Dry Jan 2026- anyone care to join in?

[BigButtons]

Since there doesn’t seem to be a dedicated dry Jam thread I thought I would start one and see if I get any company.
I so need this. Drinking has made me feel sluggish, anxiety ridden and awful. I remembered how great I felt doing it last year but slipped back into old habits far too easily.

I’m in too . I only drink 3/4 days a week but always over a weekend so gutted that it is Friday tomorrow on what must be the most depressing weekend of the year (and no wine) . For me it’s mostly boredom so I am going to try and keep myself off the sofa on an evening for as long as possible so I envisage a lot of running/exercise/long baths in the evening will take place this month (and if I am really desperate cleaning)

I’m in!! & I want to try & continue after Jan. & only drinking on occasions rather than every weekend!! & the hangovers are vile & definitely not worth the drink

First tick on the Trydry app! I've been drinking so regularly recently it was hard to sleep.but I know the long-term benefits will be huge. Early evenings in are my danger time as I live alone, some need to restructure my day to prevent the temptations. Good luck to all!

How did everyone sleep? Mine was awful. I was so restless that I hit up at 2.30 for an hour. Tonight will be better.
part of my ‘issue’ is that my partner and I drink a lot together. It will be hard having time with him sober. That is an awful thing to say. I am really hoping he also decides to give this a go. He knows he drinks far to much.

Good morning! I used to rely on booze to get to sleep (or I used to think I needed booze to get to sleep) but then I realised I can nap in the afternoon without it so it was a belief, not a fact.

@BigButtons do you live with your partner? Is he supportive of you doing DJ?

@Jumpingjuly if I am really desperate cleaning

Steady on there!! 😆

morning, slept great last night feel lovely & refreshed this morning. I am on day eight though. 😅 I’m not missing drinking at all, anyone else?

Morning to all, I will join the wagon. I usually do; plus if anyone of old is about from the penguin huddle we had going for a few years? Those threads were really supportive.

some years I manage it fine, some it’s a failure but this time I just have to stick to it. I am a bottle
of wine a night person - really bad!!! what’s worse is I am so immune to it now it’s an utter waste of calories and health risk anyway. Plus the money. £7/8 for a bottle, that’s going to save me over £200 - we don’t have that money to fritter away.

so I’m going till Friday 30th, 4 weeks and 4 weekends and in Feb it’s going to be strictly 5 days a week AF.

I’ve tried it all in the past - CBD drinks, AF drinks, magnesium drinks, sentia, Epsom salt baths (probably the best out of the lot!), changes in routine and I am an absolute BITCH doing it, but it does get easier.

weekends are the hardest so hitting it face on today…

I was a Penguin off and on kittens 🙂
I had health issues the past couple years so couldn’t drink, and it was good. It’s AMAZING how quickly it became normal. I’d say within 3 or 4 weeks drinking wine nearly every day seems really odd, and you are used to a new, calmer routine with much earlier mornings! (the sleep gets gooood).
But then I feel so good I think I can have the occasional glass and within a month Im overdoing it again.
So my aim is really to just keep going but I cant think about forever so January is a good start.
Buttons I think it would be really tough to live with a drinker- hope you can get him on board.

Can I join? But not until Monday for us as we’re away this weekend.

I’ve drink so much in December, I’m amazed I have a functioning liver left.

Going to find an app, I like a visual ticky type thing. We do dry Jan every year end enjoy the break. We’re going to try to go to mid Feb as that’s when we’re off to the Caribbean.

Joining, thanks for the thread :)

I'm in!
Also on other thread aiming for 100 days
Friday night is my worst time so I'm just thinking ahead what I will do to break the habit tonight

I’m doing it again along with my DH. We got a lot out of doing it last year and both lost weight. Also giving up crisps for Jan as they go hand in hand for me!!

Can I join pls? I've done this the last five years and it's got so much easier, I now kind of look forward to it. Although I find Sundays (roast day) very hard. And any early evening. I don't socialise at all to avoid temptation and go to bed early! I need to find ways to do it with less avoidance, and then I need to not cane it as soon as Feb comes. I want to make a lasting change, although not ready to think about giving up. Kind of hate myself though, know I am dependent.

Morning all

Yay I was sober yesterday! And I slept wonderful!

Here is to a fresh, clean and optimistic morning.

Good luck all

One thing that helps me is to understand that the sun will rise whether I drink or not. Not sure how to explain it… ok so it’s 6 pm or 7pm or whatever your “ ooh, wine” trigger time is.
I might feel a bit antsy if I have a wine head on, but I figure that if I just ride it out, read a book, clean the bathroom or whatever, before I know it it’s 10 pm and I can go to bed and then it’s a new day. The days just keep racking up like that. Just let it pass, nothing bad will happen if you feel a bit on edge etc.
( Im great at the initial bit, you might need to remind me of this in week 3!)

I’d like to join but I wavered last night, I’ve half a bottle of cote de Provence in the fridge and I resent throwing six quid down the sink. Anyway, my willpower won in the end! It’s still there.

edited to add, I had nine hours sleep last night as a result. Unheard of.

Very true. I do similar. When the wine witch is calling I remind myself it’s just a HABIT. I’m not craving a glass at 11am or 3pm or 11pm - it’s just when I’m prepping supper. So I try to say 5.45 (that’s when the bottle usually opens) till 8pm is it - after that it’s not worth it anyway. So it’s just working through those couple of hours… distraction, cleaning my teeth at 5.45 weirdly really helps, making new habits.

I'm in. Looking forward to feeling better having more money and hopefully losing Christmas weight!

Day 1 done and feel fine today, had a long lie in and it was nice to get up without the groggy feeling and taking a couple of paracetamol.

It’s Friday so usually for us we’d have a few drinks tonight but hoping to stick to our plan. DH isn’t officially doing DJ but he has said he’s going to calm it down. We’re actually looking forward to going back to work on Monday after a couple of weeks off. We can’t really drink much in the week as we are both up early and have to drive, especially him, so it’s the weekends that will be more of a challlenge for us, out of habit more than anything. I can see the dog getting far more walks over the next month!

I like that @TammyOne - I'm going to try that. I'm definitely early evening so going to experiment with distraction for that little bit. Easier when off work though, I worry about how to resist when normal working day as my habit is there to help me de-stess and signal evening. And is so habitual when cooking.

I slept really well. I did have a 0 percent gin and diet lemonade which was lovely last night. I went to the gym this morning to work out and had a re laugh as a small group of us went.

Has he decided to try Dry January with you? Dh didn't but isnt a heavy drinker and prefers whisky which i hate when he is drinking so.it didn't bother me.