I drank for 30 days straight to see what it was like – it sucked

As many of my friends know, this past month I completed my 30-day challenge of having at least one drink a day. That’s right, 30 days of drinking—some of you might be thinking, “so what, my parents drink a glass of wine every day with dinner,” yeah okay that’s not what I was doing, anyone can do that.

My rule was to drink at least one drink a day for it to count, but let’s be real, when you’re with friends who are willing to go out with you on a Monday night who stops drinking after one effing drink? I essentially got drunk every day for 30 days, and disclaimer: don’t do it, it’s the dumbest idea ever.

2/5 stars. Would not recommend

Before I get into what it was like and what I learned, I’m sure you’d like to know why I thought this would be a wise idea. No, it wasn’t a dare, and no, it was not for the sole purpose of writing about it here.

In all honestly it started out as a coincidence—I started drinking around St. Patrick’s Day, and for about a week after that, I realized that I had been drinking every day for a week….”I wonder how long I can go for?” I thought to myself. I really wasn’t pushing for it in the beginning, but friends would coincidently just text me on alternating days asking to go out or drink.

 

One week turned into ten days, ten days turned into two weeks, and so on. By this point I actually set the goal of 30 days. When people asked about it, this is how I rationalized my week:

Mondays suck, so you’re going to need a drink at the end of the day to relax.

T’s Tuesdays, everyone knows this (T’s is a local pub that for some reason is insane on Tuesdays).

Wine Wednesdays, duh.

Thirsty Thursday, or TITS Thursdays for when I’m lucky (Tavern In The Square is another local bar).

Friday is when the weekend officially starts.

Saturday is now the weekend.

Sundays are still the weekend, but they’re sad since the week starts the next day, have a drink and forget about it.

I know It’s pretty ridiculous, but a lot of people actually went along and liked that they could justify a reason to drink.

Oddly enough, I actually became a BETTER student during this time because I was on a mission. I knew that I needed to be drinking every night, so I made sure all my work was done before I picked up a beer. I also had a rule that if I wanted to do this, it was not allowed to interfere with my school life, aka, no hangovers, no skipping classes, no missed work, etc.

Already sick of it

Some of you might think I’m crazy for ever trying to do this, yet others have come up to me calling me a “legend.” Whatever your stance, I’m glad that you followed along on my journey.

Nope

Before you guys go out and try this for yourselves, just don’t. As much fun as it looked, it was certainly a challenge and it took a lot out of me. I noticed a lot of things from this experience that I really wasn’t expecting.

First of all, about two weeks in, I realized my throat started to hurt and that I was beginning to lose my voice. By the end of the 30 days my voice was extremely hoarse and pretty much gone. I sort of became perpetually sick after this, and I still sort of feel the effects—my voice is still weird and I feel weaker in general. Also, a super weird thing, you know when you’re hungover and you get super hot and your skin is hot to the touch? THIS IS ME ALWAYS NOW, and trust me it’s not menopause (dude I’m 21).

ALMOST THERE

College is the time to do stupid stuff like this, and I am glad I can say I did it, but I would never do this again..nor would I have done this if I knew how I would feel after it. I still love drinking, but don’t ever say the words gin or tequila around me again. Also, I never let myself get sick, so if I still haven’t convinced you not to do this, make sure you know your limits.

@TheTab