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.

@2026x that sounds so difficult and shocking, I hope your DH is ok.

I'm doing all right, am ravenously hungry, hadn't connected it till reading this! Sleep awful sadly.

I've now cooked two dinners and eaten two dinners with no wine, and it was fine funnily enough. It normally feels essential. I think it helps that I'm simultaneously focusing on upping my water intake, as I drink hardly any, so that makes me think ok, I've got to get the fizzy water down with dinner. Thought experiment last night, pretended I was 12, how I wished then i could be considered grown up enough to have Perrier with dinner. So managed to make myself yearn for it!

We’re doing it, I did it last year & didn’t find it hard. I drank nearly everyday in dec. we have a lot of bdays in Nov & so it feels like one long celebration in Nov/dec. anyway we’ll & truly ready for a reset. We still have tons of booze in the house but I don’t even fancy it. We also aren’t planning to go out. So that helps.

@boredwfh yeah I still have all the booze in the house but it doesn’t tempt me to drink it. I mean part of me would like to but I know I would feel terrible so it isn’t even an option.
i might move it to the garage just to make some space in the cupboards.

Morning all.

Day 3!
Feeling pretty good. But eating lots!! I have so much energy though so I am thrilled about that. Optimistic about the day

Keep it up all

Morning all. Last night felt fine, once it got to 8pm I forgot I wasn’t drinking and it felt okay.

Out for lunch today, would normally have a bottle of wine with lunch out but obviously no more. It helps that we are planning to walk home, about 10-12 miles so wine wouldn’t be a good idea anyway!

I was up at 7am and straight to the gym, wouldn’t have managed that quite so easily if I’d been drinking. No food cravings thankfully, have a low sugar, no snacks diet from last January which I think helps.

Well done OP

I had this last year when I did DJ. Sugar cravings hit me hard and I gained weight 🙈. This year my plan is to eat 3 proper well balanced meals a day including protein to ensure I feel full. Drink 2 litres of water a day and go on lots of walks as it seems to keep my mind busy.

Morning. Please can I join. I drank NYD but decided to stop yesterday. It was actually quite convenient that yesterday felt more like a Monday and less like a Friday due to being back to work for the first time after Christmas. I have cataract surgery coming up in the middle of the month. I'm only 47yrs and I was in total shock when I found out I had the first let alone the second. I was dreading the surgery and drank more than I should. It was actually totally fine and done in ten mins. I would like to feel calmer going into surgery for the next one and in a better place this year.

So far this weekend is fine as it doesn’t feel like a weekend. Next Friday evening will be my biggest test. I got up and did Parkrun this morning and it was great to do it with a clear head so plan on doing the same next Saturday morning so hopefully that will keep me motivated through Friday. Once I get past 7pm im
fine. I think I’ll get in some nice sparkling soft drinks to help me get through. Well done everyone so far .

Happy day 3 all. Up and ready to go to the gym with DD1 , we haven’t been for a couple of weeks and she has asked to go so it’ll do us both good.

I took the dog for a hours walk at 5pm last night, that’s usually when the wine witch calls on a Friday! Came back and made a cuppa. DH had a few beers but I wasn’t really tempted so I just drank diet coke from a wine glass. I had a few life admin bits to do so was occupied by that while he watched the darts.

No drinking on a Saturday is easier than a Friday for us as DH works occasionally on a Saturday night or a Sunday so sometimes we don’t bother. However as he’s not working i’m going to take the xmas decorations down later and sort out the house to keep me busy. If we watch TV later I may try an AF wine.

@BigButtonsThe food cravings are real - I made toast at 11pm and have made a serious dent in a new tub of Quality Street!

Morning all!
Another horrendous nights sleep here. Tossing and turning for hours and then frequent waking.
I anticipate my sleep getting slightly worse over the next two nights as well as the back to work dread is already setting in!

The AF wine i bought was gross! Will try the rose fizz that someone upthread mentioned next time.

Like others have said, last night wasn't as difficult as expected but, thats definitely because it doesnt feel like the weekend yet. Agree with others that next weekend, after a week of work may be different!

I’m in. I did it last year and found it ok, not too hard. I think this year I’ve drunk less overall, and I haven’t had all that much over Christmas. But I have had a drink most nights since about the start of November, so it’s time to rein it in. I also want to lose weight and have joined the low carb bootcamp thread, so hopefully it’ll all tie in nicely.

I slept incredibly well last night, which I wasn't expecting so that's a nice bonus. I'm finding early evening before I eat anything a bit tricky, but have sort of distracted myself by eating a bit earlier or making sure I drink something, just anything at all so I'm not actually thirsty. I have drunk much more water than usual! It's all to do with routines at the moment, but I know once this first week is over then it will get easier and I start to feel a bit smug that I've managed it.

Ah, I think you probably meant to tag @raspberrytart (I was responding to her post about her Husbands liver disease) x

I did, sorry for being useless @raspberrytart

Hi all, Im doing ok, very tempted last night but had an af cocktail instead and feel great today, really positive. It makes me realise how much my anxiety is tied to wine!! Looking forward to keeping at it!!

Well done to everyone so far 🤗
Buttons - the pub must have been hard, so sticking to your resolve on AF beer was a big achievement.
Cooking a full roast dinner was very hard for me on NYD as I would always have almost a full bottle of Sauvignon to myself whilst in the kitchen . A daily habit - rushing to get home to get in the kitchen with the door firmly closed for that first glass ..All I could think about..
I was SO tempted to break my resolve, that I was literally biting my knuckles but eventually the worst of the craving passed and I had cold cranberry juice in a wine glass and then very icy lemonade that I’d stored in the garden .
I’m almost a week in and the desire to drink wine is lessening daily, like the tide gently retreating .
Thinking of you all and proud of us ❤️xxx

I am already sleeping a bit better, still waking every few hours but getting back to sleep once I have been to the bathroom. That happened last time though and it took me a while to sleep through. Not craving food and actually snacking less as I tend to eat whilst drinking so that's good. The real test is going to be when I go back to work on Monday

I’m hoping for a good nights sleep, all of December has been dreadful worse when drinking. I’d love to sleep right through.

Checking in. Just been for a short walk to avoid the wine witching hour. Bought some nice cordial and currently having that with loads of ice. Had a bit of a snack attack last night but weighed in at SW this morning so I need to reset that habit too. Looking forward to this challenge. We've got this 👍

Evening folks..I have no desire to drink at all at the moment. I was so ill on New Year’s Day after getting blackout drunk on fizzy wine at a friends house.
I was dry retching and felt literally like I might die..it was horrible..haven’t been that bad in ages.
Anyway, although it was a spectacularly unpleasant hangover and I’m still not 100%, it was useful as I can refer back to that feeling whenever I feel my resolve wobbling.

Luckily today I’ve had a commitment that means I can’t drink anyway so have swerved the witching hour! Well done to everyone so far.
i bought some nice rhubarb cawston press to drink when I finally get home and am looking forward to that.

Still experimenting with evening drinks. A week ago it would have been a fairly hefty vodka in a tall glass with diet coke and then a couple of glasses of wine; not an excessive intake over three hours – I never got/felt drink – but it was every single night.

I've tried fruit tea, which is OK but doesn't actually taste of anything. Now reserving part of my morning smoothie (beet, peach or apple and carrot with red fruit juice and a dollop of yoghurt) and thinning it down with zero tonic. Very nice!

The smoothie sounds like a really good idea! I'm on tanqueray 0%, either the plain one with cucumber or the orange one with dehydrated orange segments that I got on Amazon. Both with Mediterranean tonic. They feel grown up. And as I don't really drink real gin I can't tell the difference!

I'm eating far too much pasta!
& Drinking soya milk 😆

Id say definitely a craving tonight!! Yikes!!

Blast, I'd forgotten the chocolate/carbs craving, but that would explain why I picked up some leftover Christmas chocolate in Lidl earlier (as well as a pack of diet coke). Since I really need to lose weight as well, I'll try to knock that on the head after this weekend! I've also found a bottle of alcohol-free gin in the back of the cupboard, but I think I might save that until I really want a drink, which I expect to be next Friday evening...