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 🙂

@freshstart2023 not that I am any great authority, but I tend to distract myself with food or drink that is as 'un-wine' associated as possible, for example a mug of Horlicks, Chai Latte or Options hot chocolate. I am also eating for dinner meals that (for me) would otherwise be lunches / brunches - e.g. scrambled eggs on toast, soup and a sandwich etc. - so they don't have the wine association. And also watching TV that needs sub-titles (e.g. The Bridge, highly recommended!) as then I 'have' to give it my full attention (as opposed to my usual approach of watching some dross with wine, and falling asleep towards the end of the episode!).

@freshstart2023 you have so much to look forward to - you're at the start of a brilliant new adventure, and you are going to feel AMAZING in the morning!
And we're here for you

I'm in! Not done it for a couple of years, but used to be on the old Penguin threads. I once even managed 100 dry days, but then took a Spanish holiday, where I fell into a jug of sangria and lost the vibe. I've got a couple of bottles of that awful Eisberg stuff in, but in all honesty, I think I prefer sticking with fizzy water.

Checking in today. Why is it so hard! We have loads of alcohol in the house and the dark evening is making me crave a nice bottle of red.

I love nothing more than sitting in front of the fire, sharing a bottle with DH.

Ive settled on a plate of cheese and a cup of tea but the evening ahead feels long. it’s not even 6pm!

I keep thinking ‘a glass isn’t so bad’ but then I get angry at myself as I should be able to go a day without it.

I drunk a Trip drink about 30 mins ago and now having an Eisberg AF mulled wine. It's as good as normal mulled wine and is having that same comforting psychological effect - warming and cosy and 'end of the day' feeling. I ordered some alcohol free amaretto from Lyres today, so I'll add a bit of that to future iterations.

Day 1 almost done. Having a bath sans G&T, and then a herbal tea for me.

I found this first day surprisingly easy, given I have been drinking daily throughout the last year. The big one will be when work starts again, though - perhaps I should opt for a hot chocolate when I get home instead.

I'm cooking dinner and having a ginger cordial and tonic. Tasty and it has bite.

Good evening.

Stay strong everyone, it will be bedtime before you know it. Focus on getting through the next hour, then the next.
Fizzy water for me tonight!

Lime and sofa here, I think I've survived the witching hour now we've eaten.
I've just downloaded the NHS drink free days app, so hoping that will give me extra motivation

I don't think you should drink sofas. Way too much fibre.

Spending the evening in a motorway service motel en route to visit family. No temptations whatsoever and looking forward to a quiet evening with Call the Midwife.

I was given a knitting kit for Xmas so am hoping that knitting will get me through the dark winter evenings.

I don't tend to drink substitute drinks anymore although AF red got me through previous DJs

How are you getting on @freshstart2023 ? I’ve been drinking a similar amount to you (maybe more). It’s a tricky habit to break.
I downloaded the audiobook of ‘Alcohol Lied to Me’ today which I’ve started listening to. Some bits resonate more with me than others, but I think it helped today.
I think @Stickywhitelovepiss has good advice about doing things not associated with alcohol. I didn’t drink yesterday either (first night in ages) but I went to bed fairly early with a page turner thriller novel instead and read the whole thing. It was an easy read, but I’d never have got so engrossed and read so much if I had wine. I never watch subtitled programmes due to losing interest after a certain amount of wine, so that’s a suggestion I’ll be using too.

Today I found between about 4 - 6 tricky, but now I’ve eaten (we ate earlier than usual for this reason) I’m feeling like the moment has passed.

Sticky what is Trip like?

Hi all
I am over the witching hour now too! I think I will try a hot chocolate while watching the new "Happy Valley".

FIL cancelled on us as he wasn’t feeling well, so we’ve had a lovely roast dinner - no alcohol.

DH has decided to get on board though he’s not promising the whole of January.

Prepping the dinner was my flash point, normally on a Sunday afternoon I’d pour myself a glass of sherry or a wine while peeling and chopping the veg. I stuck to sparking water with ice and a slice.

Like a PP I can’t/won’t drink AF substitutes. I already know that if I’m going to do this I’ll need to stick to sparkling water, soft drinks, OJ, tea, hot chocolate, Ovaltine, etc of an evening.

So far so good here. DH had beer with football and wine with dinner that was opened yesterday and not bothered at all that I wasn't having any. I have realised I need to focus on drinking more water though, as reached for coke zero and orange juice today as so used to having something 'flavoured' as wine etc is.

Hope everyone else is having a good first day.

How interesting that so many people's 'danger zone' is the run-up to dinner. Once I've eaten, the immediate urge goes as well - though I am left with all this empty time to kill... I ate at 6.30pm for that reason too - nip it in the bud!

@FlightDeckBuckarooo I drunk two today and thought I might be feeling slightly more relaxed, but that could just have been the power of suggestion - I think you'd need to drink quite a lot to have any discernible effect. I have also got some CBD infused chamomile tea, so am going to have one of those in a bit too.

Thanks very much for the support everyone - I was really struggling earlier so I needed that. I managed to get through the early evening and dinner time thanks to a few cold AF beers. I've ordered a load more (along with some other nice soft drinks) in my online shop, which will arrive tomorrow night. I find they really help.

Instead of drinking wine this evening I had a lovely bubble bath, moisturised, brushed my teeth and flossed. It's disgusting I know but often when I had a lot of alcohol, I would fall into bed drunk without brushing. My mental health already feels a tiny bit better just from doing those few small things to look after myself.

I'm tucked up in bed now, partly to avoid any more temptation and partly because I'm feeling exhausted thanks to the hangover. I'm looking forward to hopefully feeling much better tomorrow.

Well done to everyone for getting through today!

Also, a question for people who have done this before: do you find it gets easier or harder as the month goes on?

Dinner prep is also my danger zone!

I might pick up some ginger ale tomorrow, that's quite nice and refreshing without being overly sweet.

PP that mentioned knitting - that's a great idea. It really helped me quit smoking many years ago.

Day One done, thanks to Lemsip! Woe is covidy me!

Well done to everyone who’s seen off the craving. Bravo!

Can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and start back on the ‘regime’. There is a lot of pressure for me to drink and over eat over Xmas and NY and I have succumbed for an easy life. Back to my clean living lifestyle again, more energy, better mental health, weight loss. I’ve had a lovely festive season but it’s time to get back on the wagon!!

Agree it's interesting that dinner prep is a trigger for so many of us. I got round it today by not cooking a roast, as I would normally crack open the wine at that point.
I've bought a few AF beers, keeping them to get me through the weekends I think

I have gone from being a big drinker to being a very moderate drinker gradually. It’s not something that happens quickly and you cannot flip flop around between drinking and not drinking. It’s a full time lifestyle commitment otherwise you’ll just be giving up and then giving up giving up constantly, iykwim, without any progress being made. I simply do not have the taste for booze nowadays and can easily contemplate giving up completely but I don’t want to entirely as I find the odd one helps with social situations and adds a certain cheer to proceedings. I just don’t hanker after it at 5 o’clock any more and have lost the taste for it however it took AGES for that habit to break and long spells of abstinence.

Sorry, one more post: I've been reflecting on my behaviour when I've been drinking. DH and I had two or three big rows last year after consuming a few too many drinks and I know the DC heard us shouting. I'm so ashamed and disgusted with myself, I know it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't drunk too much. It's unforgivable, I love the DC to bits, they deserve better and I can't stop beating myself up about it.