Just a few more days and then it’s New Year’s Eve. More and more people are starting the new year with a healthy challenge: no alcohol for a month.
Does that sound like something to you? In this article, we will discuss the effects of a month without alcohol on your body and give tips on how you can achieve this goal.
Drinking no (drop of) alcohol for a whole month may not be easy, but it has significant advantages: you sleep better, feel fitter, lose weight and you save money. A good start to 2021.
The trend of not drinking alcohol during the first month of the year is also known as Dry January and has come over from England. Quite a good development, we think!
This is because studies appear regularly that show that even a short period without alcohol can already have good consequences for your well-being (1). These effects are still noticeable months later (2)!
Learning how to down a drink now and having a good time without alcohol makes it easier to keep the cork on the bottle again at any other time. And that again helps you lose weight and live a healthy life!
Agree with yourself that you will no longer drink from 1 January and use the information from this article to achieve your goal.
30 days without alcohol: the effects
The general guideline is: consume alcohol in moderation. A maximum of one drink per day for women and a maximum of two for men.
If you usually drink more and more often, you will certainly notice a difference if you do not drink alcohol for a month. And for those who always drink little: in addition to physical benefits, a month of no alcohol gives you:
A good feeling because you live well and consciously
Feeling fit because you are concerned with your health
A sense of accomplishment when you complete the challenge
Sounds good, right? Add to that the following health benefits:
It’s good for your liver
Of course it does not happen in a day, but if you regularly drink (too) much, it can lead to overloading of your liver and inflammation: liver cirrhosis. Your liver can no longer do its job properly.
You don’t want that because your liver has important (purifying) functions in your body. Fortunately, these consequences are usually reversible. So if you stop drinking for a while, your liver can recover (3, 4).
You sleep better
You may have noticed this yourself: you sleep less well with a few drinks. That’s right: it has been scientifically shown that drinking two or more glasses of alcohol before going to sleep can reduce performance the next day (5).
If you don’t drink for 30 days you will sleep better. This gives you more energy and allows you to concentrate better.
It’s better for your skin
Alcohol is not good for your skin for several reasons:
It drives away body fluids
It dilates blood vessels which can make your face look red and blotchy
It has an inhibitory effect on the production of hormones that provide hydration
Bottom Line: Alcohol can lead to dry, dull skin that ages faster. So if you stop drinking for 30 days you will prevent wrinkles! Your skin will glow again and be less blotchy.
You lose weight
I’ve written about the fattening effects of alcohol before:
Alcohol often contains a lot of sugars and calories.
Alcohol stimulates the appetite of many people and a nice drink quickly requires a tasty snack.
The body wants to break down alcohol and gives it priority in the metabolism so that other processes have to wait. Such as fat burning. That fat is stored around the belly (this creates the beer belly). This is not good for your health. It is best to burn off excess belly fat as quickly as possible.
Not drinking for 30 days means you’ll likely snack less and burn more!
Do not drink alcohol: 7 tips
But how do you manage to not drink that whole month? We have listed the seven best tips for you.
- Set goals
This seems obvious, but is really important. Record what you want to achieve. Write it down or record a video that you watch regularly.
Also important: don’t just speak out to yourself about what you want to achieve, but also inform the people around you.
- Ask for support
If you involve your friends and family and ask them to support you, you are more likely to achieve your goal. Ask the people closest to you to keep you on track. They may want to join you!
Avoid triggers
You may recognize this. You always drink a glass of wine with your sisters or a cold beer at the football on Fridays and that is why those are times, locations or situations that you associate with drinking alcohol.
If you want to cut back, it is important that you avoid these triggers for some time to come. Don’t panic, it’s not forever! It only concerns one month.
- Make it fun
Because of your alcoholv nice to dress up with fruit, herbs or decorations, it looks just as festive as a glass of champagne!
nice to dress up with fruit, herbs or decorations, it looks just as festive as a glass of champagne!
- Make a plan for temptations
Keep in mind that at some point you will really want to drink and have a plan and actions in place to resist that urge. This is already possible with small, unobtrusive strategies. A few examples:
A quick change of scenery. If you are in, go out. Or walk away from the drink and stand somewhere else.
Distraction also helps. Go to the toilet, walk around the block, pick up a magazine, try to take a nice picture.
Take a mouth freshener, such as sugar-free peppermint or gum. Not too much or too often, but make sure you have a different taste in your mouth that alcohol is not nice with. Coffee also works.
- Know how to say “no”
Saying no to a drink can be very difficult, especially with friends or family. But try to stick to your resolutions. You have made an appointment with yourself.
Think about potentially difficult situations and practice what you are going to say. This may sound strange, but it really helps if you have a response ready.
- Avoid “all or nothing” thinking
Did you accidentally give in to temptation? Then not everything is ruined immediately, so don’t overweight yourself! Can happen.
It’s not all or nothing. Just continue with no drinking for the rest of the month. Cutting back is still better than nothing. Remember: a 95% alcohol-free January is also very good!
Even better: the New Year’s Challenge
Do you want to start the new year even healthier and really take control on the way to a healthy and slim body? Then combine a month without alcohol with our New Year Challenge!
You will be guided and motivated to eat healthy for 4 weeks
More than 100 (new) recipes that speed up your fat burning
You will work with thousands of others. The ideal stick behind the door.
The New Years Challenge in combination with 30 days of no alcohol: there is no better start to 2021. Healthy and slim into the new year.
