Dry July

This is what summer

typically means to me.

I think it has a better ring to it than "Dry January."

And I can get why very few people choose the seventh month of the year to take a break from alcohol: it's the unofficial start of summer for most Canadians. The weather is hot and begs for cool refreshment. And, when we aren't under pandemic restrictions, the patios call to us.

Let's face it: going dry in July, in Canada, is way harder than doing it in January. But I've decided to use this July to take a break from the beer and wine that I love so much.

It has nothing to do with any concerns about drinking too much. Since January, I've cut the amount of pints that I had been drinking since the pandemic started by half, if not moreso. Before the pandemic, I could safely say that in a week, I'd have between five and seven pints of beer. As soon as working from home became my normal modus operandum, that amount tripled.

And my gut grew.

When I first looked at the video that DW and I had made of our trip to Mexico, and saw the images of me without a shirt, I grimaced. By the end of 2020, when I saw that video, I wished that I could go back down to that size.

In January, I cut back the amount of beer that I was drinking (much to the chagrin of our local breweries, I'm sure). I also started cycling practically every day, on a spin bike and later, on my road bike, to try to get back into shape. I've written about that many times in my posts about my virtual challenges. By the time I began my third challenge, on a virtual Romantic Road route, through southern Germany, I was feeling really good, and DW pointed out something:

"Are you sucking in your gut?" she asked me one evening a couple of weeks ago.

"No," I replied, "why?"

"Your beer belly has shrunk."

I looked in the mirror and was surprised. While my stomach still stuck out a bit, it was smaller than how it appeared in our Mexico video.

Seeing the results of my exercise, both physically and mentally, I decided that I wanted to go further, wanted my belly to go back to the way it was, before I discovered the wonders of craft beer.

That goes back more than 20 years ago, back to when DW and I lived in South Korea, before I spoke enough Hangul to be able to pick up a phone and order pizza for delivery to our apartment (which I did at least twice a week).

In addition to cycling and kayaking, I've dusted off our Total Gym and have begun working on my core. And, since Canada Day, I've decided to lay off the booze for the month of July.

I'm also laying off of sugary snacks and potato chips (the latter is the hardest challenge of all). It's a bit of a cleanse for me.

My hopes is that I can strengthen my core, burn off the fat, and get rid of the last of that spare tire. In August, when I go back to drinking beer, I'm going to make sure that before I do, that I've earned it by burning calories. I'll also make sure my weekly consumption goes down to a maximum of seven pints.

My new routine of getting in exercise every day, even if it's just a walk around the neighbourhood, will hopefully keep the gut in check.

So Dry July it is. Wish me luck.