Dry January. Have you heard of it? Honestly, I hadn’t. In fact, January always seemed like a good time to drink. In the dark winter with nothing really to do drinking always seemed like an activity. Now that I live in a world outside of alcohol, I see lots of “not drinking” going on and Dry January is a big one.

The idea is to take a month off from drinking alcohol. While I love the idea of people giving their body a break from alcohol when I look back at my first month of not drinking, it was the most brutal of all. So if you’re planning to do Dry January this year here are some things you need to know.

-Depending on how much you normally drink it can take a long time for the toxins from alcohol to leave your body. In some cases, it can take 10 days. If this sounds a bit alarming it should be. If an average person drinks every couple days or so they probably never give their liver time to fully process the alcohol. That means that that the liver works in overdrive to eliminate what it perceives as poison to your body all.the.time. While it’s working to eliminate the alcohol it’s not doing other things. So maybe that is why it’s hard to lose those last few pounds, your skin isn’t clearing up, or you have brain fog. Your liver isn’t doing the wonderful work that it’s supposed to. So, if you’re not feeling just amazing after Day 3 of Dry Jan. this could be why…Give it a bit longer.

-Alcohol has tons of sugar. Have you ever tried quitting sugar before? It can be tough. Sugar also takes a huge toll on our bodies. So when you eliminate alcohol you can expect to have sugar cravings, especially at 5p or “happy hour” when your body is primed for that big dose of sweet goodness. When I would try giving up alcohol in the past it was usually because I was doing a diet or a cleanse of some kind. This meant that I was eliminating both sugar and alcohol. By 5p I thought I might crawl out of my skin with cravings. I had headaches too. So if you’re really trying to eliminate alcohol for a month don’t give up sugar too. Eat as much as you like until your body adjusts.

-i’m assuming that if you’re doing Dry January it’s not because you’re trying to eliminate that one drink you have a month. So that means that maybe you drink every week, every weekend, every other night, every night, etc. Depending on how often and how much you drink you might experience a bit of withdrawal. This isn’t meant to scare you but alcohol is the most dangerous and addictive drug. Your body might have a little shock once you stop using it. In fact, a hangover isn’t just a result from what you drank the night before it’s also the withdrawal from the alcohol that causes the pain and suffering. Drinking depresses the central nervous system. When the alcohol is withdrawn your central nervous system can go into a hyperactive state. Fast heartbeat, shaky hands, and more. That first few days or week you might be foggy, exhausted, have a headache, and experience other undesirable feelings.

Okay, I know this post is making Dry January sound like a real drag. The benefits from not drinking are amazing and even taking off drinking for a few nights will have a major impact on your overall health. Every time you don’t drink you let your liver work properly, reduce your risk of cancer, stop the disruption of sleep patterns, stop disrupting hormones, give your body a break from fighting off poison, improve your mental health, and more. Any kind of break is a good one.

There are so many factors that will affect how you feel including your size, genetics, sex, diet, and more. But if after a few days or a couple of weeks your just not seeing the benefits of being dry I want you to know why. Hopefully this information will give you some insight into the time it takes your body to repair from such a dangerous drug and you’ll feel motivated to keep going.

Instead of using Dry Jan as a punishment for what you drank all last year view it as an opportunity to discover life beyond alcohol. Get curious, excited, and seek out other friends who are doing it too. Try new things during happy hours like fizzy water and lime or long walks with a podcast. Have fun with it and reward yourself along the way. It is so amazing after all! As your body heals it will thank you and you should celebrate each milestone! You can do this!!!

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