DRY JANUARY 2021! This way please... all welcome

[HPLikecraft]

It’s that time of year again... the late Christmas present to our livers!

You may be thinking of doing Dry January to:

*detox a little after seasonal overindulgence, or
*help you cut down a bit generally, or
*help you start to get out of a harmful alcohol habit, or
*just be a bit healthier for a month...

It’s good for all of those things!

I find the MN DJ threads excellent for support, encouragement, sharing info,‘we’re in this together’ camaraderie, suggestions for grown up drinks, aversion techniques and just fun.

This is my fourth year of DJ and I swear it has made all the difference to me; it was so hard first time, but having succeeded I did dry June and October after that, and do so every year. It has broken my habit, banished the craving and reset my relationship with booze.

I won’t be finding DJ too difficult this year, but some will. Hopefully this thread will help.

Come climb aboard the wagon! 🙂☕️🧃

My knitting is progressing nicely. Very pleased to get my second teacup on the app, I even turned down a dessert of cherries soaked in kirsch, with cream. It's amazing how strong the habits are though, we often have a drop of brandy in our coffee of a weekend, and I had to stop and think not to today. Dh has moved all the booze, it was on a shelf, and now it's hidden in a cupboard, so that helps.

Yay! Need to open some red wine tomorrow though to make dinner (lasagne). Am happy to have it in food, but what can i do with the rest of the bottle?

Freeze it and use it for cooking. Or make up a red wine sauce and freeze that.

Day 2 done here too. Did not sleep that well yesterday and have some kind of tummy upset today so having another early night. DH drinking beer and eating frazzles and I am actually not tempted for once.

@katmarie

Freeze it and use it for cooking. Or make up a red wine sauce and freeze that.

Freeze it - that's genius

Day 2 done, not too bad so far, my body was really crying out to stop I think.

I feel for you @lunklitdays the roads are too icy here for teen driving lessons this week, but I can see that stress may cause problems for me at some stage!

I woke up groggy despite no alcohol. I think just really tired.

Day 2. Been on my mind since about 4pm. Kept busy and had a difficult hour this last one.

Nearing 10pm, I've had another large water which has taken the edge off.

If I manage 7 days, that's probably the same as the total dry days I had for the entire last year.

I really want to prove this to myself.

Well done @Impatientwino
Sorry to hear about your mum.

I’m drinking so much water/water with lemon/water with ginger.

I’ll be so hydrated!

@AlbertaAlberta @Madcats @Hepzibar
How are you all getting on in the end tonight?

I've had Diet Coke. Have to admit I've had some ice cream too but as I say, I can't be an entire saint straight away or I'll fall off the wagon in spectacular style.

Has anyone got any recommendations for sober blogs/reading inspiration which isn't written by someone massively condescending?

@buzzofthebumblebee is night sweats a "no alcohol" thing?! Yes, I had terrible sweats last night. Thought Peri symptoms were kicking in big style!!

Day 2 done. Had a little moment in the afternoon after is finished deep cleaning post Xmas tree removal where I thought it would be nice to reward with a glass of wine. In fact chucked the remaining half bottle down the sink.

I do find these 30 days stints a little easier than the post 30 day period. DJ and similar is binary. Simply no alcohol. So while I fancy a drink I'm not allowed/not having one. I find the post period more exhausting when I could have a drink but have to argue with myself when and how much to have. I fear abstinence is better for me, but I don't actually want to think about that.

@hashbrownsandwich
Massively chuffed with myself, going to bed now and done day 2. Hope you are feeling same

I also had some ice cream @hashbrownsandwich! Ha! I would never normally eat it in winter, but something made me want some today.

I'm in bed already! I've got a new book to read, a big glass of fizzy water and am very cosy. Early nights might be key to this, I've decided. God knows I should be getting my beauty sleep .

I read The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, by Catherine Grey and loved it. I envied her life a little, until she obviously became very dependent on alcohol and it all went downhill a bit, obviously! The other ones I read were The Sober Diaries and the Allen Carr one. All quite good.

I'm going to say something, which might be me being a dick, so, I'm sorry if so... BUT, the thing I noticed about all of them though, (and maybe this is me being a chippy, green eyed bitch), was, they all seemed fairly privileged/wealthy. So I struggled at points. I'm not on the bread line, but owning a house in Fulham or whatever it is, or drinking with Christian Slater or taking an annual trip to the Caribbean etc...were not problems or scenarios I found it easy to relate to. But I suppose they made more interesting reading than a less glam lifestyle, and maybe the point is that, to be an alcoholic, you don't have to be down and out; plenty of people are alcoholics and also have seemingly lovely lives if you don't know they have a drinking problem.

 for you @Hepzibar

@AlbertaAlberta I'll check those ones out, thank you. I guess I just want to read that there are other 'normal' people out there in the same position as me with drinking but then I guess that's what MN is for?

Hello, just found this thread - please may I join?

Ideally I'd love to give up booze full stop but I don't know if that's possible.

Like others I've always enjoyed a drink (I love the taste of a nice red), but since the first lockdown life and wine have got the better of me. I've drunk most nights, feel tired all the time, grumpy and I've put on heaps of weight.
I think I'm also peri menopausal and every time I drink (which has been most nights) I wake up and can't get back to sleep.

My DH & I did a dry month before (apart from when I was pregnant). He's continuing to drink whilst I stay sober.

Perimenopausal sleep sucks, @UsernameFail but I do find it better when not accompanied by booze!

End of day two. At midnight then, that will be 6.4% of DJ done.

Well done everyone 👍

I'd like to join too :) I've never done DJ before but I did dry lockdown or tier 3 or whatever it was in November (or whenever it was - time and dates have so little meaning these days). I want to lose weight and we are ttc-ing at the moment too.

I think DJ is an easy time of year to give up booze as it's not so bad drinking herbal tea in the evening instead of a glass of wine. I've stocked up on a few different flavours from TeaPigs ☕️

@AlbertaAlberta - I agree with you about sober books. I liked reading them and found them helpful but have never found one that really fits with just a bog standard kind of person, with a normal kind of job and DH who probably should be doing DJ too.

Anyway Day 2 in the bag and have started watching The Serpent on iplayer which is proving a good distraction. Brings back memories of the days when I could just horse off somewhere with a backpack and not have to worry about whether the hotel would have a family room.

[quote hashbrownsandwich]**@AlbertaAlberta* @Madcats* @Hepzibar
How are you all getting on in the end tonight?

I've had Diet Coke. Have to admit I've had some ice cream too but as I say, I can't be an entire saint straight away or I'll fall off the wagon in spectacular style.

Has anyone got any recommendations for sober blogs/reading inspiration which isn't written by someone massively condescending? [/quote]
Hashbrown, I totally recommend Holly Whitaker’s Quit Like a Woman. It’s hilarious, angry, very clever and fabulously sweary. Augusten Burroughs’s Dry is brilliant and very funny. Blackout by Sarah Hepola. Amy Liptrot, the Outrun. Alcohol Explained by William Porter.

Drink by Anne Dowsett Johnson is raw and painful. Hope these help - you can see I’ve read quite a bit of chick lit .

Meant quit lit!

Joining in too! Day 2 no booze tonight tho like a previous poster the opened odd bits just seemed to need tidying away.

Hi everyone, I am self-isolating with my 4yr old son, and the first few days were fine, but New Year's Day, I caved and had about 3 beers in boredom. I've managed to stick to various herbal teas since then though, so doing well! Not sleeping better at all, but that is other issues. I need to crack the late night eating. It's almost compulsive, and complegely sabotages the workouts I have been doing for the last 6 months

Day 1 done for me, as I started 2nd Jan in order to finish off half a bottle of Prosecco from NYE! Knowing I was starting Dry January I drank it alongside a lot of water, didn't really enjoy it and tipped the rest of the bottle away, a good sign!

Last night was fine and I managed to read a decent chunk of my book before falling asleep - not possible if I've had a drink usually!

I've done Dry January a couple of times before, and have done 18 months as my longest alcohol free stint. I found the Unexpected Joy of Being Sober very relatable, having worked in marketing/media in the past, and all the parties, free booze knocking around. It made me realise what a slippery slope drinking is.

I also found Annie Grace - This Naked Mind really good. I listened to it on Audible in January while doing bits and pieces in the house. She also has a lot of videos on You Tube with the same content which is definitely worth looking up if you have time. I know she's interviewed Catherine Gray on a video too.