- You're a cruel (beep), you know that?
- Just a little, little sip.
No one will know! - Get out of my face!
(upbeat music)
For those of you who don't know,
Dry January is a public health campaign in the UK
encouraging people to abstain from alcohol
in the month of January.
It falls into the category of those, like,
month-long challenges where people, you know,
reflect on their habits or like,
put their stoicism to the test
or whatever it is.
Alcohol Change, the charity behind Dry January,
claims that 10% of drinkers will be taking part
in Dry January this year.
And apparently I'm one of them.
So, the idea's simple,
don't drink alcohol for the 31 days of January.
Sounds easy enough, let's see.
So my January started the same as everyone else's,
I presume. - [Crowd] Five,
four,
three,
two,
one!
(crowd cheering)
- [Man] New year and (beep)!
- A lot of drinking, dancing, general tomfoolery.
Dry January doesn't start until the morning or afternoon
of January 1st, when you wake up after New Year
with the mother of all hangovers, I think.
Today is day one of Dry January, no drinking.
So far not that challenging a concept
because I'm feeling quite hung-over from yesterday.
Brutally hung-over, to be honest,
from New Years Eve.
The idea of not drinking is not a bad one at this point.
I'm sure my opinion of that will change,
but right now the idea of not drinking,
absolutely fine, I'm happy with it.
So um, yeah, watch this space.
So I was feeling positive, you know,
that whole "I'm never drinking again" mentality
came into my head as it does after any heavy night out.
Which I'm sure is a short-lived feeling,
but for now I was feeling all right
about the whole not drinking thing.
Day one, check.
So it is now day five of Dry January.
It is Sunday Evening, so I've officially got through
my first weekend of no drinking in January.
To be honest with you, I'm feeling great.
I slept really well over the weekend,
it was the first Sunday in weeks that I remember
not waking up with a hangover,
which was very refreshing.
I woke up naturally feeling fresh,
I got a lot of stuff done, so it was very productive.
So so far not too bad.
Saturday night, I was out with a few friends,
and it definitely was quite tempting
to like, have a drink, but I thought "No, it's fine,"
and to be honest, I got to enjoy the event
just as much as I always had,
it just wasn't with an alcoholic drink this time.
But yeah, I definitely appreciate waking up
on a Sunday morning without a hangover.
So hopefully this continues.
A whole weekend, an entire weekend I had
without having a single (beep) drink.
I think that's amazing, I think that's to be commended.
(goofy music)
(bottle fizzes)
Cheers.
Mmm,
bland.
So it is now day nine of Dry January,
it's a beautiful sunny day in London.
And to be honest, the only thing I can think of in my head
is, "Damn, this would be nice if I were to have a pint."
But I'm not doing that, so I'll have a juice instead
and, um...
Enjoy the sun?
Okay, so here I think we can agree
that the cracks are beginning to show,
like I'm missing the booze lifestyle,
I want a beer garden, I want a wine with dinner,
I want a rager on a Friday,
I want it all, I can't have it.
What came next was the biggest test yet, a night out.
A friend's birthday, drunk friends, a club environment.
It was a recipe for temptation and failure.
Was I going to crack?
So I'm on a night out for my friend's birthday.
I'm having a lemonade, and my friends are doing this.
Guys, say hi!
♪ All the commotion ♪
- The rest of what I managed to capture is blurry and dark,
but there were nonsensical drunken conversations,
a rogue cowboy hat, and I was sober throughout all of it.
Dry January, still on.
So in a remarkably cruel turn of events,
I asked my flatmates if they needed anything from the shop,
and they said wine.
So now I have bought a bottle of red wine,
which I can't even drink.
(sighs loudly)
10 or so days to go, really starting to feel it now.
How cruel, "Do you need anything from the shop?"
"Yeah yeah, just some wine."
(beep) They put it in the food,
so I couldn't have any of that either.
I'm not sure if that's the rules,
because when you cook with alcohol most of it burns off,
but I didn't want to give anyone any reason to be able
to say that I failed at this challenge
I was trying so hard to succeed at.
Wine and food? No.
Cherry liqueur chocolates?
Staying on the shelf.
Rubbing alcohol for my wounds?
I'll bleed. (laughs)
So, normally I'd be spending my money,
or a lot of it at least,
in like, bars and pubs, on cocktails, on pints,
you know, you name it.
And because I'm not doing that,
I've got a bit of spare cash this month,
so I was thinking, I'm going to go get my hair cut
and colored professionally,
because normally I should go at the barber
and spend, you know, 15 quid on getting my hair done.
I'm going to go to somewhere where they're going pamper me,
and like, give me highlights, and make me feel all fancy,
because I'm bored, so that's what I'm going to do.
And I did, I'm blonde!
Literally this is what my life as come to,
having an identity crisis wherein I feel the need
to change my appearance because I don't know who I am
without a pint, but I'm doing so fine, I'm fine.
So the last 10 days or so were pretty standard.
I've been doing it for 20 days now,
I've kind of got used to it.
My friends continue to drink alcohol,
I continue to drink radioactive amounts of peach squash,
and I counted down the days.
Ten,
nine,
eight,
seven,
six,
five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
And on the final day, January 31st,
we had a work social at a bar, on a Friday.
And people were saying things like,
"You know, it's only a few hours away,
"just have a drink now,"
or "You've pretty much done it," or like,
"Just have a drink and don't tell anyone,
"no one will know."
But I'll know, I'll know that the last 30 days
of alcohol abstinence would be in vain
and I'd be a liar, so no, I will wait.
T-minus 10 hours, board games.
- Forming stone-- - Time! Okay.
- Why aren't you helping? - Because I'm not...
- T-minus eight hours, everyone else drinking
and having a good time, and me having what feels like
the millionth soft drink of my life.
(group chatting loudly)
Yay, cheers!
T-minus four hours, it's getting so close.
Everyone I know is drinking,
everyone in the world, it feels like, is drinking.
- So, I started out doing Dry January
but I failed, because I went on holiday.
But Tom here has held strong.
What are you drinking, Tom?
- Uh, got a San Pellegrino here, and it's...
- And we're with, what, 12 other people, all drinking,
All taking shots. - Yeah.
- This one, only one who lasted.
- [Girl] Woo! - Feels--
- Day 31. - Feels good.
No, this honestly, it's so hard, like, I can't--
- Wouldn't even cheat on the last day.
- Ahh!
T-minus less than an hour, how do you say that?
T-minus a few minutes, T-minus like a bit. (laughs)
Three, two, one... (group cheering)
(can lid pops)
(everyone shouts)
- [Man] Wait, I want in.
- It tastes like (beep), but yay!
I completed the challenge, crossed the threshold,
slain the beast, and this drink was my reward.
So, now that I've completed the challenge,
there are few things I've learned over the past month
that I'd like to share with you.
Number one, is it worth doing? Maybe.
I definitely feel like I've reevaluated
my relationship with alcohol,
and may not always suggest something
that's centered around it as the first thing to do.
Having said that, my relationship with alcohol
isn't problematic in my life.
And I drink, for all intents and purposes, moderately.
So I don't think this challenge has maybe hit me as hard
as it would some other people.
Always tread with caution and check with professionals
when it comes to any big lifestyle change.
Number two, your friends will tease you.
No matter how supportive your friends truly are,
they will play mind games with you
to try and make you break.
Do not give into this temptation.
Number three, less of a learning,
and more of a recommendation, keep going out.
Even though you aren't drinking, you can still have fun.
You can still be included,
you're still a valid member of a group,
regardless of whether or not you're inebriated.
Number four, Dry January is a good test.
It's a good way to see if you're actually able
to pare back your alcohol intake if you wanted to.
In terms of the real health benefits
of a month off the booze, yeah,
you might be better hydrated and sleep better,
but in order for you to feel any lasting effects
of altering your alcohol intake,
I think you'd need make permanent changes
to your drinking habits.
I think its a good way to reevaluate how much you drink
and how often you drink throughout the rest of the year.
Overall, this was a really interesting experience
and I'm really glad I did it.
Will I be doing it again next year?
Absolutely not.
I'm going to go for a pint.
(upbeat music)