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Original poster

DRY JANUARY 2023! Been overindulging? Drinking crept up? Want to begin a healthy new you? This way please. All welcome!

992 replies

HPLikecraft · 28/12/2022 20:17

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 🙂

OP posts:
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5
confessionstoday · 08/01/2023 20:55

I'm still here. The weekends are tougher because it's habit that I would drink on a Friday and Saturday night but I've got through it with only a few cravings.

Hedjwitch · 08/01/2023 21:18

Made it. Watched two episodes of The Rig to take my mind of it. Decisions to be made this week as trip to London to see my sis and London based work colleagues,then my birthday.
Allow myself a day off or push on through?

Wishmelucknow · 08/01/2023 21:39

Day 8. Only 23 days to go ….😬

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General food
DoingALeicester · 08/01/2023 21:46

Done it. Phew. Can't believe I've now cooked and eaten x2 dry Sunday roasts without too much fuss. Did it last year and year before obvs but on year 3, perhaps finally getting a bit easier! My conclusion is that it's worth sticking with dry Jan and doing annually, even if habits slip back a few months later. By mid year last year I was half a bottle down before I'd even par boiled the spuds. Not good at all. I'll likely be facing an uphill battle once I'm past Jan 31st... but maybe repetition of this process year in year out gets you there eventually.

thenightsky · 08/01/2023 21:59

On a usual Sunday I’d be about three quarters of the way through a bottle of white by now, wondering whether I had ‘enough’ in the bottle to last me the rest of the evening

That's me as well. If its only 9pm and I've finished the bottle, I'd be looking at a vodka and lemonade just as a top up before bed.

RedxRobin · 08/01/2023 22:06

Made it through the first weekend & day 6 for me. Had a slight temptation earlier when was over at a friends house for a play date & was offered wine but abstained 😇
Definitely feeling physically a lot better today but same as someone else said upthread I do think about alcohol a lot which I find a little worrying.
Post DJ I’m not sure - part of me likes the idea of trying for 100 days but I’m not sure how doable it is. I do find myself increasingly falling out of love with alcohol - I’m just don’t really know what the next step is.

freshstart2023 · 08/01/2023 22:08

I'm safely tucked up in bed now, so that's day 8 done and dusted for me. I'm glad the first week of January is out of the way too - I always find it strangely depressing. Onwards and upwards!

OneFrenchEgg · 08/01/2023 22:15

Wow just realised I'm in bed and didn't even think about a drink today! Amazing.

Spirini · 08/01/2023 22:19

Wow, I can't believe I've done a week. I can't remember the last time I was AF for this long, two years maybe?? So bad.

I was at my cousins engagement party last night and I managed to drink fizzy water with lemon the whole night, I even managed to get up and dance! I saw a positive change in my mood today, thank god I'm starting to see benefits!

ColouringPencils · 08/01/2023 22:23

Well done everyone, first weekend down! I reckon that is the hardest bit.

Cherrymix · 08/01/2023 22:56

Evening all. Checking in after a wet and windy day spent watching my DC compete in his sport.

Top marks to everyone for doing so well & thanks for the shiny medal @HPLikecraft

@lemonsaretheonlyfruit & others asking about what happens to the thread after DJ - my best every DJ year as a penguin was when the 'berg sailed on for the whole of the rest of the year ending with a small motley crew of us who had kept each other going for most of it. Didn't manage to stay AF for the whole year but did almost 300 days.

In those days chat threads disappeared after 30 days so I'm sorry to say I can't even remember the names of the all my fellow travellers although I remember their stories. I wonder if any of them are on here now.

I'm feeling a lot like carrying on this year so am happy to join you into February and beyond.

WinterFoxes · 08/01/2023 22:59

We've done 8 days! That's 25% of the way!

Original poster
HPLikecraft · 08/01/2023 23:32

Hedjwitch · 08/01/2023 21:18

Made it. Watched two episodes of The Rig to take my mind of it. Decisions to be made this week as trip to London to see my sis and London based work colleagues,then my birthday.
Allow myself a day off or push on through?

What's The Rig like? Wasn't sure whether to watch or not... oil rigs freak me out anyway, so it already has a headstart for me if it's trying to be scary!

OP posts:
Original poster
HPLikecraft · 08/01/2023 23:33

Oh, meant to add @Hedjwitch , push on through. You'll regret that day off if you take it.

OP posts:
WaxingGibbon · 09/01/2023 00:36

Well done all for getting through day 8 and thank you for the lovely award @HPLikecraft ! I never win anything 😀

I'm back to work tomorrow after a lovely long Christmas break and not remotely looking forward to it - job is demanding and stressful and I think I'm going to find the witching hour harder.

Love the idea about how we could keep our support for each other going after the end of Jan - and I'd love to be part of that.

PermanentTemporary · 09/01/2023 05:43

@Hedjwitch I'd say keep on going. Depends why you're doing it but the reset and doing all of normal life without alcohol is a big part of it for me.

Not sure I will carry on completely AF after January but we'll see.

FlightDeckBuckarooo · 09/01/2023 06:07

I’d love to keep these threads going beyond January too. If I don’t stop totally then I definitely need to make drastic changes. I know at some point I’ll need to make proper decision, but my current plan is to extend DJ with a longer challenge (100 days maybe).

MeinKraft · 09/01/2023 07:11

Morning everyone. For the first time in as long as I can remember my first thought when I woke up this morning was 'what shall we do today' (me and baby) rather than 'how soon can I go back to bed!'

Original poster
HPLikecraft · 09/01/2023 07:26

Morning all.

I hope this isn’t TMI but I’m finding I’m not up in the night peeing so much now. I had a mug of peppermint tea in bed and still slept through. When I start dryness I usually am getting up once or twice.
I think after a while the body gets used to the better hydrated levels; as well as no longer being stimulated by alcohol.

Glad I slept well, as I was up at 7 because of term starting and having to get people up for school.

I'm also starting my 16:8 diet today 🙂

OP posts:
Findyourneutralspace · 09/01/2023 07:54

I’ve done a good, healthy meal plan and have started the week with a decent workout. The workout isn’t a January thing. I usually go to the gym Mon-Fri for a 6am class but I slacked a bit in December, so it’s good to be back on it. It wasn’t too hard getting up either, which is definitely down to better sleep.

JonSnowsCupbearer · 09/01/2023 08:01

I had an easier night. Struggled with my tea as I'd made something nice so it would have benefitted massively from a glass of wine! But otherwise ok. Terribly sleep still, lots of waking and dreaming.
My language course starts back this week though, so I will sit and do a bit of practice each night which will pass some time now.

I'll catch up on all the posts after work, hope you have all been ok overnight.

freshstart2023 · 09/01/2023 08:05

I had a good sleep last night and woke up feeling refreshed. I never want to take for granted how good this feeling is, compared to my usual morning state of feeling hungover and ill.

I'm glad to have gotten the first full weekend out the way too. Day 9 here we come!

buzzofthebumblebee · 09/01/2023 08:13

So encouraging to read of positive Monday feelings!

I feel much fresher than I would normally do, but I don't feel the whoosh of energy yet. Far too much bubbling away in my head - work, teens, etc etc.
Going to the gym in a bit - that will help.

Also want to continue beyond January - def not up to the 300 days you managed @Cherrymix (summer without rose ??!!) but do need to learn to restricting alcohol to at least Friday and Sat only, or maybe even just when I go out socially (which isn't too often !!). Who knows.

But here's to us, and to Week 2. Last full week must have been the worst.

LynnThese4reSEXPEOPLE · 09/01/2023 08:32

No night sweats! 2 gym sessions!!!!

Hooray!

I was reading that dreams become more florid as REM sleep re-establishes itself. Oh goodness me, yes!

lemonsaretheonlyfruit · 09/01/2023 08:37

Great to see so many positive posts on here. @freshstart2023 and others I totally agree that it's so nice to wake up with a more positive mindset and feeling more prepared to face the world rather than wanting to pull the duvet back over my head whilst beating myself up for having a bottle of wine last night.

Have a good day everyone Smile