would anyone like to try a dry January with me?

[coppercolouredtop]

i really struggle with not drinking daily.

i have tried before and cheated. my dp hates how much i drink and i would like to try and see if i can do a month without and see if it breaks the habit a bit.

i can easily sink a bottle of wine plus a cocktail and still want more. i go two days without simply because i work nights two days a week.

i am getting fat. i am choosing drink over food. i am reliant on treating myself with alcohol almost daily.

i can give up anything else really easily - smoking? stopped with no help when i decided to stop.
put a box of chocolates in front of me and i can take a couple and leave the rest.
open a bottle of wine and its gone. and i want more and i dont get hangovers so there is no incentive to stop!
ive gained 6lb recently and i know its booze - dp and i used to work same hours and i moderated a bit better when he was around but now im not.
i know he hates what i drink and the annoying bint i become after the third glass.
i have lost motivation to do anything. i dont get up early. i cant be arsed to do much anymore ( i know i am depressed which doesnt help. and i think i depress the people around me)
despite being quite outgoing and bubbly i have no friends and no social life. my kids are grown up and dont see me much. i moved to a village i dont know 4 years ago and know not a soul. i also got pregnant which i was ecstatic about but then found the baby had a disability that would have been life altering for me and her, but i always felt being a mum kept me going and motivated and now my life feels completely empty and hollow. im in a job i hate. with a partner who doesnt like spending much time with me. my kids are gone, i have no friends here and alcohol fills the gaps.

ive decided to try and get to grips with that one problem and bin the booze for a month to see if it makes any difference to anything. (waist line would be good!) i never used to drink like this.. (though i did smoke about 3 cigarettes a day)

does anyone relate? anyone fancy giving this a go and supporting each other? im going to find it extremely difficult but i want to try it.

@coppercolouredtop that is really crap and I'm so sorry to hear you having such a hard time . Take one day at a time and be kind to yourself. One slip up is nothing to worry about , think of how well you have done. A clear head is much better when dealing with major decisions . XX

Missy I also haven't been sleeping, 4 hours max but I'm hoping to be over the worst now. I'm trying to excerise each day and not nap in the day . Good luck

@coppercolouredtop I'm sorry to hear you're having a rough time. I slipped up this weekend too. Poured a glass of wine on Friday night and ended up drinking the whole bottle. The stupid thing is that I really didn't even want it before that first glass, I just felt like I should have it because it's the weekend. Madness! Had a spectacular hangover yesterday, worse than I've had in a long time.

But the positive side of it is that it's made me realise exactly why I want to cut down or hopefully stop the alcohol. Up early this morning, having a cup of tea in peace and have done a few jobs around the house, and feeling much better today.

copper sorry to hear this, that's hard, and it's difficult to tackle something like this whilst other stuff is going on in our lives. Hope you get somewhere to live sorted and can reset everything and maybe start again if you feel up to it.

Missy it might take a few nights for your body to get used to no alcohol, I know this from when I get back from holidays and have had a spell of drinking too much. My sleep is shot to pieces after holidays

Hannah that's a brill analogy and I shall remember that.

So pleased to have got through my worst nights (friday and saturday) On chatting to a slim friend who has good control though, that didn't help. She was of the mindset 'what does a couple of glasses on a weekend matter, why are you doing this?'
If you have an addictive personality like me, you can't stop at one or two if the bottle's open!

@coppercolouredtop ugh sorry to hear you are having a tough time if it. Relationships can be such hard work. Keep posting here for support 🌷

Day 6... is it just me or does January seem to be slipping by really quickly? 😳

It's my DS's birthday on the 14th.. Jan is a crappy month for a birthday. Most people are skint and fatigued after Xmas, and we always struggle with gifts. OH has got him a kids electric guitar and amp and thats pretty much it from us. He got loads at Xmas.

He is having a bowling party next weekend too.. we are taking 14 kids bowling.... if anything could potentially drive me to drink, it's that! 😳

@GimmeBread good idea!
Am totally bored from not drinking but it went ok saw new boyfriend last night and actually remember everything we talked about. Felt scary in a way to not have the prop of alcohol there. I think I hide behind it.

Hi All, I'm doing DJ too. I haven't done DJ before and have found this relatively easy. However, I'm going for a friends birthday night out next Sat. I keep wondering about cancelling. I can't imagine just drinking diet coke while they are all drinking cocktails. Or maybe I should go for a couple of hours? Plus I don't want to look really boring.

i actually feel ok today. problem is i have half a bottle of open wine to tempt me now but i am buying no more until feb!

Half a bottle of wine? Boil it to half it's volume and freeze it and you can use it in food. Sorry about all the upheaval. Going through it sober is quicker than drinking through the pain but harder

I feel like crap. Not sleeping at all, which I think is keto insomnia, rather than alcohol free insomnia. Urg.

I have had one of those little bottles of wine today, instead of my usual binge. Its a start.

Cooking a roast tonight , normally I would polish off a couple of glasses while cooking , so it's hard breaking the habit . I also brought chicken instead of red meat so I wouldn't be tempted to have red wine , which is my favourite and my go-to drink especially on a Sunday ...Day 6 nearly done

well done bert......ah yes, the couple of glasses.....I'm guessing thats about 2/3 of a bottle?

I'm the same @bert3400 I do love a glass of red on a Sunday with a roast but so far I've not cracked and spent all afternoon building a gravitrack with the kids..

Gawd I'm still really craving and missing the booze January is dragging by at snails pace.

Although I bumped in to a friend's husband whilst walking our dogs in the park earlier, and he had a stinking hangover. Said he'd been planning dry January but then xyz happened (trivial everyday life stresses) so it was impossible to cut the booze but he might in February instead. Made me see that I was often making similar excuses for opening a bottle of wine. And made me glad that I've stuck with it so far, as he looked really ropey.

Sorry you're having such a rough time copper xx

Day 4 complete - I'm quite bloody chuffed with myself! I've got a bit of a cold so I'm downing NightNurse before bed the last couple of nights - that's not alcoholic is it? 🤨

I'm chuffed too, this is 6th day and I'll be OK (just) until Friday. Trouble is, I know I'm snacking more and that's not good. But I'm turning out our lounge (massively overdue) for redecoration and every time I feel like a drink, I go in there and chuck something out.

Day 6 done & the lack of alcohol is going well but dear God will someone please stop me eating chocolate & sweet stuff.

I feel the same @Lordamighty - I was hoping to lose weight doing DJ, but at my current rate of eating, it'll go in the wrong direction!

Sorry to hear you are going through a tough time op. Don't worry about the slip up. Tomorrow is another day.

I am hanging on in there. Almost a week without booze.
Someone told me today my skin looked nice can't remember how long ago anyone noticed my skin, usually looks dry & tired. I think lots of water & no alcohol is helping.

MrsTerryPratchett What's Keto Insomnia? I had the most awful nights sleep last night and wonder if it's the mad diet Keto I'm doing?

Day 7 here, am still on Xmas holidays HURRAH! so walked the dog and off to take the kids to some Go Ape style adventure. Feel confident about a booze free week. Am starting to see a change in my skin and eyes - brighter all round.

I've ruined it totally. Need to get back in wagon.

Fuck!

What's Keto Insomnia?

My frantic googling has shown that lots of people get insomnia that lasts 3 day to 3 weeks (!) and it's caused by either the lack of sleepy carbs or the lack of serotonin. No idea if this is science or keto-weirdo-bollocks.

coppercolouredtop you have absolutely not ruined it!!! Relapse is part of recovery. What you need to do is take a deep breath. learn from the triggers and restart.

I too am doing dry January - well, damp January as my DH is calling it! Doing ok - the app actually allows you to log your units. I have decided to go for a more controlled month rather than going completely dry. I enjoy a glass of wine and don't want to give it up completely just be more mindful for longer than one month. Some of the posters here on this thread are consuming way above the recommended guidelines. Way above.

Hobbies and keeping busy definitely help. So too does not drinking on consecutive nights. I'm aiming to keep my weekly units to around 8. Have also been enjoying an alcohol free beer and will investigate a good AF wine.

The thing is... I loathe AF anything like beer or wine or whatever. I'd rather have nothing because it just reminds me what I'm missing. So it's fizzy water or a glass of Shloer for me!

Restarting today. The bottle of wine is gone so I will not be buying more. If it's there I drink it so answer is for it not to be there . Onward and upward.