A Wild32 Reflection
January 2026
If you would have asked me at the beginning of January if I could go with no X’s I would have said no chance. As it turns out, it was my mindset that it couldn’t be done that was the barrier more than anything. Then I began to think through how I could do it - The Art of the Possible if you will, and my mindset shifted. It became less of a competition between the guys I was doing it with and more of a personal goal where I was my only competitor.
I believe I achieved my goals. This morning on the scale, 12lbs down. Even better than that, I feel mentally and physically strong in preparation for Baby #3. That was my biggest goal entering this challenge.
A reflection on my strategy and what I learned individually and holistically through the process. Hopefully this will help me (and you all) as I try to carry some of this forward in my daily life and for future W32 prep.
(as of writing this, 2/17, I am 48 days straight no alcohol.)
32 Minutes of Exercise:
Two keys time windows that made this possible. The hour before work (and a gym at the office) and the hour right after kids went down. Having a goal of losing 7 lbs helped me stay motivated on this one. Also, it was key communicated clearly ahead of time with Maggie so there was no surprise for her. That communication helped me be successful on this one and stay present to my family. I also had the mentality of “move the body” instead of anything more specific. A lot of my exercise was just heading out for a long walk or mixing treadmill work with simple things like push-ups and sit-ups in the gym. Sometimes I would run, sometimes I would walk and run, but generally not attached to a specific process. Was more about creating a rhythm of going to “do it” more than anything else.
10 Minutes of Silence/Prayer:
This one was relatively easy. I stopped listening to a podcast / music on my way into work or making that first phone call and just took my drive in silence. 20 min drive in. Really helped set my day up well. Maggie and I also formed a decent (not perfect) rhythm of praying on the phone on my drive in too which was awesome. Really life giving. On weekends, I would just start with coffee and silence once I got the kids settled, or in the rare moment, was up before them.
10 Minutes of Outside:
This one was really driven by the kids and a hard discipline. Because of the extreme cold weather January handed us, we treated this as a bit of a “cold plunge” mentality. No matter the weather, we were going to get the kids bundled up and head out if only for 10 or 20 minutes. It was good for them and good for us. We spent a lot of time out a Birmingham United Methodist trails, and it because a rhythm that all of us began to look forward to when we had some free time in the calendar. Because a chunk of my exercise was walks/runs in the evenings, I was able to get a 2 for 1 check some days. Several walks/runs with ski jacket on, hat and gloves on.
10 Minutes of Reading:
I believe the no alcohol played a key part in this one because I read every night before bed. Traditionally, when I’d have a drink, I didn’t feel like reading (too much effort when drowsy) and didn’t have any other time in the day to do it. I also loved digging into several books including the Bible in the latter half of the challenge based on the encouragement from our group.
No Substances/Alcohol:
This is the corner stone of the challenge in many ways, as we’ve discussed in past challenges. It feels kind of like cheating when you have a very pregnant wife that’s not drinking at all. Huge help without that temptation to drink with her. Furthermore, she has not drank for 9 months so my alcohol consumption prior to W32 starting was fairly low anyways, comparatively. I’ve been trending down ever since the podcast told me I was going to die if I started drinking. However, there were a handful of times I was tempted – specifically, the first two Fridays of W32 when I felt like I “deserved” it after a long, hard week. In the same vein, given the stressors I’m navigating at work, there were a handful of moments I wanted the “it’s been a really rough day” drink. I think it was monumental I did not drink in those moments and feel a mental strength I have not felt in several years as a result of that. Also worth noting that it’s probably been a decade or more since I have gone 32 days with no alcohol. Feel particularly proud of this one.
No Sweets
Not much to report here – not a big sweets person, so on the easier side for me. Went days at a time without really thinking about it. However, there were a handful of moments where something truly amazing was in front of me (homemade baked goods, Alpine bakery treats or specialty doughnuts) that was truly hard. This one was also supported by my weight goal.
Check-In
I think 80%+ of my check-in’s were in the morning while I was on the treadmill or after my quiet time. Good to “gut check” my emotions and was really powerful to bring all of you along my low-low’s and high-high’s.
Holistically I think I experienced one of the healthiest months of my adult life.