DRY JANUARY 2024! 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!

DJ threads are 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 7th year of DJ and I swear it has made all the difference to me. It was so hard first time, but it has definitely 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. 🙂☕🧃

The DJ2024 Wagon creaks to a start in just 5 days! Join us!

Day one of January done. Not had a craving, and hope it carries on like this, but I know it’s going to get tough.

Both DH and I have done day 1

Surprising as we think we have a. At repair we can't afford till the end of the month but we stick with it (usually a stressful day would have us heading to the alcohol aisle)!

Headed for an early night with a cup of tea, DH stepped up and finished off a bottle of wine that was in the fridge for me ( he doesn’t normally drink white wine) I would have thrown it but he hates the waste!
Alarm set for an early morning run on the treadmill which will be so much easier not having had wine tonight.

Last year I lurked but this year I want to join. I am in Aus so it is the middle of our summer (and school holidays) for me but I need to reset my relationship with alcohol. From Sept - Dec I stuck to ‘no alcohol at home’ and that worked great. I slept better, trained better, felt refreshed and then Dec came along and it all went out the window.
Had a great night sleep last night after no drink so looking forward to getting back into the positive habit

Please may I join too? I've completed Dry January a couple of times, but caved after two weeks in 2022 and didn't even attempt it last year. Like others here, I'm drinking too much day to day and seeing all the ill effects. Life has been stressful recently, which means I turn to wine, but it's become far too frequent and definitely isn't helping my mental health. Really hoping for a reset.

Love the name @pollyannaperspective

Just checking in at the end of Day 1. Had a bit of a moody moment around 6pm when I have been cracking open the wine all holiday, but I got over it!

Like some others I am hoping to go beyond January, but at the moment I am only going to commit to Jan and see how I get on. Thought I would write down what I am hoping to achieve in case I need to remind myself later on:

• making a decision and sticking to it - I don't want to be a quitter
• breaking the habit that has become worse in the autumn/winter
• waking up feeling fresh and rested
• feeling calmer and less anxious
• being more present to chat to teen DCs in the evening - they usually want to start telling me about their day around 10pm
• would love to lose some weight, even though I didn't in past DJs (but I have been drinking a lot of beer recently, so am hopeful I will notice the difference more than with wine). I need to remember not to replace all the beer calories with chocolate
• better skin would be nice too!
• not thinking about booze
• having more headspace and time in the evening to work out bigger life plans (apply for new job etc)

I have an account I don't use so I think I will do the same.

Good to read everyone's intros and updates. We saw the new year in with a good few glasses of wine and after a 2:30am bedtime I was actively looking forward to today being alcohol free!

I am another one who just really enjoys wine and uses it as both a treat and as a comfort/anxiety reliever, but then find that drinking increases anxiety overall so it's a vicious circle. On the plus side, it's only wine that appeals to me (so if I'm around people drinking beer or spirits it won't bother me at all).

I have found it easy enough not to drink today but I know that I'll probably start to struggle as as the week goes on (especially Friday). My trigger time is the early evening when I'm getting dinner ready. All too easy to open a bottle when I start cooking. Have bought in some nice flavoured tonics and will try not to eat too many snacks to compensate for no wine...

Evening all, DJ newbies and veterans alike!

I hope this day has gone well for you and you managed to stay distracted and/or able to swat away any unwanted taps on the shoulder from the demon drink.
I had a long bath which always helps me stay off booze.

I'm off to bed now, but here's today's progress report: at the end of today, we will have completed

3.2% of Dry January 2024!

OK, that may not sound like much, but in another two days that'll be practically 10% , which you'd have to agree is a respectable chunk.

Well done if you managed today. If you didn't don't beat yourself up; climb back aboard the wagon <holds out hand> and try it again tomorrow. It'll be better then.

Night all, you're brilliant.

Hello everyone, I did DJ last year for the first time and felt great for it. I last drank on the 28th so 4 days dry already. I'm hoping for better skin and energy. Great to see so many feeling positive.

I had been undecided about this year. Have a big deadline the 8th of Jan so knew I wouldn't drink before then but hadn't decided on the rest of the month, but its such a great reset I'd be foolish not to embrace DJ.

Happy New Year to all. I’d like to join too please. Day one done. It wasn’t too bad. A blessed relief for the liver at last.

I have the dreaded lurgy so no wine and cheese thing for me.

1 day down, 30 to go. Happy dry January 2024 everyone.

Day one down for me! I was planning on having a glass of wine and starting on the 2nd, but my infused water was tasting really good and I didn't want anything else!

Starting today as had a family thing yesterday.

I'm in. I started on the 27th of December following a bout of food poisoning.

Day one done for me. Away on hols and as it was our last night normally I would have the wine witch shouting in my ear to "enjoy" myself with a few glasses and start on the 2nd instead.

We went out for dinner with the kids,played cards and my OH and I drank sparkling water - it was fun and alcohol would have added nothing just regret in the morning. Day 2 here we go 💪🏼

I'd like to join too. First night done but such a poor sleep... lots of time to reflect why I need to do this though

Awful nights sleep! But here we go day 2!

I’m starting today - as planned. We had a special NYD lunch with champagne as we usually do, so starting Dry January on the 2nd.

It’s my first time on the threads but I’m a Dry January regular. Last year I did until end of March. I’m not sure how long I’m aiming for this year yet. I don’t have any particular problem with alcohol but I noticed that I was drinking and not always really appreciating it, for example mindlessly drinking a glass of wine when drinking dinner.

Although I don’t tend to drink that much I notice the affect that alcohol has on my sleep quality on my sleep tracker with my heart rate raised all night compared to an AF evening. I get my best quality sleep when I’m several days AF. I like doing Dry January as a reset and to make sure old habits don’t creep up. I generally also do some random extended periods of no drinking during the year.

I know some of you like AF substitutes and that’s great if it helps you get through day by day. For me I just stick with water and a tea after dinner, and if I’m out at a social occasion maybe one alcohol free cocktail followed by sparkling water.

Happy Dry January 2024 everyone!

Morning all.
Well, not the best night's sleep, but still better than that fuzzy headed feeling after a night on the wine.
Those of you who have already started DJ early due to being unwell, hope you are feeling better and see the early DJ start as the 'silver lining'.
Day 2 is underway.

Morning all
I slept ok but was woken at 6am by my dog wanting to go for a wee so I'm now back in bed with a coffee and scrolling on here.
It's nice to wake up without that fuzzy head feeling or a dull headache.
I feel like I need to change my username but not sure what to?
Anyway, here's to day 2 let's do this

Last night’s ‘sleep’ was awful. Truly awful. I was so restless. Couldn’t get my temp right. Couldn’t get comfortable, kept having anxiety/ adrenaline surges all night.
at least I’m not hungover though.
am hoping it will get better soon.

@CrackersCheeseAndWinePlease

Maybe swap and for no?

That's a great idea. I'm changing it now