Dry January 2020 thread 2... keeping it dry!

[ParanoidGynodroid]

Thread two to help us continue to share the love (and dryness)

Keep going, everyone... good luck

@SellMySoulForMoreSleep

Brilliant! But we've done it even although it felt impossible 31 days ago!

Go us. As others have said so glad this thread has been available. I'm not sure I would have made if otherwise.

I'm up for going to Valentine's Day.

I had always wanted to continue on but today felt a bit like it was too open ended and the thought of having a drink tomorrow crept in.
But 2 weeks seems totally doable and good to have a goal.

I'm happy just to continue on with this thread if everyone else is?

31 days dry!!! So happy to have made it. I'm not 100% sure I'm going to carry on, a big part of me wants to but a small part of me wants to drink so I'm not going to make any decisions right now. Just going to enjoy the feeling of waking up tomorrow hangover free 😁

Hurrah for us! I "technically" haven't done Dry January as I drank on January 1st, so no celebrations on the Try Dry app. Still feeling pretty good, especially since the jeans I couldn't do up at the start of the month can now just be done up. So, definitely cracking on for another month, although I may do a small amount of social drinking. I was planning to have a celebratory gin and tonic tonight, but actually I probably won't!

I had a drink last night after midnight and....

I feel really crap this morning! Fuzzy head, furry mouth, slept really badly - and I'm so glad

Glad it has reminded me how rubbish it makes me feel and how good sober feels!
Definitely would not have known that before dry January and this thread.

Am up for doing another 2 weeks and honestly think it will be a lot more

Have been feeling so wobbly about drinking and I read something that really resonated with me.

Essentially it was 3 main points:

1. 31 days really isn't long enough to feel the true benefits. If you have been drinking for years, whilst a month off is a good start, it is just a start. Your body and mind is just getting used to this new routine.

2. the majority of people who do DJ will feel better. It may not be a massive change but they will feel better (it may just be sleeping better or feeling a bit calmer or it may be massive improvements to overall physical and mental health - I am somewhere in the middle) but you will have felt better.... so why on Earth would you then be considering going back to the very thing that makes you feel bad? You've spent a month trying to feel better [and you do feel better!! Even if its only in a very small way] so why undo all that hardwork?

3. so you feel better (you may feel lots better or even only slightly better) after a month, how good can you feel after 2 or 3 months?

Dont mean to be preachy but it kind of made sense to me!!! I have actually never managed the whole of DJ before (I usually break it for a certain birthday and add a day or 2 on at the end) but I didn't this year. I've also lost nearly 10lbs need to lose a fuck load more but it's a start

I am trying to see 1st February as a new start, not the red light to drink again.

Best of luck to everyone!!

I plan to have a drink today. DP is officially retiring and we’re going a celebratory lunch. I’m up for staying with this thread though. Not sure about 300 days but thinking 200.

I'm thinking 100 days. Takes me to Good Friday!! And then go from there.

Enjoy your celebratory lunch

Bucks fizz anyone? (Joke!)

Well done all!

I'm carrying on for a bit, I've got a couple of minor social events this month, neither of which I really need to drink at so I'm just going to play it by ear and see how long I last.

Woohoo! I can't believe I did it, but I did! Never would have thought this possible, but with this thread, a book and my app, it was! Well done everyone

I think I'm going to aim for 200 days this year but I'm hoping it will be much more than that. Starting lower than I intend hopefully makes it more likely I will actually manage it.

Not sure whether I will drink tonight. I had planned to, but I'm not sure I actually want to. We'll see.

Oh oh and I've lost 9lbs. This wasn't easy and I had to seriously control my eating but that never would have been possible if I had been drinking.

I weighed myself this morning and I'm back to my pre-Christmas weight so I'm happy about that. I've set my goal on the app for 200 days but I'm planning on doing more than that (I wanted to set 250 days but that wasn't an option). I am going to have some beer tonight, it's my DD's birthday and I always toast my uterus on her birthday

I haven’t posted for a week or so but have been reading. I caved and drank last weekend and then gave myself permission in my head to end DJ then and choose whether or not I wanted a drink. I had an extremely busy and stressful day on Tuesday and I opened a bottle of wine and had half of it. In the past that would have been the whole bottle and then probably onto the next. I then didn’t drink until last night. Wednesday I did get the wine glass out and opened the fridge and looked at the wine and then thought actually a cup of tea is what I really want.

So for those who are a bit unsure of how they will be if they drink again remember it’s a choice. You can have a drink and say actually that was nice and hit the spot but I don’t want any more. Reducing from what you used to drink is still a huge improvement.

I’ve found this thread really helpful and the support of others going through the same has been invaluable- things I couldn’t openly say to people in real life without being judged (a bottle of wine plus every day last year was ‘normal’ for me). So please let’s keep this going.

I’m turning my focus into Fit February- keeping up the good habits established during DJ but trying to add in more exercise and better diet. I too have a weight loss goal of 2stone gone by May and I want to slowly but surely work my way towards it. If we can give up something as addictive as alcohol for a month then a few weeks focussed on increasing activity and then a few more on diet (or vice versa) seems so much easier than before.

Onwards and upwards for healthier better us (with skinny happy livers)

Yay! Last night was a bit grim, I mean what a coincidence that my last night as an EU citizen coincided with the last night of DJ. That didn't feel good but here we are on Saturday, the whole month done. That does feel good.
DH and I having a well-considered couple of drinks tonight, will see how that feels tomorrow. Meanwhile, off to the gym 😇

I am very envious of everyone who has lost weight! I have barely lost any. I put on two stone in the past year and was hoping at least half a stone would drop off easily with the non-drinking. Bloody middle bloody age.

I haven’t lost any either, @nibdedibble. And I haven’t been overcompensating with food. So now doing Keto. AF Keto 😬

Lovely to hear everyone's thoughts on how Dry January went, how you now view drinking and how you feel moving forward.

I've lost a little bit weight but like cravingcake (not sure your NN is helping ) I am thinking of Fitness February. Or at least cutting down on crap, sugar and crisps mainly but also over eating in general.

I have guests coming for dinner tonight and since its no longer January I could officially drink. In the past I might have thought, wayhey, I can let go and go for it.
But I don't have any great desire to do that. And I'm glad that my night tonight will be fun but won't take up my whole Sunday with a hangover.

I only lost 3lbs but I did eat a lot of sweet crap so that hasn’t helped.
I’m keeping going. I feel better, more positive, more energetic, less self-loathing. I’ve set myself a target of 50 days. I managed my birthday and DS 18th birthday, so there’s nothing planned that tops those to tempt me

@dementedma much respect at getting through these celebrations without drinking.

I have my 50th this year. And i just thought that it might be nice to move into the next decade without the battle of drinking/not drinking going on

Breathmiller, I’m doing fitness February! Totally related to the lack of lost pounds. I’ve been to the gym twice in two days, crikey. I set myself the target of a sunny Parkrun. There won’t be any sun for a while so I’ve got time to get from my paltry 2k on the treadmill to 5k outside.

SparklingLime a fistbump of solidarity, it is most unfair.

Slinking in having rather blown it yesterday on a leaving the EU half bottle of wine. Have pre arranged drinks tonight but will be back on on Sunday and looking forward to going for the 300 days.

Dh has to work tonight, unexpectedly. So another dry day, which I find is good news. What a mind shift this has been!

Chose to stay dry tonight. Have something booked with prosecco on the 13th. I’ll see how I’m feeling at the time, but for now my dry spell is continuing...

Hi everyone,

I've just joined mumsnet to comment on this thread. I've been reading it for a few weeks and have found it motivational. So thank you all and well done!

We have splashed out on a very nice bottle of wine that we will drink later. Next drinking night, after tonight, will be Valentine's night. Other than those two planned nights, we're planning on a dry Feb too. I think the biggest change for me is deep, restful sleep and I don't want to go back to my old fitful sleep.

I've also lost 4lbs without changing my eating and exercise (1 step at a time !) and would like to lose another 20 pounds. This is despite regularly giving into my alcohol withdrawal related sugar cravings. So will look at diet and exercise this month.

I'm not really seeing it as the end of Dry January but as the start of a healthier and perhaps more mindful life - in that, instead of just drinking wine for the sake of it, think about when and why I will drink.

I'd love to join you all for the rest of the year.

Having a beer right now but it just doesn't taste as good as it used to. I'm taking that as a good sign.