Dry January

No, January is dreary enough anyway! - but then the most I have most days is a small glass of wine while cooking the dinner.

‘Small’ as in how wine glasses used to be some decades ago - we still have a couple! - not the half pint jobs - or even bigger - that are so common now.
Having said that, we’ll be cracking open a bottle of fizz on NYE, so I dare say I’ll be downing half a bottle of that. And very likely some mulled wine, too. But most of the time my intake is as above.

LadyStardust

January is bad enough without it being dry!! No no no!!

Absolutely ?

I used to drink a lot but not anymore best thing I ever did. Never used to succeed with Dry Jan, Sober Oct, Lent or any other activity. Read the book This Naked Mind not touched a drop since. For new year I'm giving up buying clothes and shoes for a year if Deborah Meadon can do it!

Dry year here and for the past 18. DH is an alcoholic who tries very hard not to drink.

I think the trouble with dry January is that a month is not really long enough to get used to doing without alcohol, no matter how little you usually drink.

No way, January is miserable enough and anyway DD and her husband both have their birthdays in January.
I have a sherry before dinner, and a glass of wine with my meal. At the weekends I might have a nightcap as well.
I gave up for about 6 weeks back in May, as I was on tablets that stipulated no alcohol, and I was fine with that.

No way. We have a little drink before dinner every night. I do understand we shouldn't but we really look forward to it in these strange times with nothing else going on! I will try to cut back when the virus is over!!

Nope...have had to give up enough this year..as we all have...so am certainly not going to give up a glass or two of wine when I feel like it...?

Lucretzia

I'll be dry.

Went right off alcohol when pregnant with my son. 28 years ago.

I used to drink like a fish but have hardly touched a drop for years

Same here.

Moderation at all times and in all things (apart from the odd splurge without which life would be tedious.)

I don't drink at all for four nights of the week and only a little on the other three so I am not giving up in January.

I don't do fasts, Lent, Ramadan or any extremist Puritanical self denial. It would make me horribly grumpy and I would hate everyone. How that would help me or the rest of the world I do not know.

No way am I doing this. We have been stuck in here for weeks, not visiting shops and only having doorstep visits from family. Not doing our usual Christmas with family. To cap it all we now have thick snow. A couple of glasses of wine is something to look forward to.

Still contemplating dry January to be honest. We did sober October which we found easy enough, but there were days I thought 'I could murder glass of wine' but stayed steadfast in my resolve. However cutting alcohol for 2 months out of 12 can only seem beneficial surely? I certainly slept better when abstaining!

After the year we have just had & with no sign of it getting any better not a chance!!
Bring on the booze!!

Nankate I did it last year to raise money for a charity I was involved with but in 2021 - NO CHANCE but I will try to cut down, however with yet another lockdown looming it will be hard. I didn't lose weight rather the reverse but I did sleep a little better but not much.

After years of enjoying a glass or two (or three) on a daily basis, I suddenly went ‘off’ it so I’ve done dry September, October, November, December and can’t see me ever drinking again.

My children find it incomprehensible as they always teased me about how I must have a glass of wine at 6pm, but I just don’t like the taste of it any more.

Not in this this house!, no socialisation, very limited activities, depressing news and no end in sight. Our one or two pre dinner drinks are one of the few things we can control and enjoy for now. My one small glass of wine with Christmas lunch felt out of kilter, wrong time of day!

It seems I've been on a 'Bender for December'!
I've barely drunk for a few years now but have made up for it in the past 2 weeks!

Can understand why people don't want to, it does make the pain go away a bit! But as a family we were not so much a glass or two but more a glass or ten. Now two of us have alcohol-induced dementia. I gave it up years ago when I gave up smoking (having a drink seemed to go with having a cigarette somehow.) I'm not evangelical about either, in fact I loathe people who are but do notice how argumentative DH gets after a few and my dear sis is to be avoided after half a dozen.

Dry January has been around for 20 or 30 years? Was it first suggested to be a personal health thing or was it that people were supposed to get sponsored for worthwhile charities. Or, is it that we were encouraged to donate some/part of what we saved not buying alcohol or is it a way of saving money to pay the bills for Christmas?

My liver shall go into part time working for a month, but won’t be made redundant.

Yes, have to for the sake of my groaning liver and kidneys. Don't know how long I'll last though. Managed 3 weeks before.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to promote a dry July or August, as in warm weather the dehydration resulting from excessive alcohol use is even more damaging?

But if one drinks in moderation, within recommended limits, carry on!

The trouble is though GrannyLondon that sometimes the recommended limits seem rather low.
A few years ago I had to go for an ENT consultation. Before he got down to business the consultant went through the usual general questions about health & finally the dreaded subject of alcohol intake came up.
I reluctantly admitted that occasionally I did slightly exceed the recommended dose.
The consultant laughed and said as long as I didn’t drink as much as the average doctor that was fine ?

I call Britain "Binge Drink Britain" when I hear the term "Dry January" because I feel UK has a real problem with drink and it should be addressed. I have not had a drink for 20 years and I do NOT miss it at all. It is quite possible to enjoy life without alcohol.

Back in March when the first lockdown began, I’d run out of wine, my usual daily evening tipple with my meal. I simply couldn’t be bothered to make a special trip to buy just wine. So I stopped drinking, totally. I feel much better for it, but alas, I’ve substituted the wine for sugar, and find I now have a sweet tooth which I’ve never had before! A gain in weight is the price I’ve paid for abstinence of alcohol, but I intend to sort that one out in January!

I don’t understand this all or nothing mentality. Alchohol in moderation is fine. If one has a problem with drink then it is important to stop, for ever, not just for a month. That is difficult and calls for support.
But if one drinks in moderation, within recommended limits, carry on!