DRY JANUARY 2025! Join us for a healthier start to the year! All welcome 🥤☕️🧋

[HPLikecraft]

It’s that time of year again!
If you need a detox, to lose weight, to be healthier, to undo some seasonal overindulgence, to sleep better, to look better, to have healthier skin, to save money, boost liver function, improve your memory, or to decrease your likelihood of dying earlier of various nasty illnesses (sorry for the sudden hard ball!) then you’ve come to the right place!

The MN DJ2025 Chat thread is for anyone who wants to reset their relationship with alcohol; whether you’re a weekend tippler or a problem heavier drinker.
This is a friendly, non-judgmental thread where we support and encourage each other, exchange ideas and information, share alcohol-free drinks recommendations etc.

Hopefully we’ll have some fun along the way. Please hop aboard the good ship DJ 2025, everyone welcome!

12 days complete. I have had two work stress induced moments when I would have normally resorted to wine, but just acknowledged the feeling and got on with the rest of the day. I think that not drinking has actually helped me more to cope as there was no additional regret about failing DJ etc. Struggled to sleep to full Moon but done lots of constructive things around the house and DH started his own projects, inspired by my energy. But I need to stop evening sweet treats - fair enough substituting wine on the weekend, but I have not has a sugar free day since December. If someone wants to join in SF Jan Mon - Thursday, solidarity would help. Xx

@Fordian biona tart cherry juice on ocado or Amazon but I'm sure other places sell it. It's definitely juice, not tasting like wine but it's lovely and has that sour kick I like. Looks like rw in a glass too, which may work for some, but not for others!

Day 13. Randomly had a bad sleep last night and not sure why. A bad sleep is so much easier to deal with when you’re sober though, rather than hungover. Pleased with myself for making it through a very challenging weekend. I’m still taking things one day at a time, but am looking forward to reaching the halfway point on Thursday.

Well, I fell off the waggon this weekend at a big family party - 3 days in an airbnb with lots of wine/cocktails and food - but I always knew that it was likely and I thought/think I'd still get more benefit from being AF for the rest of the month than I would if I hadn't signed up at all. I also decided that every day that I drank gets added on at the end of the month - so my Dry January is currently ending on 3rd February. In previous years I'd have also had a drink on Sunday evening once I got home from that sort of event - to 'wind down' and/or carry on the celebrations, but I'm pleased to say that I didn't, so hopefully I'll now snap back into DJ. Congratulations to everyone who got through the weekend unscathed!

I am not spending DJ looking forward to drinking in Feb. I am doing it because it's better for my health, family and body. I haven't got the impression everyone on this thread is desperate to drink in Feb either. Some people are looking forward to Feb to be able to drink which is fine, other people are debating carrying on being dry which again is fine and others are learning to moderate again which is also fine. There is no right or wrong way to do things. Personally I am not sure if I will drink again in Feb but wouldn't judge someone else that did. This thread is meant to be a safe space for people to share and I am thankful for it.

Really starting to feel much better. Sleep still erratic but am sure 1. The quality is much better and 2. When I wake I get back much quicker. Lots more energy and the dogs are being walked further... which they love. Never been a huge drinker but also never very good at moderation. One glass always leads to three glasses etc. not planning on stopping for good but planning on just Saturday/sunday. Loving this thread as a good way to almost journal

I'm not spending the whole month waiting for February so that I can drink. I'm actually wondering if I might extend it, and stay dry a bit longer. I'm not deciding right now, I'll see how I feel.

This weekend was fine, I had no particular cravings. It's like I've totally lost interest in booze.

Pleased that I got through my first weekend without alcohol for a VERY long time 😁 (I started late so am a bit behind). Unexpected bonus of DJ: My teeth usually stain very easily and on I've tried all sorts of toothpastes, cleaning etc. Teeth are now pearly white! I'm still drinking my usual amount of tea and a coffee so I guess it was the red wine 🤔

I'm not getting that message at all from posters here. I'm mostly getting:
"I want to reset my relationship with booze"
"I need to take control of my drinking for health reasons", and a good dose of
"I hope to extend this into February and/or beyond"

Every year there are a lot of sceptical and sneery articles about Dry January, saying people use it to counteract or excuse recent overindulgence; or so that afterwards they can splurge without guilt. I think that's bollocks: I've never come across anyone, in eight years of DJ threads here or in RL with this attitude. And I'm certainly not seeing it in this thread either.
Dry January 8 years ago was my first step to taking control of my problem drinking. I think it saved my life. It's certainly extended it!

It's right to step back if the thread isn't helping, @suki1964 I hope your journey into better health goes well.

I am very much stuck between enjoying how good I feel, how much money I'm not spending and how much more productive I'm being. But I do miss having a few glasses of wine. I both want to start drinking again at some point and don't.

I did a DJ two years ago, which lasted until mid March when I had a trip away. But then I went back to my old habits. I'm just not sure I'm ready to be tee-total for good - but happy to take it one day at a time.

I was at a social event on Friday evening - which is based entirely around drinking. I choose to attend to support a particular person, but not to drink. This did not impact anyone else at the event.
Someone there, who I'm not particularly close to made a really rude comment about attending and not drinking. It made me quite angry. I don't understand why so many people seem to think they have the right to comment on other people's choices. Me not drinking has zero impact on anyone else - so why comment?

I'm thinking of taking up the Melvyn Bragg method from here - he does dry January and then the first 10 days of every month dry through the rest of the year. Or my own adaptation of that - maybe 16 days of the month dry but not necessarily all in one long stretch sort of thing. That way you can easily adapt for birthdays, social events or holidays.

I say to myself "Lindor, you certainly don't eat cake, sweets, pudding or even bread every day, there's no reason why there can't be plenty of days when you don't drink wine" (I am an habitual almost every day drinker).

I think people who make negative comments about others drinking often have underlying issues with alcohol themselves. Brush it off it really is mind of there business if you drink or not at an event.

My plan is to have about 300 dry days a year which will reduce my drinking to special occasions only really.

Yes - one of the reasons I want to really cut back is due to how acidic wine is for your teeth and that's really bad for your enamel. I've found my teeth to be much less sensitive too.

I'm liking the sound of the Melvyn Bragg method!
I try to drink only at weekends when I'm not DJing, but the extra 10 day thing sounds quite achievable!

Welcome back aboard, @Nothungrycat !

I like the idea of re-setting my relationship with alcohol as I think I will always enjoy a glass of wine or a gin, but I need to make sure that it's drinking when I actually do enjoy it, not just because it's 6pm and that's what I do. DJ has made me appreciate being without alcohol and reminded me that life is fine without,

I was thinking the same thing - I like the idea.

The Melvyn Bragg method is interesting. Personally I do want to drink again on social occasions and at weekends, so I’ll probably do three or four days off a week (Mon to Thurs) and drink at weekends.

This pretty much what I want to do (although sober weekends get much more done around the house!) but I do seem to struggle with picking it up and putting it down.
Someone earlier in the thread made the point that DJ is easy because it's a binary choice. Drink or don't. We're all aiming for don't - there isn't a question of the moderation.
When I'm drinking, it's not to excess and doesn't have a significantly negative impact my life (other than general lethargy) but it is constant.

I am very much stuck between enjoying how good I feel, how much money I'm not spending and how much more productive I'm being. But I do miss having a few glasses of wine. I both want to start drinking again at some point and don't.

This is exactly my dilemma.

'but I do seem to struggle with picking it up and putting it down'

Me too. Experience tells me I can now do AF chunks of time quite well, but I'm not so good at moderating generally, always slip back into bad habits.

I might be wrong, but I would imagine it's better to have 1 glass a week 7 days a week than 7 in one go? So Melvyn's Method sounds solid, but I would think that 10 dry days spaced through the month might be better for you?

I'm still unsure how my DJ will pan out, it's possibly something I need to contemplate nearer the 31st as Day 13 is still too early for me.

If I'm honest, I'm not really feeling any different 😕. My sleep is patchy, I usually wake up with a mild headache, I'm post 60 so any brightness of skin or tautness of face would take a miracle, not 13 days' abstinence! I'm as achey as ever, too.

And bored. 😬

I'm also not entirely convinced by some of the quit lit. This Naked Mind assumed everyone secretly hates the taste of any alcohols and that your 'one-sherry-at-Xmas' maiden aunt is on the same trajectory as the homeless drunk swilling anti-freeze, that she is as addicted as him.

And as for all of us living on a knife edge of reasonable health to end-stage liver failure by Thursday, I'm a CT operator and in 40 years, you'd think we'd see far, far more victims. I am not suggesting that the figures lie, but it is verboten to have a calm, scientific, rational discussion around alcohol without the klaxon of imminent doom sounding overhead.

Be assured I know excess alcohol isn't good for you, probably as much socially as much medically, financially, and psychologically, which is why I am trying to break the habit of wine o'clock, but those are some of my thoughts!

I'm enjoying reading people's posts on here, triumphs and trip-ups alike- far more than the quit lit!

I am very much stuck between enjoying how good I feel, how much money I'm not spending and how much more productive I'm being. But I do miss having a few glasses of wine. I both want to start drinking again at some point and don't.

this all day long!

Day 13 done.

Re the dry days per month I was looking at the British Liver foundation who recommended 2-3 dry days a week and ideally in a row. I pretty much had 3-5 dry days in a row every week in 2024 (exception would be on holidays I seemed to drink every day), but the problem is that with my non Dry days I was more often than not technically binging (ie drinking over 6 units at a time).

According to my app I binge drank 103 times in 2024. Considering until recently I thought binge drinking was blackout/ vomiting etc that is a bit of a shock!

I haven’t worked out what I want my moderate drinking to look like. My head’s in the sand a bit in that. Focusing on DJ right now.