Every New Year it seems I am trying harder and harder to make promises to myself to take better care of my body. Last year it was a two week detox from alcohol, smoking and sweets, this year I’m tackling an entire month (well, most of it). It’s going to be a challenge for sure, but to be honest I’ve been excited about the possibility of how great I’m going to feel once I’m done. I’m also hoping to be encouraged to stop certain things altogether and to cut back on everything else.

I feel like alcohol is such a huge part of having a social life. Why is that? Is it just a social norm? What do people do when they don’t drink? This is something that I had been thinking about when I decided I wanted to go a month without alcohol. I want to find better ways to fill my time, better ways to spend time with family and friends. Now, I’m saying I am going a full month but I guess I’m actually doing a bit less than that. Because of vacation schedules and holidays this year I decided to start this challenge today, January 6, instead of on January 1. However, I did take it fairly easy in between, I drank a few beers on New Year’s Eve, had wine with friends on New Year’s Day and attended a concert on January 4 where I had a couple of drinks as well. Writing this out now, it sounds like alot which makes me even more excited to cut back. The challenge will end with the Superbowl which is February 2, so all in all I’m only a couple days short of a full month.

The most difficult part of this challenge for me will be not making excuses. Someone is having a birthday party, a friend wants to go for drinks, family is coming to town – none of these should be viable reasons to stop the challenge. I want to be strong and consistent throughout the entire term mostly because I don’t want to smoke. Smoking lately has totally grossed me out UNLESS I am drinking. Drinking is the main time I want to smoke and lately has been the only time that I do. But it stinks. It’s expensive. And yes, it’s deadly. I had an epiphany recently where I woke up on my hair and it reeked of cigarettes. I immediately decided I wanted to change. This will be difficult for sure, but not as difficult as if it would be if I weren’t cutting out drinking as well.

Today is the first day of the challenge, which of course is easy. It’s Monday, I’m back at work after a long weekend off and I have no worries. I will try to continue to post daily or regular updates of how I’m doing and feeling. Like I said, this is going to be challenging, but I can’t wait to see how I feel at the end. For the rest of the year, this resolution basically just means to be better to myself. Walk more, exercise more, eat better. I feel like I made leaps and bounds with this last year, especially eating better and practically vegan, and I can’t wait to continue it for this year as well. I think another thing I’d like to really press upon myself is to wake up earlier as well and get a small yoga flow routine in in the mornings. I was doing it for a couple weeks before the holidays and felt amazing. I need to get back into the swing of waking up early – this will be one of my biggest challenges for sure. Wish me luck!

MelissaRose