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 7 for me. No cravings but still recovering from food poisoning. I feel so much calmer and focused. Sleeping well, I used to wake up in the middle of the night and worry about work. I have downloaded the dry Jan app and treated myself to some nice face cream recommend by another MNetter

The biggest change for me has got to be how to deal with work related stress.

Good luck everyone x

Morning all
I managed to get a full 8 hours sleep last night woop! Still laid in bed with a coffee but feeling good.
Day 3 let's do this

So far so good here, but Saturday will be my first test. That being said, my usual Saturday companion actually works at the pub we normally lunch at and she has been telling me about all the AF options they have, so I think it’ll be OK.

Just weighed in and it’s not a pretty picture so diet needs to really kick in now.

@LollipopViolet I'm yet to weigh myself that's today's job. I know I've gained weight but I'm almost scared to see how much 😂

Morning,

Not sure if sleep is as better today than last night - maybe marginally, but I don't feel super "conquer the world' energised haha.

Back to work today and I am so glum about it - real case of the blues!

I may need to try something similar and do a bit of exercise when I log off so I'm not tempted to have wine. I'm starting to think some of my daily evening drinking is connected to work.

Morning all

Dreadful sleep last night, going to get some magnesium today as suggested.

AF G&T is my drink of choice (until Gin runs out) then I'll revert to flavoured tonic water - m&S do some nice ones.

Still off work until 8th so be 'stresses' yet

Another crap night for me too. Back to work today. Hopefully getting back into my normal routine will help.

I’ve only been back at work a day, but knowing that I’m going in with a totally clear head (as opposed to slightly fuzzy due to drinking) is a relief.

Not drinking means I’m also spending far less on other food and drink to combat the hangover - like coffees, stodgy lunches and takeaways.

Morning all. I had a decent night's sleep, though it took a long while to actually feel sleepy; I didn't go to bed until 1am.

I don't know why I expected an instant decrease on the scales, but my weight has actually increased these last two days, even though I must have consumed around 600kcal less each day due to swapping alcoholic drinks (often cocktails) for herbal tea. Then again it's that time of the month, so who knows.

Day 2/3 of being alcohol free are normally the days where I need the loo a lot more often, so I'm glad I'm not due at work yet until Monday.

By the end of the month, I will have saved around £225, so, today, that's £14. 6 out of 7 days not drinking (assuming my date happens) will mean £43 saved.

Going out with friends tonight; we're all meeting in a pub, but will also all be driving as we all live in different towns, so it will be an alcohol-free one. Elderflower tonic water is my pub drink of choice; it's very nice on its own.

Morning all I had a crap sleep again last night binged chocolate so had a sore stomach 🥹 BIL appeared last night gifted me a bottle of my favourite gin no inclination to open it yay

Morning! I'm still easily in, still feeling puffy and sluggish post Xmas (where we were all ill with colds/viruses). I have hit the gym and am drinking tons of water so hoping to feel fresher soon.

If anyone needs a daily motivational pep talk #soberdave (on Instagram) is doing 31 talks live at 7pm from long term sober people. I am listening a day later at 5pm which is my twitchy time.

I've also added the aim of 2 litres of water a day, got myself a motivational water bottle lol

Morning all!
I slept poorly, then slept in. My own fault: had one extra coffee yesterday!
Just out to walk dog, then heading off to Big City with DH and the DDs for a day out.
I really felt like a drink last night. Just shows how a few weeks of bad habits can undo all the previous good work. I didn’t though, don’t worry 😇

Great to see you all checking in your your news and experiences. Don’t forget these are read by lots of people, even if not answered directly, so every post might help someone.

I’ll post again later, and think I’ll look up SoberDave, too, thanks for the tip.

Have a healthy day everyone 😊

Me too @fatandhappy47 but failing miserably.

Today I have a day out and normally it'd be a pub lunch and half a bitter, so it's a sandwich and a cup of tea instead.

To all those using magnesium - I started taking it when I was diagnosed with high BP five years ago. It's a relaxant for the blood vessels and arteries, but it also helps with cramps and stiffness, and as people are finding, it helps with sleep too.

On the magnesium issue; I'm trying out the Better You night-time magnesium body spray. Will report back if it helps improve sleep/stiffness.

I've always had slightly high BP; never medicated though. It'll be interesting to see what my BP is at the end of January! Looking forward to finding out.

Day 4 for me and still feeling very motivated. I hope it continues. 🙏

Morning! A slightly better night’s sleep last night, but vivid dreams as others have described - not sure what that’s all about!

Feeling motivated today, youngest DC is back to school (albeit grumpily 😁) and older two are cracking on with uni and school work respectively, I’ve done an hour of gardening (always my favourite thing) and swept up a load of leaves after yesterday’s storm in advance of heading to work. So am feeling quite productive and positive. Weather is calmer and there is even a bit of sunshine this morning, which helps!

Have a good day today everyone, day 3 for me, hoping I can stay strong minded as the weekend approaches 🤞

Hello, I slept through last night. Only five and a half hours, but five and a half hours uninterrupted is good for me.

I’ve got the house to myself today (oh, the relief,) so I did an online exercise class first thing. I was planning to crack on with some sorting and tidying whilst I’ve got the peace and quiet, but still procrastinating about that.

It’s finally stopped raining so I’m going to pop out to stock up on peppermint tea, and get some fresh air.

@FlyingPandas Gardening is so good for mental health isn’t it? I might try and get some done at the weekend, although I’m not an expert - is there much you can do at this time of year?

Hi Everyone, I’d love to join.

My alcohol consumption has crept up over the last year and especially over Christmas resulting in feeling really awful.

I wouldn’t say I have a hugely stressful life but my husband is deployed and we have 3DC as well as large animals so I’m juggling it all as well as the house and part time job and wine has felt needed.

I am a red wine drinker (with the occasional bottled larger) and despite having a huge gin collection and a fridge full of Prosecco etc It’s all safe, however if there was a nice bottle of Malbec sitting it would be a struggle.

I probably drink 3/4 days out of 7 and normally 3 bottles of wine a week. Like a PP I think of red wine as quite a sensory experience, good food cooking, candles, snuggled up under blankets with a sparkly clean glass sparkly in the fairy lights, it all sounds very Hygee and romantic accept it’s fucking my liver, draining my bank balance and really affecting my anxiety.

My last drink was the 1st (planned) and hope to make the whole of January (and possibly beyond) however a big hurdle is my daughters 17th birthday as my parents are visiting and they also have good food/wine mentality engrained into their core.

I slept OK last night, clean bedding and nice hot bath helped but I tend to find my willpower fades as the week goes on…

Day 3 for me,
still motivated - and it’s great reading everybody’s posts, definitely helps keep the motivation.
thanks to the poster who recommended #soberdave looks an interesting listen so may start on my lunch break today.
I find it much easier on week nights as don’t generally drink on those so it’s Friday/Saturday that will be a test for me but I have booked a brand new personal trainer session for Sundays at 8am so hoping that helps at the weekend!

Day 3 for me. Also sleeping loads better because I am hydrated properly so am not waking in the night, boiling hot, thirsty and itchy.

Thinking ahead to Friday though, am planning a nice dinner, pjs, and a good book to read. I also have a reformer pilates class on Saturday, so another reason not to overindulge on the Friday night.

SoE.

Well done everyone 👏
All good here, Friday and Saturday nights will be a huge test of my willpower though. And next week is my birthday, I've never had a sober birthday except for pregnancy so this will be a weird one. One year on my birthday, I emulated Xmas Day where I started on Bucks Fizz for breakfast and continued on until 5pm when the red wine got opened (it was a weekend, no work or school runs ). How my liver still functions, I'll not know.

Hi all! I started a bit earlier so haven't had any booze in a week. Starting to see the effects now - my skin is much less red and my face is a lot less bloated