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!

Hello! First timer here for DJ. I have a pretty horrendous hangover which is spurring me on. DH is doing DJ too and his hangover is far worse than mine so I’m sure it will be a success.

We’re doing it to see what impact it has on our lifestyle. We drink more than we’d like with mid-week bottles of wine and then plenty more at the weekend. That fuzzy head every Sat and Sun morning means we’re not exercising, getting stuff done around the house or being as present as we could be as parents.

I find myself looking forward to wine too much and don’t feel it’s healthy. We also want to shift a bit of weight and sort out our diet and fitness. I know it’s only one month but I want to see what happens and make us look at alcohol differently. A few friends are doing it too which really helps! Good luck to everyone here!

I'm in. To be honest I haven't managed it before due to social situations and sabotaging myself.. Going to try harder this time!!

I think it's perfectly normal. You're worried you will fail and then feel shame or embarrassment. Against that, telling people may mean you are more likely to stick to it... I've found that just committing to it on here has made me feel more motivated, however, so I don't think you necessarily have to tell anyone IRL. If you prefer not to, you could always say you're on antibiotics.

Can I join? I've done it before but this has been a year of so much trauma that my drinking habits have gotten really bad. I feel anxious today and my go to is always wine in the evening if I'm anxious so I'm a bit worried about getting a craving later on, I want to break the cycle because drinking causes anxiety then anxiety makes me want to drink x

Thank you @HPLikecraft and @edwinbear I appreciate it. You're definitely right about bright, breezy and firm! Weight will definitely be the right road to go down with my mum as well.

Mind if I join you? I was on the OP's 2023 thread and I couldn't have achieved Dry January without it. As a heavy drinker, it was a huge mental struggle for me to do 31 days sober. I was so proud of myself for managing it.

Unfortunately after completing DJ 2023 I slipped back into bad habits and drank heavily again for the rest of the year. I've been drinking a bottle of wine a day for months and feel pretty dreadful today - I'm sluggish, carrying extra weight, my skin is bad and I feel depressed and anxious. I've also spent a ton of money on booze that could have gone elsewhere, and generally just feel really ashamed of myself for letting drink control my life.

So, I'm back again for 2024 and this time round my aim is to not drink until March 30th (my birthday). I know I'm going to find it very difficult but I really want to achieve this if I possibly can.

Yes of course @toomanyjellyfish 🙂

Welcome back @freshstart2023 hopefully you'll be able to have a good reset starting from now.
It took me a few years of going dry here and there to really help me get better control of the demon drink, so I'm hoping things will be a little more enduring for you this time.

So day 2 today. As tempting as it is to pour a glass...dark, dismal day, got the woodburner going, watching films, eating sweets and DH (who has absolutely NO intention of giving up his pints of lager EVER!) is sat next to me drinking said pint 🙄 but I won't give in. If anything his drinking makes me feel all the more determined to not drink!

I've been out and bought Nozecco and 0% peroni, all decs are down and everything back to 'normal' now.

If your partner continue to drink, how do you deal with it? Any advice because while I feel determined today, if he drinks when I feel like I could murder a wine, what do I do?!?!

Just checking in for day 1 and feeling positive. Me and DP had quite a lot to drink last night but were asleep early (before the bells) and resolve is strong today.
I love a glass of wine or 3 but it's increasingly a problem for me, mainly in triggering anxiety and paranoia, and being the cause of arguments between me and DP, or with friends. Wouldn't dream of having any of those disagreements when sober and I cringe at the memory of some of them.
This is my main motivation for DJ but also Ive taken up gym recently, am loving it, and it's so much harder even after only one drink the day before.
@HollyGolightly4 my strategies for tricky social situations are the bright and breezy approach as already suggested, or be the driver so drinking is not an option, or a white lie that you're on antibiotics for an infected toenail...dont be wearing your pointy stilettos though as they won't believe you 😆

@WTF99
Same here. Joined a gym last September and when I go, I absolutely love it but have hardly been during Nov and Dec because I feel so dodgy from drinking (sometimes only 1 glass of wine) the previous day! So it's my motivation too.

Defo in on this thread!! Am 46 now and want to start the year with a healthier lifestyle and think that this is a good start. So thanks for starting this thread, a brill way to get support and help.🤗🤗🤗

I have also heard that people eat ice lollies to help when a craving hits?

Funnily enough I just had an ice lolly before reading your post. There’s something about the coldness and tanginess of them that does hit a spot.

I’m doing ok today, but I’m tired and struggling with the January flatness after a month of drinking. Looking forward to having a bath and going to bed so I can tick off my first day. Going into work with a clear head will be a bonus tomorrow, but I know I will miss the “escapism” that alcohol brings from the worries of daily life, as well as the confidence it gives me in social situations.

@ClematisBlue49 and @DJ24 I'm actually not sure what worries me! They're all lovely and actually 3 of the 4 don't drink or don't drink much/regularly. I think it was more not knowing how to respond if anyone queries me not drinking when we go out, but this thread has given me some good ideas. Add to that I have a brain that tends to lean towards overthinking.

Knowing our group though, and our schedules, it'll probably be February before I see them! Problem solved

So it wasn't exactly an alcohol-free day today. I honestly thought the 16-year-old had poured the last bits of the sparkling wine to celebrate last night for both of us as instructed, but it turned out they left about a glass worth of sparkling wine in there.

I had that today while taking down the tree. Having said that, the rest of the day has been litres of tea in all sorts of flavours, so I didn't feel the need for another glass, and given it's way less than I'd normally drink I still take it as a win. The true test will be over the next few days, though, when there will be absolutely no alcohol in the house.

Scary as it is, the longest I've lasted alcohol-free over the last few years is 4 days, so even just a month would be a massive challenge.

I don't have new years resolutions as such, but i am facing two lots of surgery this year. So I have a general wellness improvement plan, including continuation of the weight loss I've done so far through better diet, and I'm also planning to start swimming regularly. I'm going back to using a paper diary in a bid to make this year my year of being more organised, which will hopefully be good for my mental health too. Day one and it's usually this time of day I start thinking about having a glass of something, so I'm resisting, drinking water instead and feeling very virtuous. Long may it last.

I’m in for DJ not tried it before but suffering a hangover from hell so definitely need to do this. Might have to change my username though?!

Checking in for 2024. Have done DJ for several years now. Had various attempts at cutting down/ going AF. Not sure where it's going this year but DJ is always a good way to kick things off.

I love wine but I know it makes me grumpy/ anxious and not good for sleep patterns.

Good luck to all new starters and old returners.

Me too 😂

I'm in! Second DJ for me (gap of a couple of years in between). Looking forward to a reset in January and then healthier habits beyond.

Almost cracked today at the ILs, resisted the first glass of wine but was very nearly tempted by the second round. The first AF NYD meal a big ⭐️ for me and everyone else on the thread.

I have the usual resolutions this year, I'm usually pretty crap at keeping them. I have lots of plans in place to stay on track. I started my health kick in November and this has been amazing to start the NY already 17lbs down, loving the gym, eating better and getting my steps in. I have a low spend year planned to meet our goal of being Mortgage free in 3yrs time, it's a tall order but possible. Above all else though is my self care year, step up my skincare routines, lots of water and positivity 😇 😊. I'm loosely following 75 soft challenge.

I really like wine too. Feeling the effects a bit from a NYE party so not really missing it this evening. I made a ritual of pouring a nice peach and ginger Trip into a nice glass with ice and that seems to have got me over my wine o’clock moment for today. I normally like to have some wine around 5.30 or 6 so hoping to substitute in some way in the coming days. I liked the tip about alcohol free red vermouth that was posted. Haven’t managed to find any yet though!

I'm feeling so anxious today. First day AF in 10days as we are on holiday.

Ugh I feel so guilty on my body.

Glad I found the thread, checking in with a huge hangover for day 1 of Dry Jan

I don't drive @WTF99 🤣🤣 so unfortunately, useless excuse for me there!

Well done for everyone being AF today. I'm currently enjoying a nice mint tea and even managed to resist the port when I had some cheese!

Hey all, checking in to join you for my first ever DJ.

I've never bothered with it before but regular drinking has been creeping up so I am looking forward to the break.