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 🙂

Day 7. Well done all.
even if you’ve slipped (can’t say I won’t but definitely want to last the course) there’s no reason not to get straight back in. It’s about resetting and hopefully carrying some of the better traits throughout the year. A lot of us will have different journeys. Off for an afternoon tea in a nice hotel! Think I’ll skip breakfast. Have a a good day everyone.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's journeys, very helpful and inspiring, even those who have had a drink as its showing accountability and honesty of how difficult this is. I didn't drink last night even though DH had red wine, tbh I didn't even want a glass had a coffee and a shloer and was quite happy with that. Day 3 for me, sleeping better, but woke up groggy and tired and do glad I hadn't drank or would have felt 100x worse.

@Greatly I get where you're coming from. I just try to skim over those posts by people who are cutting down, because even reading about others drinking makes me feel slightly tempted and gives rise to thoughts of "maybe one won't hurt". Sorry if that sounds rude - it's not meant to be. As someone who was consuming 70-90 units per week, I'm no doubt one of the heaviest drinkers on the thread (if not the heaviest) and it's just what I need to do to stay focused on my own DJ goal.

After feeling v tired last night I then fell down a binge watching rabbit hole and ended up not being able to sleep and waking up late feeling knackered.

Oh well at least did not have a hangover.

I think drinking (slips & on purposes) on a DJ thread is fine - it does open the door to the thoughts of "one won't hurt" but it does show that for a lot of people it's not easy and better to come on here, 'fess up & get a bit of encouragement to get back on track, than to feel ashamed and slink off back to your old habits.

Anyone who was on the penguin threads in the past will remember the analogy of all of us DJers being like a penguin huddle - if you were feeling weak and needed some support we could shove you into the middle of the huddle, if you slipped off the iceberg - someone could lend you a friendly flipper to get back on.

Sounds a bit silly - but it did help penguin

I found not drinking last surprisingly easy - I washed my hair, moisturised and spent a couple of hours pulling together a photo book which was a great distraction.

I felt awful today though! I slept in until 11:30 and not in a good way - a lazy I can’t get up way. Hoping I get more energy back soon

Sorry - that was meant to be a penguin emojii but didn't work right. There used to be one but can't find it any more

I'm doing grand so far. A nice tea is a great substitute. Currently drinking Pukka three camomile in the evenings.

I don't have a bad relationship with alcohol but I really love wine so this is a 'reset' I would say. Remember that if you slip, it doesn't erase all the good work you have done already so don't allow it to cause you to quit what you're doing.

Yo! Its Day 7! A whole actual week and I will get a cup or something on the NHS app if I make it through.

Good luck all for today

I'd take it as AF.

A carton of orange juice is technically a little bit alcoholic due to fermentation but we don't see a glass of OJ with breakfast as a drink so I wouldn't worry.

I agree with pp who said that hearing about people slipping helps with accountability- makes it feel more real somehow. If everyone here was perfect I think if I slipped and had a drink I wouldn't come back on - whereas now I feel it would be understood and I'd be supported.

I agree about slipping up - given how hard I'm finding this, I expect that I will almost certainly slip up at some point.

@ANiceBigCupOfTea thats the tea I'm drinking too, nice just before bedtime.

And despite upping water and AF drinks, and overhaul of diet too, I am also bloated and constipated
oh goodness, same here too. And I'm not even hungry as my whole system feels so full and bunged up.
There was nothing like a bottle of white wine to get things shifting the next morning. 😁

I do think that with anything you’re trying to tackle, the danger of a slip up is thinking ok I’ve failed, that’s it, over. I’ve done it myself many times in the past. But the only way to succeed is to forgive yourself and carry on trying.

I found last night hard which is illogical really as I have been an every day drinker for a long time so there’s no real reason why Friday should be worse. It’s purely psychological for me. But I still stuck with my plan which makes me feel good today. I have adult DS living here currently (he doesn’t drink at all) and I’ve told him what I’m doing and he’s been really encouraging. It helps as I then have a “witness” so to speak if I mess up! He wouldn’t give me a hard time but I know he wants me to succeed which is additional motivation.

Wishing you all well over the weekend.

DS has asked us if we want to go for a drink with him tonight. He's home from uni and returns on Wednesday so not much time left to spend with him.

However his return has heralded a new fashion sense which, while perfectly unremarkable in London, is definitely not the norm in our sleepy little village. I am of the opinion that they are only clothes (although I hate it) but DH is slightly more straitlaced and conservative so struggles much more. There's next to zero chance I can persuade him to be seen in public with DS and not drink 🙄

I get where you are coming from too @Greatly

Well after slipping up last night I feel awful today. So well done to everyone that has ploughed through and resisted, you at least don't have a splitting headache like me! I used to think "I don't get hangovers, I feel fine the next day" but it's only after stopping that I've realised, actually I did get hangovers and did feel shitty. The clarity I had during the last week has gone today. If anything the slip up has made me more determined.

Someone said up thread they are feeling less anxious- think I am too!

I do think that with anything you’re trying to tackle, the danger of a slip up is thinking ok I’ve failed, that’s it, over. I’ve done it myself many times in the past. But the only way to succeed is to forgive yourself and carry on trying.

I'm exactly the same. I'm worried that if I fall off the wagon, I'll think screw it and drink a bottle, rather than stopping at a glass or two.

I'm dealing with a stressful situation this afternoon and am really craving a drink to take my mind off things. There's no doubt that stress is a massive trigger for me. I'm trying to stay calm but it's hard.

Can I please join ! Really enjoy being sober this weekend and be hungover free ! My vices are Prosecco and white wine.

Hope everyone's doing ok. I'm one of those who slipped up in past attempts to stop drinking, and immediately thought - right I'm a such failure, there's no point to me even trying to get back to dry January. That hasn't happened to me yet this month but it might. If it does, I hope I see it as part of my journey and part of my growing resilience to pick myself up and try again. I hope so anyway.
I have huge respect for everyone on here for being so honest about their individual journeys and challenges so far, and the advice on this thread has been helping me so much, I'd never have got to day 7 without it. I even poured out glasses of Prosecco for 3 other people last night and had an AF G&T myself. I can't believe I managed to do that. Have a good weekend everyone and keep staying strong.

I even poured out glasses of Prosecco for 3 other people last night and had an AF G&T myself.

@WaxingGibbon I don't think I could do that and not cave to be honest. Well done!

Well done everyone. Lets get our first week in the bag( or meet your own targets)

Thanks @freshstart2023 it's less impressive than it sounds - it was leftover Prosecco from NYE that I needed to be out of the fridge, so I was forcing it on them! Also I'm definitely still riding the novelty wave this week which is helping me. I think I'll hit my wall in a week or two.

I am reading Glorious Rock Bottom. If you haven't do - there are passages in there describing the problematic but borderline acceptable 'middle class drinking' the author was engaged in before things progressed, and they are chillingly familiar in parts.

I'm also enjoying hearing people's stories, successes and slip ups too. But I have to say, I think there's quite a difference between caving and having a drink vs going out with a friend and actively deciding you're going to have a drink. That's not Dry January to me. If you're just cutting down, cool, just own it! :)

I definitely am. Yes it's not wonderfully exciting, I'm not going to set the world on fire reading a book and falling asleep by half ten. But it's nice to feel stable and in control.