Una Mes, No Cerveza

An ad on FaceBook recently caught my eye. There were pictures and a testimony from a lady who had just finished the One Year, No Beer challenge. When comparing her own before and after pictures, the lady wrote that she felt in her post pics she looked thinner, the bags under her eyes went away, her skin glowed and her eyes twinkled. Weight isn’t something I pay too much attention to and I didn’t think she had bags to begin with, however, I would describe her outward transformation simply in this way: she looked happier.

My interest was piqued and I began musing if other people are bad ass enough to give up drinking for an entire year, maybe I should prove to myself that I can do the same. This kind of thinking is no different than the Green Smoothie Challenge I joined at work with the underlying motivation being more about my competitive edge than anything. I mentioned the prospect of not drinking for a year to a friend who replied that she had been considering a month-long detox. I immediately realized that my friend is a genius. Baby Steps, Amanda, remember your New Year’s Blog?

Of course the challenge is named as it is because it’s catchy. When I began thinking about a title for this post, I quickly discovered the word ‘month’ has no rhyming words, so I turned to Spanish. I felt incredibly clever coming up with “Una Mesa, No Cerveza” but soon realized that translates to “a table not beer.” Regardless, even though the endeavor isn’t dubbed ‘One Year, No Alcohol’, that is truly the gist. In other words, giving up beer while still sipping away nightly on vodka tonics or wine isn’t exactly a sacrifice.

The lady in the OYNB challenge said she had been getting sick-drunk, tipsy and forgetting things from drinking so much. I read a few more testimonials and wondered if they only post the most dramatic changes. I’m well past learning my lesson with alcohol; if I drink, it’s limited to two followed by a Motrin. When busy adulting, it took no time to realize that I hated wasting an entire day due to my own choices. So why willingly deprive myself from legal fun? My goals fall between the lines of a consistently balanced PH level and saving money.

To keep my favorite wine in stock, I need to purchase a bottle about every other week. My taste isn’t basic or high class- a bottle is $22, but this past Sunday I added an approximate $50 monthly expense to my life (see pic). In my head, the equation comes down to: no wine = adorable puppy. I’m okay with this trade-off and almost began the challenge right when I brought my new bestie home. Then my frugal mind reminded me that I had 3/4 bottle of Conundrum and it’s not cool to waste.

I finished the bottle of wine on Thursday with a friend and cracked my last wine glass while cleaning up. I figured this was the final sign I needed to be convinced to embark on the journey. On Friday, I would have enjoyed winding down from the week with a book and a glass of wine, but my decision had already been made. The writing of this post had been started and once I make a commitment public, there’s too much pride involved to fail. The second day of my sacrifice, I received an invitation to a girl’s day out on the lake. I’m sure many other instances will come my way over the next 30 days that will make me ponder why I feel compelled to test myself. I’m also sure I will feel healthier and possibly so proud of my willpower that I stretch this experiment out to Dos Meses, No Cervezas.