Dry January

Well, bearing in mind that alcohol is a recognised addiction. One which has a huge effect on individuals and families all over the world. One which is responsible for thousands of deaths per year. I'm going to guess that YES, it can be quite difficult to quit.

Sorry, I meant as a social drinker. Know it's extremely difficult for an alcoholic.
 
Busted. Dry January ended today at Snelly HQ.

However, it was with fair reason. My lovely grandma passed away today at the ripe old age of 99 and this made me the oldest living member of our family at 44 as my parents are dead already.

My sisters and I opened some champagne to toast the old girl. Bless her - she had a huge influence on our lives and it was unthinkable not to drink champagne in her name today. ;)
 
Sorry, I meant as a social drinker. Know it's extremely difficult for an alcoholic.
Apologies if my reply seemed a little harsh. I've lost 2 family members to alcoholism. One at the tender age of 28. I do appreciate that, as social drinkers, we do appear to be making a mountain out of what should be a molehill.

Oh, and sorry for your loss Snelly. There are many times when a drink is the best course of action.
 
I enjoy a beer or glass of wine, death in paradise started tonight and they were drinking beer a wee bit, looked lovely and cold! I'm have to say I think making it to February will be hard but I'm hoping to make it ok.
 
Finding it fairly easy so far, even went to the pub last night for a meal and everyone else was drinking and wasn't tempted. Another meal out tomorrrow night and djing Sat so it's testing but not tempted at all - yet.
 
Stopping for a fixed period - a week, month, whatever the period - but you have set it in advance and have a target date for your next drink - is not that difficult. But that it is not so easy to stop for the same period with the hope to then never drink again.

Good luck to all who have stopped for January with a promise that you can look forward to feeling the benefit - even if you feel miserable from time-to-time along the way.
 
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Good luck to everyone still on their January wagon. I have often thought of going conpletely tee total but I always end up rejecting the idea as unlike almost everyone I know, on the rare occasion I have a drink I am very good at just having the 2 or 3 beers I want and then no more.

And so I see no reason to deny myself the odd few pints here and there as I drink so rarely these days. My wife went nuts at Xmas and bought me 6 bottles of Peroni. I'll have to throw a party to get rid of the 5 remaining bottles before they go out of date :)
 
I didn't think about doing Dry January in advance but on Monday I decided to give it a go and so far have had four consecutive dry days. The big test will be after golf on Sunday with the lads.

To put this into perspective.....I'd say that I'm a habitual, regular drinker. I turn 50 in February, I ENJOY a drink....not for the effect of the alcohol but for the malt flavours and the hops and all the varieties of flavours.....I like beer. I brew my own beer....drinking beer is almost a hobby.

I pretty much have a drink every day and cannot remember the last day before Monday just gone that I did not have a drink. I go out once a month to the pub for a night out with the lads....I don't go mad....5 pints from 9pm until midnight, burger then a taxi home. The last time I was excessively influenced by alcohol to a point where it impaired my judgement and hindered my safety was April 2015....I'd been to a beer festival on an empty stomach and drinking from 2pm until 10pm really screwed me over big time....I didn't make it home and ended up spending the night on a park bench.

But usually...a regular half a litre bottle of ale each day....maybe 2 bottles....that's "normal".

But...as I said....I'm advancing in years, I lead a reasonably sedentary lifestyle spending a lot of time driving on my commute and then sat on my fat backside in front of a computer much of the day. I'm overweight. I don't sleep well.

So....just out of interest...I thought I'd give dry January a go....I want to see if a month without beer helps my waistline, I want to see if my sleep patterns improve....but I guess that deep down what I really want to determine is if my love of a beer is just that....a pleasant habit....or if its something deeper ingrained....a dependence if you like.

Given that I've gone 4 days without any obvious issue, I'd like to think that its the former.

Once January is over....well....I'd like to think that perhaps I could build in 3 or 4 dry days a week into my drinking habit....that would pretty much ensure around a 40% reduction in my intake....which cant be a bad thing. Hell...my golf might even improve!!!
 
Off to buy some Becks Blue for a poker night tomorrow at a mates house. 7 days dry for me so far! Amazed at how much i am drinking in the evening (squash, water, etc) shows i don't drink enough during the day and may be why i end up having more than one beer an evening because i'm so damn thirsty! Trying now to get 2 liters of water in during the day also.
 
Off to buy some Becks Blue for a poker night tomorrow at a mates house. 7 days dry for me so far! Amazed at how much i am drinking in the evening (squash, water, etc) shows i don't drink enough during the day and may be why i end up having more than one beer an evening because i'm so damn thirsty! Trying now to get 2 liters of water in during the day also.

Of Non-Alcoholic beers - I prefer Cobra Zero or Bavaria - their Wit (Wheat) beer is also good. San Miguel 0.0%, SM 0.0% Limon (refreshing) and Tennants Hee Haw are also OK (though I'm guessing you won't get the latter where you are). All are better than Becks Blue - even Kalibar is better than BB - IMO.
 
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Of Non-Alcoholic beers - I prefer Cobra Zero or Bavaria - their Wit (Wheat) beer is also good. San Miguel 0.0%, SM 0.0% Limon (refreshing) and Tennants Hee Haw are also OK (though I'm guessing you won't get the latter where you are). All are better than Becks Blue - even Kalibar is better than BB - IMO.

Cheers H, will have a looksie for them! I only know of becks blue as i once sent the mrs to buy me some beer and she cam back with BB. It almost ended in a divorce!!
 
Becks blue is surprisingly good as is the San Miguel Lemon! Bavaria do a 0% flavoured beer as well which is nice think that may be lemon as well and a berry one. They're really cheap at places like home bargains or B&M
 
Forgive me forum for I have sinned!! Had a couple of glasses of champers last night with my family to celebrate me getting a promotion and new job. Had to be done unfortunately, back to not drinking though now until the end of the month.
 
I made it to day 9, went to the Emirates to watch the Arsenal game with my brother, tradition to have a beer before the game.. When I got home I had a couple of glasses of red wine.

I've now decided i'm having a damp January. Brother in law is over this weekend as we continue to rebuild the en euite, so can imagine a couple of beers may be had.

Think i'm going to not drink during the week and cut down at weekends.
 
Unfortunately mine has not lasted at all this year. Really bad family news has had me reaching for the odd beer and a few nips from my bottle of Jim Beam Special Reserve.
 
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