Cancer Research UK are asking people to address their Christmas over-indulgences by giving up drinking alcohol in January and raise money for their medical research by signing up for Dryathlon.
5 million Britons took part last year.
The Cancer Research UK Alcohol Calculator – probably the same one used by doctor’s when they know you’ve totally lied about your alcohol consumption, no matter how angelically you’ve smiled at them – says that a large wine every night for a month equates to 4 times the recommended daily calorie intake for men. Sadly, the challenge doesn’t allow you to enjoy the wine and not eat for 4 days instead.
Experts warn that alcohol is packed with “empty calories” with little nutritional value, that can make us fat and doesn’t fill us up, similar to a liquidised McDonald’s.
Drinking alcohol makes you feel sleepier – which explains why many of us have boarded a train, missed our stop and woken up at Dover Priory by mistake.
Alcohol also upsets your sleep patterns, so avoiding it makes you feel more energised in the mornings, probably because you haven’t had to make frequent visits to the toilet during the night wearing your marathon vest?
Amazingly, 97% of the people giving up alcohol last January, didn’t report a single hangover… And 3% slept so much better they woke up hangover-free in February.
Other abstaining benefits include having better skin – or maybe you just don’t notice your appalling skin condition when drinking, you just look in a mirror and say: “yep, that’s definitely me.
One major downside to staying sober is being invited out and realising your friends are really loud, boorish idiots and not hysterically hilarious as you foolishly believed and that you really need alcohol to enjoy their company.
But, challenge completed, you will gain a sense of achievement that you’ve reached your goal and saved money – enough to go out and ruin it all by getting absolutely bladdered on February 1st.
