Despite having spent the past 10 years "going dry" each July, Adam Spencer still gets a shock when he calculates how much he drinks the other 11 months of the year.
"It's not a shaming exercise," he said.
"But if you take a month off, most people underestimate how much they drink.
"When you take a month off, it gives you this interesting snapshot of your own relationship with alcohol."
Spencer is the patron of the Dry July Foundation, a yearly fundraising initiative to raise money for cancer support organisations.
This will be Spencer's 10th year doing Dry July.
Its first year came about while Spencer was presenting the Breakfast program on ABC Radio Sydney.
A caller to the station who'd had a cancer scare wanted to raise money for Prince of Wales Hospital by giving up drinking along with two of his friends.
An overwhelming response from listeners saw those involved far exceed their initial $3,000 fundraising target.
"We had this awkward moment at Prince of Wales Hospital when we handed over our $3,000 cheque that was for $257,000," Spencer recalled.
"They looked at us and said: 'That's going to be a bloody good TV mate.'
"They ended up painting their outside recreational area and we suddenly realised a beast had been born."
The Dry July Foundation was officially created in 2008.
Doing it for others
This year the foundation expects 20,000 people to go dry in July.
Already more than $1 million has been raised, bringing the total amount of funds raised over the past decade to $30 million.
Cancer support organisations have used the money to help improve the wellbeing of people affected by cancer.
Some examples include subsided accommodation for rural patients who would otherwise travel hours each day for treatment, providing state-of-the-art chemotherapy chairs, and renovating recreational areas for patients.
Tips for getting through the month
Many participants use the month as a good excuse to start a health kick.
But Spencer urged people to remember there was also a cause behind it.
"There's a considerable number of people doing it that look forward to the health benefit," he said.
"I do it for that ... and raising money for a good cause at the same time.
"You look at giving up the booze as a sacrifice, or you can look at it as having the best four weeks."
