Dry January - a month off the booze - anyone want to join me?

[Doshusallie]

I am determined to do this - I drink most days, it's become a habit, just a glass or two, more at weekends, but really want to give myself an extended break.

The worst time of day for me is between 6-8 pm, before we eat. So am going to try and eat earlier and it would be great if I could come on here and get some support about that time of day!

does anybody want to have a dry January with me?

And yes I do have a hangover today

Day 14 tick!

Same here. I walked in tonight after one of those days that would usually need a glass or two to get over, and had a grapefruit juice instead. Very pleased with myself .

Dh had a bad day yesterday - he got his dates mixed up and thought we only had one weekend to go, he was a bit sad that we were only half way through...poor boy.
While I haven't found going dry very tricky....it's definitely for January only and it won't change how we drink come February - we do deliberately limit drinking on a school night to 3 glasses but we love it too much to go dry permanently.

Im on day 2, no change yet, but going for a swim later and ive already made today and te moz dinner.

I lost another pound. Only 6 lb to go!!
Its all coming off the band of mush in the middle. I'm doing a bit of excercise here and there but really its cutting out the wine. I've stopped over eating now, i assume my body has got used to less sugar.

snowkey is that three glasses each? Would that be more than a bottle a night between you? How much do you have at weekend? It's interesting to know what others drink. I suppose it matters how big your glass is :-)

My skin just looks even better.

A late starter here. I have finished 3 days, am now in day 4.

Yesterday was quite hard as I normally go out for a couple of beers on a Monday, it has been part of my week for a long time. But I am feeling proud of myself today.

I doubt if there are any noticible physical differences yet.

Day 14 done here.

I do have an admission as I accidentally had ½ pint of ale on Sunday. I don't even usually drink ale but was on an all day walk and it seemed a good idea at the pub stop. Perhaps I forgot it was alcohol, no idea. Didn't even occur to me until after I had drunk it. Anyway, I am ignoring it and pretending it didn't happen

Getting used to the long evenings a bit more now and loving my clear head in the morning.

Matilda Yes we share a bottle between us - and dh has a beer too that's 3 nights a week, 2 days off, then 2 nights weekend drinking would probably be a nearly a bottle each. Bad I know but it has been worse!

It's a lot of units over a week, especially for you. :-) i found i could easily drink a bottle in a night at christmas, as i was starting late afternoon. It's cummulative effect was awful though, i felt really shocking.

Your not tempted to drink less? my dh drinks rarely and i think if he was a drinker i would easily get carried along. Mainly as i love a good wine. I'm hoping this break will change my habits so i drink less and less regularly ifswim.

No I'm not tempted to drink less, I don't want to! I don't eat sugar or rubbish junk food, I run about 15miles a week, i fast twice a week - I generally live a healthy lifestyle - for me that's enough, I'm aware of the risks but alcohol is something I really enjoy and I don't want to drink any less.

Feeling loads better this past couple of days! Sleeping better, skin smoother, back ache gone ( bit worrying!) cravings gone, but still eating loads of crap Choc and cake

Day 15 done and dusted, well done all keep going!

I am loving the clearer skin, amazing sleep, being more relaxed with my children (no hangovers, no headache)
I started counselling today and think its good to maintain a clear head to get the most out of my sessions. I am starting to feel more in control of my life, my direction, my behaviours. All this positivity from just giving up regular wine??? It makes me question what (if any) good alcohol does?

Good to hear you all sounding so positive.

I went out for dinner for the first time in a couple of weeks. There were five of us, one of the others was also on a dry January, so we all ended up on tap water - nice and cheap . I did eat too much though.

Day five for me.

One thing I have noticed is the money I am not spending. I haven't been to the ATM for about a week, that's very unusual for me.

Well done everyone who has managed this far, personally I am finding it very reassuring (not sure if that's the right word) to have this thread, I probably drank more than anyone else on here and I need a bit of support.

think we should all give ourselves a big pat on the back...Over half way through now.....

I'm beginning to think that not only will this help me to moderate my future consumption but I might also consider doing a dry every other month.

You are all so right about feeling physically better and financially better off...I have bought several things for the house that normally I wouldn't be able to afford to buy just out of day-to-day account because I'd have spent the money on alcohol..... Hmmmm....

Yes, it's amazing what a difference it makes to restaurant bills, not drinking. Sure your friends all felt happier to have spent less money, NeitherShreddedNorSmug, and good that they supported you and your other friend who was also doing a dry January....

I am really getting the idea that we are all drinking because it is socially the norm but that actually it would be quite easy to adopt a new attitude even when socialising....

On other years when we have done a dry January, it has reset our alcohol habits which after the Christmas season were hideously bad. We didn't drink much more than normal this time. I have a friend who goes dry half of the year - I think that's tough. I think of those lovely summer evenings, glass in hand, sun on face....bliss!

snowkey yes i love those summer months with a cool beer also. I didn't mean to sound critical if your drinking, more interested really.

Still dry over here and fine fine fine.

Another dry day here. Not missing it at all.

Have been referred to the next stage of fertility treatment so that's my incentive.

Thats brilliant news twinkle I sincerely hope it goes well for you and you get your bundle of joy soon
complexnumber I too am really appreciating this thread for support. You may well drink more than most, but I think I was seriously heading for a bit of a problem, so just a bit further up the track than you IYKWIM? Well done for doing so well, any habit is hard to address. I found giving up smoking very very hard but have not touched a fag for about 5 years, that reminds me that I can do it. So can you
Cheers all!

Oh yes i also loved smoking :-) theme here?

Well done twinkle, fertility issues are so unfair.

No worries Matilda I am also an ex smoker - I loved smoking too, gave up nearly 20 years ago!
twinkle good luck with the fertility process, we went through it too and very much limited our alcohol intake for the 6 months before we started.

Hey twinkle that's brilliant about your fertility progress, we've had a shocker of a month here so haven't even managed a shag, another cycle wasted but have resisted opening a bottle of wine to numb the misery, which is something I suppose.

Well, today I went to a 'love your liver' roadshow and had mine tested. Its fine. Phew. So good news and I am determined to rein back the drinking after I finish the Dryathlon; I hope it will kickstart some healthier habits

Thx very much all. To those who limited drinking before fertility treatment, did it help?

Hard to tell isn't it. Dh had sperm count issues and it was fine. We were lucky and got pregnant first time. I think we felt the need to throw all we had at it. We both reduced our alcohol intake down to 10 units a week, as advised by our consultant and stuck to it.