DRY HARD 2: DRY HARDER! Dry January 2024, Thread#2 🧃🧋

[HPLikecraft]

Thread#2...

Let's keep going!

Sending to @BigButtons and @LindorDoubleChoc , thinking of you both.

Sounds like lots of people are thinking ahead towards February and beyond. I'm also planning to try to stay AF to mid February, I really saw the benefits in doing those additional two weeks last year. We are then away for half term and realistically I will probably be drinking during that holiday - we are skiing which is DH's happy place but well out of my comfort zone if I'm honest. But I really want to resist the temptation to reach for wine as a reward/stress reliever/incentive to do another day's skiing etc. I will aim for moderation and then further regular abstinence once we are home. Let's see how that goes!

Day 14 here, this is classic wine time for me as I've done a couple of hours' gardening, DH is cooking a roast, it's getting dark etc etc. But I don't feel much of an urge today which is great.

Onwards!

Day 12 here. Had a bit of a wobble this weekend when I was told DF is on his last chance of chemo. My normal response would be to get very drunk after kids had gone to bed & have a big cry but I managed to stick to it. Should it come to the worst case scenario I want to know that I’m going to confront my feelings & not just deal with it by getting drunk so this feels like a step in the right direction for me

@FlyingPandas We are skiing too for half-term. Last year I drank every day of the holiday (well I extended the holiday to be the night before we left and 2 nights after we got home!). I found the skiing hard work plus I came home feeling sluggish and tired from all the wine. This year I'm thinking of not drinking ideally or just drinking towards the end of the week - I have started doing this on holiday and I find it easier to do the dry time up front as I find it impossible to do it at the end and then it's a week or more of drinking!

Delurking with a name change. Started a couple of days late, day 12 for me and going well. Really enjoying proper sleep and the glimmer of a jawline. I start DJ every year, then lapse and stop completely. I don't think I've been dry for a month in over 30 years - even when pregnant I had the odd glass. I drink (drank?) a dreadful amount - easily 7 bottles of red a week, sometimes more. I'm definitely an 'all or nothing' drinker. As pps have said, I don't bother with AF drinks, I'm on gallons of mint tea - I love the taste of red wine, but more than that, shamefully, I like being tipsy or drunk. I'm not missing drinking for the first time ever (all 12 days) but already having a chat with myself about post Jan. I don't want to go back to how I was drinking, but I know that I cannot moderate at all.
Anyway, apologies for the essay! 🫖

Ah, indeed @didthecrowseatchoccy ? Do you mean the 29th, though? I'm the 28th. I forgot it was a leap year, so I'm not the last day of February after all; not this year! Nice to keep going until then anyway.

Gosh, looks like I missed a troll earlier. Not sure if I'm annoyed that someone is being a twat on here, or disappointed to have missed the action and possible amusement! Leaning towards the former, though.

Inspired by the tea-based AF drink i saw in M&S (and I think someone mentioned on the first thread) I've decided to make my own. I make bottle fermented ginger beer anyway so it's a variation on that. With ginger and a tiny bit of chilli for a warm glow. Will be ready next weekend. Probably awful, but you never know. If it's good I will take advance orders

So many posts I still have to catch up on... I'm glad there are so many of us keeping it dry this year. Again, thanks for all your posts, everyone. They all help.

Goodness, some of you are facing serious challenges @RedxRobin @BigButtons .
I'm here, AF, had a lovely meal out with friends last night, I drove us all and had a really great evening. Wish I could say I slept well but not sure if it was the food or a commotion on the street when I got home that kept me very unsettled all night. Should sleep better tonight though.

Well, it transpires that one of my DDs might get married this year, which is a big incentive on the booze and diet front. I don't want the great grandchildren to be asking who the fat woman in the photos is!

Just back from the pub, no zero Guinness in stock so made do with Peroni. Was fine and no desire to have anything else.

Someone mentioned putting a little chilli in ginger ale. I must try this 😁👍

@HPLikecraft ah yes 29th for me, I normally celebrate on 28th though.

I bought some alcohol free Moretti beer today. I am not usually a beer drinker unless as a last resort 😂 but I really enjoyed it and it tasted just like normal beer to me.

Finding it easier than I expected to so far, but I think that's because the only alcohol we have on the house if leftover Cointreau from Christmas and a few miniature whiskey bottles which were a Christmas gift, neither of which are very tempting at all to be honest. Traitors is really helping too as it's stopping me getting bored on a Thursday and Friday night! I think if we had our usual fridge full of wine temptation may have got me.

Congrats to your DD, @HPLikecraft ! That's lovely news.

@Iwanttheraintostop that sounds like a good idea. I can also be guilty of extending holiday drinking before and after the actual holiday!

@RedxRobin so sorry to hear, that must be hard.

I didn’t see the comment, but it’s just unkind and not in the spirit is it. I’m glad it was deleted.

I’m also glad that I’ve got through day 14, and now on 32 days alcohol free, and feeling good!

Ignore the troll.

So happy to have made it to two weeks! I'm noticing that my body is still going through some changes after two weeks. Still physically exhausted but my head is consistently clear and focused which is great!

Because this is a support thread, not an “I get my internet kicks from trying to wind people up” thread.

Good advice hold

Well done vino

Still lurking. Everyone is doing great, some of you in very difficult circumstances. I’m still feeling much better and not really missing alcohol. I haven’t been out yet though and that will be the real test but I’m determined not to crack.

Was unsure whether to share this article I’ve just read but thought it might help anyone struggling. It’s certainly given me pause for thought.

I keep missing the troll posts... It's probably the Wine Witch come to torment us, but we will stand firm!

I missed them all, too @Neptunium93 !

BTW, your post earlier about the brain and liver was really interesting and a great incentive. I think I'll definitely stay dry through February now too.

Well that's me off to bed at the end of day 14 and still AF.

Have found the article and Neptunium93's information on the effects of a period AF and wellitywellness's blog very thought provoking.

@HPLikecraft ooh congrats - is it too early to buy a hat?

Still here and only a few hrs until the 2 week mark.... Hardest evening today as on my own this evening. DH has spent large chunks of our marriage working away, as he was until this evening. I know drinking on your own was always supposed to be a terrible thing, but terrible or not, I always enjoyed it. Have to say de-scaling the bathroom tiles was a pretty poor substitute but I do now have a very nice, shiny bathroom.
He's back now, bless him, and instead of sitting down with a scotch made us both a cuppa.... .

I have an observation and a question

Question: if (hypothetically) I were to have a cheat night with say 2-3 small glasses of wine, how much of the benefits of DJ would I lose now at the 2wk point, or maybe in Feb? So imagine today is my baseline… would it take me a day to get back to this level of benefit, a week, two weeks? Meaning… what would I be giving up in return for a couple of drinks?

Observation I remember half way through one of my pregnancies realising how alert and energised I felt, I’m sure much of this was also being AF. I remember saying at the time “I can’t believe how much I was drinking, I don’t think I will ever let that happen again”. And of course I did… but just today for the first time I had the same thought, having (relatively easily) had none, I can’t believe how much I was actually having.

Just putting thoughts to paper before sleep on a Sunday night. Happy nearly half way point all!

@ParsnipAndPoppy I recall being fresh, alert and energetic in my pregnancies too. Wide awake ironing on a Sunday morning
I'm sure it was being AF, I glowed!!