Been dry for a year and still fit

Hi, I'm Nancy, 42 years old, married for 17 years, mother of 3 children and recently our family has expanded with a lovely naughty puppy, but this vice fits our family perfectly. If the above does not require any attention, I am busy with working, reading, crossfit, walking and occasionally running. In the coming time I can spend my energy with raising and socializing our puppy, and I have signed up for a puppy course. In addition, I will have to maintain my condition somewhat, because I participate in The Nationals, this is a fitness competition in which athletes divided over 5 divisions compete with each other. I also wonder why I embarked on this adventure, but this is planned for the coming weeks. So I like a bit of a challenge.

Why participate in the IkPas period again and blog every week? I see this as an extra motivation not to drink alcohol for another year. Last year I found the newsletters interesting to read (what motivates someone?) and hopefully someone else will have this with my blog.

Now you may be thinking: 'Haven't had any alcohol in a year, so why join?' Well, simply because I like going on an adventure together, because it inspires and motivates and I have learned a lot about what it does to your body and mind in the past.

In January 2019 I took part in the IkPas for the first time, because I wanted to see if I could go without drink for a month, and drink can be read as wine with me, but if this was not present then all other types of drink were available. which contained alcohol no problem to drink. In Groningen we say “if it mor doent”. This is a well-known saying in our village. I remember when I started in January 2019, I had my doubts about whether or not I should share it with others. You quickly get the comment; ah one then? I wondered if I would succumb to social pressure? After all, alcohol is quite socially accepted. Fortunately I turned out not to be the only one who participated in 'Dry January' and I got through this period without too many problems.

During my first IkPas period I started to think more about my alcohol consumption. I have started living more consciously. So don't just not drink alcohol, but try to adopt a healthier lifestyle as a whole. By now you have seen it more often in talk shows, in the news, in the political field, after all, Paul Blokhuis is also participating or is this just noticing me because I am more involved in it myself? During this period I came into contact with Crossfit and I could really tell, when I had a class the next morning, whether or not I had drunk the night before…I became more and more curious about whether drinking really is that bad and when are you actually addicted? At work we had discussions about whether drinking a glass of wine is really healthy. I think we'd like to believe that it's all okay with those risks, but we all know it's not, right? In any case, the advice of the nutrition center is not to drink at all.

After the Dry January of 2019, I started participating in the second IkPas round of that year: from Ash Wednesday to Easter, being 40 days. This round number two did not go completely smoothly, I did not manage to go 40 days without drinking. Was this because we are looking forward to spring and the birds are starting to chirp? I have no idea, it certainly didn't work out and afterwards I was disappointed. The rest of the year I alternated periods with the occasional glass of wine and periods of no alcohol at all. I knew by now that I could leave it alone, so I started doing this more often. In December 2019, the IkPas campaign will be sent by e-mail and I have registered for the Dry January 2020. I am pleased to inform you that I am still Pas! I like it very much and feel good about it.

Next time I will tell you how it went for me in 2020.