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 🙂

@lemonsaretheonlyfruit well done you, that's a real achievement.
I'm about to go to bed, feeling relieved and slightly surprised that I've got through Friday and Saturday without too much trouble.
I am eating way too much, but trying not to give myself a hard time about it.

Was very , very tempted to have a glass of wine tonight , even put a bottle of white in the fridge ….. and it’s still there intact 😇
Sadly , no weight lost , probably because I’ve just had an Indian takeaway ( from M & S ) and a Mars bar icecream
Were still working our way through the leftover Christmas goodies , but the peaches in brandy will have to stay in the jar a bit longer

Blimey well done! I'm not sure I wouldnt have cracked under those circumstances

A busy few days but have navigated Fri and Sat eve, which are my usual trigger points, with 1 x 0% tanqueray "gin" and tonic each night. Its not as good as the real thing, but nice enough to feel like a grown up drink to relax with.

So impressed with all the resolve being shown on this thread 👏

I have an added layer of motivation other than willpower (as I am not sure normal me would be so resolute)

I had some blood tests a few weeks ago and my liver enzymes were significantly higher than they should be. It was a big wake up call as I have been drinking way more than I previously had over the last couple of years as my teen DD has had so many MH issues and it has taken its toll.

I have my next test booked for 1st feb (I timed this on purpose) but there is no way I am going back to previous levels - which were similar to yours @freshstart2023 . I feel so much better without it even though I miss the initial feeling it brings.

Fell into not drinking through a chest infection 2 weeks ago so haven't drunk since Xmas Day. Was so poorly that I'm revelling in feeling human again and I don't want a hangover to get in the way of that. Really tempted last night and tonight but Wordle and eating allll the leftover Xmas choc has meant I'm on day 13 now.

The doctor said I can carry on drinking before the next test as long as I stick to 14 units a week but that didn't sit comfortably with me. She seems to think 4 weeks should see me back at almost normal liver function but that sounds a bit quick to me (from my extensive googling!) Anyway the whole thing is a bit of a blessing as I needed to reset things in a big way.

been out for afternoon tea -rather nice! Drank 2 bottles of AF wine though doesn’t seem to agree with me. Think I need to try and enjoy tea or water. One week in. Happy with progress. Think the first week is always the worst. I had been drinking too much as lost both parents and MIL this year. Think I’ve been blocking it all out as my thoughts have been thinking about them all this week and thinking how things have changed. Trying to move from existing to living and coming to terms with it all. G’night. Time to read!

Hurray - 1 week done. Well done @lemonsaretheonlyfruit - you have iron willpower. And well done everyone else for resisting temptations.

Meanwhile I have started the knitting and most definately will not be able to do any drinking while doing it as it took me three goes sober to get the right amount of stitches in the first row. Have now got double vision from squinting at stitches trying to work out whether am meant to be knitting or purling. Must definately book an eye test. I am wondring whether I need some kind of magnifying glass.

Still better to have sober double vision than drunk double vision.

Annoyingly the NHS app doesn't give me fireworks until tomorrow night as it counts days of the week. Something to look forward tomoroow.

Yes same load of stressful things going on and had it I 'needed' that glass of wine. Oh well its good learning!

Yea, got through a Friday and Saturday night AF. Friday was a bit tougher. I felt restless. I missed the habit and the reward value of having a glass of wine. I had one of those Trip drinks as they are suppose to relax you but I just ended up with a headache. Am sleeping better now, which is great. This thread is definitely helping for motivation. You lot are inspiring. Thank you.

Willpower of steel! I would definitely have cracked.

Well done 💪🏻

That is such an achievement @lemonsaretheonlyfruit - well done! I don't think I could have abstained in those circumstances. Out of interest, what are your plans after DJ - do you think you will continue to drink but in moderation? My initial thoughts are that I'd like to drink 20 units (or two bottles of wine) a week maximum and have 3 days off a week as well. I know that's still relatively high, since the NHS recommendation is 14, but it's a vast improvement on the 70-90 I have been drinking.

I was feeling really tired and flat last night and took myself off to bed at 8.30pm. I nodded off around 9 and drifted in and out of sleep a few times, waking at 7. I'm feeling well rested this morning and am so chuffed to have completed a full week of DJ.

For those who enjoy the percentages, according to my calculations we will be 25% of the way through DJ at 4pm today. That's quite a milestone!

So this time a week ago (New Year's Day) I woke up with a pretty bad hangover - I was tired, aching all over and had some random bruises on my arms and legs, even though I don't recall bumping into anything. I was also nauseous, hot and sweaty, with a bunged up nose, spinning head and headache, a racing heartbeat, high anxiety and low mood.

This morning I'm feeling energetic, with a normal body temperature and heartbeat and am relatively calm (given that it's a stressful time here ATM). However I do feel quite flat, like there's not much excitement in my life. Still, I would take that over the hangover any day.

I'm with you @lemonsaretheonlyfruit . I have blood tests on Tuesday and I'm pretty sure its been a factor in keeping me on track. They are unrelated, but I expect liver enzymes will be part of it.
I doubt I'll get the results until later this month, so I'm hoping I'll stay focused until I have them.

One more thing to add, which is that a rainy Sunday like today is normally a time when I would head to our local pub for a roast and several glasses of wine. I'd then come home and have more wine, taking me to around 1.25 to 1.5 bottles in total.

I really hope I can get through DJ and reach the point where I can still go out but stick to two glasses, then not drink at all afterwards. There really is no need to carry on drinking at home.

@freshstart2023 today will be a flash point for my DH too. Sundays I take the kids to visit my family and he would go to the pub. Sounds like a lovely cosy afternoon but in reality he'd spend Sundays half pissed and stinking of booze which I'm sure was great fun for him but not so good for the rest of us. He seems determined not to cave though so I desperately hope he doesn't.

Sundays are definitely my hardest day. It's the roast that does it.

But.... I woke up and looked in the mirror this morning, and I definitely look less wine-face!

I’m tucked up in bed (8pm where I am) having survived day 7. Feeling quite exhilarated that I’ve done a week since I can barely remember the last time I had an AF night! It’s been a bit tense at times over the last week but hopefully that’s the really difficult bit over.

I am hoping the bathroom scales will be kind tomorrow.

Am being much more productive late afternoon/early evening, Tidying up, catching up with emails, getting clothes ready for work. I’m planning on moderating post DJ but hoping these new habits stick.

Thanks everyone for the inspiration and well done everyone. Go us!!! :)

I took a selfie today to compare with last week and I was like holy shit I look amazing then I realised the flash was on and it makes me look ten years younger. Took one without the flash and I look like I've gained about a stone (which is very possible!)

Good morning everyone!

Nice to see all the activity and dryness still going on on this here wagon! The support, tips and inspiration still coming. Keep it up!

So at midnight we achieved one whole week of dryness!* That's pretty amazing! Personally it had been quite a while since I'd had a whole dry week. It's a good milestone.
The end of yesterday saw us 22.5% of the way through!
We'll hit 25% later in the afternoon and that's a huge achievement.

*Well done also to the cutters down. As St Augustine said in the 4thC : "To many, complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation"
While this won't be true in case of addiction or heavy use, is certainly true for me and many others, as one drink already weakens willpower!

Hi, hoping to join you all for the month 🤞

Me and DH started on Wednesday, when I went back to work. Friday was really really hard, so last night we got out Catan and sat at the table playing with the kids, rather than watching a film in front of the telly and it helped a lot.

We had become daily drinkers, a beer after work and then a bottle of wine in the evening. Hoping to cut down to only drinking Thurs - Sun after DJ has finished. Being honest with myself, not sure I can last until the end of the month though with nothing - I've done DJ several times before and this has been the hardest start for me.

Welcome aboard @JonSnowsCupbearer and, with good authority I can tell you that you WILL last until the end of the month.

If it's harder then that's fine: it's a stronger (thus more unhealthy) habit that you're breaking, so a far better thing to do, and a bigger achievement.

There are good tips on AF drinks and distraction techniques on the thread. Good luck.

Bloody hell. Slept 12 hours straight.

Well done everyone on making it a week! Such an impressive level of support and a wonderful healthy improvement mindset for those who slipped. Life can be so tough and kindness to ourselves is paramount.

I went to the theatre last night and as tempting as the glasses of red wine in that environment looked I didn't really care. DH is at work today and I felt positive about not feeling rubbish today with the kids.

Friday was slightly tougher as I've been writing an MSc essay in my annual leave and achieved a full draft and wanted to reward myself. Tried Nosecco for the first time and was impressed.

Role on week 2!!