Water vs Wine

It’s amazing how many social events include eating or alcohol. If you have ever been on a particularly strict diet or tried excluding alcohol from your life for more than a week or two, you realise how hard it can be for ex-alcoholics, dieters and even Vegans…

Think of how many social events you've been slightly nervous to attend, for example going out for a meal with a group of work colleagues for the first time or attending a party/wedding where you only know one or two people. In these cases most of us are likely to say hello to a good few units of alcohol to increase our confidence and make us seem more interesting.

This week I have had three social occasions, one in which I was the ‘none drinker’ eyeing every sip of Prosecco my friend drank and two in which my friends don’t actually drink (one being the designated driver and the other chooses not to – his will being stronger than mine) which made my abstinence easier.

This week I also tried to increase the amount of water I drank instead of fizzy drinks or sugary fruit juice. I think I found this more difficult than abstaining from alcohol. How boring ordering, a litre of ‘Aqua Naturale’ when you can order a Coke Zero or a beer for the same price!

Determined I drank probably a litre more of water a day than normal. I must admit I had to urinate around 2 to 3 times per night (I think my body was in shock) and amazingly I've lost a couple of pounds too!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Not Washing for 7 Days – The Accidental Challenge

Image
Believe me when I say this was supposed to be a post on yoga... Well readers this happened… Well, let me say I would have been perfectly happy never to have added ‘rode in an ambulance’ to my bucket list. Yes, after the actual embarrassment of actually distorting my ankle and foot in ways that really shouldn’t be possible, I had to be picked up off the floor, put into a wheelchair and carted off into an ambulance. But imagine this happening in Italy… where you have the language level of incoherent 2-year-old. After being told I had most probably broken my ankle and been given VIP treatment, I was put in oxide open plaster and then bandaged up further. However, apparently, it’s not broken but was left not 100% sure or convinced. Let me explain at this point…the pain is excruciating and I cannot physically place my foot on the floor. I have to use crutches to move to the bathroom and every hop makes my eyes water. By the time I maneuvered myself to sit on the toilet, I...
Read more

My Must Vegan Recipes1! #meatlessmay

Image
Recipe Spot This week, I have tried a mixture of prepackaged vegan food, vegan recipes sourced off the web and created my own delicious recipes adapting from none vegan recipes or over complicated recipes with ingredients my Italian supermarkets don't to have on hand. These are my tried and tested must eat recipes of my own... Dreamy Creamy Lentils This recipe is easier than it sounds, it would work brilliantly with mushrooms instead of zucchini and spinach. It makes 2 large servings of the lentil mixture/4 smaller servings.  Ingredients 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or preferred oil) 1 small white onion roughly diced 1 large clove of garlic diced 1 bay leaf 1/2 tsp of vegetable stock powder 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar or white wine 1 cup of warm water 1 can of lentils 1/2 a zucchini cubed 1 cube of frozen spinach 4 tbsp of canned coconut milk 1 tsp of yeast flakes (optional) Serving suggestions: 100g (dried) pasta (any) (per serving) or Quinoa Jack...
Read more

The Sober Socialite ('Dry Jan' continued)

Image
Week 3 – The Sober Socialite Fourteen days have passed, I have lost a few pounds, my skin looks rejuvenated and my brain seems sharper than ever. Yet, I crave a cocktail and the joys of indulging in an aperitif after work. I apologize for my eyes Yes, something in my brain perceives that either abstaining from the strong stuff or possibly drinking so much more water/herbal teas ( yes these are now the before bed treat-yawn! ) instead of flavoured beer is doing me the world of good, but liquor is liquid form of self confidence to an Anglo-Saxon.   So, this week I went all out, full on aperitivo with not one but two non-alcoholic cocktails. Two of my friends were drinking alcoholic drinks much to my displeasure and the other, like myself, paid the same price as an alcoholic cocktail, yet was robbed of the pleasurable effects. To be honest, my sugary cocktail tasted pretty good but incredibly sweet and having my senses fully intact I made wiser portion and food ...
Read more