I’ve been taking part in a four-week challenge to drink less during the week by introducing more drink-free days, in partnership with drinkaware. I have been compensated for my time.
I don’t know about you but I enjoy a glass of wine. I like wine, and I don’t feel guilty for having a glass or two during the evening. I do think there’s something of a dangerous competitive vibe to being a parent, like the only way to survive having kids is to drink alcohol every night. Of course, that’s not true; everyone has the ability to parent without drowning in beer or whiskey every evening. But it does taste pretty good, and it does kind of take the edge off.
I’m not here to preach or be that smug person who says, “I hardly drink so giving up the one drink per month was easy”. This four-week #drinkfreedays challenge has been something for me to think about and I have needed a nudge out of my usual habit of having a glass of wine every night.
The no alcoholidays need to be celebrated (I tried to make that into a Cliff Richard pun, but my brain isn’t en point today – drop me a comment if you can figure out the joke I’m angling for – you need to watch the video above if you don’t get the Cliff reference!), so I tried to pick something else to do or something else fabulous to drink in the evening. I’ve really enjoyed the variety of herbal teas I’ve sampled during the past four weeks. I’ve felt much more hydrated and relaxed, rather than more thirsty and bloated after a night on the vino.
Something else that I’ve found, and you might already know this if you watch my Instagram stories, is that I cannot sleep properly if I have a drink. The more I drink, the more insomniac I am. Especially if I have a gin. Give me a gin and I will be up all night, and be able to tell you all about the sunrise, too. During the four-week drink-free days challenge, I have felt more rested.
I’ve loved going swimming and reading more books during the past four weeks. I think I need to really cement the drink-free days into my week by booking exercise classes, as I play hooky from the gym if I don’t have someone else to go with or a firm reason to visit.
I was surprised to find out that the weekly recommended limit for adults is 14 units per week, which is about 6 glasses of wine. If you’re having two glasses a night and no alcoholidays, you are running the risk of quite a few health hazards like mouth cancers and missing out on the benefits of an evening or two off!
Compare your alcohol intake with the rest of the country by using this drink compare calculator. It’s horrifying and important at the same time. Go on – if you’re scared to try then maybe that’s the sign that your drinking has progressed a bit further than the casual relationship you thought you had with alcohol.
What do you do on your #drinkfreedays?
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