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

[HPLikecraft]

Thread#2...

Let's keep going!

Day 11 and still here. Lunch yesterday with friends went fine. One friend is TT anyway and I don't drink during the day as posted in last thread. The other friend had one martini and said he felt like a lush!

Tried the Goodrays again last night, having had quite a few herbal teas during the afternoon and had a disturbed night - struggled to get / stay asleep and up 4 times to pee! The effect of the Goodrays was not as pronounced as the first time I tried it. I've come to the conclusion that I don't really need alternatives, so will save them for occasional use on AF nights after January. Fizzy drinks will be more appealing in the warmer months.

@BigButtons , sorry for everything you're going through currently. Hang in there.

• *Have a great AF day everyone 😊

Goodrays is MUCH better than trip - it’s twice the level of CBD in each drink and you can feel the effect of it, it’s like a strange, tingly almost sinky feeling. It’s very relaxing if sipped sitting quietly or in the bath, it doesn’t have the same effect if you are dashing about like a mad thing.

orange and grapefruit is the best flavour for me - the purple one (pomelo and something) had an oily CBD taste.

Morning all. Still AF. Had a takeaway last night (quite spicy) and it had a similar effect on my sleep as wine, in that I woke up in the early hours feeling too hot and then took ages to get back to sleep. So that was interesting.

Also checking in. I'm a bit fed up that I can't seem to cook my evening meal without battling with the wine witch. I always knew this was my problem though - I literally only drink in the early evening until dinner time. I don't drink with dinner or after dinner (or only if I'm out socialising).

Think I'm going to have to get into doing meal prep earlier in the day on the days I'm not working or wfh, and eat dinner earlier.

I don't know what my long term plan is. I'm absolutely desperate to lose about 2 stone so drinking any alcohol at all seems silly in these circumstances. And I'm fat in the first place due to wine rather than food.

Good morning everyone. It's a beautiful day here in South Wales; freezing and frosty but sunny and still. Looks very beautiful. I'm about to go out on country dog walk. All good. I'm managing to be AF, but the eating! Oh my! Had two huge tranches of Christmas cake for breakfast. The diet and exercise starts this weekend. No really, it will!

Glad you're all still with us: regulars, occasional posters and those in the shadows. It's fantastic. We've gone beyond the 10 day mark, and Dr Google informs me that we're benefitting from the following:

"Day 10+: Your mood will improve and you will start feeling less sluggish and more energised"

"As you approach two weeks off alcohol, you will continue to reap the benefits of better sleep and hydration.
As alcohol is an irritant to the stomach lining, after a fortnight you will also see a reduction in symptoms such as reflux where the stomach acid burns your throat"

"After a fortnight, you are also likely to start losing weight as a result of giving up alcohol’s empty calories. If you were to stop drinking six 175ml glasses of wine per week, you would have saved 1920 calories at this point, and 2160 if you’d stopped drinking around
six pints of lager"

"Liver Recovery.
Amazingly, in as little as two weeks, your liver will start to repair itself and get rid of the excess fat caused by regularly drinking too much"

Those from various sources online, but from me I'd also add that you're also chipping away at longheld dependencies and cravings, and resetting your relationship with alcohol.
I know it takes a while, but the more you do this, the easier it gets. This is my 8th Dry January. The first was excruciating; this one has been OK. I'm drinking less between "dry" spells now, too.

Keep going, everyone 💪

That's an incredible result re. your blood pressure @Mykittensmittens! You must feel great, well done!

@HPLikecraft that is a very motivating post. I hopped on the scales this morning, and despite the ridiculous amounts of chocolate and biscuits I have been eating, my weight has gone down, so it's clearly having an effect, which is also very motivating. Onwards and downwards!

Im looking forward to the weight loss @HPLikecraft . Well, I’m just back from a fitness class and I must say, I ‘nearly’ enjoyed it 😀. I’ve definitely got more energy and focus.

I still have cravings, but they are manageable atm. I think next week will be a struggle for me. That’s the week I normally fail. Not sure why. I don’t know if it’s because the novelty has worn off or because the winter blues are really setting in.

Checking in for the new thread.

Still not really seeing any benefits, but I'm sure my liver is grateful for the rest!

Also checking in!

@Mykittensmittens that's very encouraging about your BP. I find drinking has a huge effect on mine as well.

Feeling fine here, it's great. I've mostly stopped eating shite and I've been doing a few runs here and there. Hopefully the weight will start to come off soon, I don't want to diet but if I exercise regularly enough and eat normally I should slowly lose the xmas excess.

I realised last night that I'm out on Friday 19th and I'd like to be able to have a drink. I might pause the DJ, well break it really, and then go back on it until the end of the first week in Feb to make up for it. Not totally cheating if I do that??

@TooningOut I see it like a diet, youre presumably aiming for a long term reduction in drinking as a result of DJ, so a planned break for a special occasion then getting back on the wagon is alright... you have to live too!

@TooningOut , you should do whatever works for you and no one is going to give you a hard time. The added week is a good idea to balance it out.

All I would say is that it might be an opportunity to see how it feels to be AF in a situation like that, without any of your friends thinking it's weird (as so many are doing DJ).

I have realised today how much my sleep was being affected by alcohol. I knew it was the reason why I would often wake in the middle of the night and start thinking anxious thoughts, but I had no idea the real extent.... So like us all, being a mum means that I have had years of broken sleep, and I just thought the reason why I was awake at silly o'clock most mornings was because this was how it was for me now. No.... since starting DJ, I have slept so well every night and I'm still asleep when the alarm goes off. Unheard of usually. My DH is also sleeping more than he has for years, but doesn't want to believe it has anything to do with DJ!

@TooningOut I gave myself a pass last year on the 19th then broke it again on the 21st then had the following days of feeling sluggish due to a bad night's sleep etc whilst my body detoxed again til I broke again on the 28th. I regretted breaking my dry streak as it set me back and then gave me an excuse to drink on those additional 2 nights out.

This year I'm planning on sticking with it. Up to you what you do obviously but think carefully about whether it's worth it!

@TooningOut I'd echo what others have said. There's no judgement on these threads, do what's best for you, and any improvement is an improvement. But I'd also encourage you to try your social event without breaking your dry spell.

I have an annual social event in January and dreaded the first time I went dry. I had a great time and it was easier than I had anticipated. I could drive home, too. Have managed it dry since then.

Still here as well. Today's blog post is basically all about Holly Whitaker coming along and metaphorically kicking me in the vagina - a highly recommended, if somewhat radical / polarising - read...

https://wellitywellness.com/2024/01/11/dry-january-11-quit-like-a-woman/

All ok so far - going out for a meal tomorrow and would normally have at least one glass of wine - sure it will be fine though

Hi there, I've had a random day off work with no particular plan to occupy myself, this isn't good for me, have felt my mood and resolve cracking as the day drew on. So am off to the gym to sort myself out, embarrassed to say I'm currently still in my pyjamas.

@TooningOut I've done it both ways. Had a friend staying - hadn't seen him in years and we needed a good old natter over a few good beers - I got straight back on it the next day - almost to spite dh who said it was a bad idea and it was fine and I had no regrets. Every month I go out with my friends for dinner I always do January dry - it's quite empowering and I have just as much fun - the atmosphere is intoxicating because everyone else is getting boozy - I piggy-back off their heightened moods.
Go with what you feel like doing it'll be fine either way.

👋Hi all.
Have a bottle of AF 'wine' chilling in the fridge for tonight. Had a GREAT session today with my student, (adult literacy). She's a bloody inspiration Working with her the absolute high point of my week. Would always celebrate seeing her with a drink but why? She's enough, what she does is enough, how hard she tries IS. ENOUGH. I shouldn't use seeing her as an excuse to drink? That's daft!
Onwards and upwards all.

Almost wobbled tonight but managed to resist the urge when DH poured himself a glass of red wine from a bottle I bought myself before Christmas and hadn't opened.

Was worried about going out for dinner with my friend tomorrow, turns out she's doing dry January too! We're going to somewhere where I adore the cocktails, so hopefully they will have some good mocktails.

Just checking in to say that I am experiencing the twitch due to cooking smells and hunger pangs but I’m reminding myself to go and drink a big glass of water to stave off the twitch.

Checking in to thread two and day 11. I’m on day 29 AF and determined to make it through to 1 Feb (at least). I’m ok today and not had cravings, just feeling a bit flat. Just me and youngest DD here for the past few days and that has been really nice actually.

Checking in. Don't work on Fridays so recently Thursday has become the new Friday as far alcohol is concerned. But not today.

DC is home from uni so am looking forward to a catch up over the Traitors instead of nodding off after too many "just one" glasses.

Sleep is still a bit hit and miss but hopefully will sort itself out soon