Off the Wagon

As of today my year of no drinking, with all the extra caveats and substitutions, is officially over. When I first mentioned this idea last May I said I would update periodically with how it was going, but I didn’t. Probably because of the ten habits I did this spring this one was certainly the easiest.1 Mostly it was just checking a box each morning, knowing that I probably wouldn’t even think about having a drink. I’m not exactly sure what I think of this experiment. It made for a memorable year.2 It forced me to think about social outings differently. So many times it would come up that “Mike isn’t drinking this year” and I’d have to pivot to a mocktail or Non-Alcoholic Beer if it was available3. If you talked to me about this no-drinking goal in the last year I probably complained that I didn’t see any benefits. Initially I gained weight because instead of drinking a beer I would have a bowl of chips or a cookie4. I wasn’t sleeping any better, not that I was missing sleep, but I…