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! 🙂☕️🧃

Day 7 for me, strange vivid dreams again last night, though this is normal from my experience of previous dry spells. I'm not craving alcohol yet or had any wobbles so so far so good. Though in my experience that normally happens after the half way point

Ah yes, the dreams - when I do sleep - the dreams are something else!

Day 7 and finally the overindulgence of NYE has dropped off the tracker on my App so it is all looking virtuous.

I'm going to start transferring the money saved into another bank account to start saving up for a holiday. We are having to save money this year and so a holiday is likely to be a luxury.

Am so jealous of all the people having dreams - none here - flopped into bed about 10 but then woke up and got into a late night doom scrolling frenzy. Then overslept.

My tip to anyone trying to go to sleep is don't look at a screen for an hour before you go to bed.

Hi everyone,

Day 7 here. I feel ok.
I'm glad I'm not drinking as homeschooling is pants, and no booze and sleep equals more patience for me.

Sorry to hear your dh has COVID @LarryUnderwood. Hope he's ok

Day 7 and it's lost it's shiney appeal.
I'm keeping on out of pure stubbornness.

My dreams are ridiculously X rated. I hate it.

Tomorrow is my day off and often that means a few glasses of wine to celebrate but these days it's so hard to tell one day to the next that I'm not feeling it in quite the same way.

Something to add to the list of good things about lockdown

Day 7 and I feel MUCH better! No longer feeling spaced out, and more energy. Nearly caved last night but talked myself down with a spritzer made with AF Chardonnay, which was lovely. (I know opinion is divided, but I'm a huge fan of AF wine and beer).

My mood has been pretty good all the way through so far (in spite of headaches/fuzziness etc). Last time I did attempted DJ (in 2018) I felt so miserable and flat that I didn't make it past day 10. I've been taking CBD oil at bedtime as an experiment, so I wonder if this is related to that.

@BrassicaBabe, I totally agree with you. I typically had 2.5 glasses of wine after 8pm, 5 or 6 days a week. Yes, it's about double the recommended number of units , but we're not in park bench territory. So the impact of stopping, and the body's adjustment, is truly shocking.

@InTheseUncertainTimes - pleased that your test was negative and congrats on not celebrating in the customary way!

@BrigitsBigKnickers - my DH loves Nanny State too. I like that it's only 20 calories but it's a bit too bitter for me - not a beer drinker. I also discovered Small Gin just before Christmas, and I think it does give a bit of body to a slimline tonic. However, I haven't been using it during DJ. I really like several of the 0.5% sparkling wines, like Nosecco, and I find that the 0.5% white and rosé wines, which are too sweet on their own, make a nice spritzer if well-diluted with ice and sparkling water.

Yay, 20% of the way through! Well done everyone!

I am drinking tonight. I've had a shocker of a day at work (nhs) and got a call at lunch to say my dog had died. I'm sorry for letting myself down but I need a red wine to make me relax which I know is a whole other issue but right now being virtuous is far from my mind.

hashbrownsandwich and so sorry to hear about your dog. Sometimes you just have those days, and you're choosing to do this with full awareness. It's fine - I did it in 2018 on the day I helped my then STBXH move into his new flat, getting all his crap out of the house. He whinged the. whole. day. So I had a nice single malt that night and that felt right.

Then back to DJ the following day! And let's face it, every non-drinking day is a win on it own.

@hashbrownsandwich, I'm so sorry about your dog, I would be drinking too under those circumstances. Try and be kind to yourself, we're all still here with you x

@CrystalE

Day 7 and finally the overindulgence of NYE has dropped off the tracker on my App so it is all looking virtuous.

I'm going to start transferring the money saved into another bank account to start saving up for a holiday. We are having to save money this year and so a holiday is likely to be a luxury.

Am so jealous of all the people having dreams - none here - flopped into bed about 10 but then woke up and got into a late night doom scrolling frenzy. Then overslept.

My tip to anyone trying to go to sleep is don't look at a screen for an hour before you go to bed.

Well what do you look at then for the last hour? The four walls?

@hashbrownsandwich so sorry 🌸🌷🌹🌺

@hashbrownsandwich that's awful I'm so sorry! Big hugs for you..

@hashbrownsandwich so sorry. . You are one of our heroes and you are NOT letting yourself down! Sometimes we all just need a few hours' relief from grim reality. Hugs. x

@hashbrownsandwich so sorry about your dog, thats awful.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes for my DH. He's ok, just absolutely exhausted right now. I've never seen him sleep like this. No other real symptoms, except aches and loss of taste. But the fatigue is incredible.
I'm struggling again today. Feel like I haven't slept properly since last week. And today was stressful, and I I am hungry because I didn't eat sensibly for breakfast and that always sets me up to be super peckish all day. Am going to make a peppermint tea and snack on some nuts. And possibly go to bed! I will not cave in to the wine-lust!

thoughts are with you hash - you work so hard - thank you - and you have lost your poor dear dog. So sorry. Red wine fully permitted.

the wine urge is very very strong tonight. Resisting so far.

Hashbrown so sorry to hear about your dog, I remember how that feels & I would have done the same. Be kind to yourself.

@hashbrownsandwich so sorry to hear about your dog and an all round rubbish day. You are not letting yourself down.

I have my first test tomorrow - I offered to do a dreaded lockdown zoom family quiz tomorrow and every one usually sits with a drink - or two. I will have to plan something else.

@hashbrownsandwich so sorry to hear about your dog.

@buzzofthebumblebee you can do this. Try to keep busy or treat yourself with something else

@buzzofthebumblebee hang in there. Don't make working through those night sweats for nothing!

@hashbrownsandwich so sorry about your dog. That is really horrible. I know many of us here know exactly the grief and pain that you are experiencing

I am bored to death. Working from home. Haven't left the house these past few days as too cold and icy outside. Really fancy a few glasses of wine just to beak the monotony. Might have to just go to bed to avoid temptation.

Day 5 done. Craving wine a bit. Luckily none in the house.

hashbrownsandwich

I hope your DH recovers soon LarryUnderwood

Evening all.

Hope you’re all managing well. Sorry to hear about your dog @hashbrownsandwich, I know how devastated I’d be if I lost my lovely boy.

We still keep gaining the odd newcomer here and there. Welcome all!

I guess I’m doing ok as it’s chocolate I’m really craving this evening. So is DD. Didn’t think a trip to the local little shop to buy some quite constituted an essential trip!

At the end of the day, we’ll be 22.5% of the way through! Yay!