Dry January transformed my life, body and relationship

A year ago, TV producer Daisy Steel and her husband Jonathan, an IT consultant, both 53, were feeling overweight and unfit after years of overindulging. The couple, who live in Somerset and have five children aged 18 to 33, decided to give Dry January a try to improve their health. Here’s what happened next…

During the past year, my husband Jonathan and I have completely transformed our bodies, our lives and – best of all – our marriage. Last December we decided to embark upon Dry January, the challenge promoted by the charity Alcohol Change. For a whole month, we were committed to ditching our usual booze-filled lifestyle, but by the end of the month, we felt so great, we decided to continue.

As well as losing weight, we were sleeping more soundly, my skin was glowing and the petty arguments we used to have when we were drunk or hungover all vanished.

It all began after Christmas 2023, when I felt absolutely terrible. Like most people, I’d overindulged during the festivities but, in truth, I’d been overdoing it week in, week out, for almost a decade since we moved from London to Somerset.

We found that boozy nights out – and in – are far more integral to the culture here than in the capital, as life revolves around the village pubs and gatherings at home.

Also, I’d probably turned to alcohol a bit to cope with my sadness at having an empty nest, now that only our youngest, who’s 18, still lives at home.

A wake-up call

Among my Christmas gifts from Jonathan was a set of scales I’d asked for, which measure your body mass index (BMI). When we stepped onto them we were horrified to see that we both weighed more than we ever had and that our BMI was well into the overweight, unhealthy category – mine was 27.5 and the healthy range is usually 18.5 to 24.9.

That’s when we decided we were going to overhaul our health, starting with giving up alcohol for Dry January. Little did we know what a huge impact it would have on us.

Within a couple of weeks of Jonathan giving up lager and me giving up champagne and cocktails, we couldn’t believe how much better we felt.

It was a dramatic change from our usual lifestyle where drinking had been a constant theme in our lives. Jonathan would go to the village pub for a few pints every night after work and we’d always open a bottle of wine with dinner when he got home.

Weekends were filled with social events, including hosting lots of dinner parties, Sunday lunches and barbecues, and being invited to friends’ homes for the same.

Drinking made everything fun and for Jonathan, who is naturally shy whereas I’m an extrovert, a few drinks turned him into the life and soul of any party who never wanted to leave until the early hours.

Battling hangovers

Inevitably, Saturday and Sunday mornings were spent feeling hungover, tired and tetchy and we’d argue over stupid things, like whose turn it was to do the washing up. We always used to have to take our youngest to football, rugby or cricket fixtures on Saturday mornings too and if we’d had a big night out on the Friday there’d inevitably be a row about which one of us was going to drive.

We spent last New Year's Eve together in our village pub and it was a fairly boozy evening, knowing that those would be our last drinks for a while – but we didn’t know then that we’d give it up for good.

In preparation for Dry January, we removed temptation by clearing out all the alcohol in the house and joined a WhatsApp support group of close friends who were doing the same.

New exercise regime

We replaced partying and the pub with long dog walks, and joined a private leisure club where I started swimming before and after work whenever I could, and at weekends.

That, combined with a couple of pilates classes a week, a new enthusiasm for cooking from scratch and eliminating ultra-processed foods from our diet meant we quickly lost weight. In fact, we found we loved being in the kitchen together, learning to cook a whole new style of food, where once mealtimes were chaos and a chore when I was providing meals for our family of seven.

Two of our go-to recipes now are cauliflower steak with a butter bean puree and a delicious roasted squash with a tomato, mozzarella and basil salsa. I’ve also cut out bread and swapped sandwiches for salads for my lunch at work.

I’d meet friends who were also doing Dry January for walks or coffee instead of drinking cocktails all night. It was a revelation that we didn’t need a glass of something alcoholic in order to be sociable.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to give up alcohol and the benefits made it all worth it. We’ve also saved around £100 a week on bottles of wine, pints of beer and cocktails in the pub.

A healthier lifestyle

Now, instead of feeling rotten on weekend mornings, we’re up and out early doing new things together. We love going to the theatre, concerts, art galleries and for cycle rides in the countryside.

I recently did a wreath-making class and a creative writing workshop – things I’d never have done when our socialising was focused around alcohol. It’s opened my eyes to how alcohol is embedded in our culture in the UK.

The only wobble I’ve had all year was when we went to Barcelona last June to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday. Feeling uncharacteristically nervous because I didn’t know many people there, I accepted a glass of champagne when we arrived at the beautiful villa where the party was held.

Embarrassing myself

As the cold bubbles slid down my throat, I felt instantly more at ease and able to chat to all these strangers. Unfortunately, I didn’t stop there, and had a very strong margarita cocktail after that. Because I hadn't drunk alcohol for six months, I felt tipsy very quickly and ended up falling on the dancefloor and cutting my head open.

Tellingly, the only major row that Jonathan and I had all year was that night. He was angry with me for drinking and causing a scene. It meant having to leave the party early and he was so furious he barely spoke to me for the rest of the holiday.

I've noticed that occasionally other people try to push a drink on me, incredulous that you can have a great time without alcohol. But so many people are adopting sober lifestyles now that it's becoming more respected. I’ve realised I don’t need a drink to have fun – being sociable is about connecting with people.

I'm eagerly anticipating Dry January 2025 as more of my girlfriends are committing to do it. In fact, we've arranged a week in Scotland during which we'll be walking and enjoying spas and lovely food instead of fizz-fuelled days and nights.

A better body

I can't wait for them to discover that the knock-on effects of giving up alcohol are amazing. I've lost two stone (12.7kg) and I've dropped from a size 14 to a size 10, which I haven't been since my 30s. My BMI is now down to 22, putting me in the healthy range.

Life also feels much calmer now. Jonathan and I don't argue so much any more and it feels like we've discovered one another all over again. We still accept all sorts of fabulous social invitations too, but generally leave no later than midnight and drive home.

In December, we became grandparents for the first time when our daughter gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl. Jonathan and I are beyond thrilled, even more so because with our new healthy lifestyle we hope to be fit and healthy grandparents running around after her for years to come.

We could never have imagined it a year ago, but deciding to do Dry January was the best thing we’ve ever done.

Read more about being alcohol-free:

• Four ways quitting alcohol helps you look and feel better (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)

• 22 low and no-alcohol Christmas tipples you'll actually want to drink (Yahoo Life Uk, 7-min read)

• I gave up drinking alcohol in my 20s, hangxiety took over my life (Yahoo Life UK, 5-mind read)