What is Dry January & Should You Do it?

Although a lot of people are saying, they will NOT make any New Year's Resolutions or say they are excited for this year to begin, we know a lot of people are still doing these things. I mean, come on, 2020 wasn't the greatest year, but you should still set some goals for yourself in 2021. I've been seeing a lot of people on my newsfeed talk about doing a Dry January and I had to wonder, what might make someone want to do this? I used to love alcohol, but ever since I started Nutrisystem, I definitely don't love it as much as I used to because of the way it makes my body feel crummy after a night of drinking. I have also noticed how many calories are in the wines and mixed drinks I used to drink and when you're trying to stay on a calorie intake, adding alcohol just seems like a waste of calories.

So I did some research and according to Yahoo, there are a lot of benefits to taking part in a Dry January.

• First, medical professionals say, those who did a dry January in the past, lost weight. It makes perfect sense. Not a lot of people have just one drink. If they do, depending on the drink, you're looking at 100-300 calories per drink. So cutting that out will definitely help with weight loss. Plus, if others are like me, once you start drinking you make bad choices when it comes to food. I usually wanna eat all the fried foods I can get.
• Another benefit to a dry January is better sleep. Studies have shown that alcohol can disrupt the sleep cycle even though it might make you fall asleep quickly. I know that sometimes I wake up extremely thirsty and because of that, I have to use the bathroom too. Plus some alcohol gives me acid reflux, so that's no fun either.
• Excessive amounts of alcohol can also dehydrate your skin, so no alcohol means your skin may be brighter and healthier. Less alcohol and more water so much better for your skin.

Some of these benefits sound pretty awesome and since there isn't much going on with the pandemic like sporting events, weddings and other things where you'd most likely have to drink, it might be a good time to do a dry January.

Medical professionals say moderate drinking is okay, and they have suggestions on how to do that here. If you want to cut alcohol completely out of your life, there are obviously some great benefits to that too. Read all about those here.