Anyone doing dry January?

I’m doing a full month drinking only water and black coffee and eating only red meat and salt. So far so good.

I only have a good drink once every 6 months these days, after realising it was always a waste.
 
proctors_perm said:
Casual drinker, glass of wine a night etc, but I’ve never done it before, and im training for a half marathon in April.

So far so good. A couple of things aren’t helping, the fridge being full of wine post Xmas, and also thinking what to drink as a b alternative, don’t really want to start drinking loads of fizzy soft drinks (even if they are sugar free).

One thing I have noticed, could be a coincidence, suffer from mild psoriasis, that is definitely better with no alcohol
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Sugar-free is even worse. You should try and avoid aspartame like the plague. Increasingly difficult, I know.
 
(Taskmaster's Greg Davies has some thoughts on this subject and others.. But each to their own really. :ROFLMAO:)

Have taken this down as I did/do not want anyone to be offended by it when they are going through serious issues.
 
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asredastheycome said:
Taskmaster's Greg Davies has some thoughts on this subject and others.. But each to their own really. :ROFLMAO:

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Fair play for the comedy sketch, i did title the post about "dry january" but it was more about recovering from crippling alcoholism and seeing if others had been through the same thing 😊
Didnt want it to seem like an AA introduction in the thread title is all
 
Good on you. I stopped early March last year as at risk of type 2 diabetes. Gave up booze and cakes etc and havnt missed them really.
Had glass of bubbles on Christmas day with my lads and didn't even finish that.
Was hard at first but all good now.
Also do a bit of walking now and have more energy, sleep better and lost nearly 20kg.
Don't know how much of that was from no bevvies, but will be some of it.
 
JimboJenkins said:
I've had a lot of problems starting October 5, 2023, and since then have been on either 1l of vodka or 70cl vodka + a bottle of wine almost every day since then. Finally took the plunge into quitting on Jan 2nd, so am on the verge of completing a week sober for probably the first time in 8 years! Anyone on here been through similar?
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Got to say, going from vodka and a bottle of wine a day to nothing is a great effort, keep it up, one day at a time.

I drink too much I think, not at the levels you are at but probably a little bit too often. I'm not doing dry January, but am definitely doing more dry days at the moment, hopefully I can keep it that way.

I've done dry January before, started to feel the benefits after around 3-4 weeks so even if you're not feeling it yet, you will soon I think.
 
Tend to do a few dry periods a year, and they’re starting to get more frequent.
Never had any real big issues with drink, it’s just that as I get older my body can’t seem to process it as well, and even just a few pints results in me not running on all cylinders the next day and even into the day after.

What I’ve found from it is that after a month or so of abstinence my sleep is fantastic. I’m generally less stressed, which is probably due to the good sleep.
I don’t typically find that I have more money, as the money spent on drink just gets spent on other things that I enjoy.

One thing that I find massively liberating when you’ve not had a drink during your downtime, is when you get a hankering to do something, you can just jump in the car and go and do it.
It’s nice being sat on the sofa suddenly thinking that you’d like to eat an item from certain restaurant, spot a film you like that’s on at the cinema, go up the moors etc. and almost instantly be doing it.
If you’ve had a couple of drinks you typically put all that stuff on a list for another weekend because you can’t drive, then have a couple of drinks the next weekend and repeat the process.

I’m not doing dry January, but that said so far I’ve not had a drink in January either. I might, but I’m currently not missing it.
 
Well done Jimbo. Keep it up.
I've done dry Jan a few times over the years but always gone back to drinking heavily. Albeit sometimes not until mid March, but I've always slipped back into the routine.
In 2024 I decided it was time for a change. I'm 48 now and have drank heavily for the best part of 2 decades. I had a knee replacement in June so I used that as a marker in the sand for cutting right back on my drinking and i've felt 100% better ever since.
I only drink on a Friday night now and sometimes even then I do it becuase it's a Friday night. Not because I really fancy a drink!

Having strong willpower will get you through the month. Then after that, hopefully, you're new routne will allow you to enjoy a drink 'now and again'. I suspect the health benefits and increased energy and mental health will mean you dont go back to the vodka and wine in such harmful quantities. Good luck mate.
 
I’ve only drank once since Boxing Day due to being wiped out by this flu / cough thing going round.

I’d love to say I haven’t missed it and it’s made me a better person, but I’ll be having a good scoop tonight 😅👍🏻
 
I do it every year to bring my liver function back into the healthy range after a wet December.

Also shifts a few pounds whilst saving me a few pounds so all good.

It's some effort to get off a bottle of vodka and wine a day jimbo so massive massive well done and keep up the good work.
 
Thanks for the support everyone. I'm having a bit of trouble getting to sleep at a normal time (I am on longterm leave from work due to injury) so bedtime has been anywhere from 3-6 am, but so far no temptation to have a drink. Noticed my face looks less puffy as before I had alcohol bloat every single day, and the dark circles under my eyes have lessened, so even though it's early days at least I have a couple of minor physical improvements already.
Saddy, hope your situation improves, I get where you're coming from
 
JimboJenkins said:
Thanks for the support everyone. I'm having a bit of trouble getting to sleep at a normal time (I am on longterm leave from work due to injury) so bedtime has been anywhere from 3-6 am, but so far no temptation to have a drink. Noticed my face looks less puffy as before I had alcohol bloat every single day, and the dark circles under my eyes have lessened, so even though it's early days at least I have a couple of minor physical improvements already.
Saddy, hope your situation improves, I get where you're coming from
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all the best of luck, mate.

I am trying to get my drinking to a sensible level. I have had two nights off the drink, this week, which is good for me.
Please have a read of my message footer thingy - psychedelics are very well proven as good addiction therapy.
 
MoggasDog said:
all the best of luck, mate.

I am trying to get my drinking to a sensible level. I have had two nights off the drink, this week, which is good for me.
Please have a read of my message footer thingy - psychedelics are very well proven as good addiction therapy.
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It's a good start MD... Maybe if you can do 2 nights you can do 3 😊
Unfortunately despite being off, the nature of my work means I cant take any form of substances though!
 
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