A woman who attempted Dry January has now been sober for three years - and “wasn't even tempted” to drink alcohol at her own wedding. Aimee Pearce, 38, decided to give up booze in 2020 for ‘Dry January’ - a challenge which sees people abstain from alcohol for the month – after battling a “horrendous” hangover on New Year’s Day.
But after a month without a drop of alcohol, Amy felt "totally fine" and decided to keep going. Now, both she and her husband, Peter Janicuicz, 45, a project manager, have been sober for three years, and don't plan on taking up drinking alcohol again any time soon.
Aimee didn't even drink when the couple got married in May last year - instead providing alcohol-free alternatives to her guests and inviting them to bring their own booze. Mum-of-four Aimee, a personal trainer, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: “If I'm brutally honest, I had a really horrendous hangover and I just thought I'm a bit too old for this now, I'll try Dry January.
"I ended up not really missing it and not really needing to drink. Then COVID happened - which for our lifestyle just involved needing to drink less and less.
"I never felt my drinking was a problem, but it just kind of snowballed. We would regularly drink in the house and at special occasions, but it wasn't something I did a lot, so the appeal was waning anyway.
“Now I don't even think about it, I don't miss it, I don't feel the need to drink alcohol. A few of our friends have started to try the alcohol-free drinks as well, and so we haven't received anything negative about not drinking.”
Before going tee-total, Aimee and Peter would drink a couple of glasses of wine with a meal, about a bottle each a week. After giving up drink, the couple feel “happy" without alcohol. They say they don't miss it, and haven't missed out on an active social life.
Aimee - who is mum to Ava, 10, and Finn, 12, and stepmother to Evie, 12 and Emily, 19 said: "Now my husband doesn't drink either. He had already decided not to drink just before I did, as a kind of experiment.
"We've found alternatives that we like, things like non-alcoholic gin, and CBD drinks, Kombucha, and my husband likes non-alcoholic Guinness. That first January was quite easy to avoid alcohol, because I had to home-school my children and do PT classes online. I was busy enough already without drinking.
“At the time I did feel a bit of pressure to start drinking around March, April time in 2020 because it seemed that alcohol was how people were going to survive Covid.”
The couple decided not to break their streak when they tied the knot in May 2022. "When we got married, I didn't miss having a drink at the wedding,” Aimee said.
“People think that you'll be more likely to break and have a drink because you're getting married. But because we had been sober for two years at our wedding it didn't really even occur to us that we would do it any differently.
"It seemed silly to drink just for one day - especially when we have found alcohol free alternatives we enjoy. We asked guests to bring their own alcohol if they wanted it, which people did without question or complaints.
“We enjoyed the day without needing a drink and woke up the next day without a hangover to start the rest of our married lives together.”
Aimee has noticed benefits to her mental wellbeing because of her alcohol-free lifestyle. “The main positive is the improvement in my anxiety levels,” she said.
“It feels strange saying it, but over Covid I was able to be mentally tougher, I wasn’t as anxious about things or as sad.”
Aimee and Peter still have an active social life - even going out with friends to pubs or bars. But now they no longer worry about driving back in the evenings after social events.
Sobriety has also influenced Aimee’s work as a PT, as clients now ask her about reducing or quitting alcohol. “I'm finding a lot of clients are sober curious, so I can talk to them confidently about going alcohol-free in a positive way,” Aimee said.
“It’s a lot easier now to carry on as there isn't the stigma around it as in previous years. You don't need to have a big story around not drinking. At the end of the day it's a poison, it doesn't make me feel good.”
Aimee's top tips for avoiding alcohol
- Using good alcohol free alternatives - there are lots available. Aimee likes kombucha and CBD drinks.
- Reading quit lit - Aimee found Catherine Gray's 'The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober' helped her understand about the impact of alcohol on the body.
- Find support from friends and family. Giving up alcohol with her husband was not planned, but Aimee found it really helpful.
