DRY Another Day! Dry January 2025 thread #2.

[TheYeaSayer]

Here it is folks, let’s carry on keeping it dry.

Are we there yet?
Nearly… there is a little pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel.

We can do this! 💪💪

Alcohol Change UK also have a Sober Spring challenge which is 20 March to 20 June. What puts me off that is also it runs over the Easter holiday. It’s also why Sober October isn’t some thing I’ve contemplated - coz of half term. I wonder if I’d ever be able to do a sober holiday!

@Addictforanex Totally get it. I think it's the problem with "set" holidays. The pressure is on to enjoy them.

I usually can cope with Feb half term because it's normally the start of Lent when Im all enthusiastic ..and it's just a week. Easter is just too long and the social life picks up with the weather.

I shall start next week and chug through to mid March ( or longer if possible ).

Day 29. Had the best sleep I’ve had in a while - about 7 solid hours. Woke up around 6am feeling refreshed. I’m still unsure about my drinking strategy come the weekend. I never want to have a hangover again - they are so dreadful. Unfortunately work is causing me a lot of anxiety at the moment which is making it tempting to reach for the wine. I do also feel I deserve a drink if I complete DJ. I think I will probably drink on Sat and Sun then have another five days off.

It’s the start of day 29 and overall, I have really enjoyed DJ - skin is better and I sleep like a baby, wake up refreshed. I actually dread the end of it because I do not want to drink ever again. I keep thinking to drink on special occasion only rather than weekends but even then I recall myself under influence, feeling funnier, prettier, smarter than I do sober and actually to a sober person I probably came across as just loud and arrogant, with puffy face and smudged mascara. And this after 2 glasses of wine, as I never drank a lot but am lightweight. I just think special occasions will be ruined by this epiphany. I laugh, dance and just feel more joy during DJ. Also I have promised myself little make up treats for abstaining from sugar now.

@SparklyNewMe I am conflicted with some of these thoughts too. I’ve proven I can do social situations without alcohol this month, even though I don’t enjoy them and worry I’m boring and quiet without alcohol. But why go back to the wine if I can get through social situations without it (albeit finding it very difficult)?

@newme2025 having started AF social situations, and managed them, might it get easier the more you practice?
Whatever your decisions come 1 Feb, you know what you can do.

Do you have to make decisions now? What about staying dry and seeing how you go? I was planning on damp Feb but looking through the calendar I haven't got any big social stuff on until March, so now thinking of extending DJ a bit.

It probably would. I know I will never enjoy socializing as much sober, but on the other hand I won’t have to deal with hangovers the next day either. Obviously the middle ground is just having a few glasses and stopping at that, but not sure I’m capable of that. DJ has certainly made me reassess anyway.

I have quite a few family (DH’s) social occasions and birthdays in Feb unfortunately. Maybe the solution is just to become a hermit, lol.

Forgot to say I'm on day 28 and I've enjoyed it. I've spent the booze money on myself which has been nice in a typically skint month. My skins better, my energy is good but no sleep improvement. I think I'm a naturally rubbish sleeper!

My favourite time for a drink is teatime, as with others, but I think I might stick to a cup of tea at that point and maybe have a whisky later on- if I still want a drink then. For socialising could you start dry and then have a drink after an hour or so? My thinking is that if I start at 5 or 6pm I can easily polish off a bottle of wine by bedtime, having a glass every 40-60 minutes; so by waiting till 8 I cut out the time to have quite a lot of alcohol.

Delaying that first drink for as long as possible can certainly help!

I’m feeling extra refreshed and just “good” today - grogginess is at a minimum. It’s probably the best I’ve felt since DJ began. It’ll be interesting to see if this continues…

I would usually not drink until about 9.30pm. But then I'd stay up far later than was good for me, to finish my drink, or have a second glass. Which obviously meant I was both tired AND groggy the next day. I find I get to bed a lot earlier because I'm not drinking.

Although, I don't always fall asleep as easily, which I resent, having tried to do myself a favour by getting to bed early!

Hi Everyone, apologies for absenteeism the last couple of days: had family crisis, now somewhat resolved. Stayed dry, too!

Fortunately, the good ship DJ2025 has a good crew and continues to sail on regardless of flaky captain. It’s so good to see you all posting and considering your next dry or damp moves. February for me will be dry until the final week when I’ll be on a cruise… and it will be my birthday while I’m away!
Just two more days after today. That’s so good. It’s so pleasing to see some of the previously heavier or more habitual drinkers still with us.

Some of you are saying you’ve not felt much difference. Oh believe me it’s made a big difference. I’ll post some things over the next few days about this.

Well, it’s tradition, so here it is… the end of today sees us….

93.5%

of the way through DJ2025

Man that feels good! 💪💪💪💪

Thinking back to when @TheYeaSayer you were posting 8% done and feeling it would be a looong month- and it actually hasn’t. Husband commented earlier that it’s nice to see me so level mood-wise, content and serene!

it’s all adding up to don’t go back on the booze, isn’t it? 🤔🫣😕

I wanted a drink this evening after a long and exhausting day at the office, but I’m not giving up now! So close! Very pleased to have got so far and be within touching distance of finishing. I’m going to try to keep on until my operation next month, to try to go into it as healthy and strong as I can.

Still no alcohol, despite January throwing everything it could our way. Car needs new tyres, back door frame badly rotted all of a sudden, Hoover smells like it’s going to go up in flames when we use it, and, absolute disaster, the kettle stopped working…

Still deciding how to go from here. First thought is carry on till the 14th, which is our wedding anniversary. Drink only at weekends? I sort of wish the 1st was a weekday so there would be a few days between ending DJ and back to drinking. But I’m not going to lie, the idea of sitting down with a cold glass of white sounds wonderful right now.

Well done to all of us!!

93.5% Go Us!

Heading to bed marvelling that it’s 30th Jan tomorrow. Well done everyone

So sorry to hear about the family crisis @TheYeaSayer 💐

Still here too. Only yesterday did I finally get a pang for a glass of prosecco ( not my usual choice of drink, weirdly, but I think I was just craving sugar). Didn't have one obvs - there's none in the house for a start...

I did fall off the no buying chocolate wagon and treated myself to a Picnic bar from the garage this evening after much deliberation. And I bloody enjoyed it too.

Hoping to weigh myself tomorrow morning to see if any of my wine tyre has shifted over the last month 😂

I tried Nozecco this evening. I didn't have crazy strong cravings, but I fancied a glass of something, and I'm trying to use up what's in the cupboards as I'm moving house soon. So figured I'd try it. It's ok I suppose, but it falls into some weird middle ground, where it's too sweet to hit the Prosecco / fizzy wine spot, but not sweet enough to be a pleasant soft drink.

Anyway, well done DJ-ers. We're all healthier than we were a month ago!

I still maintain that a lot of alcohol cravings for me are actually sugar cravings at the end of an exhausting work day. After a hot chocolate, the cravings are gone.

Knowing that certainly has had me evaluate how I deal with coming home from work, where I'd usually have a glass "to wind down", when actually, my body likely just ran out of easily accessible energy.

Sadly I didn't benefit from any of the money saved; I've had an expensive household repair in a 6 week financial month on the back of Christmas, so all my savings had to go on that and just staying afloat. Next month should be nicer in that regard.

30 days sober as of yesterday. It's definitely the longest I've gone since my youngest was born 9 years ago.

I am going to miss this thread - thank you OP and everyone! 🌷

I think some of these DJ threads do continue for those who want to go on being AF? Personally I'm going to do Damp Feb which means for me mindful moderation.