Dry January

Dry January | Health Benefits and Some NA Beer that doesn't Suck

Over the last couple years, I've been drinking more and more, mostly out of boredom as well as a way to cope with the stresses of Pandemic World. 2022 is the first time I've been successful with Dry January. I've tried Dry January over the last few years, but failed to get more than a couple weeks in before falling off the wagon. Going the full month without a drink was eye opening for me.  

I'm going to break this post into two sections: health benefits and NA beers that don't suck.

Health Benefits: My health stats are all based on Garmin products, Forerunner 645 watch and Index smart scale 

Forerunner Data: 

Resting Heart Rate: My resting heart rate (RHR) in December 2021 was averaging 51 bpm; it has dropped to 46 bpm in January 2022. A roughly 10% improvement in resting heart rate, by simply cutting out alcohol. For reference, here is information about how Garmin calculates RHR with my Forerunner. 

Sleep: My Forerunner has a sleep tracker, but I don't put a lot of trust in it's accuracy. It reports sleep duration and sleep stages (deep sleep, light sleep, REM, and awake). Overall, the Forerunner doesn't show a change with any of the data. But I've observed a change: I am sleeping better, waking up less. The odd bit is that I have a harder time falling asleep without alcohol. There is a lot of research on this topic: after drinking alcohol, your brain produces the sleep-inducing chemical adenosine, which does allow you to fall asleep fast. But the problem is, adenosine subsides quickly, making it more likely you'll wake up frequently.

Stress: The Forerunner 645 offers all-day stress monitoring analysis, it is based on an understanding of heart rate variability (HRV), small changes in the interval between consecutive heart beats (more details on this measurement). Garmin reports stress on a 1-100 scale, I was averaging 28-29 September through December; after I stopped drinking it dropped to 17 to 26 (high number following a hard race). 

Index Data:

Weight: Comparing last year to this year, you can see in the graph below that I typically keep my holiday weight through January. But this year, I'm down to my target weight by the end of January, and I rarely get to my target weight in the middle of summer when I'm most active. 

Graph of weigh with the top graph from a year ago and bottom graph for this year:

Body Water: The scale was reading 62.5% to 63% body water in December and it has gone up to 64% body water over January. That is roughly 1 liter of water available to my body, and that is important on hot summer rides. I'm thinking about this like I was starting long rides and forgot a water bottle at home. Another interesting data point, the only time in 2021 that the scale measured my body water at 64% was after spending a night in the hospital and getting 4+ bags of fluids ... here's the full story on that: vEversting, ER & IVs ... OH MY

The high mark in March (left side) was after 4+ IVs, the same body water % with Dry January

Body Fat: Garmin is showing that I've lost 2% of my body fat, that's more than 3 pounds of fat.  I don't see body fat percentage this low except for a short window in the over the summer at peak training and activity. 

Footnote: I've read a lot of information that makes it clear that electrical impedance scales (like the Index) measurements of fat and water can vary greatly from one person to the next. For reference, here's information from DC Rainmaker on this topic: "Consistency is more important than accuracy. Meaning, if your scale consistently measures your fat at a given level and changes as you do things to affect it (increase or decrease) – that’s more important than having a one time scientific measurement that’s accurate. In an ideal world these electrical impedance scales would be more accurate. But they simply aren’t across a wide spectrum of individuals." Bod Pod & Consumer Scale Comparison Tests

Beers: I've been trying different non-alcoholic (NA) beers throughout Dry January. I've found all of these NA beers at France 44, additionally, you can easily order NA beers online, like Athletic. Added bonus, NA beers are 40 to 100 calories a can ... much less than typical beers. 

Bauhaus Nah Helles: This has been my favorite of the NA beers. It is as crisp, tasty and as true to helles style beer you can get in an NA. 

Athletic Cerveza: this is a good and flavorful NA beer, much better than the old standard macro brew NA beers. 

Lagunitas IPNA: I enjoy IPNA, but you will not mistake it for a standard beer or IPA. This is like a seltzer with some malt and hops. 

 

Untitled Art Hazy IIPA:  This is the best NA IPA I've had, you could forget you're drinking an NA beer. 

 

Galactic Extra Dark: This is the best NA dark or stout I've found, but it's clearly not a beer. 

Also, I've grown a beard over Dry January, I'm not sure if that's related to taking a break from alcohol or just a coincidence. 

Before 

After

As I post this blog in late February, I'm drinking beer on the weekends, but keeping the number of beers down from the past. Looking into the spring and summer race season, I'll plan a week without beer prior to any races or big rides. I am interested to see what this means for my competitive riding in the spring. Riding bikes aside, I'm very happy with the changes I've seen from taking a break and resetting the way I drink beer.