What I Learned While Utterly Failing To Complete ‘Dry January’

In our monthly series, GIVING UP, newsroom staffers deprive themselves of a beloved habit and track how it went. In January, Senior Editor Maxwell Strachan, 29, gave up alcohol. What are you giving up? I tried to give up alcohol for the month of January as part of that whole “Dry January” phenomenon. I failed. What made you decide to give it up? As 2016 was winding down, I figured I could use an extended period of sobriety. November and December had left me feeling tired and financially irresponsible ― something I attributed in part to an uptick in alcohol consumption related to the holiday season and general, chaotic state of the world.   In prior years I have been able to fight through the post-holiday hangover, but as I get older, the hangovers are just worse. So I decided to start off the year without drinking to try and re-energize myself and maybe lose a couple pounds, too. How did your friends and family react? People were mostly either intrigued or supportive. One of my friends said, “I’m so sorry,” which I still don’t know how to interpret. Others joked that perhaps it wasn’t the best time to stop drinking, considering the political environment we find ourselves in. My best friend was probably the most upset by it. He literally scoffed after I told him I was serious about the whole thing. But that makes sense, given that it threw a small wrench in his social life. I will say, I don’t think I could...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news