Sip sip hooray! I’ve completed Dry-ish January.
What’s Dry-ish January, you ask? It’s more like a “Solo Dry January” or a “Social-Only Wet January.” It means I only drank alcohol with other people, never alone. [Hey, it’s my life, I make my own rules.]
It was pretty easy because, unlike George Thorogood, I don’t drink alone very often. Maybe a glass of wine if I make dinner or a little whiskey after a broadcast to soothe the throat.
These days, I look at my alcohol intake like a pitch count in baseball. I’m on a limit for how much alcohol I want to drink the entire year, so I’m not wasting too many drinks by myself.
Back in my mid-20s, I actually made a New Year’s Resolution once to drink more often. Honest. The goal wasn’t to become an alcoholic. My idea was to consume one drink with dinner and only one drink. Go out with friends more often, have one drink and only one drink. The concept was to avoid binge drinking.
It was so long ago that I don’t remember how long it lasted, or how effective it was. I’m not an alcoholic, so I’m going to call it a success.
In my mid-30s, when I live in San Francisco at the famed Funston House – think “The Real World” without the cameras – I frequently looked at January as the month to let the body recover from the crush of holiday parties and extravagant New Year’s plans. If often lasted from the day after the college football Bowl Games until the Super Bowl.
It was also so long that I don’t remember how strictly I followed through, but I have a vague memory of being proud of myself when I reached the Super Bowl once.
But now, I’m old, I don’t get invited to as many Holiday parties, so December isn’t as taxing on my body, plus the Super Bowl is in mid-February and that’s just ridiculous.
Turns out, the Dry January that I was quasi attempting in the mid-2000s is an actual real organized thing. My fellow San Diego State alum Jamie Ballard wrote about it a few years ago.
It officially began in 2013 when the organization Alcohol Change UK started a Dry January campaign encouraging people to take a break from drinking for the month.
I wish I could point to some huge benefit of my 2024 Dry-ish January, but other than not spending as much money, I don’t really notice a difference. Of course, I went to Vegas for a weekend, and had a few drinks with friends watching a few NFL games.
I’m quite tempted to extend my Dry-ish January into a Dry-ish February too. Other than the Super Bowl, it might make for a pure Dry February
The more challenging part of my Dry-ish January was the Sour-ish January that I also attempted.
Sour January? Sorry, I don’t know what else to call it. I went the whole month without dessert. I figured Sour was the opposite of Sweet and I didn’t have any sweets. Walking through the bakery was not easy. Standing at the counter at Flying Star the other day, looking at the desserts while waiting to order, was torture.
Turns out, my cravings were common.
The reason is that sugar and alcohol both stimulate dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and is responsible for allowing you to feel pleasure and satisfaction. Research has shown that sugar has a similar influence on the brain’s reward center as alcohol and drugs. Therefore, when giving up alcohol, a person may seek another source, whether it’s food or something else, to elicit that same feel-good response they are no longer experiencing from alcohol.
To be clear, this was another half-ass “deal” that I made with myself. I didn’t eliminate all sugar. I just didn’t eat any desserts, alone or socially, at home or at restaurants. Luckily, I already don’t put sugar in my coffee, and nobody brought any desserts to the ballpark. I probably had some sugar. I didn’t check the ingredients labels. But it probably wasn’t that much sugar, outside of some fruit or jam on my toast.
I’m not going to try Sour-ish February. The combo of no alcohol or sweets is really tough. There needs to be a better yin-yang balance for our dopamine neurotransmitters.
January is a good month to try things, especially Dry-ish January, because it’s the most boring month of the year. Other than NFL playoff games, not much happens in January. It’s still really dark. It’s still really cold. It’s mostly depressing.
The best thing about January is that it’s the best month for vacations. I have a friend who just went to Guatemala and posted these amazing videos of staying at a place right on the water. Man alive, did that look fabulous.
I went to Hawaii once in January, a long time ago, and it was perfect. Not as many tourists. Ideal weather. You come back all tan and everyone is jealous.
If I had lots of money, and a job that was strictly remote, I’d spend the entire month of January in Hawaii or somewhere tropical.
My New Year’s resolution was more a theme: water. Keep drinking it a lot and play in it more. So far, it’s mostly still ongoing.
I’ve gone swimming for 30 minutes at least once a week so far. I actually got a few reservations for a swimming lane at the gym and took advantage when a few people didn’t show.
I started following this crazy rad dude on Instagram who gives advice on what to do with old fruit and vegetable peels. I followed the one about using the pineapple skin to make some pineapple tea. [Don’t make my mistake and use a huge pot of water. Mine was very diluted.]
We think of New Year’s Resolutions, but I kinda like the idea of trying something new each month. We’ll see if my New Month Resolutions catches on.
It’s gonna be Flossful February. My dentist, Dr. LaPour, will be proud of me. I know, I know, you should always floss. But we forget, then get into bad habits, and the next thing you know, you need to make it a New Month Resolution.
My goal is 29 straight days of flossing, at least once a day, no cheating.
Let’s see if I can make it all month.