Feeling better? How to make your dry January stick Hints and tips from Club Soda members Joinclubsoda.co.uk Cut down . Stop for a bit . Quit . Stick Club Soda is a growing movement of people changing their drinking. You can join whether you want to cut down, stop for a bit, or quit. Club Soda is also for people who want to join the movement: those who have already made the change and want to stick to it, or who want to help others. It really is up to you. Club Soda has everything you need in one place. You can set your own goals, track your progress and talk with others from all over the world doing the same. Use our members’ discounts to find new things to do with your free time and energy. Plus if you need extra support, we have a great list of experts to help give you a boost. It’s free to join. joinclubsoda.co.uk @joinclubsoda P.S The advice in this booklet is good all year round. Not just in February. Obviously. Five ways to make your Dry January stick 1 Set your goal and make it real Simply writing down what you plan to do will help you achieve it. Just taking a piece of paper and scribbling “I will not drink tomorrow” is a start (you can even throw the paper away straight after if you don’t want anyone to see it). Adding more detail is better. You can set a quitting date in advance, be specific about how much you will or won’t drink, and put down anything else you can think of. Include what you will do instead, or what other goals you hope to achieve. When you sign up to Club Soda, we help you set your goal. Our goal setting and review process was designed by our expert member Andy Jaeger. You can keep your plans to yourself, or share it with other members in Club Soda. In two minutes your future could very different. 2 Check in weekly and set your battle plan Once you’ve set your goal, it helps to track your progress regularly. This is good for keeping an eye on how you’re doing, and whether you’re moving towards reaching your goals. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the past, and prepare for the future: What has been easy and what has been difficult? What could you do differently? Is there anything else you need to change in your life? Club Soda prompts you once a week to check in, and see how you are doing - its as easy as clicking a button. A bit of a struggle (things have not gone to plan) Spring in my step (my goals are on track) 3 Be a social animal Good news, you don’t have to sit in a darkened room on your own. A whiff of a fine merlot will not turn you into a gremlin. In fact staying the wonderful fun-loving human being you are is important to success. You may just need to try some new things and be more ambitious about the things you do with your time. For example: Find interesting events where drinking is not the star of the show. After all, you can now drive to and from an event a bit out of town if you have wheels. Here are our top events in Cambridge (our blog has lists for other places). MeetUp and Eventbrite are two useful resources for finding new things to do. • It may not surprise you that exercise, yoga, dancing, walking and even gardening feature high on the new passions of energised Club Soda members. • We want to give you the power to still go to your usual haunts and order a lime and soda (or whatever your new favourite tipple is). Have a local? Ask them to get in what you want to drink (what’s the worst that they can say?). • You could mix up your pub visits by coming to Club Soda pub socials run by our members. Having one non-drinking night a month in the pub will help you stay strong the rest of the time. • Chat to others with similar goals in the Club Soda online rooms. Find useful tricks and helpful tips, and your common goals will encourage you all. 4 Put nice things in your mouth Giving up alcohol may cause big changes in your body that you didn’t expect. So you may want to think about your diet as well. Some of your cravings will be psychological (you are used to holding a glass in your hand and sipping something) and some will be physiological (you are quaffing far less calories and less sugar). So plan nice things to eat, such as your favourite foods, the best quality chocolate, or other tasty treats. Stock up your fridge and cupboard. Club Soda member Fiona went a little crazy for gummy bears when she first quit. She assures us she is now through this phase. Discover new drinks. Whilst some swear by juice and soda in the pub, your thing may be a heady of mix of ginger beer, lime and fizzy water. If you are used to having a pint glass in your hand, then ask for your drink by the pint. Laura likes to take her own, posh teas with her into a pub, and ask for hot water in a pint glass. Make it a voyage of discovery. We have many non-alcoholic drinks ideas. The good news is that the alternatives are getting better and better all the time. Non-alcoholic beers are a million times tastier than they used to be (top tip: you can trust German quality here as well!). 5 Take care of yourself Cut yourself some slack if you aren’t always perfect, or if you don’t reach your goals straight away. We know from our experience that it can take several attempts, and trying many different approaches, to fully change your drinking. But we also know that every step, no matter how small, will help you to get there. And we want to shout from the rooftops that you should never feel guilty, but instead be nice to yourself. If you are gutted that you did not do so well this week, then take a nice bath, watch your favourite movie, go for a massage. Even doing a little bit of mindfulness can be a reward, as well as a great aid in supporting you achieve your goals. Guilt won’t help you succeed, but taking care of yourself will. … and ask for help when you need it Some people are lucky, they are able to change their drinking just on their own. Good for them! Some of us need a bit more support, perhaps from our family, or a few friendly people at Club Soda online. And for some of us, a bit of an extra boost may be needed. Use the Club Soda rooms to find out what helped other members with similar goals to you. You can use the ask the expert rooms if you have a specific question. You could also talk to experts who know about these things. There are, for example, life coaches, nutritionists, many kinds of therapists, yoga instructors, and so on, who have specialist skills. Club Soda experts and perks gives you discounts on people that can help (experts), and that you can use to reward yourself (perks). The list is growing all the time, so have a peek and see if there is something there that will make you feel good. It may be just that little bit of extra help you need. About Club Soda We know we would run out of fingers and toes if we were to count the number of websites, clubs, apps and tools that promise to help you lose weight or run a marathon. But if you are even just a little bit worried about your drinking, there is not much out there to support you. And none of it looks like much fun. When Laura decided to change her drinking, she looked online but couldn’t find what she needed in one place, which is why she started Club Soda. Club Soda is designed around you. Behaviour change is the backbone of the Club. As we grow, we can provide more and more tools for you to pick and choose from, that you feel will support you. An important behaviour change tool is spending time with other people doing the same thing, which is why we are also doing events; after all we (mostly) get drunk together, so why should we get sober on our own? You can read more about the behaviour change science that guides what we do here. How we fund Club Soda Our online site is free to join for all. From March we will start charging a small monthly membership fee for certain features, and for special access to our events and discounts. With a little help from Bethnal Green Ventures (a pretty cool social business accelerator programme), we have some cash to help us find out a bit more about what you want. To date we have developed Club Soda using our savings, and a small Cabinet Office loan. If you like what we are doing, want to help a socially-minded business and invest in yourself and the future of Club Soda, there are a few ways to do this: You can pay for your membership upfront. Founder Members can make a one-off payment now, and get their membership for the whole of 2015 for just £25. This offer is valid until the end of March. We are also looking for investors. We are SEIS approved. Let us pitch to you and tell you more. We are building Club Soda from the ground up with a bit of help from our volunteers. They develop local events, find local experts and perks, and promote what we do. You can find out more here. Club Soda is supported by: