DRY JANUARY 2023! 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 sixth year of DJ and I swear it may have saved my life; 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. Everyone welcome 🙂☕️🧃

The DJ2022 Wagon creaks to a start in just 4 days, but always stops for latecomers 🙂

Hi @paulmccartneysbagel, I have not come across Trip. What's it like? I don't like sweet drinks, always on the lookout for interesting options!

Sleeping well and felt positive ordering a 0% gin when we went out for lunch!

Day 2 of a dry January for me and the Christmas tree and decorations etc all got packed away this morning. For once we packed it really well and sorted it all properly which normally we don’t have energy for after a few glasses of wine on the 1st Jan. DH had planned to have a couple of beers with our lovely steak pie dinner but enjoyed the nonsecco I bought so didn’t bother. He commented this morning he was glad he didn’t bother as he felt so much better though is having a couple of beers now watching the New Year’s Day football match. I am going to get some nice house bits and look at wallpaper for my living room as I want the living room redecorated this month. I thought I might miss Prosecco with my dinner yesterday but didn’t at all as the nonsecco felt like a treat.

That is my trigger time so last night I took a pamper bath and gave myself a face mask etc. I did my legs, nails, exfoliated and felt so much better plus slept great. I am going to do this weekly. I also plan to get back on my spin bike 3 nights a week at my trigger times.

It's a CBD drink, so supposed to be relaxing. I can't say I've noticed an effect but I do like the taste of it and it's not overly sweet either.

At spa feeling very blissed out, having just done massive swim - a glass of wine would be the cherry on the cake, but no! I recognise that thought pattern from smoking - whether sad, happy, bored, relaxed or stressed out, there is always a reason...

Just reading the Unexpected Art of Being Sober. On the one hand, she's so far down the line it's easy to feel smug that 'that's clearly not me' - but then every so often she's write something that resonates and you kind of see how she got where she did. Going to write down a few key excerpts and make them daily reading I think!

Has absolutely no effect and is a complete marketing con. Expensive too.

I'm sure you're right @Greatly !! I don't mind paying for it when it's on offer as I do like it.

I just had my first twang of "ooh nearly 4pm I can have a drink while I cook dinner". Will power through it and try not to replace booze cravings with food

The afternoon of day 2. I am usually a Duracell bunny, so it will be interesting to see if I gain even more energy once this week is over.

An immediate effct I've noticed is a decline in my appetite. Without a drink I just don't want to eat all the time, which can only be good for my waistline. I have also felt actual thirst, something I don't usually have, so I've been sticking with water and my trusted herbal tea that I chug by the galleon during work days anyway.

I've been working most of the day and will need to do some more tonight.

To the poster who said they envy those who think that a glass of wine a night was too much, you have company here. I managed a half litre bottle of whiskey on NYE (still without hangover - yes, I am that lucky) without even noticing.

I have a mild head fuzz today, but it's by far not as bad as I expected. For wine lovers I recommend Shloer, the white grape stuff is brilliant. Me, I am more of a cocktail girl and again, the head fuzz could just be the huge lack of sugar (I have also given up energy drinks just before Christmas).

Day 1 for me. Good luck all.

I'm struggling through day 2 feeling low and joyless. We went for a nice walk this afternoon to get some fresh air, but it did nothing to lift my mood. Just got home and I'm really wishing I could crack open a bottle of wine.

Wine = happiness is an association that is so strong in my head.

Its starting to go dark outside now. This is a difficult time for me as I light the fire, think about starting dinner and cracking open a bottle of wine.

Same here. From darkness falling until just after dinner is undoubtedly the most difficult time for me. I won't cave but the cravings are strong right now.

After reading that Priory link it sounds like the worst of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms should be over within 48 hours, so I'm clinging onto that thought. It doesn't help that it's a bank holiday either. Hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

@freshstart2023 Is money a motivator for you? It really helps me to work out what I'd spend on a bottle of whatever spirit I mix cocktails with at the time and then just imagining the daily money I save on this. So, if I, say, spend £18 on a bottle of whiskey (not even adding the organe juice to that) and it takes me 4 days to finish one, then daily I have saved £4.50 - so, today, I will have saved £9 by the end of the day - that's 10% of the money I need for a new pair of my favourite shoes!

Can I join please? I’ve done dry January, February and March since 2020. Hoping to do the same in 2023 and even hopefully stop altogether.
On the Try Dry app you can record your mood, energy levels, sleep and cravings each day. I’ve found this very useful and there is a definite correlation between drinking and low mood, poor sleep, low energy and cravings the next day.

Yes, saving money is definitely a big motivator. I'll be saving a fortune by not drinking - I estimate I've saved about £32 already since 1st January, if you factor in the two bottles of wine I'd have had at home yesterday and today, plus the inevitable couple of glasses we'd have had at the pub this afternoon.

Danger zone time for me right now. I'm going to do curry for tea with the leftover meat from yesterday so right about now I'd be opening a bottle of beer while I think about starting cooking.

Instead I'm having a tiny can of Fever Tree ginger beer, it's quite nice on its own actually.

DH and I had a chat about our habits earlier, so we'd walked the dog, blitzed the house, done a tip run and sorted clothes and stuff for work tomorrow. At about 3pm we'd usually, on a bank holiday or a Sunday (after doing chores and whatever we needed to do) walk up the road to the pub for a couple of drinks. We need to find something to replace that.

@freshstart2023 you were feeling really good this morning! I was too and I'm focusing on having a lovely evening tucked up with an engrossing book, and lots of hot lemon and honey drinks, and looking forward to feeling even better about myself tomorrow morning.
You can do this

I buy the absolute cheapest wine, box from tescos (3 bottles) £13. But I'd easily go through 3 boxes a week so basically £40 if I quit entirely. Although that's not my current goal, but still good savings to be made. Coming up to 5pm is a difficult time but I went for a walk today and picked up some herbal tea. Am going to make a cup of that instead of my usual wine.

Thinking about it now, the amount I have been drinking comes to around 80 units a week 😮i do think the NHS recommended amount is very low but that much over is definitely too much.

Like PP have said, as it starts to get dark and dinner prep is looming, I am feeling anxious and glum, I want a glass of wine or G&T to lift my mood.😔
I had decided to drink bloody hot chocolate and do some yoga, but I cant be bothered now 😢

Thanks @WaxingGibbon

I need to focus on the fact that if I can get through tonight, I'll feel even better tomorrow - and that the worst 48 hours will be over.

I'm drinking a wine glass of lemon and elderflower kombucha. It's ok, but I'd rather be opening a bottle of red to breathe for me and dh later 😭

I'm hoping I'll be able to focus more on the positives soon too, rather than just the cravings and how much I'm missing alcohol. But the first two days have just been a sheer battle of willpower to be honest.

@StickyCricket we sound similar in that me and DH love a couple of drinks at the pub to get out of the house. Even if we go for a walk we’ll always end at the pub, so need to find something else to do.

today we drove to the beach and had fish and chips. So whilst not healthy I had a really nice day out.

Dinner is being prepped so this is also the danger time when a bottle would normally get popped open.