After 3 months of practical experience
Dry January, Sober October, Tournée Minérale, 40 days of fasting... there are plenty of initiatives that encourage you to temporarily abstain from alcohol. And of course we wholeheartedly support these initiatives. And of course we participate in it ourselves.
I myself have not been drinking alcohol for more than 10 years in the period from Carnival to Easter. This was also the reason to start with OnderNulPuntVijf. During that period I enjoy our own non-alcoholic beer offer.
This year I decided to use the "doubler" during my alcohol-free period. Instead of the more than 40 days that I normally do not drink, I decided not to consume C2H5OH (the chemical formula of alcohol) for 3 months. Or at least not above zero point five percent . Below you can read my experiences and I have some tips for you.
Difficult
At times I struggled with my decision. The seven weeks that is an annual non-drinking period normally fly by. It is no longer a problem for me not to drink during that period. So doubling that period didn't really seem like a problem to me.
The big difference for me, however, was that I didn't see the end of the period well and that I found difficult. Not to drink a nice tripel or stout ("with" of course). on Fridays and Saturdays was sometimes hard. Additional challenges were that my birthday was during this period and we went on a short vacation during this period. There you are in the Jopen church in Haarlem with all that goodies and you can only limit yourself to a Jopen Non IPA Ginger (not a punishment by the way).
Positive
But what a wonderful time it is. I think the benefits are well known, but now I can enjoy them again: I sleep much better, I feel fitter and my daughter told me that my skin was a lot nicer. Problems become challenges all at once (and not just because it sounds more positive). And you get into action mode faster. And then of course the hangovers that you don't have and your liver that doesn't have to work overtime.
And now?
After the abstinence period, you are more aware when you drink a beer or a glass of wine "with". And I naturally do that more in moderation. A Friday afternoon drink is also nice with an alcohol-free beer and I have now “learned” again that it can also be done without alcohol.
Tips
As I write, it has occasionally been difficult not to drink. The most important tip I have if you also want to stop drinking (for a period of time) is that you really have to agree with yourself. You can have countless reasons to quit, but if you're not 100% behind it, you won't succeed.
I also advise you to build up the duration of your alcohol-free period. Don't drink for a week and then a month. The fasting period of more than 40 days is a nice challenge after that. And who knows, you'll do like me and extend it to 3 months or even a year or more.
The third tip I can give you is to keep it for a longer period of time not to drink is to read a lot about it and look up a lot of information about it. The book by Clare Pooley ("The Sober Diaries"), the Instagram account of Simon Chapple (@besoberandquit) and the podcast by Kate & Mandy (Love Sober Podcast) are three recommendations that I can give you.
And as a final tip, I will of course say that you can continue to drink delicious alcohol-free beer during your abstinence. Check our shop for lots of goodies and then you will notice that quitting alcohol does not mean that you no longer have to enjoy yourself.
