Early Saturday Zoom brunches and sober affirmations: 10 ways to stick to Dry January

Robyn Simms, co-founder of Square Root Soda, is perhaps one of the UK’s biggest alcohol-free drinking champions. She admits that back in the day, she loved drinking alcohol at the weekend as a way of socialising with friends. But then in 2018, she cut it out completely. 

Shocked at the lack of interesting and appetising AF drinks options available to buy, Robyn set up Square Root Soda with her partner, Ed Taylor, to create the drinks they wanted to drink. 

With Dry January just around the corner, here are some top tips from Robyn on how to go dry (and stay that way) for January – and beyond. 

Track your progress – Initially it can seem a bit daunting to go AF for a whole month. But tracking your progress on a virtual calendar is a great way to keep you motivated. You could download a free app such as Try Dry, which was created by the official charity behind Dry January, Alcohol Change UK. It enables you to set goals, track your units, calories and money saved as well as have access to progress charts and free coaching emails.

Find a community – Making a big lifestyle decision like going alcohol free can sometimes feel a bit lonely, so it’s worth joining a community of people with a similar mindset and goals to you. Signing up to a platform such as One Year No Beer gives you unique advice on daily habit changes, as well as access to health professionals and fitness experts to give you tips along the way. There’s also Sober Girl Society which promises to be a sisterly safe space for sober and sober curious women who are changing their relationship with alcohol.

Make a sober affirmations jar – Millie Gooch from Sober Girl Society came up with the idea of creating a ‘sober affirmations jar’ on her Instagram page, and I thought this was genius! You could write down the affirmations on pieces of paper at the start of January when you’re feeling strong and confident your AF decision. Then if you feel yourself waning, open the jar and read an affirmation to keep you going! 

Make early Saturday plans – It’s a bit difficult in the current climate, but always making sure you have plans for early on a Saturday morning can help prevent you going heavy on the booze on a Friday night! I always used to try and organise a Saturday morning brunch with girlfriends, but in lockdown, why not book in a Zoom version?

Keep your hands occupied – Much like trying to give up smoking, the challenge with giving up drinking is keeping your hands busy. I found that the best way to do this is to find a hobby you love that uses your hands and requires skill and concentration. I’ve taken up knitting since I gave up booze and I love it! Some other ideas include gardening, reading, cooking or baking.

Single serve love – Having plenty of delicious and high quality single serve cans or bottles of AF cocktails in the house, ready to pour, is a brilliant way to make you feel like you’re not missing out on the booze. Plus, it saves all the effort of trying to make yourself a complicated alcoholic cocktail from scratch! You could buy a different AF single serve drink to have every evening with dinner in January as a special treat, or even to sip while you’re relaxing in the bath

Pretend you’re drinking – When I was trying to stop drinking, I found that in the early days, the easiest way for me to give up was to trick my mind into thinking I was drinking. Serving your AF drinks in your usual alcohol vessel makes you feel like you’re drinking even when you’re not. 

AF with purpose – There’s little doubt that people like drinking alcohol because it helps them feel relaxed and sociable. So, your AF drinking in Dry January also needs to deliver a purpose. There are drinks on the market, such as those made by Three Spirit, which have created AF spirits infused with natural botanicals to deliver a calmer bedtime, to increase energy and also boost mood – the perfect Dry January treat!

Keep a journal – By keeping track of how you feel each day in Dry January without booze, you’ll be able to get insight into the health and wellbeing benefits of going AF in a very tangible way. You could invest in a beautiful Moleskin journal to write down your thoughts and musings. Then who knows, when you look back at your progress at the end of January, you might be inspired to cut alcohol out for longer

Alcohol ‘piggy bank’ – Ever wondered how much cash you’ve been spending on alcohol and wondered what you could do with that money? Why not put the money you’d usually spend on booze aside in January and then spend it on something special. You might have saved enough for a spa day or something equally decadent!

To find out more Square Root Soda go to www.squarerootsoda.com.