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

[HPLikecraft]

Thread#2...

Let's keep going!

That's my plan. 2 bottles a week max. Friday and Saturday.

Pre DJ, we were doing a bottle each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

That's not counting any "extras" odd night out mid week, passed off with work, isn't it a lovely sunny evening/horrible wet night, etc!

2 bottles a week would more than half my intake, and I can live with that.

Haven’t posted on here yet but I feel much the same as you. I’ve done Dry Jan before but after a steady resumption of alcohol where I enjoy an odd glass here and there, I always seem to end up at the stage where I’m polishing off the bottle. I also find I sleep much better when not drinking but I eat better and have more energy too. I tend to only drink on weekends but I still think it’s far too much and I’m a person who needs my sleep!! I’m considering giving up for good.

Survived Friday night!

Def a trigger for me,always a stressful one as family round with loud,arguing kids and adult tension.

Stuck to virgin mojitos which still felt like a treat.Everyone around me drinking and I got a few comments asking if I was ill,and how I'd be back to 'normal' soon.

Helped reinforce me. Cheeky sods.Feeling good today,unlike usual Saturday hanging.

Yes, I'd be happy with 2 bottles per week in terms of the risk / reward balance, but spread out over 4-5 days.

Morning. Chilly here, but up and enjoying feeling fresh.

Wellitywellness really enjoying your blog and found today's very interesting in helping to understand what causes those middle of the night wakings etc.

So, off out this evening for dinner but I am driving so that will help with staying AF.

I'm going out tonight to meet a friend. I'll definitely be AF as I'm driving

Same here. Except that where it used to be only on weekends, it has really crept up and up.

I suspect that I may not be able to do moderate and even if I did restrict to Daturday night only, I’d still have the problem of feeling terrible on Sunday.

My preference would be to give up for good, if I can.

@DJ24 , @SchoolQuestionnaire , I know moderation can seem daunting, but don't forget that after a month off, your tolerance levels will have dropped, meaning that you won't need to drink as much to get the same effect. Perhaps if you introduced regular breaks of 2-4 weeks (for example) you could still enjoy periods of moderate drinking?

On moderation more generally, counter-intuitively perhaps, I find it easier to keep control when I am drinking at home than when out at parties or in the pub, where there is always the pressure of the next round, or an over-generous host... So mostly I tend to stay dry when out, and if I'm not back too late just have a glass when I get home.

Just keeping occupied while the men are at the match.
Online shopping delivered and put away. Washing done and hung up, machine on a drum clean wash
About to empty the dishwasher, make tea and tidy up a bit.
Might make a start on a new Netflix series.
So far, I am avoiding the single serve bottles of port in the drinks cupboard.

You seem to have a great system and it is worth considering, but actually I feel so much better that I’m not really missing alcohol that much. Even though I only drink at the weekends, I didn’t realise how much alcohol affected my sleep and food intake until now. Also, my peri hot flushes have completely stopped and for the first time ever I’ve managed to cut out my morning coffee as I don’t need it. Don’t get me wrong, I do love a nice glass of wine but I’m just not sure it’s worth the payoff these days.

Day 6 here. I've bought some 0% beers which seem to suit me and stave off the boredom! I'm at a friend's on Thursday just for an hour to celebrate a birthday so will hopefully manage to swerve the bubbles. Giving myself a pass for Burns' Night though when I'm at a party. Hoping to keep going booze free until end of feb but let's see.

Well done everyone on your progress 😊

I understand that you’re keen to start drinking again at the end of the month and to find ways to make drinking again work well for you.

I’m in a different position.

I’m relieved (currently, anyway) to have alcohol out of my life. I don’t want to reintroduce it, if I can avoid it. For me,getting to the stage of starting DJ has been a significant act of taking back control of my life, and reaching day 13 feeling that I want this to be permanent is an achievement for me.

One of the most important things in this thread is getting to understand our own individual drinking situation, and what works / doesn’t work or is better / worse for us personally.

For me personally, there isn’t a level of drinking that makes my body feel better the next day than not drinking. And there isn’t a level of drinking that makes me better company than not drinking.

I know from experience that the once that “food + a drink” connection has been re-established the habit will be controlling me, not me controlling the habit.

I’m happy for you that you’ve got a system that you’re confident will work well for you. Past experience tells me that staying AF is the safest approach for me. It’s still early days as it’s only day 13 but I’m really hoping I can stick to it.

Well, I slipped off the DJ train and had a couple of drinks with a friend today.

I am going to enjoy my events this week, and will tag some extra days on the end if I do end up drinking, so will be doing 1 more so far. I had a feeling this bit would be hard with having a lot on at work this week and lots of stuff next week, but not beating myself up.

Saturday night. Homemade pizza normally comes with a nice cold beer accompaniment. Well, it still will, but 0%. I'll try to love it!

I see people are now thinking ahead beyond January now. It's interesting to see that having done almost half of DJ is informing that choice: a decision made late December would likely have looked quite different.
I've put on tons of weight recently, so am planning to stay AF until my birthday on the last day of February. Thereafter moderation. Hopefully.

Have a good evening, people of The Alcohol Resistance.

Missed the thread for a few days. Still going strong. Will catch up.

Still going here, but have been hit by a horrible bug which has knocked me for six so that will help speed me through the next few days!

I'm also thinking ahead to Feb, interestingly I also feel no urge to have wine back in my life, I like the fact that being AF has been normal, the first few days were quite hard and I don’t want to have to relive that each week? I think if anything I will try to keep to Friday / Saturday with the odd night out in the week, but I will be focusing on not just reaching for the fridge out of habit or boredom. That’s my problem

Having had a planned blip last weekend at a family event I have otherwise been fine and tbh I’m really not missing it. I think going forward occasional drinks at specific events and AF the rest of the time is going to be my new normal.

Checking in. Still AF, feeling the pull of a nice glass of wine, but I’m not giving in to it!

I’ve just had quite a dull day today and am wanting a drink to take the edge off the boredom. The washing, the ferrying of children who don’t even want to do the activities in the first place, the never ending cooking.

Loving the 'People of the Alcohol Resistance' title

Still AF here. An easier early evening for me than yesterday, when I really wanted a glass of wine. Tonight I barely thought about it.

I am eating so much junk though. Craving sweets like fruit gums and liquorice allsorts. So I'm not sure how healthy my AF experience really is! I did make a lovely slowed-cooked stew with loads of fresh veg earlier though (and wasn't tempted to start working my way through a bottle whilst I was cooking, which is a definite result) so I'm telling myself that the healthy food cancels out the sweets...

Back home now, stayed AF as was driving. Now sat in my pjs with a cup of tea

Very easy Saturday here, didn't miss alcohol at all! I'm finding myself thinking about it less and less.

I caved in. I don’t regret it. Relationship issues . Teen issues. Was crying all day long.

Watched the first two episodes of Criminal Record and didn't miss wine at all as it was so absorbing. Also the cold weather is making me want warm drinks and earlier nights, which helps.

Did a bit of research on the relative benefits of a 6 week break vs a month off, and I'm thinking it might be worth it, especially as I didn't do DJ last year.

@BigButtons , I'm so sorry you're having a hard time. I'm sure many of us would have been tempted in those circumstances. Take care of yourself. You can always restart DJ tomorrow if you want to.

@BigButtons I hope tomorrow is a better day for you. Look after yourself.

Well everyone, we've got to the end of day 13.
That's...

42%

Is that the lofty summit of 50% I see just a little way ahead? Tie up your boots and follow me. We'll be there very soon.

Just quickly checking in and offering solidarity vibes and a friendly fist bump all round.

Day 17 for me and I'm glad I'm still AF - despite the big shock and stress of losing my mother this week. She was over 90 but it was not foreseen and so shock probably isn't too strong a word. RIP Ma 🌻🌷💐🌺🏵.

I had in my mind that drinking would not ultimately make any difference to the way I'm feeling in these early days of my bereavement. In a way I want to fully feel it all. It's a once in a lifetime experience after all.

Sadly, my Mum and I were not especially close because she was a problem drinker. I lost my trust/faith in her when I was in my late teens and although she did improve (drinking-wise) after several years and a crisis in which she severely injured herself falling over drunk, I never trusted her again. The lack of trust put quite a distance between us.

I suppose it's not such a surprise I don't immediately want to drink when thinking about my Mum. I loved her but not as much as I should have done.