Blogger speaking

And before you know it you will be in week two of January. Not drinking is fine with me. A New Year's drink on spa red alone is no problem for me. Only last weekend I had a more difficult moment. With the beautiful weather last Sunday I was busy with chores in and around the house and around three o'clock it popped into my head: "I would like a beer now." It was only a moment, but then you notice how deeply rooted habits can be. And I also knew that if I gave in to it, nothing would come out of my hands that day. That has happened to me all too often in the past. And there were still some things I really wanted to get done. And that's definitely one of the patterns I want to break, because the times it took things much longer to complete are countless.

As I said in my previous blog, I don't have any problems skipping a drink, but it's moments like this where I easily go wrong. What helps me a lot is telling myself every time that there is no one forbidding me to drink and that it is my own choice. That also helps me a lot against social pressure. It is my choice whether or not to drink and not someone else's.

Physically things also start to change noticeably. I feel more alert and fitter, partly because my sleep is starting to improve. Without a drink to end the day, I quickly go to bed half an hour earlier anyway. Of course that can't hurt either. I am one of those people who keep track of their heart rate with a smartwatch, and there too I can see that the resting heart rate in particular is starting to drop. And that is a double win for someone who has suffered from cardiac arrhythmias in the past.

Last year I extended the period of not drinking until my birthday. It falls on day 75 of the year, so that seemed like a nice milestone. I don't know yet what I'm going to do this year, although I think I'm going to add February anyway. This also has to do with my aim to lose a few kilos of body weight. Last year I didn't pay attention and I didn't actually lose any weight, but this year I'm keeping track of what I eat and I hope that will help. For now, the head is already off with 2 kilos. Hopefully this will continue, then I could lose close to 10 kilos by the end of the month. Seems like a good profit to me.

Until next week. I'll keep you informed.