Tips On How To Crush Dry January

Are you pumped to start Dry January but also a little nervous? What if you stumble at the first hurdle? What if your good intentions fall by the wayside, along with your self-respect? Rest assured, you won’t be alone. According to our friends at the mindful drinking app Sunnyside, 35% of people partaking in Dry January in 2022 had a drink during the first week, with the first Friday (January 7th) being the most popular ‘slip-up’ day. Why? Because giving up alcohol – even temporarily – is hard. So follow our advice to help keep you on track. 

You’ve got this.

Tell People You’re Doing It

If you tell your family and friends that you’re doing Dry January, they’ll be able to offer support. They’ll know not to pour you a glass of wine at dinner and will be on hand to give you a pep talk if they see your resolve waning. Even better, why not encourage someone to join you in not drinking? Being accountable to someone with the same goal as you means you can help each other stick to the plan. Making your intentions known more widely – like on social media – might help, too. The more people who know, the more people there will be to point out if you fail – or give you encouragement when they see that you’re nailing it. 

Save Your Money

A bottle of wine here, a round in the bar there… The amount we spend on alcohol can quickly add up. In 2023, Americans spent a whopping $89.8 billion on alcoholic beverages, and Oar Health members spend an average of $275 per month on alcohol. But it’s not just the cost of the booze itself we need to consider. When we drink, we lose our spending inhibitions, so can end up saying, “Why not?” and reaching for our credit card more readily. 

Every time you would have had a drink this month, put the money aside that you’d have spent. Then, at the end of January, treat yourself to something that will give you more lasting joy and value than booze, without the hangover or regrets.

Avoid Boozy Events 

Oscar Wilde once said, “I can resist anything except temptation.” Too true! If you’re trying to give up alcohol, don’t put yourself in a scenario where you’re likely to be tempted to drink. Try to avoid events or social outings where booze will be free-flowing. Say no to certain invitations (that’s allowed). You can still have a social life but you may have to reframe it. 

Invite Friends Over

If you’re watching sports, invite friends to your place – you’ll almost certainly drink less than you would at a bar surrounded by drunk fans. 

Be The Designated Driver 

There are a few concrete reasons why you definitely can’t drink – for religious reasons, you’re taking medication, you’re pregnant, you’re training for a marathon… Another surefire one is that you’re driving. A DUI is not a good look. There are other advantages of driving on a night out, too. You’ll be able to give your friends a ride home, or you’ll be able to make a quick getaway if they’re getting too drunk and sloppy.

Swap Your Drink 

Opt for the non-alcoholic equivalent of your drink of choice. Gone are the days when an orange juice or Coke would be the only vaguely appealing options. Now, there’s so much choice for teetotalers. There’s non-alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic wine, even non-alcoholic spirits. Try Seedlip, the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, which promises to ‘solve the ever-growing dilemma of what to drink when you’re not drinking®’. If cocktails are more your thing, opt for a mocktail instead. 

Use the Same Glass for a Different Drink 

Never underestimate the power of the mind. ‘Trick’ yourself into thinking you’re drinking an alcoholic beverage by using the glass your usual drink would be served in. A tonic and lime in a highball glass… Flavored sparkling water in a wine glass… A mocktail in a martini glass… There’s something more satisfying about having a drink from a nice glass – like eating from a china plate rather than a plastic one. 

Switch Venues

Do you often end up in a bar by default? This month, start ‘soberlizing’ by meeting friends, family and colleagues in other establishments, like coffee shops, smoothie bars, restaurants, ice cream parlors, milkshake spots or alcohol-free bars.

Change The Time You Meet People

While you’re mixing up where you meet, why not also mix up what time you meet? Breakfast and brunch meetups don’t carry as much expectation to drink as, say, dinner. 

Manage Your Withdrawal Symptoms

If you celebrate the holidays with gusto (and tequila shots), come January 1st, your body might be crying out for a break from the booze. Going cold turkey, however, may leave your body and mind in disarray. Quitting alcohol suddenly can affect you in a number of ways, leading to fatigue, poor concentration, shaking, sweating, headaches, insomnia, a lack of appetite and nausea. Some of the more serious side effects can include fever, confusion and even hallucinations. If you experience any concerning side effects in the first week of giving up alcohol, speak to your doctor. However, if you want to ride them out and deal with them naturally, make sure you drink plenty of water, exercise regularly and eat a balanced diet. 

Identify Your Triggers 

What triggers you to drink? Perhaps it’s going to a nightclub? Maybe it’s hanging out with a certain person? Or it could be doomscrolling on your phone? Whatever it is that will leave you hankering for a chilled beer or a glass of red, avoid it at all costs during Dry January. Why put yourself in a position that will make things harder? If you can’t readily think of what your triggers are, consider the last 10 times you drank. Is there a common denominator? Perhaps you drank at the same time on each occasion, like after work. Maybe you were with the same group of people – your ‘boozy’ friends. Once you know what you need to avoid in order to resist temptation, it’ll be easier. 

Exercise 

Exercising is a very effective tool when trying to kick a bad habit and may just become your new best friend on your sober journey. When you drink, your brain releases dopamine, a chemical associated with rewarding behaviors. When you exercise, dopamine is also released – along with serotonin and endorphins – which means you’ll get the same ‘buzz’ from working out than you did with that bottle of wine, with a much better outcome for your health. Exercise can also reduce cravings – just 10 minutes of physical exertion can crush a craving for alcohol. Working out occupies your time, mind and energy – if you’re pumping iron or swimming up and down a pool, you’re not sitting around thinking about having a drink. Your focus is elsewhere, namely on smashing your fitness goals. 

Find a Different Coping Strategy

Do you typically use booze as a crutch, drinking when you’re worried, lonely, angry, or simply when you’ve had a long day at work? Drinking to deal with stress is common but, as alcohol is a depressant, it can often exacerbate things, leaving your thoughts and emotions in a downward spiral. If you find yourself feeling anxious this month, try to find new, healthy ways to cope when you feel like reaching for a drink. Perhaps try the following to lift your spirits:

• Call a friend
• Listen to your favorite song
• Watch your favorite film
• Draw or paint something 
• Look at photos that make you smile
• Cook something tasty 
• Get some fresh air 

Banish Booze from Your Home

Implement the old adage ‘out of sight, out of mind’ by not keeping alcohol in your house during January. If you’re at home and craving a drink, if there’s one within easy reach, your willpower may wane and you could find yourself pouring a glass. If there’s an obstacle between you and alcohol – like going to the store to buy some – you’re less likely to do it. If you’re worried that only one obstacle won’t deter you, create several barriers. When you arrive home, change into slouchy wouldn’t-be-seen-dead-in-public clothes so you’d need to change to leave the house. Or wash your hair so you’d have to dry it before venturing outside. If fulfilling your craving for a drink becomes a pain, you’re more likely not to bother. 

Adapt Your Routine

We are creatures of habit. Veering from our regular patterns – our comfort zone – can feel daunting. But if you want to stand the best chance of reaching 31st January without caving, stepping away from what you normally do will give you a fighting chance of success. Let’s say, for example, you usually come home from work and pour yourself a glass of wine – why not prepare yourself a different, non-alcoholic, drink instead? Or maybe you always hit up happy hour on a Friday – why not suggest to friends that you meet somewhere else (for dim sum, to play pickleball… anywhere where drinking isn’t the primary activity)? Mixing things up and resetting your routines will stop your brain from looking forward to what it’s expecting (booze). It will come to expect the unexpected! 

Write Down Your Reasons

Why are you embarking on Dry January? Perhaps you want to feel healthier, you’re sick of the hangovers, or you want to take control of your relationship with alcohol? The act of writing down your reasons – and seeing them in black and white – will help to motivate you. You could even pin these reasons up somewhere in your house (in the liquor cabinet or on the wine rack, perhaps) to remind you why you’ve decided to lay off the sauce this month. 

Realize that Booze Doesn’t Define Fun

As a society, we often associate fun activities with drinking. Watching sport… Eating out… Chilling by the pool… Binge-watching Netflix… Going to a gig… Having a barbeque… All of these things are enhanced with a drink in your hand, right? Well, actually, no. Why do we give alcohol so much credit for the fun we have? The above activities are all enjoyable in themselves. You may have just got so used to a bottle of beer tagging along that you assume it’s the ‘fun maker’. But these things will still be fun – perhaps even more so – without alcohol by your side. 

Keep Busy 

It’s human nature to want something you can’t have. So the fact that you’ve told yourself that you’re not drinking for a month will most likely up your craving for alcohol. Your mind may tell you: “I really want a drink right now… I’m bored, a drink would entertain me… I’ll just have one…” Don’t let these thoughts turn into the action of reaching for a drink. Instead, do something to distract yourself and quash those cravings. Like what? Anything! Try one or all of these things:

• Clean the house
• Clear your junk mail box 
• Alphabetize your book collection
• Read
• Watch TV
• Check social media
• Declutter
• Bake something 
• Fix your split seams/sew on your popped buttons
• Google ‘funny jokes’ 
• Do a puzzle
• Knit
• Play solitaire 
• Listen to a podcast
• Read more Oar Health blogs

Be Open To Help

If you find drinking less in January harder than you expected, you might want to think about what that means. If you feel you may need help, traditional therapy and mutual group support are both great options. But there’s also medication specifically designed to help people to drink less or quit altogether. It is both safe and effective at helping people with drinking issues, and has been FDA-approved since 1994. When taking this medication, 76% of Oar Health members end up drinking less within the first two weeks. A real game-changer.

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