Dry January 2024..

I'm in.  Woke up on the 27th Dec feeling rank and decided to lay off it for a while so already 6 days in on the 2nd of Jan.  It's my birthday mid-Feb so planning on staying off the booze until then.  Not missing it at the moment but I have been keeping myself busy.

Well I don't drink, haven't done for years as it screws my guts up, but in a spur of the moment, buying other stuff in the local shop, I bought a bottle of Newcastle Brown for New Year's Eve.

I didn't quite manage to finish the whole bottle

So, it's back to dry however many months or years until the next one!

Good luck with those of you giving it up (for however long) or cutting down.

There is very much a great world out there that doesn't involve booze, it's cost, health and social issues.

longdog... we'll rally around you pal, and help you off this slippery slope you've got yourself into

DrP

Me and Mrs Epic starting today. We always have a new year's day family lunch, so starting on the first would be hard.

Having a spicy juice at around 7pm is one thing I do to have a non-alcoholic snifter to address the gap in the evening that would be a beer or glass of wine.

What other tips to help get through the first couple of weeks?

Good luck if you are doing it

Damn. I hoped this about the weather improving. 

Yeah I'm in. Didn't have a particularly boozy xmas but I normally do dry Jan anyway and always feel very good by the end.

I'm in from tomorrow, on holiday still today so last beers this afternoon. 

Yeah we're doing it. We drink a lot, although I'd cut down somewhat towards the end of last year. Third year that I've done it, first year for my wife.

Definitely not today Clubby!

But the news yesterday did say from this weekend could be a dry, cold,still January due to big high pressure coming. Sick of the flooded roads and paths.

No! I’m going to jump on another bandwagon, albeit belatedly, and grow a moustache. Happy Mouanuary.

Nope. It’s not unusual for me to stop for a bit but never took park in an ‘official’ one. 

There won't be any booze in the house, but stopping for a pint in a country pub mid-ride is one of life's pleasures that I don't intend denying myself.

Yeh we're in too. Despite it also being my birthday. Not even going to bother with a meal out as I always have to pay.

I've said I'll have a dry couple of weeks and see how it goes.

Yes. 3rd year in the row for me. Miserable Jan I call it!

January accountability challenge:

No Alcohol

2Ltrs of water each day

20KM run /week

Restricted calories https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

3 sessions at my local bootcamp/outdoor circuits per week

No caffeine past 2pm

10000 steps a day

and a surprise weekly challenge 

I lost 9lb last year. Aiming for similar this year.

I lost 9lb last year.

...and the will to live? That does a bit too punitive if I'm honest

Never seen the point myself as it always looked like a sticky plaster solution. I.e. I was good/will be good in Jan so can crack on for the other 11 months. This obviously not helped by having a Jan BD :D. I did however cut down to only drinking once a week in October as the previous state was getting a bit much.

After a rather excessive ( well for me any way) week in Lanzarote at the end of November I decided to knock it on the head for a while. Tried Zero Guinness on NYE , quite acceptable more so than Thatchers Zero Cider that was gash ! 

My wife tried to get me to break by buying me 4 bottles of ale , one was Grumpy Santa another Old Peculiar, hmmm For me it's easier this time of year it's the summer beer garden rides that would be more of a problem.

One annoying aspect is the fact that I haven't lost any weight

Me and Mrs Pizza are doing it this year, decided to after realising there hasn't been a period longer than say 10 days since about 2016 where I haven't had a drink, including the odd one here and there stopping in the local for a pint and bowl of chips after dog walk or cracking one open after a long day at work. Rarely do I get battered anymore but realised I do drink quite a bit spread out.

About to go skiing (in France) - therefore unlimited free wine. Would be silly to pass that up.

And in all honesty, would have failed by about 5pm on the 1st as there was 1/3 of a bottle of bubbly left in the fridge whcih needed finishing before oging flat.

Very boozy December for me. Back at work today and m my suit and shirt is very very tight….so tight I’ve just had to issue my colleagues safety specs as buttons look and feel like they could be pinging about the office any time now!

Dry Jan and back to training from today. So glad December is over, towards the end of the festivities I was feeling rotten, just from over indulging.

Go on holiday in February so got to try and slim back down to fit my summer clothes!

No Alcohol

2Ltrs of water each day

20KM run /week

Restricted calories https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
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3 sessions at my local bootcamp/outdoor circuits per week

No caffeine past 2pm

10000 steps a day

and a surprise weekly challenge 

I lost 9lb last year. Aiming for similar this year.

I'll take the extra 9lbs

I didn't drink from the middle of September to Christmas, so I'm going to get wasted for the whole of January.

So this Christmas I've laid off the booze, not given up but every drink I've had next day I've felt rough.
I'm having some time away from alcohol, I'm too heavy as it is and get back to some sort of fitness routine.

I'll just go back to my normal routine of only drinking on Fridays and Saturdays.

I gave up caffeine mid-December though and I definitely noticed an improvement in my alertness. I was drinking up to 8 mugs a day though!

What other tips to help get through the first couple of weeks?

I just kinda tell myself that actually, i don't NEED a drink, and the way i feel in teh morning is SOOO good when not drinking, that I look forward to THAT, rather than missing booze in the evening.

Never seen the point myself as it always looked like a sticky plaster solution

I get that idea..but I think it's useful to tell myself that I can actually survive without booze, and hopefully improve my relationship with it in the future.

DrP

January is cold and dark and the pub is warm and welcoming, so I'll carry on.
Never on a school night though.

"No! I’m going to jump on another bandwagon, albeit belatedly, and grow a moustache. Happy Mouanuary."

Januscratchy

Maybe.
I've not had a beer for the last 4 days due to a somewhat excessive intake in the build up to Christmas. At the moment I'm just choosing not to have a beer on a day by day basis, we'll see how long it lasts for.

In. Been VERY boozy for a while, time to break the cycle. Need to shift some timber too

January is cold and dark and the pub is warm and welcoming, so I’ll carry on

These are my sentiments exactly. If you’re going to select an arbitrary period of time to stop drinking then surely January is the worst possible time? It’s cold, wet, dark and miserable, and we’re confined to the indoors more than any other time of year.

Good luck if you’re doing though. My sister did it last year and ended up not having a drink for over 6 months

Pretty sure I had a hang over last night from home made Tiramisu, which must be some sort of record...

Yeah, also in - day two today. Heavier month - and heavier year, really - than it should have been for an 'athlete'...

I don't miss the effects of alcohol at all, but I do miss something nice to drink while I'm cooking and eating. The only think that ever really fills that gap for me is sparkling water.

If you’re going to select an arbitrary period of time to stop drinking then surely January is the worst possible time? It’s cold, wet, dark and miserable, and we’re confined to the indoors more than any other time of year.

Totally get this. I think I do January because I've had such a heavy period of drinking over Christmas I can't face any more. Same goes for red meat, bacon and sausages. Body can't face anymore (although sausage normally falls first, by the second weekend)...

Totally get this. I think I do January because I’ve had such a heavy period of drinking over Christmas

Yep, they picked January to get people while they were feeling vulnerable.

Anyway, February would be an even worse month to do it. It's often colder, wetter and Christmas is a distant memory.

I know this as I did Dry February a year or two ago

I think I do January because I’ve had such a heavy period of drinking over Christmas I can’t face any more

We’re the opposite. We’ll tend to nip out to the pub for a couple of pints quite frequently as We both work from home and it’s a nice way to get out of the house in the evening and have a stroll if you’re getting cabin fever after being constantly indoors

…. apart from in December, where the nobhead proportion of all pubs goes through the roof and being a miserable bugger my tolerance for the Colin Hunts of this world is low at the best of times. That’s before they’ve even donned their best Christmas jumper and decided everyone has to apparently be ‘jolly’.

So January is when we get ‘our’ pubs back

#takingbackcontrol

January is always so miserable anyway; It's still darkest mid-winter, The weather is crap, it goes on forever. Adding to the pain by 'giving up' stuff just feels extra punitive and too self-flagellating to me.

I mostly have just a small glass of wine with my supper anyway and I'm pretty strict about it, I don't feel the need to make the dark nights even more intolerable.

I think the miserable weather prompted us to book a couple of nights out to cheer us up through January, starting with a nice Brighton restaurant tonight. So won't be dry, but will definitely cut right down as my body feels somewhat violated even though I didn't really go mad.

The "posh" carbonator I bought the Mrs for Christmas is going to get a hammering I think.

dont really do the whole dry January thing, just cut right back, nothing on a school night and just a couple of nice beers at the weekend.

The “posh” carbonator I bought the Mrs for Christmas is going to get a hammering I think

We’ve done periods of abstinence at more sensible times of the year and ‘getting busy with the fizzy’ definitely helps

My Wife & I are doing it this year, but I'm not going to worry about the odd transgression. We're starting today, as we had a decent bottle of wine to drink last night before sloping back to the office this morning.

I might extend it until I have reached my target weight loss, as I have been gradually packing some lbs on that need to go. They're not doing my Zwift w/kg any favours at all, and I need all the help I can get.
I did dry January last year & found it surprisingly easy.

It's my Dad's birthday on the 11th, so chances are I'll have a drink then, but will keep it moderate.

It's also annoying how at this time of year the whole world goes from "Here, have another mice pie, and a glass of wine!" to "You fat bastard" over just a couple of days.

No wonder we're all confused and weirded out by the whole thing.

Noone asked me if I wanted a mice pie this year

Alcohol is one of those strange obsessions we somehow justify to ourselves isn't it ?

Had a crap bike ride , rough day at work @@@@ it I deserve a drink.

Had an epic ride, a great day , some good news time to celebrate!

Never seen the point myself as it always looked like a sticky plaster solution. I.e. I was good/will be good in Jan so can crack on for the other 11 months...

Kind of my thoughts, I barely ever drink as a matter of course anyway as I normally need to be functional for various reasons, but I'm not "abstinent" I just don't need to be under the influence to cope with my day to day life.

If you have to make a special effort not to get pissed, doesn't that suggest some deeper issues?

Over the last 10 years or so I've really cut down generally from being a moderately big boozer down to sharing one bottle of wine with Mrs OD over a weekend.   

Now if I go out and have 3 pints ( of 4%) across a night I have a hangover - any more than that and I'm in a real state thd next day 

May try laying off completely until we go away early Feb

I'll be carrying on with the red wine as normal. I enjoy it.

We've agreed that we'll stop having booze in the house. If we go out we'll have a couple of beers or glasses of wine, similarly if we go over to a friends house for drinks we'll partake, but we won't buy any for in the house.

Only trouble is we have about 6 bottlese of beer and a couple of bottles of wine. So they'll need to get polished off pretty quick.

Birthdays and holidays occupy a big portion of January so I'll be drinking when required. 

I could do with a zero drinking booze at home requirement. The remaining cans of Fosters might get buried out of sight to achieve this. 

Dry Feb for me.   The last week of 2024 sees a “Bavarian Themed” company kickoff overseas so I decided to enjoy the freebies and commit to between 1st Feb and my birthday in early March, which also coincides with my first XC race of the year.