3 Reasons I’m Not Drinking Alcohol in 2020

Happy New Year & the start of a new decade! I plan on posting my reflections and word of the year a bit later (maybe after a New Year’s nap!), but for now, I want to talk about my biggest goal of the year: I’m not drinking alcohol for the entirety of 2020.

If I’m being completely honest, I never imagined I’d ever want (or need) to give up alcohol. In the past, it wasn’t something that I felt particularly attached to — I’d have a glass of wine here and there, or order a few drinks when I went out with girlfriends. In fact, when I was living in NYC, I never even purchased alcohol to keep in the apartment; drinking was relegated to nights out, celebratory dinners, and the dance floor.

I’m not sure exactly when things changed, but I know that, presently, we have 4 bottles of wine in the house. Jeremiah and I have a glass of wine almost every evening and on our weekly date nights, I excitedly choose a drink (or two) from the cocktail menu. After especially exhausting weeks, we’ve indulged in lazy weekends of movie-watching and making/drinking homemade mimosas or margaritas.

But this past winter, I started to realize that drinking felt more like a habit than a choice. After work, I went into autopilot: unload bag, put on dinner, pour a glass of wine. After much reflection, I’ve decided to cut out drinking for all of 2020 (whew!) and here’s are my main 3 reasons why:

1. I don’t think I can do it.

When I thought about giving up drinking, I couldn’t picture doing it for a full year. I frequently thought to myself, I’ll probably slip up around Valentine’s Day or Wait, I won’t be able to drink for my birthday?! I can’t do that! While these thoughts are harmless on the surface, it made me realize that I’m attached to alcohol in a way that I’m not comfortable with and it upped the ante for successfully completing my own challenge.

2. Alcohol is a waste of money.

Ordering a cocktail at dinner automatically adds another $12-$15 to the bill. A bottle of our favorite brand of wine is $20. The inevitable tipsy PostMates order averages out to about $40 (for the two of us). And, I have a wonderful habit of having a few drinks and then going online shopping. I’m interested to see if I feel a positive difference in my wallet by the end of the year.

3. Alcohol isn’t worth the calories, or breakouts, or weight gain.

It’s pretty self-explanatory, but I really want to prioritize my mental and physical health this year. There are better ways to relax than drinking and it’s important that I find healthy holistic alternatives. I’m open to suggestions, of course, (*hint* Leave a comment! *hint*), but also super excited to do some digging and to discover new alternatives on my own.

And there you have it! Unfortunately, it’s already hard — this morning all I wanted was a mimosa with breakfast, but…I survived without one. And I guess that’s the point! ;-)