Dry July

[soberken]

Anyone up for Dry July?

Day 1 - 👍🏼

Welcome @PiggyPokkyFool

Well done on 2 weeks .... no pressure or judgement here. Just aiming for as best we can.

DAY 5!

I've been dry all week but that
Is relatively easy for me. Tonight should be fine too as I've started going to a gym class on a Saturday morning which means I don't drink Friday night (otherwise I drink too much and then skip the gym), but Saturday night is going to be a real test. I can't remember ever not drinking on a Saturday except when I was pregnant.

I know @soberken I constantly pick stuff (chocolate) up in the supermarket, put it down, check carbs (when I'm trying to be good), debate ordering a pizza with myself but think nothing of sinking a bottle of wine or two. A bottle of wine is equivalent to a whole cake or something! Madness.

I've always been a pretty bad sleeper but alcohol makes it so much worse. I definitely see an improvement to my self not drinking. I still wake up but it's still a better sleep.

In the last few months my anxiety went off the scale, went on meds, went off meds, tried to get rid of any anxiety causing influences (so called 'friends', annoying flatmate) and thought to myself drinking makes my anxiety 1000% worse so why am I doing it.

The anxiety is currently under control, think it might be the CBD oil and I'm not saying I'll never drink again but a month off it to 'reset' is really in order.

I wish I could answer how to handle bbq's, work things and the like but truth is I've never managed it 😫 I used to always cave as soon as someone says 'go on'.

I have a work thing after work but my colleagues know I'm doing dry July and I feel confident I can say NO. Just going to order something more imaginative than a Diet Coke.

Thanks for the welcome @soberken and hello all my fellow fighters. I think we all have trigger points and if we can through the moment or hour it gets easier to resist.
Mine is lovely weather so garden time and all it brings, Friday/Saturday nights, days where something great has happened, end of exams (very frequent as DD1 is Yr 12 and DD2 Yr 10 and they always seem to be starting, in the middle of or finishing exams), and days where I haven't stopped all day and feel I deserve it. DH is very D - slightly embarrassed to say how lovely and supportive he is with me and the DCs BUT he loves a glass or three of wine nearly every night and point blank refuses to change - he just doesn't see why I want to do it and though he doesn't encourage me to have a glass he doesn't discourage me either. I always drink carefully - so never more than three glasses spread across an evening and probably only three days a week.
For me it is a health thing and that I have small clothes that will not look good on a fatter body and at my advancing years that battle is on .
Gosh that was long!

Day 6 .... feeling good but sleep is still totally up the wall. Anxiety is slowly subsiding.

How is everyone else?

Hi, can I join? I actually started dry July on Monday, hadn't realised there was a thread for this . My sleep has been awful all week, I thought it would be better with no alcohol but that's not been the case. I also feel really unhappy/fed up/depressed - I don't know if I was anyway but have been using the wine to numb those feelings and now they are just there all the time. I read Sober Diaries last weekend before starting on Monday and that said something about the body getting dopamine from wine and now it has to get used to producing it naturally again, so it may just be that. Anyway already on my second bottle of becks Blue tonight - the sunny weather doesn't help!!! How is everyone else coping this first Saturday night?

I've just been perusing all the non-alcohol varieties in Waitrose. Loads of nice fever tree tonics and a few alcohol free beers but came out with Diet Coke as they all seemed quite high in carbs ( reaallly trying to lose 5lbs this month). I actually hardly drink fizzy juice except with vodka in so this feels like a treat.

Managed to go to a colleague's leaving night and stuck to one alcohol free beer then home. Very well done for me. Now trying to settle in to a night in front of the telly.

@saturnsteel it's always difficult at first isn't it. Is it not something like 3 weeks to become a habit? Hopefully the dopamine will naturally come back and you'll feel better soon.

I struggled for a bit today with emotions, feeling anger at my (now former) 'best friends' treatment of me which led me to going NC, long story short I know it's better in long run and I actually feel happy but sometimes flashes of anger come back. Doesn't help that it's one of their birthdays tomorrow and there's an all day bash which will be aaalll over social media. Prob the first that I won't be at, not that I want to but it'll still irritate me no doubt all the same.

Still not letting it drive me to the dark wine side however and I'm going to take myself off for a scenic drive tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to.

*happier. Happy is still a bit to go.

@supercee I've had a ridiculous amount of Diet Coke this week!! Thinking of trying some diet bingo/irn bru next week for sone variety! Well done on surviving the leaving do. How do you find watching tv in an evening? I feel so restless without the glass of wine to relax me. Feel like I need something else to do - tried the adult colouring but found it a bit boring.

I didn't know about the 3 week thing, so that's good to know and a first point to aim for.

Can you block them on social media so you don't have to see the bash tomorrow?? Your plan for a drive sounds nice. I think I may need to plan better!!

@saturnsteel I like a diet irn bru myself. That'll be next on the list. Mix it up. The friends are all unfollowed/unfriended but I know I'll see at least something, due to the amount of people in common such is the place I live/social media. Could do with a social media break too tbh.

Evenings so far consist of spending hours searching through Netflix, Amazon, Now TV for stuff then giving up and going to bed haha. I have no kids/I'm single - yes a little sad sack Bridget Jones cliche right here (but with shit friends). I should really try and take up a hobby, go for a run or get into a book as I really like reading but so far the telly is keeping me occupied and I've recently went back to living alone so whilst I'm really skint I'm loving the place to myself and relishing having the place all to me.

Not denying that I'd love a glass of wine whilst doing all this but I keep focusing on the negatives it will bring - hangover, increased anxiety, I'll ruminate the friends situ, I'll order and eat tons of crap. Whereas positives are hopefully a month off it will see some pounds drop, it'll make me feel better, increase my confidence to 'get back out there' yadda yadda yadda.

Hopefully I'll still be motivated this time next week! God I'm writing a novel

As that glass of wine will lead to a bottle, possibly more.

@supercee hope you managed to not open the wine last night and stay off the social media today!!! Enjoy your drive

I tried Slimming World's fake Pimms last night and actually it was pretty good and zero calories

Diet lemonade and....balsamic vinegar! Sounds weird I know but it worked. I used about a teaspoon per glass. You need all the fruit / cucumber / mint as it turns out that's where a lot of the flavour is.

Anyway I'm going to make a massive jug tonight. It was a good booze replacement - felt like a treat and had interesting flavours.

Amazing @TigerJoy. What are the ratios of Lemonade to balsamic vinegar? I love Pimms so this counts great.

2 tbsp to 2 litres. I think it will vary massively according to the vinegar you use - i started with half a teaspoon for a glass but kept adding it until it tasted nice. No idea about the colour as it was in a tinted glass

I'm safely through the weekend -did everyone make it?

Well done Porky. Me too . With the help of a bit too much Diet Coke and becks Blue, but still it's not alcohol!!

Just found this thread I'm aiming to have a dry-ish July.

Weekends are my downfall. Nothing on Friday. Was invited out for a few drinks on Saturday though, but that's all it was - 4 drinks then back up the road. Which is fantastic for me!! Then my first sober Sunday in God knows how long!! I have slipped into such a bad habit of opening up a bottle of wine while cooking our Sunday roast.

I can't believe the change in my mood this past weekend. I got so much done, and wasn't my usual moody crabbit self when doing the gardening (I hate gardening!)

Well done to all who have made it to day 8

Well I didn't and trying really hard not to beat myself up about it. I had a lovely day to myself yesterday, did a long drive, walked through beautiful scenery, popped in to see my parents afterwards and rewarded myself with a few a lot of Prosecco's as it was offered to me.

Trying to justify it along the lines of, it was a nice end to a nice day, I didn't drink just for drinking sake, I didn't succumb to eating lots of crap, cheat day blah blah blah.

I feel ok today and will go out for a run which I'd never do after having alcohol. Onwards and upwards and determined to get back on (and remain!) on wagon for rest of the month.

Well done to those who had a dry weekend!

Ahhhh @supercee me too ... and I started the thread!

Yesterday I messed up and ended up drinking far too much, now feel like shit.

Grrrrrrr

Damp July it is .... let's keep going

Keep going and don't stress about the odd slip. I do about three dry months a year and it gets easier. As dp doesn't drink due to medication we don't drink at home so in a dry month I let the people I'm socialising with know in advance that I'm not drinking. When I do try to water everything down with soda water.

Wish I could do the same with chocolate.

We're allowed a little false start!

I feel ok now. Slight anxiety this morning but I did my run and positives are at least I wasn't 'out out' spending money and making bad decisions, it was with the parentals and the sun was shining. I didn't succumb to the devil juice (wine) either.

Does make me think though that I'll hopefully stick to drinking on occasions, rather than every weekend just for the sake of it.

Stick in troops, we'll get there.

Everyone is allowed to have a blip and start again but this thread kept me strong on Sunday night as we had a hectic weekend and I was very tempted. I'll be fine now until Thursday/Friday when I'll be tempted again. Very full on time in our house so I must not start a wobble as I might give up and I want to see it through with a pre-plan for two specific occasions this month.

How's everyone doing? I hope I haven't killed the thread stone dead!