to give a vodka iv to the next person that moans about dry January

[thegymbunni]

I don't really care what people drink, but I'm sdo bored of people moaning that they can't drink.

Most of them are just wasting their time and will have a huge blowout come Feb.

Moderation is the key, not abstinence To binge!

YANBU, I may also force feed the diet bores with jam doughnuts!

Although having said that, a few on my Facebook feed have gone quiet, so perhaps there's no need.

Way hey, I don't drink at all (except my Amarretto laced Christmas cake marzipan) so your vodka IV might polish me off

I'm 40+4, planning to BF and people constantly moan at me about not being able to drink (DH included)
I have a look which is something like this

It's amazing how many seem able to not survive without alcohol and really very worrying. Many will be parents too so the children will see drinking as the norm.

Little point in stopping for a month though, unlikely to have many health benefits come mid February.

I really don't get the whole 'dry january' thing. Do that many people really drink that much that they need to actually consciously stop themselves drinking for a.month? I'm no tee totaller by any means, but, like the dryathalon thing, it is bit worrying that people drink that much that not drinking is such a huge deal?

I was watching a thing on BBC news the other day about new drinking guidelines and the lady was saying if you can have at least a couple of nights off alcohol a week then that will have real benefits. I was like

Yes but to be fair, some people make exactly the same fuss about giving up chocolate/cake/sweets etc.

Maybe it would be more appeopriate to IV a dry gin?

I was teetotal for years as i was ttc, pregnant, breasfeeding, pregnant, breastfeeding... Sometimes two things at once. I totally agree. It is worrying when people struggle to go without alcohol. I dont think they realise what a crutch it is for them.

Not everyone who has done dry January will binge once it's February.......if they've had a dry month and then start drinking again surely it's better that their liver has had a whole month to recover/repair.
My brother is an alcoholic and I'd be happy if he managed a dry day, unfortunately he doesn't seem to care.

I don't get it either, they've chosen to stop its not like someone has forced them, they could just choose to drink if they're missing it that much

I rarely drink but even when I was a heavy drinking student I wouldn't drink much if anything over the holidays and never missed it

I guess if your whole social life revolves around getting pissed then it would be a struggle not just because of craving alcohol but because you can't do what you're used to doing with friends. But then it's the perfect chance to grow up a bit! Go for a coffee or lunch, go for a walk together, take up a hobby (an exercise class if you want to feel extra virtuous!), volunteer, play board games, do a craft that's just off the top of my head!

Alcoholics are a different case entirely, sorry about your brother Durham. My post is only referring to people who are not actually dependent on alcohol.

I'm not sure it's about people's social lives revolving around getting pissed? Although it might be for some I guess, particularly younger people.

I think more commonly, it's about people pouring a glass of wine every night when the kids are in bed, or having a glass with their dinner every night - that sort of thing.

Some people on this thread have very superior/smug attitudes. I'm sure that none of them have any vices at all and all are very fit with perfect physiques.

Not everyone drinks alcohol to get pissed. Some people just like a glass of wine or other alcoholic drink at the end of a long stressful day. Even one glass can release endorphins in the brain and help "switch off". I think that those who don't understand why quite moderate drinkers like it or miss alcohol perhaps don't get the same effect from alcohol as those that do.

I agree with fatrascals. It certainly worked for me when I first did dry January in 2013. Totally reset my habits and I realised I could still enjoy socialising without a drink. I never drink in the week anymore, where as before we'd often have wine in the evening after work.
I don't harp on bout it though and to be honest it's other people who give me hassle and I wish they'd butt out and accept a 'no thank you'

Well said, Fatrascals.

Worra - that's right. I think people who think that you have to drink to get pissed every time you drink at all are more worrying actually... Most of us like the taste of a glass or two with dinner. And Autumn moderate drinking is, in fact, 'normal' in the sense that it is not a bad thing for a child to see. I think the idea that children shouldn't see alcohol consumed very odd indeed.

By 'us' in my previous post I mean moderate drinkers who might try dry January, not most of the population.

Gloria - totally agree. I'm not 'smug' (or jealous, entitled, boring or any of the other terms that normally get trotted out), just genuinely surprised at the number of people for whom alcohol is an intrinsic part of their daily lives to the extent that they have to sign up to a Thing.

Obviously it's great that they are seriously looking at their intake though. Perhaps it means that those of us social pariahs who don't drink often will stop having to justify why we're not drinking every single time we go out - which would be nice.

just genuinely surprised at the number of people for whom alcohol is an intrinsic part of their daily lives to the extent that they have to sign up to a Thing.

Smug AND disingenuous.

As a non-coffee drinker, I think it is really sad how much caffeine is an intrinsic part of most people's daily lives to the extent that most of them would struggle to give it up for a month and would suffer physical withdrawal symptoms if they did.

just genuinely surprised at the number of people for whom alcohol is an intrinsic part of their daily lives to the extent that they have to sign up to a Thing.

See it doesn't surprise me at all that quite a large number of people are giving up their 'vice' for a month.

Then again, I grew up in a Catholic family where it was totally normal to give up your vice for Lent.

Sometimes that vice was chocolate, sweets, cake, alcohol or something else.

I think most people have too much of something that isn't good for them, and could do with breaking the habit.

In this case it just happens to be alcohol.

YANBU: drink... Don't drink... Just shut up about it!

Bleating on about your 'detox' is about as entertaining as those 'I had wine for dinner' memes on Facebook.

I think there's definitely less Dry January'ers this year going by my FB. Although just as annoying are the pictures of cocktails etc with comments like 'in your face, Dry Jan'

I wish the whole phrase would go to bed