Dry January 2020. A new relationship with alcohol. Who’s joining me?

[ParanoidGynodroid]

It’s that time again!
I did my first dry January around 5 years ago, having seen it on here. It was a great thing to do: really helped my get control of my drinking. Since then I’ve done it every year, along with at least one or two other dry months.

DJ may help you:
Lose weight. ...
Get better skin. ...
Make healthier food choices. ...
Save money. ...
Sleep better. ...
Have more energy. ...
Improve your mood. ...
Improve your general health

and make you feel virtuous!

It’s not necessarily easy though, so it’s good to have support; especially if you’re feeling week and like you may give up. We can support each other here.

Join me!

Another great nights sleep. When I cast my mind back to the first few days and the shocking sleep I begin to realise the detriment I must have been doing to my body to suffer. I have also noticed my hands don't shake in the morning which I often experienced.

As much as I miss the grape I'm wondering if I should keep this up. They say six weeks to fork new habits and six weeks to repair the liver. Perhaps Valentine's Day is my achievable and sensible goal.

Hope everyone else had a better night. I'm loving waking up after a full nights sleep.

@SophoclesTheFox

Exactly....what a lie. Slowly I'm beginning to realise it's a poison.

I can list more bad things than good now.

I did have that too, natsku, after days of sleeping like a log, I woke up a few times last night with nightmares. I Wonder why now?

Natsku I didn’t have shaky hands but weak hands (hard to describe). Also have noticed my restless leg syndrome is so much better!

It’s interesting having this thread to share all your experiences and think more about it. Previous times I’ve tried cutting back, I’ve missed a lot of benefits and written the whole experiment off as not worth it really when ‘it doesn’t make much difference’ - it’s just a faulty way of rationalising having a drink again though.

I am feeling pretty good today. I have a whole (SUV) careful of stuff for the charity shop and dump and my loft has been reclaimed from chaos! That was a good afternoon’s work yesterday. I am doing lots of odd jobs this month which is really making a difference to finding stuff and putting stuff away. I am pretty organised but taking it to the next level.

I am missing a nice glass of wine though. Although starting to realise that two would be just as nice as a whole bottle. Will I be able to stick to that after jan? That is the question

I am going to try to drink less at home though. Out is not such a problem (mainly as it’s only once or twice a month). The home drinking is doing the real damage

I go for long periods of not drinking through the year - so have never actually bothered with dry January (id often have a full dry month without even noticing it) I don't really drink in the house anymore - only when i'm going on a night out! I have started to get the actual worst hangovers ever (as in being sick for the entire next day and unable to get up or do anything - it's pretty awful & I feel so angry at myself about it for wasting the day and knowing it is my own fault

Am really considering stopping drinking all together as I can't go on like this.

The hangovers are what triggered me to stop for a year and a half before.
What age are you? I found that coming into perimenopause massively affected my ability to process alcohol. And the hangovers on even a glass or two were awful.

But after that time off it stopped being so bad. Which isn't a great thing in some ways because my drinking crept up again.

We tend to learn when something isnt good for our body, banging our head against a wall hurts for instance so as babies, or toddlers we learn pretty quickly that pain hurts. So we don't do things that cause us pain. Its our bodies way of keeping us safe.

Hangovers are the same arent they? That feeling of being sick, sore head is the bodies way of telling us we have ingested something that it wants rid of. So the natural reaction should be to not do it again.
But we societaly have been fed the myth thst hangover 'pain' is acceptable. It's funny even and an accepted part of life. Seems daft when you think of it like that.

I'm 31 - it is ridiculous that I keep doing it to myself when I know the risks - sometimes I can have loads to drink and wake up bright and early the next day absolutely fine - other times I will have 2 drinks and feel like death the next day

I definitely think my body is telling me to give it up - I hope to start ttc later this year so it would be a good time to just knock the drinking on the head all together

Luckily my DH & I are not as into going out as much we used to be so the temptation to drink is not there as much these days.

It is annoying as I enjoy a social drink when I go out - but this is not worth it for me anymore.

I'm shuffling in shame faced to say I had a beer last night.
Just the one. I would have had more if it was available but it wasnt so i had tea.
Feck itanyway.
Day bloody 1 again.

I'm going to try and pull some positives from it.

• just having had one, I could feel the effect of one. So actually, more isn't better. I dont have to go chasing, chasing, chasing with glass after glass. 1 drink then tea was nice ( well, if I wasnt annoyed with myself, I'm thinking for Feb on). Just as nice as 2 or 3 or 4 would have been.

So- an exercise in mindful drinking. Just wish I had left it for another couple of weeks though!

Ok. Starting again.

Nevermind 7Days, start again.

I'm in the middle of my cycle so don't think it's that. Maybe it's just my insomnia creeping back, urgh.

@WillWearTheGreenWillow - I'm finding not drinking makes LCHF much easier. No sugar or artificial sweetners coming in via drinks, no desires for carbs after a drink or two...

No desire to drink today but frankly my appetite is out of control. I could eat a scabby rat. And I’m tired despite having a good sleep and just a normal day.

Yesterday my energy was 10/10 and I was ON FIRE.
Today I am 2/10 and ramming carbs down my gullet like my life depends on it.

Could just sink a few glasses tonight. We are waiting for a big piece of news this week and the waiting is driving me bonkers. Slept terribly last night and felt knackered all day at work. Now I am wondering how to get through the evening.

Better get on with the ruddy jigsaw.

nomore - I am a

.... !

I meant to say nomore - I am constantly feeling hungry too.

It's the getting to sleep that Im finding difficult. My mind just won't switch off. Its my birthday tomorrow. Dry January sucks.

My sleep seems to be erratic. I'm struggling to get to sleep early and can sleep lightly, but other nights soundly. Same with DH, also doing DJ.
L

Sleep is finally improving at alst. I have noticed that I am craving sweets more. I dont usually have a sweet tooth but find myself eating the left over celebrations from christmas

Doesn't matter if you're eating more than normal to cope, as long as it helps to avoid alcohol then get it down your throat!
The weekend went too fast didn't it, at least Monday is now over with and very nearly half way through!

I'm craving ginger for some reason

I'm eating way more than usual. I very rarely eat chocolate but am working my through a giant bar of fruit and nut.
Sleep has settled down. Not exactly springing out of bed but getting easier. Eyes still a bit red in the mornings and face a bit puffy but I think I'm allergic to new washing powder (at least I hope that is what it is!).

Will be very happy to get to 14 days tomorrow - the longest I've been without a drink since I broke a rib a couple of years ago

Greygarden - funny you should mention ginger as I've swapped to ginger tea never having fancied it before and two of the recipes I've meal planned for this week have a lot of ginger in them. Perhaps we are craving strong flavours?

I am definitely eating more and I think I may have gained weight. However - my skin is looking brilliant and my eyes are clear.

Well apart from 15 mins this afternoon when all THREE kids decided to have a nervous breakdown at the same time (one teased another to braking point resulting in them both crying and the other closed the door on her thumb quite badly). I really wanted a glass of wine after all that! But all in bed by 7.05 with a lovely kiss and cuddle from them all and I managed to keep it together even when youngest tantrumed over his dinner. Not very hungry this evening although have mostly eaten crap - can’t face proper dinner and DH is stuck travelling home. Will have another glass of fizzy water and then crawl into bed. Busy week at work so not likely to crack but I think an AF beer may be in order this Friday!

@GreyGardens88 I wish I could justify eating the entire fridge contents but unfortunately when your arse already has several layers more lard than it needs I really should be dieting!!

I wish I craved ginger and not bread and cheese

In the ‘Further Adventures of Acceptable Soft Drinks’ I can add that Robinson’s fruit and barley pink grapefruit is nice and tangy and zero sugar and calories.

I’ve also found that freezing my slices of lemon and lime and adding those to fizzy water is nice.

Hey, I've been lurking on here since 2nd Jan when I started DJ. Day 12 here and all is ok so far. I really needed to not drink for a while and really enjoyed the first week, then found this weekend a bit boring without alcohol. DH isn't doing it but he hasn't been drinking around me, only when he goes out. I've appreciated that.
A friend who is now on month 5 of not drinking has suggested a few non alcoholic drinks so I've ordered some from Holland and Barrett to try out this weekend. I think I'll get to the end and I hope to have lost some weight. My sleep is better. I am using the Try Dry app and I am thinking to try for 300 alcohol free days this year which will mean having around 6 days a month after Jan when I can drink. I think that is do-able. Well done everyone and keep it up!