As Kiwis recover from a Christmas and summer break likely full of alcohol and barbecues at the beach, one woman believes she's found the secret to giving up - or at least cutting back - on drinking.
Former marketing executive Annie Grace tried to develop a tolerance to alcohol so she could keep up with her colleagues.
She got to the stage where she was drinking two bottles of wine every night. And when she started to "not even feel it", she knew it was time to stop.
Her new book, The Alcohol Experiment, takes readers through 30 days of not drinking, providing tips and tricks for each day.

Former marketing executive Annie Grace. Photo / Supplied
She believes "magic happens" in 30 days. It's a period of time where the brain can build new habits (or eliminate old ones). At the end, participants have changed their relationship with alcohol and given up, or at least cut back.
Grace says she lost 5kg in her first 30 days and was happier in social situations as she never worried about what she'd said the night before.
She eventually left her marketing job to run the website This Naked Mind and its weekly podcast. Her first book, of the same name, explored the reasons why we drink and her own relationship with alcohol.
She is now alcohol-free and lives with her husband and three children in the Colorado mountains.
Grace warns of side effects as the body cleanses itself, including cravings and irritability and is clear that people with a strong physical addiction should seek professional medical assistance.

Could you go 30 days without a cold beer?
In an extract below, Grace talks about how to get through day one of the challenge.
Getting started
Magic happens in 30 days. It's a period of time when the brain can actually change — by making new neural connections — to build great new habits or to eliminate habits that have held you back.
But to experience that magic, you may have to deal with a few side effects. After all, alcohol is a toxin and your body needs to cleanse itself. You might experience some cravings and irritability at first. This is completely normal and will pass as the alcohol leaves your system.
It takes about a week for the body to detoxify itself, so be gentle with yourself during this period. Once your system is clean, you're going to feel amazing. You'll have more energy. Your brain will feel like a fog has lifted. And it's possible you'll feel happier than you have in a long time. Here are a few things you can do to help the process along.
• Make a firm decision to commit to this experiment 100 per cent.
One firm decision takes all the stress out of the thousands of smaller decisions you have to make every day. You want to burn the boats here like there's no going back. It's only 30 days. And at the end, you get to make the final decision about whether you continue on alcohol-free.
• Tell someone you trust about what you're doing and why.
It's okay if you don't want to announce it to the world quite yet. But there's incredible power in having someone you can confide in. Do this and you're much more likely to follow through with the whole 30 days.
• Drink plenty of water to flush out all the toxins in your system. The more you drink clean, pure water, the faster your body can cleanse itself.
• Get lots of sleep.
Your body repairs itself when you're asleep, so give it all the time it needs. If you're worried you won't be able to sleep without drinking, we'll cover that later in the book.
• Get some exercise.
You'll feel better when you get your blood moving. And I've found vigorous exercise to be a great way to overcome both cravings and irritability.
• Eat healthy foods, especially protein. Your body needs protein to make amino acids, which help elevate your mood.
• Start a journal.
You're going to want to "talk" through what you learn in this book, and a journal is a great place to record your thoughts privately. You can use an app on your phone, make a video diary, or use good old-fashioned pen and pap...