7 Day Detox: Day 13

I'm one day away from my 2-week goal and I've hit a snag. My first set-up/blind date is tonight at a place where you paint and drink wine. I'm excited, but am faced with a conundrum. End the detox 24 hours early or tell him I'm not drinking and why? I feel like explaining the whole detox idea would be a huge deterrent - why would you need to refrain from drinking alcohol for 2 weeks if you're not addicted?

Touche, dear-date-that-I-haven't-met-yet.

The good news is the detox experiment worked. I was able to remove alcohol from my life without avoiding social interaction. I remembered what it was like to hang out with friends because you enjoyed their company and simply wanted to be around them, not because you wanted to get a beer and needed someone to do it with.

I have found that the idea of a Corona with a lime after work, or a glass of wine to go with dinner is often born not because I need the drink (that was never the case), but because it makes me feel like an adult (which is a weird thing to want to feel). It's a mini-celebration to the end of another workday. Growing up, eating a bowl of popcorn was the end of my day dessert - I think it's time I get back to that.

Overall, I'm pleased with the detox and results. I'm excited to try and weed out activities that revolve around drinking and incorporate some good, old fashioned fun back into my life. I'm eager to start drinking slower, enjoy the drink for what it is and not for the potential buzz it could give me. Let's see how long that lasts...

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7 Day Detox: Day 9

I made it through the weekend unscathed and have come out the other end feeling great. I woke up Saturday morning after a wonderful night's sleep feeling extra skinny and ready to take on the day, and boy did I. After the game Friday night, I sat with some friends at the bar and hung out while they drank. I happily said "No thank you," to the servers when they continued to ask if I wanted anything, and I got home by ten o'clock. It was wonderful.

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was so hang out with friends, still have fun, and not drink. While the beer looked yummy, I wasn't dying to have it, and it wasn't consuming every thought that went through my mind.

Sunday was easy enough to avoid drinking and thoughts of it. Fog and cold made for a dreary day, which made it incredibly easy to stay inside on my couch before having to work that afternoon. I'm sure when the weather gets warmer, it will be incredibly difficult to pull me away from the lure of a patio, but hopefully at that point I will have really nailed down my ability to say no and drink slower.

The biggest takeaway from this weekend was how wonderful it was to wake up feeling refreshed after a night of good sleep. No drunkenly passing out, or even having a small buzz that affected my sleep. It was glorious.

I will admit, today I thought it would be nice to grab a beer with some friends and catch up, but it wasn't driven by wanting a beer. It was to do something different. I'd say that's progress, wouldn't you?

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7 Day Detox: Day 5

It happened yesterday. The moment I had been waiting for. 3 o'clock came, co-workers started discussing their post work plans that involved happy hours and my mouth started salivating. A draft beer sounded so delicious and all I could think was, It's been a hard day, one won't be so bad. It was the moment I said to myself, A beer would be nice, I deserve it, that I really shut.it.down.

Hold up! Since when did a busy, challenging day warrant a drink? Since when was I the person that wanted to go home and have a drink instead of getting in a good workout or cooking a yummy dinner? Who have I become?!

In that moment, I decided to realign my priorities during this detox and focus on my health and well-being. The fact that getting a drink to cap off my day was a bigger priority than doing anything else is a bigger issue to me, so much so that I'm going to make this 7 day detox a 14 day detox and really commit to it. I'm sure with the additional week I'll have a ton of opportunities to share my socialization around booze without consuming it, so get excited.

Instead of doing any drinking, I went home, worked out, took down all the Christmas decorations and took my dog to a friend's to play. WHAT a good dog owner I am! And those were all things that would not have taken place had I opted to slip a brewski into a koozie and park it on the couch. This detox could not have come at a better time.

I hope I turn into one of those super healthy people who only put organic and God grown foods in their mouth and practices yoga so much that they can hold Crow pose for hours on end. I definitely think that's where this detox is heading...

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7 Day Detox: Day 4

These past two days I've been really lightheaded. Yesterday, I blamed it on taking too much melatonin but I have it again today. Is this alcohol withdrawal? I have no shakes, no all-consuming desire to crack open a brewski and throw it back, but I do have this weird sensation in my head. I'm going to hope it's the beginning of an illness instead of being alcohol related...

I puzzled the entire evening last night. My friend came over and, after I confirmed I was enjoying a booze-free week, she decided to join me in going alcohol free. It was wonderful to catch up and challenge our minds without pouring pointless calories into our bodies. On a side note: she picked the hardest puzzle known to mankind. Penguins on snow. White penguins on white snow. 

My plans to challenge myself tomorrow, hanging out with friends at our my favorite margarita joint have been scrapped, and I feel like the whole purpose of this blog series was to challenge my willpower in social settings. So now, it looks like I'll have to challenge my determination elsewhere, and if it's a Friday or Saturday I'm afraid my ability to refuse might wane. Only for you, my few readers, will I do everything I can to say no, short of sewing my mouth shut. 

I feel a little phlegmy...maybe I am getting sick. 

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7 Day Detox: Day 3

I wasn't exaggerating when I said everything in my life & social circle seems to revolve around alcohol! Maybe an hour after posting Sunday, a friend texted and asked if I wanted to get beers or dinner. Thankfully, after having talked about loving puzzles only last week, she also put that forth as an option, which I happily accepted.Yesterday, after having told them about my detox before I even wrote that first post, two friends chose to send Snapchats of their evenings, complete with booze. Then another friend offered to buy me margaritas.

I held strong.

So here we are, day 3, and all I can think is how clean and refreshed my body must be. I imagine it's swimming in a crystal clear lake and can count all ten toes while giggling at the fish that swim by. Or that my insides have just finished running a marathon and looked like a supermodel while doing it. Yes, my body must be perfect now.

...I'm sorry, it's only been how many days? Less than 72 hours you say? Damn. Maybe my body is still wringing out the toxins then.

I will admit, I am pleasantly surprised with how easy it's been. Sure, seeing my friend have a glass of wine while watching The Bachelor made me want to shove my cuddling dog from my lap and immediately do the same thing (I don't even watch that show) but the point is, I didn't.

You can start engraving my trophy now.

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7 Day Detox: Day 1

Alright readers, I've decided. A week long detox from alcohol that, in a perfect world, will go longer. Seven days without alcohol? That's easy, you say. And theoretically, it is. I'm by no means addicted to booze, but as single female in her twenties, most of the social activities among friends consist of getting drinks, drinking at dinner, or hanging out with drinks. It all comes back to beer and booze.

That being said, I'm going to rock these next seven day sans alcohol without becoming a recluse. You want to meet up for margaritas after work? Let's go see a movie instead. Go get drinks after the game on Friday? Let's go bowling. I'll blog about all of it - from my friends demanding we get margaritas as I sit there pretending my lemon water is that wonderfully frozen concoction (seriously, they're fantastic) to suddenly thinking a Corona sounds delish after seeing it on TV (way to advertise, Ceveceria Modelo).

Again, I can't stress enough that this detox is born out of the seemingly constant presence of booze in my social situations. I want to get back to the days where putting a puzzle together and catching up was welcomed, or watching the game meant making queso, not punch. This blog will hold me accountable, because now that it's out there, how embarrassing it would be to fail.

Looks like I need to go buy a puzzle...

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