1. January Detox Month

    Last year, Spencer Fry and I decided to take the month of January off from drinking. One of our friends was sick (he couldn’t drink) so Spencer organized a group of us to do a detox to support him, which is how this whole idea started.

    It took a lot of discipline but well worth it at the end. It was a very eye-opening experience. I personally never realized how much alcohol I drank every week, which was kind of absurd. After going through the month alcohol detox, my drinking has been cut by at least 66% - meaning that I hardly ever drink anymore. And the other benefits have been tremendous, which you can view in the image above. You’ll feel AMAZING at the end of the 30 days too.

    It was also great to do with a group. We would email each other when we were close to caving in and it was great to have moral support from other people to help you trudge along.

    It’s pretty simple if you’d like to do it for yourself. Just write down a list of unhealthy things you’d like to cut out of your life, and make sure you publicize it to all your friends (holds you accountable). And encourage them to join you as well. Lastly, you should treat yourself to something nice if you hit your goal (you’ll be saving tons of money anyways).

    This year, I’m cutting out alcohol, cigarettes (I hardly really smoke anyways), coffee, french fries and potato chips. The latter is going to be the hardest challenge for me as I’m a huge foodie, and I love my deep southern fried dishes! I’m hoping that this experience will change my cravings for french fries to fruits, or something along those lines.

    I’ve also setup a 800m race with Nick Crocker on the 29th to ensure that I exercise and get in shape for the half-marathon I’m running in March. Nothing like a little competition to get you motivated to exercise. 

    The month ends with a huge group dinner of everyone that detoxed though out the month. It’ll of course include our first drink!

    Other tips:
    - You can signup for a Groupme number for the month, and add all your friends detoxing to the group
    - You can use healthmonth.com to track it all online

    Here’s to a healthy 2011 and February 1st!

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