Start planning a Dry January to keep your fitness goals intact for 2021
After all the excess of Christmas, January is THE perfect time to go alcohol-free for 31 days and get a healthy start to your New Year.
Dry January is a public health campaign urging people to stop drinking alcohol for the month.
Lots of us feel like we’re drinking a bit too much, or too often, or just like we could do with some time off.
Dry January is the perfect way to reset your relationship with alcohol. It only takes three weeks to break a habit, so this could be your route to happier, healthier drinking long-term.
In January 2020, over 3million people took part in the
UK; 86% of them saved money, 70% of them experienced better sleep, 66% had more energy and 65% of participants had generally improved health, according to the www.alcoholchange.org.uk website.
I’m taking part this year because my alcohol intake has increased. I never used to drink alcohol in the house but I let it creep into my lifestyle during the first lockdown, back in
March/April, and it’s continued throughout the year. I’ve decided to use Dry January as a reset month to get back in to healthy habits.
Across the month, your body is likely to benefit greatly from giving up alcohol. Better hydration and better sleep will improve your overall wellbeing. Your liver, stomach and skin will also have benefi ted from not dealing with the nasty effects of booze.
If you usually drink average amounts for the UK person you’ll also have reduced your calories by 3,840 for the month. For example, if you normally drink six glasses of 175ml wine a week.
It’s even higher for beer drinkers saving around 4,320 calories over the month if you used to drink six pints of lager a week.
If you still don’t think it’s worth doing, here’s another reason: People who quit alcohol for just one month are 72% more likely to more mindful about drinking excessive amounts of alcohol in the future and with the health benefits of quitting you’ll see a difference to your body and your mood in the long run.
If you’re thinking of doing dry January check out the following website www.alcoholchange.org.uk
You can do dry January on your own, or you can sign up for the challenge online.
Why sign up online?
People who sign up online are more likely to stay dry for the whole month. That’s because when you sign up you:
Get access to the free app, which helps you keep track of your month with features like a calorie calculator, unit tracker and tool to show how much you’ve saved.
Receive regular support emails with tips, tricks and information from experts in alcohol to make your month easier and more fun.
Have help on hand: if you’re struggling, you’ll get support.
Can fundraise for charity or give what you save.
Go on give it a go, you’ll feel better for it!
NHS exercise advice: Adults should - Aim to be physically active every day. Any activity is better than none, and more is better still.
Do strengthening activities that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) on at least 2 days a week.
Do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week.
Reduce time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity.
You can also achieve your weekly activity target with:
Several short sessions of very vigorous intensity activity.
A mix of moderate, vigorous and very vigorous intensity activity.
You can do your weekly target of physical activity on a single day or over 2 or more days.
Whatever suits you.