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 🙂

I had my first drinking dream last night. Can’t remember many details, but it definitely felt a bit stressful. My sleep was all over the place and very broken yesterday though - the worst it’s been since day 3. Hoping it’s just a blip!

I will be absolutely destroyed tomorrow.

Still, if I stick with it I should see a massive improvement after 6 weeks

I use the Pillow App and link to the Apple Watch. I like it, yeah. I had a Fitbit prior so didn't need a separate App and that was good too.

That’s brilliant Greatly! You’ll feel it tomorrow but keep at it and you’ll soon start feeling strong. It’s the best feeling 😊

Amazing! Well done, have a little sit down now

Wow, that's gonna hurt tomorrow! Amazing 💪💪

Well everyone, as we finish this day it will take us to 32.2%

However the nice, round third of the way will be at 8am tomorrow. See you there 🙂

I know
I'm just hoping I'm ok by next Tuesday!! It was fun though despite me being the most shit at it

Interview went really well, if I don't get it then it'll be because someone else was genuinely better.

Fingers crossed!

I have just scoffed a Magnum to celebrate, it was very nice.

🤞🤞🤞🤞

Still dry , and my wine chops ( DH fond name for my wine face ) and wine tummy seem to be not quite as bad as before dry January
🤞@pointythings you deserved that magnum !
🏋🏻‍♀️@Greatly wow !
thanks @HPLikecraft for keeping count , nearly a third of the way , goodness how time flies when you’re enjoying yourself

Well done @pointythings and @Greatly !

I'm feeling really good tonight - bright and fresh and mentally so much better. I'm enjoying a soft drink whilst watching TV and actually following the plot, rather than drinking and forgetting it all by tomorrow as I normally would.

@pointythings well done!!fingers crossed

Another big milestone, fantastic.

Checking in on day 10. Knackered. But have managed another couple of rows of knitting without a mistake.

I did it!! Tonic and lime at the bar then mocktails. with dinner. They have all gone on somewhere but I didnt want to crack so back at hotel. Could hear you all cheering me on though. Great support.

Was quite surprised how many people urged me to have " just one" rather than being encouraging.

@Hedjwitch that is bloody wonderful. If you can do it under that level of peer pressure then you have totally got this!

Well done all. Had a really big moment of temptation today, and oddly it was when I was texting dp that I feel like I'm coping a lot better at work and it is probably partly due to DJ. I think it shows that to me drinking alcohol is a bit of a rebellious thing. But tbh a rebellion that makes me feel so low so much of the time is a bit shit.

@Hedjwitch well done you! That's fantastic. It's so hard when people push you to just have the one. I've not really shared the fact I'm doing DJ with many people, especially my drinking friends, as I'm worried they'll try and derail me. How ridiculous is it that I'm worried about telling people I'm not drinking!

A huge well done - you are an inspiration! I'm almost certain I would have cracked in that situation.

I'm heading off to bed now, which means another dry day is officially done. It feels great to have achieved 10 days sober I must say.

I'm a actually more worried about tomorrow night staying at my sisters. I'm at " at home" drinker rather than a " going out" drinker, and being cosy in PJs by the fire and not drinking be yet another challenge.

Well done to all. The support on this thread is genuinely helpful

That's fantastic, well done 😊

Hedjwitch - hope you can bottle the sense of achievement. You had a good evening, I hope. Shame about the 'just the one' comments. I noticed there was lots on SM around Christmas/NY suggesting people do not say 'just one' recognising that we may have any number of reasons for not drinking alcohol.

Hope you have fun catching up with your sister tomorrow - would taking some of the flavoured teas for you both to share be an option?

Some amazing updates here - well done everyone

Day 10 for me too, and for the first time this DJ it hasn't even occurred to me to think about wine this evening. Which I'm really pleased about. I'm sleeping a lot better, though don't think I'm looking or feeling any better, and I'm no more productive than usual in the evenings. However, that said, I can be productive in the evenings even after a bottle of wine - I'm one of those very weird people who tidies up as a leisure activity, so no matter how much I have to drink I don't go to bed until the kitchen and lounge are tidy and clear, washing put away, all school stuff ready for the next day etc etc. But I'm probably not normal

Can't believe we are nearly a third of the way through!

Well done @Hedjwitch - that's very impressive. So hard to withstand that gentle pressure.

I just got through first day of a new work contract, terrified of the new start but didn't feel the need to 'celebrate' it going okay which is unthinkable. Also just suffered watching a terrible football match which I would normally have definitely helped myself through!