Dry January is the craze right now, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Not everyone has the capability to leave alcohol behind for a whole month. Maybe booze is just too entwined in your lifestyle that you can’t finish January without taking a sip.
Thankfully, you don’t have to force yourself to join the Dry January campaign if it’s just not for you. There are other alternatives to help you minimize your alcohol consumption for the new year. We’ll talk about THC gummies and other options to make your January less restrictive and more effective.
Dry January Activities That Don’t Involve Alcohol
Once you shift your drinking habits for Dry January, you discover that you actually have space, time, and energy to spare for more worthwhile pastimes. Try these activities to keep your mind occupied and to keep your thoughts off alcohol:
Host a Game Night
Invite friends over for board games, trivia contests, or cards. Serve mocktails, sparkling waters, adaptogen drinks, or THC beverages as alcohol replacements. Lay out an assortment of snacks and treats to go with them, providing your guests something to munch on while playing.
Games don’t require alcohol, so you can enjoy evenings with your buddies without the usual pressure of drinking out just to have fun. You can still have bonding moments while at home and away from booze.
Take a Hobby Class
Pick some kind of hobby to immerse yourself in. Pottery, yoga, cooking, knitting— try the pursuit that catches your interest the most.
You can always learn the hobby on your own through free resources online, but when you have the budget, you can enroll in courses and find coaches to guide you. Creative classes lower anxiety and improve focus, allowing you to enrich your existing skills or form new ones more easily and quickly. With your mind busy creating, it won’t be looking for an alcohol boost.
Go Hiking or Walking
Tie up those shoelaces and get going outside. If you’re adventurous, trek on a wooded trail or a mountain path. If you lack the endurance, time, and gear to go on a hike, then a walk around your local park will do.
The exercise you get from strolling and roaming around strengthens your muscles and improves your circulation. Moreover, spending time in nature does wonders for your mood, sleep, and blood pressure. These are upgrades you’d rather have than the consequences of drinking alcohol.
Attend Live Events
Trade bar nights for theater, comedy shows, museums, or concerts. Not only are these more entertaining than chugging down alcohol, but they also expose you to new sights and experiences.
Live events engage you because you see performances in real-time. You get so captivated that reaching for a drink would barely come to mind. You’re still out in the world, yet you remain more present and not intoxicated.
What Is the Other Version of Dry January?
Dry January isn’t the only wellness campaign to begin your year with. In fact, there’s more than one way to keep your drinking in control. If full abstinence feels too rigid, then these less demanding alternatives may be better for you:
Damp January
Standing in contrast to Dry January is Damp January. As the title implies, you don’t have to be “dry” throughout January and reject alcohol altogether. On the contrary, you can stay “damp”, meaning you can schedule drinking on certain days or decrease your usual alcohol intake.
This approach is about drinking less, not never. By the end of the month, you still get steadier sleep, better moods, and higher energy. The benefits may not be as pronounced as when you do Dry January, but you also avoid the rebound binge that sometimes follows the challenge’s strict imposition of sobriety.
Dry-ish January
This campaign is commonly considered to be the same as Damp January because they share the same concept. Instead of insisting on cutting out alcohol from your lifestyle, Dry-ish January lets you make the rules. Of course, you should still go low on booze and reject it from time to time, but you have the prerogative on when and where and how.
Let’s say you prefer to drink on weekends only, empty just a glass instead of an entire bottle, or swap your liquor for healthier options. Whichever route you choose, you’ll come out better than when you went in. Sunnyside emphasizes in their 2023 Dry-ish January data that out of 25,000 participants, 63% reported better sleep and 64% attested to increased energy.
Try January
Try January’s focus is on reflection over restrictions. You would have to take a long look at your drinking habits. Notice your patterns, experiment with alternatives, and think of personalized methods to slowly let go of alcohol.
With this campaign, you’re not just following somebody else’s rules or even your own rules. Rather than cookie-cutter methods and popular strategies to get your drinking in check, you test possible measures first to know which ones actually work for you. Try January allows you to use the month as the time for recalibration, so you can quit yearning for alcohol eventually.
Not Into Dry January? Try These Healthy Alternatives Instead of Giving Up Alcohol Completely
A total drinking reset can be overwhelming for some folks. When Dry January just seems impossible to accomplish, then you should try options that don’t require you to give up liquor for the entirety of the month. After all, mindful drinking isn’t all-or-nothing.
Lower Alcohol Consumption
Drinking in moderation is the best method for people who are alcohol dependent. When you’re used to booze, your body tends to have stronger cravings for it, and you experience withdrawal when you force yourself to stop.
To avoid the rebound effect of deprivation, don’t deny yourself alcohol all at once. Instead of quitting outright, you consciously scale back.
Drink on fewer days and sip on fewer glasses. Decrease the amount of booze you’re consuming week by week until less becomes none. This allows your system to adjust accordingly, preparing it to bear the absence of alcohol with few to no repercussions.
Non-Alcoholic Cocktails
When you can handle the liquor strike but still miss the sensation of sipping during social events and parties, then mix up a bottle of a non-alcoholic cocktail. Colorful and complex, mocktails will give you hydration minus the hangover tax. You even get to customize your perfect blend.
There are a lot of zero-proof alternatives out there to combine. Non-alcoholic spirits, kombucha, and seltzers can take the place of their intoxicating counterparts. You can copy the taste of your favorite cocktail even when you don’t include a single drop of alcohol.
Herbal Teas and Infusions
A warm mug of chamomile, peppermint, or any other herbal infusion can soothe you on nights when you’re longing for booze. It’s cozy, grounding, and packed with health benefits, ideal for your wellness goals this new year.
While alcohol only leads you to blackouts and irrational bouts of distress, teas can bring your mind calmness and clarity. They can improve sleep quality and reduce inflammation, giving your body the rest it deserves.
Functional Beverages
Alcohol will only let you down, so try functional beverages like THC drinks to complement a healthy lifestyle.
Functional beverages are those drinks blended with botanicals or mood-supporting compounds to give you an extra boost. These drinks typically contain caffeine, adaptogens, nootropics, electrolytes, antioxidants, and even cannabinoids like THC to provide benefits beyond simple taste and hydration.
They have a variety of effects, so you can choose one that serves the specific purpose you need. They can sharpen your focus, raise your energy levels, support physical recovery, fortify your immunity, or help with digestion. Whichever you pick, it’s definitely better for you than liquor.
THC Gummies
Drinks can’t be the only alternatives to alcohol. For a buzz that you don’t need to sip, you can chew on THC gummies. Aside from their beverage versions, these cannabis-infused edibles also allow you to unwind, leaving alcohol’s downsides behind.
Edible weed gummies are good for stress reduction and sleep because they contain THC. As long as you eat mindfully and pace your bites, you can experience a high that’s manageable yet relaxing. They’re a reliable alcohol substitute when consumed intentionally.
Edibles with THC: How They Fit Into Your Dry Month
To stay clear-headed and hangover-free in January, drop your drinking habits and turn to edible THC gummies instead. Here’s how these chewable delights can help you forget your love for liquor:
Sleep and Recovery Support
THC, especially when paired with CBN, has a special effect on your body’s endocannabinoid system. Once you climb into bed and close your eyes, it can produce deeper, more consistent rest, unlike alcohol, which disrupts sleep cycles. Edible weed gummies let you sleep smoothly throughout the night into the morning, letting you wake up refreshed day by day.
Mood and Stress Balance
Cannabinoids are linked to easing stress and regulating mood. Low doses of them within THC gummies calm you down without tipping you into sedation. If you want an instant pick-me-up on dreary days when you’re yearning for alcohol, nibbling on a weed gummy can do the trick. Look for gummies that are formulated with THC, CBG, or THCV. When each of these emerging cannabinoids is included, they can really provide a differentiated and targeted effect.
Relaxation Without the Drag
Alcohol drowns your problems, letting you feel temporary relief, but batters you with a pounding head the next day. Edibles with THC can echo the comfort of a light drink and won’t let you suffer from dehydration, headaches, or brain fog. A THC gummy’s subtle lift hones your focus rather than dulling it, so you can go through your day unperturbed and productive.
Edible THC Gummies as a Relaxing Dry January Substitute
You can start your year right even without participating in Dry January. If decreasing your alcohol consumption is the goal, there are many other ways to achieve it. One particular alternative is to stop drinking and start eating instead— not anything unhealthy like junk foods, but something soothing like THC gummies.
What makes edible weed gummies especially appealing during Dry January is their predictability. Every gummy has a measured dose of THC, so you won’t find yourself munching on more than you can take. Low-dose edibles with THC mirror that buzz you get from alcohol while keeping your body clear from toxins and your mornings pleasant.
If you need an alcohol replacement for a quiet movie night, a long bath, or a slow, intentional evening this January, then try Find Wunder’s THC gummies. With 3 uniquely crafted formulations including THC, CBG, CBN, and L-Theanine, and delicious flavors like Strawberry and Blood Orange, the first month of the year will be less about drinking and more about chewing goodness.
