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

[HPLikecraft]

Thread#2...

Let's keep going!

@DecafOatMilkCappucino

Totally with you on the eating. I normally have a boiled egg for breakfast but got a craving for French toast this morning. Just finished it. Yes i put cherries and blueberries on it.. but i also added a ton of cinnamon sugar about a litre of maple syrup. I just don't have a sweet tooth at all normally.

Also need to think what feb looks like. I can stay in fine and not have wine - but this weekend socialising has proved a little more tricky.

Also - the not being able to get warm. My sister bought be a heated throw off amazon for Christmas. It was about 35 quid. It's changed my life. Not only can I wfh without heating the whole house, but it's so lovely sitting under it on the sofa too. It's been a huge dry January( or even Just January in general) win!

Teens steal it too much though.

Morning all. Back on the DJ waggon yesterday, I woke at 3am with awful stomach cramp. I was wondering if my body was reacting to my night out on Friday?
Could be complete coincidence, obviously, but I feel a bit fragile this morning.
Pondering the way forward more than ever now.

I don't drink in the week (at least not in term time!) I am a weekend drinker mostly so want to think about what that looks like

I try not to but slipped in the last few months of last year. I have severely moderated my intake anyway so don't see a couple at the weekend as an issue. I did DJ to a) prove I could and b) have a bit of a rest from the intake over Xmas (which wasn't excessive but was every day).

Tuna recipe sounds lush, has some of my favourite foods (tuna, olives and wine) 😀

Welcome to Day 21 (or more / less depending on when you started)...

I'm also thinking about what happens next... My six week target feels wrong in that it would mean I could have my first drink on a Monday. For me the problem isn't so much the amount I drink (half a bottle max, often less), but the frequency. If I drink on a Monday, that massively increases the chances of me drinking on Tuesday (and so on), and similarly, if I don't drink then the chances of me drinking the next day are lower, as I very easily slip into a pattern. So I might try to become a 3-day a week drinker, and make those days consecutive. That way I just have to flip the switch once a week (if that makes sense). It's either that or do two weeks on / two weeks off, but that probably isn't as beneficial.

Heading out for some air and a walk later before the rain sets in. I find stormy weather depressing, so the next day or so may be harder than the past 3 weeks.

Also - the not being able to get warm. My sister bought be a heated throw off amazon for Christmas. It was about 35 quid. It's changed my life. Not only can I wfh without heating the whole house, but it's so lovely sitting under it on the sofa too. It's been a huge dry January( or even Just January in general) win!

I was wrapped in mine last night until I decided I could be even warmer in bed.

So I am two dates into three first online dates this weekend - all sober! To be fair all my first dates (I think I'm at 30 plus now...) have been drink-free, even pre-DJ, just so I know I can trust my own judgement and keep things on the safe side. I've not had any kind of issue sober dating - but then again have still not got to holding hand stage with any of them yet... Sober 'anything else' would be a stretch at this point...

Skimming the thread and someone mentioned calories. I did a quick tot up and have 'saved' 2,364 since Jan 2 by not drinking on Fridays and Saturdays. I say 'saved' because I've been hitting the cheese quite hard, so no appreciable weight loss. I am very well hydrated, though.

How is everyone getting on today? I'm looking for distraction 🤣

Are you feeling tempted / getting the “twitch”?

@HollyGolightly4 I always find Sunday hard, especially if I have made something nice for dinner as we tend to do. Sometimes a roast or steaks, etc.

I have changed that up a bit for DJ to break the habit, so we have a treat and tv dinners instead. Tonight is meatballs and garlic bread.

Means I'm not in and out of the kitchen, so I'm reading/scrolling SM un candlelight listening to the storm winding itself up.

DH said he was struggling last night, but he didn't mention it until this morning.

Yes, DH and I will often open a naice bottle of red on Sunday afternoon, especially if it's gloomy weather like today. Instead I took the dog out for a longer walk than usual and now I have a fruit tea.

For anyone in need of a Sunday red wine fix, I had some Sentia Black in a wine glass the other night, diluted with water (at room temperature, not cold). I'm not a red wine connoisseur, but it tasted very reminiscent of the real thing to me - more so than a fake red I tried once, which was just like grape juice. It had a nice relaxing effect too.

New day, new name, still here. 5 more nights then a special celebration away with friends which will make it day 27 for me. I thought about a dry weekend but considering I have a no wine on a school day rule it would be stretching my resolve to leave it longer. 🤦‍♀️
Do I miss my white wine spritzers? yes. Can I abstain when I feel like it? yes. Could I go AF permanently? Yes. Do I want to go AF permanently ? No but yes if I felt I was on a slippery slope. I've considered the fact if I'm even having to consider this then there may well already be issues 🤔
Then I ask myself is looking forward to sharing a few drinks on a Friday & Saturday with DH an issue despite using up our recommended quota. My answer so far is no so I'm cracking on 😁
Well done to everyone still conquering the challenge 💪❤️

I found these in Asda earlier and they are quite nice. Don't feel much of an effect, but as a former 🍃 smoker I'd probably need several gallons. Still nice though.

Sundays are the hardest for me. We normally go to the pub at lunchtime to catch up for a chat with people we know a bit, and then go home to make a lovely roast with better than everday red wine. Lucky Saint is okay, but it lacks the mellowing powers of wine!

My DH and I caved tonight. He bought some beer😔. I poured it feeling like a failure/quitter while telling myself 3 weeks was a good break. Had a mouthful, it wasn't nice, DH thought the same, we checked the best before date, all fine. Had a second taste, same, didn't taste right. Then I just thought, actually, I don't want this, the idea of a drink didn't match the reality. So although technically I drank, I'm firmly back on the AF train. Is beer actually not really that nice?

I’m like that with wine most of the time. It doesn’t taste that nice but I drink it anyway.

I keep reminding myself of that if I’m getting the “twitch”.

On beer, yes, beer tastes disgusting. I never ever drink the stuff because I think it tastes gross. But I guess it must taste ok to beer drinkers.

I reckon it’s better you caved and then thought “yuck”, than if you’d refrained and thought you were denying yourself something. So I’d say congratulations are in order. Welcome back in the AF train.

Still reading along, still AF, both DH & I.
FIL OTOH is not, he only made it 10 days. I'm a little disappointed if I'm honest, mostly because of his health, he really needs to back off.
I'm worried that if he continues he'll have another heart attack and this time it'll kill him 😪 (it's not just the alcohol, it's his eating habits too).
But, even though I worry for him, only he can control his own life, so all I can do is be supportive of him and focus on my own health.

My skin is clearer, I'm sleeping better and deeper (according to my watch) and I have more energy and motivation to get things done around the house and workout.

Still AF here too. I feel very low and sad tonight - combination of January feeling dark and miserable, Sunday night blues, stormy weather, work niggles, worries about DM's health, missing eldest DC, bored with nagging younger two DC to do homework/stop gaming/tidy up/turn off bloody Youtube/get ready for bed etc etc. Have things I need to get done but don't want to do any of it, feel stuck in a bit of a job-kids-house rut. I need to arrange some social things for myself with friends in the next couple of weeks I think. Need something nice to look forward to.

On the plus side, it hasn't occurred to me to want wine tonight. So that's a bonus.

Going to have a hot chocolate and get an early night.

Well done to everyone for carrying on, and sympathies to anyone struggling for whatever reason.

Evening all. Sorry I've been AWOL - had to go away for a day unexpectedly. While away I had an impromptu social event in which I conducted myself fairly well and confidently, despite being sans alcohol. Heck I even had fun.

I have a lot of posts to catch up with, but a quick glance above shows me that some are fine, and some are struggling a little. Stay strong @FlyingPandas and well done for not caving.

And as for you @ChickenChipsandBeans well, we'll pretend that never happened and never mention it again! Glad you're still aboard the good ship DJ2024.

Well the end of today - the end of week 3 - sees us

68%

of the way through. Tomorrow is the start of week 4! Come on!!

Power to the People of the Alcohol Resistance 👊💪💪

Still lurking. Had my first night out at the weekend and wasn’t even tempted to look at the wine list, but then I did have a craving. I tried alcohol free fizz and it wasn’t good. Very sweet and sickly. I loved getting home and having a full night sleep and waking up with no hangover though.

But I guess it must taste ok to beer drinkers

It does 😉

I had some Sentia last night and feel like I cheated! It really does have an effect that is equivalent to the amount of wine I would normally drink. One thing I have learned though: it really isn't just the alcohol that makes wine so appealing - I would still drink it in preference to the Sentia for the taste.

Regarding beer, I like it a lot, but I can't drink more than one or it gives me stomach problems. The ON beer is coming today (finally!), and I've ordered some 0% Guinness from Sainsburys, as it seems to have great reviews.

I'm continuing to do lots of online research and came across an article which I think puts the risks and benefits of alcohol into context better than most:

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/drinks-to-consume-in-moderation/alcohol-full-story/

I think the role of folate is something that isn't talked about a great deal, which is surprising given that it is a key factor in determining whether an individual may be at greater / lesser risk from drinking. Also the genetic aspect. As a post-menopausal woman whose parents both died of cardiovascular issues, I'm inclined to think that the benefits outweigh the risks - in moderation of course.

Just checking in after forgetting to yesterday, still AF, and glad to be in the last full week of Jan for many reasons, not just because I’m doing Dry Jan, but because work is awful in January, and this year January seems to be lasting forever!