Part 1: My SMART Goals - Dry January
February 1st. January is officially over. It seems as though I was just writing about New Year’s resolutions a week ago, and here we are done with January. I promised you all in the last post that I would share my New Year’s goals with you. Now that I am a month in, I thought this would be a good time to share and reflect on what I have been working on.
My first resolution was to take part in Dry January. This was something I had thought about before, but never committed to. Maybe I was feeling the excess of the holidays, but it was more than that. It was about changing my relationship with alcohol. What I mean by that is the association of a drink with certain events or times of the day. Let me explain. I enjoy a glass of wine (or two) at the end of my day. It was definitely something that I would look forward to. Being able to come upstairs from my office, pour a glass of red wine, and catch up with my husband on the events of the day as he cooked dinner. I had come to associate the end of the day, and unwinding, with a drink, and that wasn’t the only association that had taken hold in my behavior patterns. Football game on? I think I’ll have a beer. Saturday evening? Cocktail time! Night out with friends? Where are we going for drinks?
My relationship with alcohol has never been problematic. I don’t drink to get drunk. I don’t wake up with a hangover and I do remember the night before. But…just because you aren’t getting drunk every time you drink doesn’t mean your alcohol consumption isn’t a concern. Daily alcohol consumption is counter productive to good health; at least if I am to believe most medical studies and modern medicine. Drinking everyday does come with consequences. The biggest motivation for me to participate in Dry January was to change my relationship with alcohol and the associations of drinking to events or situations. I didn’t want to feel that craving for a drink just because it was 5p.
(On a side note, I was vainly hoping that it might lead to me losing a few pounds as everything I was reading regarding eliminating alcohol for a month included weight loss a result. I also wanted to see if it would have any impact on my blood pressure. I am on blood pressure medication for high blood pressure due to hyperaldosteronism).
I used the SMART goal format to help me set this goal:
The goal was Specific – I am going to not drink alcohol for the month of January
The goal was Measurable by each day that I did not drink
The goal was Attainable for me because it only required me to stop drinking for a month and does not require any tools or items out of my ability to obtain
The goal was Reasonable/Relevant for me
Time-limit for this goal was the month of January
What I noticed at the end of the month:
I did not lose any weight haha…I lost about 2 pounds. However, I have noticed that I have less fluid retention. My midsection is leaner and so is my face.
No change to my blood pressure, but like I said, there is another cause to my high blood pressure. It is in healthy ranges with my medication though.
I have learned that I can still enjoy my evening and unwind without alcohol. I can also enjoy a football game without alcohol. I can also go out and still enjoy myself without having a drink.
My sleep generally improved.
I saved quite a bit of money! This was an unexpected consequence that I had not considered when I committed to Dry January. Not gonna lie, it has been nice having extra money in my bank account when payday arrives.
Overall, the biggest benefit was breaking the hold of alcohol over my behavior. I feel free of needing to have a drink at the end of the day. I feel like it is a lot easier to enjoy myself without alcohol, which would have been harder for me before Dry January. I am not sure that sober living is what I want at this point, but I definitely do not feel the need to rush back into my old habit of a daily drink just because it’s February either. I will most likely have a glass of wine here or there, but not on a daily basis. I will allow myself to share drinks with friends on special occasions, but I will make sure that I treat that as special and not routine. Overall, it was a worthwhile experience and if you are considering doing a month of sobriety, you don’t have to wait for January. Any day is a good day to work on more effective behaviors.
