Dry Another Day - Dry January and Beyond!

[wellitywellness]

We are officially at thread #3!

How is Arid April going for those re-setting their alcohol intake, aiming to lose weight, feeling a bit healthier?
After over 90 days I find thinking of a drink (alcohol) most days never crosses my mind. This is good in two ways, one I think I have started to establish the habit of not wanting alcohol and two, no irritation from DH to provoke a brief 'where's the wine' moment!

Thanks for asking. I did seven days AF since trying to get back on the wagon, and then had one drink last night because we went out for food.

So Arid April isn’t going too well so far.

@DJ24 are you ok? You sound a bit like you're beating yourself up.

My arid April is trying to be mindful and not drink for the sake of it. Had a definite blip on Easter Sunday, so focusing on not doing that again!

Thanks for asking @HollyGolightly4 , I guess I’m fed up with myself that I don’t seem to be able to manage to just give the stuff up and never touch it again.

But on a more positive note, I have actually knocked the Saturday night drinking in the house on the head so that’s something.

Celebrate the positives @DJ24. Think how long alcohol has been in your life (I assume?!) it's absolutely literally and culturally embedded.

Definitely not arid here 🍷😉. But I'm drinking less than half of what I was drinking before, and mostly at / below the low risk level, which is good enough.

I don't crave alcohol, and never did really, it's more that wine is a much enjoyed part of my routine. But nowadays I switch to redbush tea after dinner instead of topping up the glass. I'm convinced that it's the act of monitoring my intake that is keeping it down, and also checking in here for accountability, so thanks to all of you for helping to keep me on the straight and narrow 😊.

DJ24 you have my admiration for tackling drinking at home - it is by far the greatest challenge for me. Seven days AF is seven more than if you aren't being thoughtful about what you are drinking. Hope tonight can be added to you AF tally.

it's absolutely literally and culturally embedded.

You’re so right about that.

For you, @DJ24 , it will be a case of monitoring whether you can live without constantly thinking about alcohol, and whether the blip was down to the night out or whether it was because you really craved a drink. One is fine, the other may need some thinking about.

I'm celebrating 2 weeks alcohol free today. It's the longest I've been dry since my youngest was born and they're nearly 8 now. I did have some slight cravings yesterday, but that just seemed to be down to being thirsty? I squashed that with more tea (peppermint seems to be especially good at keeping me off alcohol) and an early-ish night with a good book.

I also spent the day yesterday working, so it might have been connected to that. Work does still trigger the craving for a drink; I think that's just telling me how much I need to change workplaces, though. I am leaving there, but still have a few weeks to go.

I am still getting used to just being able to drive somewhere any time I want and not having to think about whether it'd be legal for me to drive. And I might imagine it, but my hair seems to look slightly more springy. My skin looks fuller and I might imagine it, but seems slightly less wrinkly. And I'm another 0.5kg down without eating differently. I can't say I am waking up refreshed yet, mainly because I'm at the age where everything hurts when I wake up anyway. Hopefully the weight loss will help with that once I'm a few stone down.

So far, it's definitely spurring me on to keep going. All that, and the money I'm saving. That I'm spending. £110 (not) saved so far, but invested in shoes and books.

Thanks everyone. Last night I had one small glass of the low alcohol cider. I count that as AF.

I had a few moments thinking about what a glass of wine would be like but that passed quickly.

It’s good that I’ve broken the link between Saturday night pizza = half a bottle of wine which was at least a decade long habit and made me unhappy on Sundays the whole time. Knowing I’m not going to feel rubbish on Sundays is SO good.

I’m think that maybe I need to set an alarm to remind me to drink a big glass of water late afternoon. I lose track and get dehydrated without realising it and then that makes the meal time “twitch” worse. Last night I ran and grabbed a big glass of water shortly before the food came, and that really helped.

I think social occasions are always going to be a challenge for me and I need to keep trying different ways of handling them till I find something reliable.

Thanks for your support by the way. That did give me a boost yesterday. It helped me to feel less down on myself, and feeling less down with myself will help me to stay on track.

Well done @DJ24, great to hear you're back on track.

@Michiru , that's really good work. I'm sure it will get easier as you keep going. I thought I would struggle to stay dry for a month, but ended up extending it by a couple of weeks as it had become a habit by then.

Interesting what you say about peppermint tea. I find chewing gum has the same effect - minty flavours really don't mix well with wine!

Well done @DJ24 - I salute you, as I am a reducer/moderator and not an abstainer, ( @Neptunium93 - I still seem to be doing almost exactly the same as you, quite coincidentally - wonder if we are similar in other ways)! Completely agree that measuring my intake is key, not just to stave off the "I've lost track, may as well help finish the bottle" factor, but also because I like seeing the longer term stats : 39 units in Feb, 40 in March, and finding about 10 units a week the going rate I can live with. Still using AF beers and other drinks to provide treat drink. Very happy the thread continues... well done everyone!

Okay, had a dip. I'm going to hold myself accountable and I'm staying dry till at least May 3rd.

One day off if wanted for wedding anniversary!

Are we talking a small dip, as in you had a glass or two, or a large dip and you got sloshed or started drinking regularly? Either way, things happen. Don't beat yourself up about it and just carry on with your goal. It's a bit like a diet; one day won't do too much damage even if we go completely overboard.

The 3 weeks 1 day I've been fully alcohol free now have certainly proven to me what a huge trigger my work is for wanting a drink. The first two weeks were almost easy, while the last week was much harder with getting home, wanting a glass or two to unwind and de-stress. But I stayed on course.

I think my long-term vision is to just not have alcohol at home. If I get given a bottle as a present (once/ twice a year) or if I go on a rare evening out (which happens, at most, every 2-3 months) I'm not going to fully abstain, but in the long run I want being sober to just be my norm.

The money I'll save alone is worth it. I'll have saved around £165 so far and while my general state of being is tired, I have more willingness to actually do something productive. My house is tidier (still far from perfect, but a marked improvement) and my outlook on life a bit more positive.

Just checking in to say I haven’t drunk in the house since the last update (but experienced some twinges).

But I did drink twice last week. About a quarter of a pint of cider in the pub for a friend’s birthday. And a (very nice) cocktail with a meal out.

I feel ok about it but it’s a reminder I need to keep an eye on myself as two drinks whilst out do lead to thinking about drink in the house.

Thank you @Michiru it was a 'forget to be mindful' and drink shed loads of sauvignon 🙈 then carried on for the next few days.

I'm feeling like I've made a bit of a reset though, so every cloud.

Is anyone still here?

Almost 1.5 months down the dry line and yesterday was really testing me. Child got injured and needed a hospital visit, then my car broke down, and both happened only a day after it transpired something expensive needs fixing on my house pretty much immediately.

But it was strange. While my memory was convinced that things would have been better with a drink, it didn't feel like an actual craving. I had a hot chocolate at home instead and that was that.

I'm actually now enjoying staying sober. I do wonder, though, what will happen after my first drink - say, on a night out or if I do get given a bottle as a thank you. Will it just reset everything or can I have that and happily stay sober again for months?

Well done on staying sober Michiru.

On your question, I found that allowing myself to drink again, using some special circumstances as an excuse, led to me falling off the wagon.

It was useful learning for me, as it showed I need to have strict rules in place or I’ll just slip back to where I was and back to what I wanted to get away from.

Arid April hasn’t been particularly arid for me but I’ve been trying to stick to only having a drink if we go out for food. I only ever have one drink now.

I’m very aware that I really need to watch myself. Last night DP was away and he’d left one of his mini bottles of wine chilling in the fridge. I used “special circumstances” as an excuse, drank it, and enjoyed it, but it made my face itchy and affected my sinuses. So it was a useful reminder that, actually, wine really isn’t a good choice for me - I mean, who wants to spend the evening scratching their face and blowing their nose because of a glass of wine?

Well done @Michiru, 1.5 months is brilliant.

I had a “fuck it, I need a gin and tonic” moment last night and it was the app that made me resist, I wanted to keep my 20 dry days in April intact.

Here’s my April, it’s not that arid but it’s the lowest drinking month of 2024 so far (Jan = 0, Feb = 45, March = 66, so I didn’t want it to keep going up).

I am still here. My units have been high compared to a lot of people on here, but I really feel like I am being so much more mindful and so deliberate. I've broken the Friday wine night cycle and I went to a party last Saturday and didn't drink at all. I find it hard sometimes, but I'm trying and it's on my mind! The hardest thing has been that we're TTC, and every month when it hasn't happened, that's certainly a trigger point.

Yes still here @Michiru and well done on resisting through all the rocks thrown at you this week! @disappearingfish I seem to be using the same target-driven approach as you - got my April units slightly down (to just under 40 units), marginally lower than March, which I'm happy with. My next target is 100 dry days by the end of May, which means a maximum of 9 drinking days this month. It sounds doable from here, but let's see! How are others doing?

And yes @HollyGolightly4 the single best thing for me is the same as for you - I'm the one deciding how and when to drink. And even when I'm drinking on a night I didn't originally plan to, that is a conscious choice and gets logged and factored in to the overall plan of managing and reducing what I drink.

Good to see this thread still going and well done to all of you. I think the fact that many of us are still monitoring / moderating our intake is proof that Dry January really can reset our relationship with alcohol.

I suppose doing well looks like different things to different people. I am a total lush compared to some of you! I had a massively stressful April (moving house / sale almost falling through / nearly running out of money to pay builders at my new place), and gave myself license to drink more than I did in February or March. But the good news is that the conscious measuring of units has helped me to keep it within what I consider to be an acceptable range. Last week was the most stressful and I had 21 units... 😮! It wasn't even about managing stress, but more about rewarding myself for dealing with it all. I don't feel guilty, but will be getting back on track, I hope. Given that I was regularly drinking 28-35 units per week last year, it still feels like an improvement. I've ordered some AF Guinness to tempt me away from the wine.

Hello again!
Good to see people still using the thread and maintaining control. I've been pretty good, mostly, but have just discovered I have very high blood pressure!
I am dieting and drying furiously now. Nothing like a health concern to give you a good wake up call 😞

I may be hanging around here a bit more often now.