Dry January

ICBM

I'm going to update this after a month back to 'normal'… some interesting things have happened which are not at all what I was expecting, and contrary to what a lot of people seemed to think about it being pointless or a token that wouldn't make any difference.

Bear in mind that until January I rarely went a day with no alcohol at all - usually at least a small (330ml bottle or a half pint if I was out) beer.

I've more than halved my overall consumption, gone from: roughly one beer a day, an extra beer or a glass of wine three or four days a week and a glass of whisky/vodka before going to bed two or three days a week, to: a beer three or four days a week, and an extra beer, glass of wine *or* (not both!) a glass of spirit one or two days a week.

I notice the effect quicker and feel it slightly in the morning after only a couple of drinks now. If I'm driving, I now don't drink at all rather than having one small drink early in the evening so I had time for it to wear off, as I did before.

So I think it's been a big and positive change, and I don't feel any urge to go back to how it was. I still like beer and look forward to a nice one, but I just don't miss having it anywhere near as much as I thought I would.

bluechargeboy

Nice one @ICBM, and thanks for the update, I was thinking of doing the same so I will. Kicking the daily habit is a big deal and can have huge health benefits; my dad lost a stone and got himself off the doctor's "should be on statins" shit-list.

I had my first pint of the year on Friday. Didn't finish it. It was OK, neither wonderful or horrible. Felt weird with a pint sat in front of me.

I read a book called The Naked Mind which really makes you think about why we drink, and how alcohol gets a free pass compared to other addictive drugs. It is one of the few books on the subject that are not self-help books for those who have hit rock bottom, but more for those who are intrigued by drinking less or no alcohol. It present alcohol addiction as a continuum upon which we all dwell with varying degrees of success.

I am not considering myself teetotal as I don't feel the need to apply a label; I would be happy to go out and have a drink if I wanted to. In general I have found it much easier to make one decision and allow myself occasional "slips" rather than continuously moderating my intake. I have found the whole thing fascinating TBH. The experiment continues...

Sorry for the essay!

tone1

I'm a bit disappointed in myself, in that I've slipped back into bad habits so easily..
I'm going to have another go..dry March.
Every other month will half my units. First week in Feb was ok but as the month's gone on its not been so good.
I didn't miss it much in Jan, bit of a wobble 3 weeks in but overall it was easy.
It's not that I'm weak (I've done a year off) but I think I'm probably all or nothing

eSully

Overall the Dry january has had a positive effect on how I drink. I enjoy a drink but I've not drank much in February at all and not been tipsy at all. Just enjoyed a quiet one on its own. Previously having just one and stopping there was a far harder task so there's definitely been a big change in volume consumed. 

Lodious

Nice one @ICBM, It's had a good effect on me too. I've stopped drinking midweek and Sundays and on Friday and Saturday I've been spacing alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic lager which is cutting my consumption massively as I've stopped going into the uncontrolled drinking at the end of the evening. I'd never thought it would be this easy to cut down, and although I struggled in January, It's been well worth it.

eSully

Anyone doing dry january again this year (or for the first time)? Found this thread great last year for sticking to it so for my fitness and weight I'm in for this again!

fields5069

I'm going dry until my half marathon in March, just to lose a couple of pounds. I may well continue past that, we'll see.

Sporky

I'm not going dry, but I am reducing my intake slightly. On days when I have spirits I will have one, not two. I will have no more than two drinky-days in a row (whereas before I'd sometimes have three or four). My consumption hasn't been very high for a while now - at most half a bottle of wine of an evening - but I can still spot a difference in my sleep between drinky days and non-drinky days.

Col_Decker

Likewise I'm not stopping but I'm reducing my intake considerably. We were talking at work about a lad who'd worked out he was spending £1800 a year on boozing at home. We all laughed thinking "I'd never drink that much". So I worked mine out, it came to £1400.

Whoa momma need to stop that.

fields5069

Walking the dog does it for me - the local corner shop has a "3 bottles of ale for £5" offer. So that's going to be a challenge to resist. I could easily be spending up to £1000 per year on drinking at home.

eSully

I think if I just said I was cutting down I'd probably not really cut down but have one less beer on the first weekend! I'm not as big a drinker as I once was, a fear of hangovers with young kids does that to you so I'm not particularly concerned about my drinking but I think it would be good for me to have a few weeks off. What better opportunity.

@Col_Decker - £1800 is massive amount just on beer at home, does he have expensive tastes or just drinks in massive volume?

Roland

We do dry January. Partly for our livers' sake, but mainly to stop our intake creeping up. 

eSully said:

... @Col_Decker - £1800 is massive amount just on beer at home, does he have expensive tastes or just drinks in massive volume?

That's less than two pints, or a bottle of wine, per day. Now adjust for income tax, and you have to earn around £2400 per year to finance it.

Col_Decker

eSully said:

@Col_Decker - £1800 is massive amount just on beer at home, does he have expensive tastes or just drinks in massive volume?

That's what I though until I worked mine out:

4 cans on Thursday, 4 on Friday, 1 bottle of wine for mrs on Friday plus 2 cans for me, 2 cans on sunday. Multiply that up by 52 and shazam ...

ICBM

I'm doing it again, although like last year I purposely didn't start until the 3rd - needed to finish the open Christmas bottles .

Last year I halved my overall consumption after I started again in February, which has definitely been a good thing. Not sure I'll halve it again, but a reduction would still be good.

bluechargeboy

I did it last year and just carried on. Had < 10 units in total last year. First hangover-free year since about 1990. I love it!

BigBearKris

I've done 8 weeks last year. Since then the intake was pretty much the same and December was just terrible - huge amount of food consumed and wine/cider that went with it. So... no drink since last weekend and hopefully for a bit longer this time

bluechargeboy said:

I did it last year and just carried on. Had < 10 units in total last year. First hangover-free year since about 1990. I love it!

That's impressive! Congratulations!

Tone71

I`m in as always, have noticed that since quitting brewing my alcohol intake has been less and less to the point where the thought of waking up with a hangover is enough to put me off over indulgence

tone1

I'm in this year but I can't bring myself to talk about it yet!....only joking. I did a dry October as well and most of last year went Mon-Thurs dry as well.
I don't usually have beer but I do like a glass of Red...Malbec being my favourite....

WezV

I just picked up two bottles of nice gin and 2 crates of beer so probably not going totally dry.

i did also pick up a crate of Bavaria shandy in an attempt to have something nearly alcohol free in the house.  It's really rather nice.

hubobulous

I'm doing this, but mostly since a new baby is due any time and I've got to be the means of transport to get my wife to the hospital. Only a few days in, but not really fussed by not drinking which has surprised me since I have drunk at least a glass of wine every night for the past few years.