Now that a full month has passed, it’s time to give some thought to the question people are asking me over and over again: What’s it like to drink again after a year without alcohol?
Once I got over being proud of myself for making it through my dry year, I was petrified. This was particularly true the first week, when I worried about the potential side effects of resuming drinking following a relatively long period of abstinence. I also feared that I’d fall right back into the old patterns that had led me to embark on my resolution to begin with. Not knowing what to expect, I initially made a conscious attempt to be very moderate in my consumption.
Alcohol Tolerance
Believe it or not, I detected no difference in the actual effect of alcohol on me while I was drinking it. I hadn’t become the “lightweight” that many of my friends and family thought I’d become. Perhaps because I took it easy the first week or so, I haven’t detected a difference in my general tolerance for alcohol.
That’s not to say that I didn’t experience adverse physical symptoms. In fact, I did, especially in the first two weeks. On more than one occasion, I felt sick from dehydration the day after having a few glasses of wine the previous night. Once I even thought I was coming down with the flu, until I figured it out the true cause. Physically, however, the most disappointing side effect of drinking again is the diminished quality of sleep.
How I Feel
In many ways, I feel the same as before my dry year. When I get home from work, I enjoy having a glass of wine. Even more, I like joining friends and family for a drink or two at dinner parties.
It’s also true that absence has made my heart grow fonder. I catch myself savoring the feeling when wine or champagne starts to take effect, the way the warmth of the buzz follows the liquid through my system and spreads throughout my body. This feeling is really the whole point of drinking to begin with, isn’t it? It’s like gaining temporary happiness from a bottle.
This heightened awareness of alcohol is the main difference in how I feel. I’m simply more aware of alcohol and how it impacts not only me, but also other people. As we all know, these impacts are both positive and negative.
Diet & Exercise
My chronicling of the diet and exercise accomplishments I attained in my dry year has inspired many women I know to give up alcohol for one month or more. Top of mind for these followers is how I am faring now that I’ve added alcohol back into the mix.
I’m happy to report that I’ve maintained my weight loss. I weigh exactly the same today as I weighed on January 1. And, this is the same weight that I achieved in late May last year. I have successfully lost 30 pounds and kept it off! The winning formula to weight maintenance is exactly the same as it was to lose the weight: Weigh yourself often, keep track of everything you consume using MyFitnessPal, and add exercise to the mix as needed to reach (or stay at) your goal weight.
It became clear in the first two weeks that I needed to make two significant adjustments to maintain my weight: one to my diet and one to my exercise planning. In order to accommodate the calories from alcohol, I started by foregoing “real” lunches and opting instead for protein bars and diet bars. The second change was much more difficult. I needed to rearrange my workout schedule, since it became very hard to continue working out at night. During the workweek, I now get up earlier and workout in my home gym before going to work. I’m trying to make this a regular work day habit.
Other Impacts
My drinking habits may be forever changed by my heightened awareness of the expense of alcohol. I’m surprised that I’m not going out for drinks and dinner as much as I did before. And, whether at home or out, I’m making it count. Having a drink has to be enjoyable and of good quality. If I taste something and I don’t like it, I just dump it out and try something different, or just switch to a glass of water. In the past, I would have suffered through it and changed to something else after finishing it.
Although I’ll be reporting on it less frequently, I promise to keep you informed from time to time as I move beyond my dry year.
Detours & Destinations 
Proud of you, Sharon!
Here’s the deal…it’s all good, whether you drink or not, but one thing is clear–if you’re having a few drinks, as in more than two, that is way beyond moderate and of course you’ll be dehydrated the next day. It is a rare occasion that I drink three glasses of wine in an evening, and I’m in the business. The other thing to note is your reason for drinking–for me, I drink because I savor the taste, pure and simple, and not for any buzz whatsoever. I drink (only wine, really, and the occasional beer) because I am truly a connoisseur of that beverage. It is a very important part of what I do in my work and at home, when I’m cooking and pairing wines with the food I’m making, or sharing fine wines with friends and family. I have never liked the buzz. But if you do, that is where I would be careful and mindful going forward. You could easily get in trouble there…
nice posting…… we talked about going up to Norton today???? C
Perhaps, to my sister Sheri Jorden’s comment, “liking the buzz” is the wrong term to express what some of us enjoy about drinking wine. Like Sheri, I, too, savor how remarkably complementary different wines are with different foods, and how the taste of wine on the tongue is so complex and multi-layered. But to say I don’t drink wine for the utterly relaxing warmth and glow it offers–or how, after a glass or so, it loosens my tongue, eases my cares and expands my sense of wellbeing–would be kidding myself.