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 9 done. Hoping I can just keep going, am not having any AF wine / gin etc, just diluted squash. This is not glam, but is doing the trick for now!

You can keep going, @vinoandbrie

You all can. Thanks for sharing your posts today.
The end of today means we are now...

29%

of the way through Dry January.

Go you!

Day 9 done for me too. No cravings today at all.
I'm finding it easier than I thought I would, I actually just realised today that the longest I've gone without alcohol is 2 weeks, for as long as I can remember. Other than when pregnant, my youngest is 14 😱
We've just got into such a habit to drink wine (or sometimes something stronger), on a Saturday night.
We're also doing no spend January, so not eating out, which I probably couldn't do easily without drinking honestly.

Serious temptation last night! I teach a dance class, this was first night back after a break so there was a lot of trying to keep positive as I dealt with people going wrong all over the room. Was fantasising about a wee dram on my drive home, but instead had an AF GnT with a dash of bitters.

Weight still stubbornly refusing to move, dammit.

But when I walk downstairs in the morning, I can do it at a sprightly forward facing pace, rather than a sideways shuffle.

Morning all and checking in.
My one decent nights sleep in Sunday hasn't lasted. But going to bed earlier and managing to read. Also feeling much beyond morning- headaches seem to have disappeared.

Increased water intake isn't happening either. The water bottle is an attractive addition to my desk 😂

Positives I've not had the thought to buy wine in way home from work so that habit has been much easier to break second time around.

Well done everyone, those AF drinks were a lifesaver for me last time.
We can do this- one day at a time

Morning all

Good morning!

Just ordered a couple of quit lit books which I'm looking forward to getting stuck into later. I'm also enjoying Wellity's excellent daily blog updates.

I hope you're doing ok, Wellity. I know what a huge hole is left when we lose a beloved pet. So much of what you write chimes with me. Keep on keeping on.

I've also belatedly signed up to the Try Dry app. Hoping it might help to keep me on the straight and narrow post DJ. Part of me thinks I really should just use this as an opportunity to stop for good, but a big part simply doesn't want to. I just really enjoy a nice glass of wine. The challenge will be keeping it to a glass and not a bottle. Lots to mull over.

Have a great day all!

Checking in for day 10! DS was at running club last night, and as it was too cold to hang around waiting, I went to pub to warm up (nowhere else open close by). Had an AF beer with no feeling I'd rather have something else.
Like PP I'm not actually feeling any better for being AF, but I know my liver must be thanking me! I do think my eyes look less puffy, but may be wishful thinking.
Well done everyone so far- we are doing amazingly!

Morning, I'm still here. There has been chat in my book club about meeting up this week and I can't say I'm ready to go out yet - it's not the no-drinking as I will drive and won't be tempted it's the fact it will start at 8pm and I'm going to bed just after 9pm at the moment! Plus it's the first week of work and school and I also can't face going out into the cold and dark (excuses, excuses and a bit boring I know!). Anyway I bowed out gracefully and now they've moved the date to next week (aargh!). Hopefully next week I'll be more up for it (otherwise I'm going to be a sober recluse ha ha).

DJ isn’t saving me money- the AF drinks are more expensive than my normal tipples, but, they are helping me psychologically.
I am still really bloated and gassy, even when not having any fizzy stuff.
what I would love to find is something that gives me that warm fuzzy feeling I get from my first drink.
any suggestions please?🙂

Good morning, I’ve been reading but not posting. I’m ill with a heavy cold at the moment so there’s not been any will power testing the last few days! “Dr” DH recommended that I have a medicinal sherry but I declined that. Unfortunately with my sleep being disrupted due to my cold and generally feeling unwell I can’t see the sleep and heart rate benefits from being AF at the moment.

Morning everyone - not a great night's sleep, the dog was restless but even though I struggled to get back to sleep I didn't have those anxious thoughts that sometimes can feel quite torturous.
Been there, done that with the quit lit - I really don't find it helpful - too much opinion wrapped up as fact. I tried hypnosis too, there's no way of telling who it will work on, it had limited effect on me but it really worked on my friend - you have to keep doing it though - I'm sure there are podcasts now that you can listen to that put you into a hypnotic state.

I didn't manage to post yesterday but checking in today and still AF!

I've found it really hard to wake up the last couple of mornings - but have had a proper uninterrupted sleep. We're late to the party but been catching up on Traitors and Mr Bates vs. Post Office in bed so been going to sleep quite a bit later.

I have a screening today for a movie coming out later this month which usually comes with a big table of booze so I'll have to rein it in and make sure I pick an AF option. I'm looking forward to the event but also really would also like to be in bed watching my shows. I too am becoming a reclusive winter hermit.

Still having work wobbles but my stance of next steps seems to change every other day. I'm definitely at a bit of a cross roads there.

Day 12 for me, although it feels much longer.

Proud of myself for getting through my first counselling session and not drinking afterwards.

I had one glass of AF wine about 8pm but then went back to tea.

Off to a spoken word poetry event this evening, which I'm looking forward to. It's an AF event so no danger of falling off the wagon either!

@Mykittensmittens

Thankyou for your explanation re sleep cycles and dreams yesterday. I read it as I was queuing up to get my lunch yesterday. I woke up at 6 this morning wide awake (must have been the end of a 90 min cycle) but then couldn't open my eyes after going back to sleep until my alarm went off at 7 and overslept. Explains things perfectly!

I know people have mixed feelings on quit lit and everyone has their favourites - or stay away from it which i also get.

I have read quite a few and the one that absolutely sticks in my mind and I keep going back to as a reminder is Alcohol Explained by William porter. (I think it's been mentioned on here) .

It's not a story or diary. It's not scientific and it's not in any way judgemental.

It just 'explains' in laymen's terms the process that we go through when we think about having a drink, after we have had one then why we want more, what it does to us and makes you more aware of what's happening in the process. (With ideas on how we can be more aware and therefore reduce or stop - whatever your plan is)

Obviously a lot more to it than that- but it was like a lightbulb moment for me when I read it.

I hope everyone has a good one on this truly freezing 🥶 day. I am working from home and am loving the heated blanket that my sister got me for Christmas. It's like having a large warm cat on your lap.

Just checking in. Still here, sleeping well, my skin looks much brighter. Got a bit bored yesterday and wanted wine, but stuck to my AF martini (a godsend) and AF beer. Like some others, also not saving money due to the spend on alternatives. I like the Brewdogs as it feels like I am holding a real can of beer! How sad is that?! Have a good day everyone.

Morning everyone! Still here, still AF. Well done everyone for getting this far!
My sleep has settled down and I’m getting the most amazing nights sleep thankfully- after years and years of being a light and restless sleeper. However I’m really struggling to wake up in the mornings- I’m so groggy! I’m sure the arctic weather isn’t helping! Is anyone else experiencing this?

Morning all, day 10 here we come!

Reporting back on the herbal teas and Sentia...

A couple of nice teas: Twinings Sweet Dreams, and Good Earth Moringa and Mango. The second one was delivered as a substitute for the Turmeric and lemon one, and I wouldn't normally have chosen it as it sounds too sweet, but it's actually really smooth and subtle. (Good Earth teas are more expensive than most but I got it half price from Sainsburys.)

The Sentia... I put it in the fridge for a couple of hours and then served with slimline tonic, ice and a slice. It tasted like a more complex and less sweet version of coke / pepsi, and not unlike cocktails I've had in the past. The drink itself is quite syrupy, so I had it in a tall glass with lots of tonic. I found it refreshing, and there was definitely an effect similar to a small amount of wine. The label says you can have up to 4 x 20ml shots in one session, but there are only 20 shots in a bottle, so it's expensive. I just had the one, as I'm not a big fan of long fizzy drinks too close to dinner time, and didn't fancy it straight.

Yesterday was a challenge, not because I wanted to drink wine, but because I had an anxiety attack. I'd really hoped that being AF would have put an end to those, but it seems I was just calmer post-Christmas because less was going on. Sleep last night was not as good, and I'm not sure whether that was due to the anxiety or the Sentia. I believe it acts on brain chemistry in the same way as alcohol (increasing GABA / reducing glutamate, which the brain then compensates for by reversing the process, causing anxiety).

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Today I am meeting friends for lunch, which will be fine. I never drink during the day anyway (apart from Christmas). Agree with others that it is tempting to stay in when the weather is this cold!

@BigButtons you asked about ideas for getting the warm fuzzy feeling that you get from an alcoholic drink. The only thing I have found that comes close is Trip CBD drinks. They seem to affect different people in different ways but for me I find it is a subtle mellow and slightly relaxed feeling. I think they taste quite nice too and they don’t have many calories. For the red wine drinkers here (me included) I think it is hard to find anything similar, but Trip does feel like a small treat for me.

I actually just realised today that the longest I've gone without alcohol is 2 weeks, for as long as I can remember

Me too.

Last night a friend called to invite our family to her holiday lodge for the last Friday, Saturday of the month. We went last year & it did involve board games & a few drinks each night. I thought about refusing but decided it's only a few days away from completing the whole month so I went ahead & agreed. As in previous years I do DJ to give my body a break & get back on track after all the festivities which involves more than my usual Friday, Saturday drinks either at home or going out for the evening. We all have our own reasons & it's just whatever works.

I've decided on sex. My poor exhausted husband. 😊

That should do it for the warm and fuzzy! 🤣

Lucky you!😂 my OH would in no way oblige ☹️🤔

My DH would be beyond delighted.