Let’s face it, we’ve been hitting it pretty hard in January. It’s just so hard to say no to a nice glass of wine when the weather’s so sweet and there’s so much fun to be had. But all good things must come to an end… well, kind of. February marks the time where many folks rest their drinking arm for a month in the name of a good cause called FebFast – a campaign that raises money for disadvantaged young people. If you choose to take part, good on you. But let’s not pretend it’s going to be easy. Lucky it’s the shortest month in the year – see, the glass is always half full.
To help keep your motivation topped up, here are some hot tips to help you hold out.
Buy some really good wine before you go dry. Now this is a bit of a double edge sword because such a strategy is both motivating and tempting. The solution? Store the good stuff in a secret place that you can’t access ‘til March 1st. It will be like the final mile of marathon – it’ll hurt like hell, but when you cross the finish line you’ll feel euphoric.
Team up with a buddy to do FebFast. A problem shared is a problem halved, and let’s be honest, who else is going to put up with your whining over the lack of wine? You’ll be like Maverick and Goose, Batman and Robin or Beyoncé and Jay Z – better together and able to take on the world without crashing and burning.
Hide other FebFasters social feeds. “I can’t believe I’ve had another AFD”, “who said this was hard #winning”, “Wow, I feel so good… why haven’t I done this before?”. Whatever. Social media is a la-la-land of fairy tales and trolls, the last thing you need is to snarl over other people’s smugness or be swayed by the naysayers.
Cook with wine. What a great way to use up that dodgy bottle some tight-arse brought around to your Christmas party. And if you cook with it you’ll keep your FebFast promise ‘cause alcohol burns off when you turn up the heat. Fish fillets in white wine sauce, venison with red wine jus, beef and burgundy pie anyone? See, you can eat like an angel and polish your halo at the same time.
Get your juice game on. Don’t roll your eyes there are some really good mixes out there. You’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a Nutribullet, and with all that cash you’re saving not drinking there’s no reason not to get a bit fruity… especially with Valentine’s Day around the corner.
Get a gym membership. This going to give you something to do now wine is off the menu and it’s going to make you feel heaps better about your abstinence. Working out gets your endorphins going and these little chemicals are the ones that make you feel happy. No one likes a sour grape, so go pump some iron.
Don’t stop if you slip up. We’re all human and if you do cave in once or twice there’s no need to give up completely. The only way we get better is by learning from our mistakes, so work out why it happened, how to prevent it in the future and then forgive yourself. As Aaliyah said: “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again”, so crank it ‘cause you got this.
Good luck and see you on the other side.