DRY JANUARY 2022! Been overindulging? Drinking crept up? Want to begin a healthy new you? 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 fifth 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 most years. It has broken my habit, banished much of the craving and reset my relationship with booze. I imagine it's added years to my life.

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

Throw your hat in the ring, pull up a chair and let's do this together. 🙂☕️🧃

The DJ2022 Wagon creaks to a start in just 5 days, but always stops for latecomers 🙂

Really struggled yesterday - so much crap going on in the lives of my loved ones, just wanted to cuddle up with a glass of red. But instead, I had some chocolate left over from Christmas - The Hotel Chocolate stuff was horrible - what's happened with them? So I settled for some salted caramel thins and The discovery of Witches which looks like excellent rubbish to watch when you need a bit of distraction.

So I'm wondering would it help if we could post some good news - something you feel grateful for - a bit like a gratitude journal - doesn't have to be big (in fact the best stuff often isn't) just a little thing amongst the chaos that was good about your day.

@footcushion good idea about good news. Plus maybe things we are looking forward to (other than the end of DJ 😂).

Morning all, wow we are over 1/3 now but with another weekend looming. Things in my life have levelled out a bit at the moment but I'm expecting some stressors mid February. I drink to calm my mind if I'm stressed, not much but can easily drink 2/3 of a bottle of wine.

@ColouringPencils

I feel like that after a long day at work and often don't go but I always feel better when I have gone. Definitely going tomorrow, may go tonight as well.

Joining this very late, but only because I hadn't realised there was a thread.
Sorry to see that some of you are struggling. But well done for coming nearly half way so far!
I have surprised myself not missing my daily glass(es) of wine at all. Not even with the many plates of pasta I've eaten so far this month. Particularly spaghetti Bolognese was always a reason to open a bottle. I found more and more often that once a bottle was opened, I wouldn't stop until it was empty, and realised that what I was doing was pretty sad: drinking so much by myself. I used it as a blanket against the cold of being alone, when my kids were at their dad's.
No more of that. I have found hypnosis very useful. It popped up on my Facebook, and quite sceptical initially I decided to give it a try. It's doing wonders for my sleep. I don't think all of my resolve comes from that, but I do think that it helps.
Sorry, lengthy post! Good luck today to all of you. Hope it's sunny and bright.

Morning @footcushion

Great news….

So, I finally understood the chapter in my text book for the diploma I am studying, after the fourth attempt at reading it. Phew!

I bought a little oregano plant for the kitchen windowsill last week, amazed and delighted that it’s still alive. Woop wooop!

I got out of bed yesterday and my fatigue had lifted, relieved I don’t have long Covid after all. Yeyyy!

I’m finally getting my veneers done next week after breaking my front tooth snowboarding, can’t bloody wait! 😬

My new £24 oversized fluffy dressing gown is the best £24 I ever spent, soooooo comfy The heating bills have gone down too. Bonussss!

🐧x

Welcome @ThatsMe123

Hypnosis sounds intriguing!

My good news for the day...for the first time in ages I had 8 full hours sleep last night and it was glorious!

@NewCherry
Hypnosis sounds intriguing!

Yes, it really worked for me when I had self esteem problems while i was at Uni, so when the add popped up on my Facebook i thought "let's try". It hadn't really occurred to me that it could be used for control of alcohol use. The one I use comes from here.

@footcushion
for the first time in ages I had 8 full hours sleep last night and it was glorious!

Ah. Glorious indeed! That's wonderful.

Basic CBT can help too. There are free online courses.

They have a technique called HALTS which is good for dealing with urges (can be used for other urges, as well as alcohol).

Forgive me fellow pengiwings, for I did sin. I was in a truly foul mood yesterday, what with current events, having missed my sertraline the day before (top tip, don't do that), blah, blah, blah. Well, we tried an AF G&T, and that didn't cut it. So I firmly announced to DH that I was having a glass of wine. Being a wise DH with strong senses of self preservation, he said nowt. I poured myself a wine. I drank a glass of wine. And here's the twist in the tail. I didn't enjoy it that much, and only had the one! Like, that hasn't happened in 42 years!

So I happily went back to my syrup and soda (someone asked my favourite, so far it's strawberry and kiwiFRUIT), and have added a day on to dry January.

@mbosnz you have a great turn of phrase. I enjoyed reading your post! Happy cordial drinking.

Morning all.

Signing in from Dublin. Stayed dry yesterday although was tempted at the airport. Would usually have had a glass of wine with lunch. Had a cranberry juice instead. Did notice a woman sat near me having a bottle of champagne. Full bottle. On her own. I’m not sure why but I was quite shocked. I suppose she may only have had a few glasses and figured it was cheaper to order the bottle than by the glass.

Sorry so many are having a hard time. I think it’s par for the course mid January to feel pretty down. Or is that just me?

@whoopstheregoesmyshouldet - I’m not craving chocolate but letting myself have some every evening as something to look forward to. I’m not stressing about it this month. I figure it’s enough to deal with not drinking! I did know someone who had ice cream every night while doing dry January but switched to pineapple to get the sweet hit instead.

Been dry since the first. Did it last year so knew what to expect. Not missed it at all so far. Always feel better at end too.

Hi,
Today feels like an actual breakthrough, I haven't been finding not drinking that hard, but have been struggling with the effects of not drinking - bad mood, low mood, irritability etc. And have been hacked off that my balance hasn;t improved. Wobbling around in yoga as if I;d had half a bottle the night before!

But... yesterday I went for a run in the rain and the dark which I absolutely would not have done if I'd had a glass of wine. And today I managed to wake up early with a clear head and send off some work within deadline when I was sure yesterday that I'd need an extension.

Two small wins, and I feel like I have a tiny morsel more willpower than I've ever had in my life before. So feeling very happy. and the sun is out!

@footcushion postive updates are a great idea. I use app called presently to log daily gratitude. Sometimes I behave to dig deep hutvtherebis always a positive.

Today's for me is my sister getting in touch to say she will be coming to my part of the country next month and arranging a lunch date. I think it's been at least 2 years since I saw her.

Grrr. Autocorrect is not working with my cold fingers. Hutvtherbis should say but there is

Hivemindneeded, that is fantastic news indeed. Well done!

Today, I am incredibly, pathetically, grateful, for a full day's sun. And DH made instant pasta for lunch, just the way I like it (i.e. ridiculously sweet, with loads of cheese and fresh basil).

HPLikecraft, I hope your family dramas are resolved.

thank you @mbosnz.

Not booze related but I had a chat with a colleague today, turns out we have both struggled with mental health recently. There is such a stigma around this topic but I felt much better after the discussion.

My therapist did warn me off the habit of wine last year as it clearly affects both my sleep and my anxiety. I didn't listen though as I associate wine with a reward for getting through stress.

I'm hoping that this dry Jan will act as a reset for my habits and I'm looking forward to the longer term benefits on my wellbeing.

Just joining in as have been dry for 12 days and it’s been relatively easy as so many friends doing the same . Am expecting trouble ahead though. Will need to arm my defences for Saturday as returning DD1 to uni which is a long day as nearly 6 hour round trip. Interested to try some AF beer that has been recommended up thread. If I can get through this weekend I’ll be delighted 😀

Evening all

It seems quite a few have been struggling. Perhaps we've reached the DJ equivalent of seven year itch? We got through a week, a whole weekend, and now various pressures are shaking our weakening willpower? Maybe its the weather. Whatever, we can do this. Does it help to know that at 12 midday on Saturday we'll be 50% of the way through? I hope so... that's a target worth hitting.

There have been quite a few tips along the thread re: distraction, drink alternatives. And many of us are noticing positive changes now.

I'm sorry you became unhuddled @mbosnz ! Interesting that you didn't enjoy your forbidden fruit too much and it helped strengthen your resolve.

Still picking up some lovely and very welcome newcomers! Waddle back a little and let them in, pingwings!

Love the positive thinking and little notes of gratitude. It was a beautiful day today here in South Wales and I saw a lovely woodpecker on my bird table.

So, tonight at midnight we'll be 38.7% done. That's a pleasingly hefty chunk. 🐧

The last few days have definitely been tougher. I’m hoping my AF mojo comes back soon.
Today I caught up with my workload a bit so that’s made me feel a bit less stressed. Day 13 done.

I’m on day 11 today and feel great.

I actually felt quite energetic today! I took a vitamin B12 this morning, so I don't know if that is why. Will definitely be trying it tomorrow though!
In contrast, I am still waiting for the bright eyes and glowing skin. In fact my skin is awful - dry red cheeks and three big spots on my chin. Grim.
I have used guided meditation and hypnosis videos on YouTube. I quite like Michael Sealey (though you have to leave your skepticism at the door and let yourself go with it). He helps me get to sleep. Come to think of it, I haven't needed that since Jan began - maybe I am more relaxed! Anyway, he does have one quite old video on problem drinking and many more on relaxation, confidence, anxiety. Hard to know if it really works, but it's free so it might be worth a try.