Goal zero drops of alcohol throughout the month of January. “Dry January” kicked off this Saturday and for some, this sober month has become a tradition. Olivier, Valentin, Nina or even Séverine have been doing it for several years. Along with other Internet users, they responded to our call for testimonials to tell us about the benefits they derive from it.
After the excesses of Christmas and New Year’s, take a little break. That’s how it started for Nina, four years ago. “My initial motivation was fed up with all the too fat, too rich, too watered evenings after the holidays,” she explains. For others, this challenge straight out of Anglo-Saxon countries and not (yet?) Supported by the French public authorities is a way of testing one’s relationship with alcohol.
“We often have a twisted standard with alcohol”
“The goal is to challenge myself and see how much alcohol addiction was present,” explains Olivier, who has started his third “Dry January”. “I never considered having a problem with alcohol. However, I have been consuming it regularly since I was 18, adds Florent, who is in his second year. Is it too much? To tell the truth, I did not know anything about it. We often have a twisted frame of reference. “Cécile, she” was wondering about [sa] alcohol consumption, whether it is influenced by [ses] social interactions, for [se] feel at ease in society or in the event of a hard blow or slack. I wanted to see if I was able to have a good time without alcohol. “
Is it difficult for some? The answer is yes. The first year, Nina “only lasted twelve days.” There are habits to lose, and especially social pressure to manage. “Jean Paul Sartre must have tried to make a “Dry january” when he wrote “Hell is the others”, jokes Séverine. Friends, family… All those people who don’t understand and who say to you “Come on, it’s okay, just a drink”. Saying no is not complicated when you only need to say it once, but you have to repeat it each time the bottle reaches our level. “Fortunately, year after year, the objective of this challenge is better understood by those around me, says Olivier. But I am still not able to enlist new people. “
However, the health benefits are numerous. “From the first days, we sleep better, we eat better, we have a fresher complexion and we lose weight. I generally lose 4 kg over the month, ”explains Séverine. Nina, she noticed “more energy and desire to do things”. Valentin points out the savings and Simon has kept the habit of not drinking alcohol on weekdays the rest of the year. So, starters?