The 4 tips to get through dry January

Since January 1, my timeline is full of it: people who want to start 2019 healthy with Dry January. After the holidays, it's time to sober up from all the non-stop Christmas dinners and New Year's parties where you consume alcohol like juice and where it's completely normal to start with your first glass of bubbles around noon (although I wouldn't mind keeping that in…). If you really want to go hardcore, you also throw in a juice cleanse to fully detox. But for most, thirty days of no alcohol is already quite a challenge, so let's put that food aside for a moment. In fact: maybe you should throw in some comfort food to get through Dry January. For those who have taken on this challenge: congratulations, you're already well on your way. To keep the rest of the month going strong, here are some tips that will make your non-alcoholic life a bit more bearable.

1. Find a partner in crime

Shared misery is half misery. This way, you can share all the discomforts, temptations, and difficult moments with each other and give your buddy that pep talk at the crucial moment to keep going and vice versa.

2. Avoid danger zones

I find that social alcohol pressure to be perhaps the hardest. ‘Oh, don't be silly and just have a drink’; I'm secretly quite sensitive to that. So know yourself and avoid places where the temptation might be irresistible (say goodbye to all those cozy New Year's parties).

3. Think of exciting alternatives

Thirty days of water with bubbles is of course not a party for anyone. Fortunately, there are plenty of fun alternatives that are just as good as an exciting cocktail. I love the lemonades from Agroposta, which mixed with Spa red, mint, and lime are really not inferior to ‘the real sh*t’. A while ago, I discovered the non-alcoholic gins from Seedlip; you want to showcase that bottle in your living room on a shelf, it's so beautiful, and the G&Ts you brew with it are really a top alternative to the alcoholic version.

4. Write down all the benefits as your new mantra

After living alcohol-free for a month, I immediately noticed that my skin was nicer, I had more energy, and even lost some weight. Now it sounds like I'm a heavy drinker, which is absolutely not the case (an average of three glasses a week), so you can imagine what the positive results are if you normally have a drink every day, which can quickly creep in at dinner as the norm. Many people also notice improved sleep, a decrease in gloomy feelings, and better performance at work. So keep this outlook in sight as motivation to keep going. You can do it!