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 🙂

@ItsAllAboutTheLighting I’d join one for after January.

Hello lovelies.
I've had a horrid day (long term ill child) so good I felt like I deserved a drink tonight. Also OH being a bit of a dick added to really, really wanting wine. But I didn't and feeling good. Tomorrow will see us at 50% and we are on the home straight. Keep going. If I can anyone can!

Well done resisters, ignoring cravings is really tough.

Its my turn to get up with the kids (6am 🥱). I'm very much enjoying not being hungover and snappy.

Maybe we should do another roll call since we're halfway through? There still seems to be so many of us!

In the past, I would have failed at anywhere between day 7-14

@spellingtest you did really well to stay on track - well done! I bet you feel better for it today.

@blackteaplease same here. Normally I would be groaning on the sofa under a blanket. This morning we played lego. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather be on the sofa but I don’t have that desperate desire to hide while feeling like a shit person.

Morning all - a couple of things that struck me over the last days posts are:

people feeling a bit down and grumpy - maybe its not just the lack of booze but just that January feeling. A few years ago there was a lot in the press about "Blue Monday" - around about mid Jan. It was really just a marketing ploy by the travel industry but I think a lot of people do feel that January is a month that drags/ weather is grey/ Xmas is over etc. So maybe we are all just feeling the way that lots of people are feeling.

secondly I too found some of the quit lit not very helpful as also was not drinking as much as people needing detox but I have read quite a lot about "Grey Area drinking" - which struck more of a chord with me.

From what I've read on the "grey area" - one of the ways to help you out of it is to do something like DJ - it has certainly helped me in the past.

Anyway - onwards penguinos - will be raising a glass of water to us all at midday today to celebrate 50%!

Morning all. Start of day 16 AF. So good to hit the half way point today. Have a good day everyone

Morning you lovely, sleek, healthy dry penguinos, you!

Hope you made it through Saturday despite the fog of temptation and fed-upness that seems to have descended upon so many of us.
But hey, I know you'll do better today because we have that lovely, shiny bronze fish level achievement tantalisingly within grasp now (and I doubt anyone is going to slip between now and then!) At midday, just a couple of hours away, we will be 50% down!
I think achieving a goal like that helps make it easier from then on. You made it there, you showed you were strong; you can do the same amount of time again. Hopefully.
If you slipped once or twice that's fine: you can aim not to slip in the upcoming serving half of DJ.

Have a great day everyone. And do check today if you can, especially if we haven't heard from you for a while.

*second, not serving!

Day 13 here as I started a bit late. Proud to have almost got through another weekend. Feeling good. Still craving wine 5-7pm but has been relatively easy to resist. Test will be next weekend as we are away...

Morning! Thanks for that @HPLikecraft, 50% does sound good.

I am feeling much more positive today, gave myself a kick up the backside yesterday. Went a big walk with a friend in the afternoon and cooked a lovely tea for me and the dc. I started watching a 'Walter Presents' series last night, it's set in Norway. I love most WP series's, that dark, Nordic, slow but intriguing way of them. The landscapes are always beautiful too. I managed 2 episodes before bed. As it's subtitled I have to pay proper attention, usually if I'd started on a Saturday night I'd have to rewatch as I wouldn't remember half what had happened. Concentrating on subtitles while drinking wine never works.

Although sleep isn't wonderful I am cheering myself up that it's not taking me as long to fall asleep and when I wake in the night it isn't for long spells.

I have many half read books littering my house, I start them then lay them aside. I fear a lot of that is my bloody phone and the stupid endless scrolling so last week I made a conscious effort just not to do it. So this morning I lay in bed with a cup of tea and finished a book I re-started on Thursday.

I think for me I need to look at the little achievements and not expect myself to be bouncing around with the patience of a saint and happy as Larry all the time. Equally I thibk @Cherrymix is right, my mood wouldn't be brilliant just now if I was drinking, January here is miserable.

Definitely very glad not to have a hangover today.

Morning all, I feel down and grumpy too. Despite my best efforts to eat healthily, take supplements, exercise, get some daylight. DD (age 3) appears to be grumpy too, so I concur, it's miserable January all round. We are going out for a nature walk and a picnic shortly (will probably be a car picnic, as it's cold), that usually cheers her up, hopefully it will cheer me up too.

Oh, I forgot... Happy half way mark all! We've got this

50% Woo hoo!

Bronze fish award for EVERYONE! 🐡🐡🐡🐡

@vinoandbrie I’ve not lost any lbs at all but I’ve lost 3.5 inches off my waist in two weeks.

Did you take a before measurement? I hope you might be pleasantly surprised. X

Hi everyone

I had a planned night off last night as I was visiting my sister. I know I could have tried to stay dry but didn’t want to. Enjoyed a couple of gins and some red wine.

Well done to all of you who stayed dry.

I agree with @Cherrymix that I might well be January blues making some of you feel rubbish.

DD and I broke down on our way back from our walk. We've been waiting 2 hours for the RAC now. She's getting increasingly grumpy and we're almost out of biscuits 😬

Good luck fangirlX. Last time I needed the RAC it took 4 hours for them to get to me. Keep calling them for an update.

Feeling a bit antsy tonight, very odd as Saturday is usually "the" night that I find most difficult.

Sunday's I do tend to reward myself with wine for getting through all the homework / ironing / baths etc. Then I feel like shit when the alarm goes at 6.30am tomorrow.

It just all feels a bit dull and dreary. All my grand plans have fallen by the wayside (1200 cals per day, 2l water per day, reading instead of tech before bed etc...) but I'm dry and that is a positive.

My arthritis is flaring and I'm miserable with the pain (I'm on medication for the illness and pain meds so just need to ride out the flare)

All in all DJ is half way through and I feel like nothing has changed. Other than I'm dealing with the drudgery completely sober

This is part of the reason I've decided to try for 100 days. 31 days isn't enough for me to see the true benefits.

I have cheered myself up by perusing summer holiday destinations and have booked a short break in Europe. Very exciting as have not been abroad since before Covid.

@FanGirlX - hope you get rescued soon & that RAC has emergency biscuits on board.
@Crunchymum - keep going - so sorry you are struggling with pain - it must be so wearing.

Hello, I’m very late to the thread. I was on the other dry January thread but don’t know where it went after page 40. I am only on day 9 of DJ. This is because I wasn’t intending to do it! Unfortunately I had a binge at home a week last Friday which resulted in me falling and injuring myself. I’m ok but it gave me a wake up call. I can moderate drinking in the week but drink quite a bit at weekends. I’m determined to do 31 days for January and hopefully carry on after that. I tried last year and caved in after 14 days. I’m getting the urge for wine each night at the witching hour between 6 and 7 but resisting. It was hard tonight. I’m already sleeping better. I’m aware I have to undo years of a habit that’s entrenched.

Hi Shortkiwi
Welcome.

I lurk on the other thread, the new one is here:-
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/alcohol_support/4451073-dryer-than-a-tena-lady-dj2022-2?pg=7
I post a little on this one, find it really helpful to read both. I'm on 15 of 16 or day 4 ( drank on Wednesday, stress related).

Evening all
Checking in for my day 7. Really proud of myself for getting through the weekend dry, I even bought a bottle on my way home from work, put it on the wine rack and once I'd had tea I just didn't fancy it anymore.
Currently scrolling through MN with a cup of tea ☕️

We're home, with chips. DD insisted and who was I to disagree 😂. At least I'm not having wine though.