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 🙂

Good to hear @Stickywhitelovepiss - I'm looking forward to starting it.

I'm taking things half an hour at a time at the moment. Looking forward to bedtime so I can say that day 3 is in the bag.

Well, I've signed up for a women's beginner weight lifting class, so I'm hoping that and dry January might give me a bit of sparkle back. Hoping I'm not the oldest or fattest in the class!

Only day 2 for me and i feel a bit grumpy. Friday night is going to be hard.

I've done dry Jan before and not lost a single pound in weight 😭

Day 3 dawns. Day 2 was okay. I’d had a sleepless night the night before so had an afternoon nap that took me through till 6pm. Apple juice mixed with soda and a dash of ginger cordial got me through the night, though I was up several times piddling like a puppy!

I’m re-reading “Mindful Drinking” by Rosamund Dean which is about re-setting your relationship with alcohol. It recommends starting off with an alcohol free month to change your relationship with alcohol then making strict rules for yourself moving forward. It’s aimed at people who want to moderate moving forward, it’s not about giving up entirely.

Hi, I'm definitely doing this again this year.

Thought I'd post some recommendations which will help our livers. These have definitely worked for me.

1. Cup of warm water with lemon in first thing
2. Apple juice. Can make you bloated so dilute if necessary
3. Apple Cider vinegar. One tablespoon in water
4. Grapefruit juice. I like pink best.

Good luck all.

Good luck this evening, everyone 💪

Day 3 going well.

ginger and lemon kombucha in the evening helping.

agree with all who said less sleep though and more loo breaks.
trying to drink more water also and up fruit and veg quantities.

despite less sleep I think I look less tired and dark circles under eyes are staring to fade. Is that possible after 3 days?

Feeling really quite good, though eating more than is ideal. I need to commit to my (much too untouched) herbal tea stash.

Just reading through the thread and to answer the question about craving alcohol before dinner: IME it's because my blood sugar levels are low and I'm actually craving food even if I don't feel hungry.

And when I've done DJ before, it has been hard at the beginning but then gets easier as the month progresses.

And when I've done DJ before, it has been hard at the beginning but then gets easier as the month progresses.

I'm happy to hear that, thank you.

What a great thing to do. Weight lifting sounds like a very good alternative to drinking - I've heard it can give you a real buzz and you'll be far more motivated without the alcohol in your system.

The wine may be calling me, but the Sparkling Apple Juice is lovely. Day 2 for me.

Day 3 nearly done ladies! I will be so relieved to be going to bed soon.
Doing DJ for anther 27 days is still really daunting for me. So I am just going to focus on doing it a day ( and at 6pm, an hour) at a time

Well done everyone so far and Welcome to all the new joiners.

it’s going ok here, fortunately we’ve no alcohol in the house and dh and I both want to do No spend January as well so we’ve got 2 reasons not to buy any alcohol if we start getting tempted.

im starting to sleep better but can identify with the pp who said they were getting vivid dreams!

@millypeggyandpandora I don't drink on weekdays so my DJ will run a couple of days into February...

Well done to everyone staying strong and hugs to anyone finding it hard tonight. It’s day one for me and so far all gone well. I take my daughter to a club on Mondays and we didn’t get back til 8.30pm, so had an AF beer whilst cooking supper and about to go to bed with a cup of tea. Rock and roll but ok.

Friday anf Saturday will be the real challenge as I frequently don’t drink M to Th anyway (although clearly this was not the case gir much of December!). Penguin huddles and haikus may be required. Goodnight all.

I'm the same, managing ok so far but very conscious Friday will be a different story. I'm keeping to eating earlier and sticking to food which is quick to prepare.
I've mentioned to a couple of friends, even those who are drinking mates, and am surprised how supportive everyone is being. One has admitted she wants to cut down too, so we can hopefully help each other through

I've only started today, as it was my first day back at work. Been ok, not wanted a drink and had a very quiet evening, lovely bath and now going to bed. Hoping that going AF will sort out my sleep which has been shite for weeks, mainly down to (I think) menopause but definitely not helped by drinking too much!!

Friday and Saturday will be a challenge but I'm going shopping to get in some nice AF drinks. Also hoping to use my evenings more productively, getting on top of some paperwork and finally getting to grips with a side hustle.

If any of you are into all things herbal,can I recommend a supplement called Milk Thistle which helps repair the liver? I find it useful.

Day 3 nearly done ladies! I will be so relieved to be going to bed soon.
Doing DJ for anther 27 days is still really daunting for me. So I am just going to focus on doing it a day ( and at 6pm, an hour) at a time

I also feel very daunted at the prospect of 27 more days. And I haven't even had any major challenges yet, like going to a restaurant or pub.

I'm now safely tucked up in bed though so that's day 3 done and dusted.

Baby steps.

@Teacupjunkie interesting that you also weren't feeling great this morning. I was all groggy and could barely wake up. The whole day I was lethargic.

My mood is ok though, I managed to get all the decs down on my own, the lights were a bloody nightmare but I kept my cool.

On the other hand my calorie intake has sky rocketed, I can't keep my hand out of the Heroes tub!

This thread has been great for me so far, I'm really enjoying reading everyone's trials and tribulations, it's good to know I'm not alone ❤️

Tonight has been easy. Its Friday and Saturday that are going to challenge me the worst.

Day 3 done and dusted for me too. Me and DH took the DC's to the trampoline park today which was great fun plus calorie burning then tonight I did some learning card games with the youngest 2 dcs (they love them). Once they were in bed I went for a long and pampering bath (second one this week) as I wanted to use a hydrating mask on my skin and some skin products. I then had a nice lemonade. I never have a glass of wine in the bath so don't miss that. Tomorrow night I have booked a workout class at the gym.

Day 3 done and I'm in bed. Has been ok today; didn't really fancy a drink but has been very hard not to eat my body weight in biscuits and bread.

Day 3 - going ok. I think it helps that Day 1 was a Sunday as I tend to drink at weekends so having a whole week under my belt my help. Although there is always the dreaded "I've done so well - maybe a small glass won't hurt" thought that will no doubt turn up on Friday about 6pm.

Re boredom - boredom is a real trigger for me too. I'm trying to think of something profound to say about that along the lines of drink doesn't actually solve any of the causes of boredom. It just stops you thinking about them. And makes you feel less guilty about not doing boring chores. I'll ponder that a bit more and try and come up with something more constructive.

Day 3 done for me too. Not too bad overall (though still not sleeping well and waking very anxious, but I think that's as much to do with life stuff as anything) and I got lots done. It was the first day back to work after Christmas for me too and I'm feeling better for beginning to get back to routine. Various things ticked off the 'to do' list at home as well.

My biggest challenge as we approach the weekend will be to hold firm and not succumb to the bottles in the wine fridge. DH subscribes to a wine club so we always have wine in the house and I just know that at some point the urge to crack open a nice chilled bottle of sauvignon will feel overwhelming. However, today I managed to avoid the temptation so that feels positive at least.

Onwards and upwards! Well done everyone!