Jan so dry

[Norton Canes]

Here I go then, must be about the tenth one I've done on the bounce, ever since that fateful New Year's Eve party I got so drunk I ended up falling into a pool of my own urine.

Going well. Two coffees and a mug of boiling water (as a purgative, you know). Got a couple of beers left over from the Christmas binge but have resolved to reserve them for Feb 1^st. Although in previous years, I've adapted so well to life on the wagon it's been well into Feb before I've indulged.

[Norton Canes]

(Sorry, was that sanctimonious enough?)

[Ferris]

Ha about to start this thread myself.

I think this will be my 4th one, always feel better after it. Was (almost) looking forward to it this time round, it's nice to reset the system etc.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

January, ah, that bountiful month of new life and activity.

Always found January a weird choice of month to embark on a period of self-flagellation and imposed misery. It is already bleak as fuck.

Why not May?

[Ferris]

Because everyone has loads to drink in December and it's as good a place as any to take a month off. Plus May is starting to be warm and there may be more return to normality by then - I'd like to face that can in hand please and thanks.

[Bernice]

I was dry for about ten weeks this summer/autumn, having slipped into a long, wet, depressive episode for the better part of a year beforehand. I've started drinking, carefully, infrequently, "normally", since then, but find my hangovers so utterly draining and depressing that I'm considering quitting it altogether. Didn't bother observing NYE, and was in bed sober at ten.

Gonna go for at least January and February totally dry this year while everything is shut, the world falls down around me and I desperately try to get into the shape of my life to try and assert some small measure of control in a chaotic universe. If I've learnt anything this year, it's that exercise is a fucksight better as a mood enhancer than booze.

Always found January a weird choice of month to embark on a period of self-flagellation and imposed misery.

A concerning extrapolation from "not getting pissed."

[Norton Canes]

Always found January a weird choice of month to embark on a period of self-flagellation and imposed misery. It is already bleak as fuck.

Why not May?

Well, my strategy for getting through the first few days lately has lately involved a massive over-indulgence in the follow-up, something that's easily achieved at Christmas.

[Marner and Me]

Been dry for a while, I don't drink at home because I find that depressing.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Because everyone has loads to drink in December and it's as good a place as any to take a month off. Plus May is starting to be warm and there may be more return to normality by then - I'd like to face that can in hand please and thanks.

There are loads more hours of light and useful distractions in Spring to help do all this good stuff. Winter is the long dark. Historically humans haven't piled more misery on it but found methods of enjoyment through company, ceremony, food & drink.

[thugler]

Yeah about my 7th I think. Always helps with anxiety and depression that tends to come out for me this time of year., think I'd done 3 winters on happy pills in a row until this one, which has been hard. Going to go hard with the exercise as well, which I'd been keeping up pretty well anyway. Why now? Yeah as others have said, always drink a bit too much in December, particularly with fuck all to do as with this year so feels good to get rid of it for a while. Will most likely go until well into Feb.

[thugler]

Historically humans haven't piled more misery on it

The point is that the booze is the cause of misery as well. There is plenty of enjoyment to be had from coming off it for a while. My hangovers are dreadful and fuck my brain up totally for a couple of days.

[Ferris]

There are loads more hours of light and useful distractions in Spring to help do all this good stuff. Winter is the long dark. Historically humans haven't piled more misery on it but found methods of enjoyment through company, ceremony, food & drink.

I'm starting grad school in 6 days and have a toddler; hours of light or not, I'm getting fuck all time to do anything fun anyway.

[wooders1978]

I'm planning to only drink month on month off throughout the year, to give my liver a fighting chance as I've become a bit of a heavy drinker over the last 18 months - in my heart of hearts, I know I need to give up completely, as I realise that I've become a bit dependant - problem is that sone decent wine, the pub and a good dram of whisky are 3 great pleasures in my life and I don't think there will be anything out there which would sufficiently replace them

[Butchers Blind]

Just having an ale with lunch.  Cheers losers.

[spaghetamine]

Second attempt, no drugs either, wish me luck

[RDRR]

I've not tried before but will give it a go this year. Think I'll find it very difficult, though off to an OK start by not drinking anything since boxing day. Since the first lockdown I've found it very difficult to avoid drinking for more than a couple of days at a time, albeit very rarely getting properly pissed as I used to.

Having to find excuses to get out of the house has also encouraged healthier habits like daily outdoor exercise, which I will try to substitute in. As Bernice above, it typically puts me in a much better mood, long-term, certainly compared with drinking alone at home.

There are loads more hours of light and useful distractions in Spring to help do all this good stuff. Winter is the long dark. Historically humans haven't piled more misery on it but found methods of enjoyment through company, ceremony, food & drink.

Don't really understand what your goal is with these posts. To discourage people?

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I don't get why you think I must have a 'goal'? I'm just passing comment on the general trend of "-uary". What people choose to do is up to them.

[Paul Calf]

Yesterday I drank more than I've drunk all year. In total.

Four cocktails, two glasses of something fizzy with something red in it and a can of IPA that I was given as a Christmas present.

I'll drink a bit in January, but not much.

[Buelligan]

I'm planning to only drink month on month off throughout the year, to give my liver a fighting chance as I've become a bit of a heavy drinker over the last 18 months - in my heart of hearts, I know I need to give up completely, as I realise that I've become a bit dependant - problem is that sone decent wine, the pub and a good dram of whisky are 3 great pleasures in my life and I don't think there will be anything out there which would sufficiently replace them

I've never told anyone this but when a very close friend of mine was murdered, the police did a post-mortem examination of their body.  When they interviewed me, during their investigations, they asked me, quite plainly, whether my friend had been an alcoholic.  They were in their mid-thirties, very fit, drank a lot but no more than I did.  It really made me think about how strong our bodies really are and what is happening to them, even when they appear to be tolerating the abuse we throw at them.

I've stopped drinking entirely, not really because of that, more for mental health reasons, depression and so on.  Certainly for me, it's been an incredibly positive experience.  I'd never even consider starting again and I say that as someone who never felt compelled to drink, I just thought I enjoyed it a lot.  I was wrong.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Try combining it with that one where you don't wank for a month and the one where you grow a moustache for a month for extra pious points.

[Emma Raducanu]

January isn't a depressing month anyway. Try running on a frosty morning as the sun rises through troutbeck, with deer roaming the land and nothing but the sound of silence. There's no better month for running.

[Dex Sawash]

I'm only drinking the discarded beards of Mowvember.

[poo]

getting cunting fucked right now

[Ferris]

getting cunting fucked right now

Fucking YES lad

[Ham Bap]

First lockdown last year in March-May I overdid it on vodka.
Ended up not drinking from June-September then had some in the lead up to Christmas.

Had a bit over Christmas though not as much as previous years.

I've got to the stage now though where the enjoyment has gone out of it.
Leads me to being exhausted and too bloody hot whilst drinking, even in moderation.

Didn't have any on New Years Eve.
I've decided to not have any now until next Christmas Eve. Even then it may be time to just give up completely.
It's doing nothing for me except make me feel like shite.

I fail to see the point anymore. If I was having a merry time of it I could justify trying to hang on.

[Blue Jam]

December was a weird one for me, what with coming off my medication. Now that's done I seem to have have gone up another rung on the way to becoming a total fucking lightweight. Had plenty of days in the latter half of December where the idea of drinking any booze whatsoever was a massive no-no. Just no temptation at all, which is a new one for me. Think I may end up doing an involuntary Dry-ish January, then.

I stopped drinking spirits when I was 30 because I couldn't handle them anymore. Now, at 39, it looks like I have finally lost the ability to handle red wine. I failed to finish one glass last night, it was good stuff and it tasted nice but after half a glass it just made me feel sick.

Just struggled to finish a glass of Cava right now. Went and got a Diet Coke instead.

Is this a normal thing with age? Or a sign of DEAD SOON?

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I hit 40 a month ago and I'm still knocking them back like nobody's business. You clearly lack grit and resolve.

[ZoyzaSorris]

January isn't a depressing month anyway. Try running on a frosty morning as the sun rises through troutbeck, with deer roaming the land and nothing but the sound of silence. There's no better month for running.

Not all of us live in Narnia sadly.

[bgmnts]

It is odd to think that people drink so frequently that not drinking needs a big song and dance about it. I am going to have a little sip of Amaretto all throughout January, as it tastes lovely and its a new year.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

January isn't a depressing month anyway.

I enjoy morning runs (and swims) too but in response to his point I defer to the fact that Seasonal Affective Disorder exists and there are winter festivals in pretty much every country with a temperate or cold climate to serve as a cheerful break in the harsh weather and darkness.