Last night, following A-Team’s extension of it’s streak to 0-22, I was at an Applebees with a couple of guys from the soccer team and one of them asked me if I was giving up drinking for the month of June. I looked at him with a mix of skepticism and curiosity, and then proceeded to order a rather large beer before saying no.
When my friend showed up a few minutes later I asked him what he knew about this not drinking for the month of June thing. Turns out that a couple of my friends had decided, for various reasons, to give up drinking for the month of June, because the whole giving things up for an extended period of time thing doesn’t just happen during Lent. His girlfriend wondered aloud who was going to drink with her now, and I assured her that I’d happily remain her drinking buddy.
As I laid in bed that night, though, I started thinking it over. I’ve given up alcohol before; there was a two week span last year when I did Atkins induction where I gave up alcohol, carbs, and caffeine (that last one may have turned me into an absolute terror for a few days), and I survived that just fine. Plus, if I’m doomed to rise sometime around 5:30 in the morning on the weekends, I might as well wake up not hungover. Add in the fact that the money not spent on booze could go to something else (boneless wings? pizza? more Diet Coke?) and it was starting to look like a pretty attractive idea. Plus, I’m competitive by nature; if my friends can give up drinking for a month, I sure as hell can too.
So there we have it: Joe’s Bar will be closed for the month of June. 30 days free from post-work PBR at Butch’s, $6 growler fills at the Brew Pub on Tuesdays, and, most regrettably of all, rum and Diets. The almost entire fifth of New Holland Michigan rum I got myself for my birthday and the fifth of Captain Morgan Private Stock a couple coworkers got me will have to sit in the liquor cabinet a while longer.
I’m interested to see how this experiment turns out. My weight loss as of late has plateaued, and while I’m not particularly upset about that, I’m interested to see what dropping alcohol from my diet does over the course of the month. I’m also interested to see what it lets me do on my bike or how it impacts my running. Plus, I’m interested just in the challenge of it. I enjoy challenging myself: run a 5K, then a 10K, bike 67 miles again, actually get decent at playing soccer or ultimate frisbee. This should be, well…interesting.
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