06 DRY JANUARY Bio-Synergys’ comprehensive guide to beating Dry January. In this short guide we explain everything you need to know about how to last out the entire month, from recipes to tricks.
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HOW WILL MY HEALTH BENEFIT? Research from the Royal Free Hospital says a month off the booze improves concentration, blood sugar levels, blood pressure and is of course, good for the liver. Having more energy, sleeping better, having clearer skin and losing weight are also among the benefits cited by those who took part in the challenge. As well as the abundance of health benefits, there’s the money you’ll save (which in January is always welcome), not to mention fewer wasted weekends nursing hangovers and the sense of achievement come February 1. It has been suggested that giving up alcohol for four weeks could lead to binge-drinking in February. However, Alcohol Concern says there’s no evidence of this. In fact, research by the University of Sussex last year found that 72 per cent of people who completed Dry January drink less in the six months afterwards.
4 SIGNS YOU MAY BE ALCOHOL DEPENDENT 1. You worry about where your next drink is coming from and plan social, family or work events around alcohol. 2. You have a compulsive need to drink and find it hard to stop once you’ve started. 3. You wake up and drink - or find you want to have a drink in the morning. 4. You suffer from withdrawal symptoms, such as sweating, shaking and nausea, which stop once you have a drink. If you’re worried you have any symptoms of these alcohol dependence, contact your GP. Source: drinkaware.co.uk
AT A GLANCE | CALORIES IN ALCOHOL Pint of 4% beer
182 kcal
2.3 units
Pint of 4.5% cider
216 kcal
2.6 units
125ml glass of 12% champagne
89 kcal
1.5 units
175ml glass of 13% wine
159 kcal
2.3 units
330ml bottle of beer
159 kcal
2.3 units
25ml measure of 40% spirit
61kcal
1 unit
OUR TOP TIPS 1. Sort your surroundings
to celebrate with me?” Order a coke and if anyone asks it’s a ‘vodka and coke.’
Clear out all of your wine racks and cupboards and make sure there’s no booze left in the house. You may think that you’re strong enough to withstand the temptation, but why take the risk. If you have plenty of booze that you don’t want to throw away then take it round to a friend or relatives house (who you can trust not to drink it all) to look after until February.
Let’s be honest, it’s not much fun being around drunk people when you’re sober so either embrace the fact that everyone else is too drunk to remember your awkward dance moves and go wild or if you prefer, make your excuses and make an early getaway.
2. Stock up on alternatives The first couple of days can be really tough. You’ve been drinking wine at any opportunity and having a cheeky Baileys every evening before bed, that’s just what we do at Christmas. Get plenty of alternative drink options in, such as herb teas and hot chocolates and drink as much hot lemon as you can manage. Lemon has great detoxification properties so it helps to start cleaning the liver straight away.
3. Fill your time For the first few days plan what you’re going to do. A trip to the cinema? Head to the gym? If you can’t face going out - as let’s face it January can have that effect on us - get involved with a good boxset or engross yourself in a great book. Anything that ‘frees your mind,’ so to speak. Do you have ambitious and exciting plans for January with all the free time that you’ll have whilst you’re not drinking? Now’s the time to action them.
4. Make a plan After a few days the fog and cravings will all clear, you’ll be feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and positive about the month ahead - that’s the idea, anyway. So get firm plans in place - involve yourself in activities and situations that don’t involve booze. Do you have New Year’s resolutions that need some attention? It may sound a tad dull but one January I managed to clear almost a year of niggling backlogged paperwork which made me feel fantastic. Have you got one of those annoying to-do lists that you could smash your way through? Try it for yourself!
5. Team work Ideally if you can get other people in the house/friends or family involved then this can provide a great support base for spurring each other on. How about getting a few colleagues to sign up with you? Creating a Facebook group for discussion is one effective way for you to all keep in touch (not to mention motivated.)
6. Designated Driver If you’re going to an event and there’s going to be alcohol there, go with a game plan. What you may find is that some people may not understand your choice not to drink and this can lead to comments like “oh just have the one” or “it’s my birthday aren’t you going
7. Rewards The rewards for completing a dry January are endless. Firstly, recent research conducted by Alcohol Concern has shown that temporary abstinence from the booze has numerous health benefits. Other benefits include more money in your pocket. Booze is pricey and just one pint a day after work amounts to roughly £120 a month. If you’re a wine drinker who likes a glass each evening plus more on a weekend then then it all adds up too. Work out from your regular drinking habits just exactly how much you’ll save and treat yourself with that amount, that way you can see a direct correlation of what your alcohol will buy you. New shoes? A flight to Iceland? The choice is yours. You will definitely lose weight. Alcohol has tonnes of empty calories so we often consume more than we need without realising. Combine calorie reduction with being more active (which is very likely as cutting out alcohol increases your motivation and also allows you to be more active) and you get double the weight loss. Keep in mind all of these rewards on a daily basis to keep you motivated, could you post some sticky notes on your computer and in the bathroom?
8. Support There’s plenty of support out there for abstaining from drinking alcohol. Try get to support from those you know as mentioned earlier but if you can’t take a look at any of these websites too: Alcohol Concern Soberistas Alcoholics Anonymous Drink Aware
LIME & LEMON GRASS SPRITZER Ingredients (all using the same scoop) Half a lemon grass stalk, outer leaves removed, core sliced, plus an extra stalk to garnish 30ml fresh lime juice 15ml sugar syrup (make sugar syrup from equal quantities warm water and sugar) Chilled soda water, to top up Ice cubes
Method Place the lemon grass in a glass tumbler and ‘muddle’ to release its oils. Fill the glass with ice and pour in the lime juice and the sugar syrup. Top up with soda water, stir briefly and garnish with the remaining lemon grass stalk.
CHERRY SPARKLE Ingredients 225g fresh, ripe red cherries 600ml freshly boiled water Half a lime 50g caster sugar Chilled sparkling water, to taste Ice cubes
Method: Destalk the cherries, wash them, halve them and take out their stones. Put the fruit in a big bowl and bruise slightly with the back of a spoon. Pour the hot water over them and stir. Peel the lime zest off in thin strips and juice the lime, adding both zest and juice to the bowl, with the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, cover and leave for two hours. Strain off the liquid, divide it between 3 or 4 tumblers and top up with ice and a little cold sparkling water.
LAVENDER LEMONADE Ingredients 10g lavender heads 250ml boiling water 75g sugar 600ml cold water (sparkling if you prefer) Juice of 3 small or 2 large ripe lemons, strained Ice cubes
Method: Put the flower heads in a small pan and pour over the boiling water. Heat up again and simmer gently for two minutes. Take off the heat and leave to steep for ten minutes. Strain off the flowers, add sugar to the liquid and stir to dissolve it. Add the cold water. Add the lemon juice and stir (the mix turns pink here), then serve in tall slim tumblers with a few ice cubes in them.
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