Blog: Dry January – Jane
Over the coming weeks, we’re issuing people’s views and experiences about their Dry January 2016 challenge.
Today, Jane (scripted Tues 5 Jan):-
Building up to the big day:
Didn’t order any more alcohol after my Christmas order, thought I’d better drink myself out of booze before midnight on 31 December. I had so much stock to drink (not wanting to waste it and not wanting to give it away) and drinking through it every day, thought Dry January was making me into an addict. Decided not to go out New Year so I didn’t drink past 12. But that fell through. Got a last minute call at 7.30pm for a free babysitter, free lift there and back, and free entrance including food – not to be sniffed at really. Couldn’t refuse. So the question was: Could I go out and stop drinking at 12 midnight and start the new year fresh without a drink? No! I have no idea what time I drank until – but my take on it at this point was it would be OK as long as when I woke up, that was the start of the no drinking. Another problem, I now had drink in the house which I was going to drink before 12, including an open bottle of white wine in the fridge – could I resist?
Day one, 1 January, seemed the longest day of the year, spent thinking about not drinking all day, what would I do when I got to wine o’clock. This is the realisation how much you really rely on alcohol. Never mind, I have 4 non-alcoholic ciders in the fridge, nicely chilled, I’ll have one per night as a treat. Drank two bottles. Didn’t sleep much at all that night, tossed and turned and felt really thirsty, *obviously* body detoxing – but day 2 arrived and I was still alive albeit very tired and grumpy. Bottle of white wine in the fridge – still there!
Day two, 2 January, surely it must get easier, so I’ll stick to it, hopefully I’ll be so tired by bedtime I’ll sleep like a log, and I still have two non-alcoholic ciders left, I’ll have one tonight and one tomorrow – darnk both bottles grrrr. Sleep was only slightly better, so improvement gave me hope. Let’s keep this up. Bottle of white wine in the fridge – still there untouched!
Day three, 3 January, best buy some sugar free lemonade – 2 for £1 at the co-op. Saving money will not happen if I keep drinking non-alcoholic drinks. Went to church for Sunday Service – dilemma – should I receive communion wine? Its 25% proof (I know this because I’ve seen the bottle – very nice wine). Will I be breaking the rules? If I don’t receive the wine it may be frowned upon from the vicar – who always looks at me like I’m a rebel anyway – maybe because I would collect children from club from the church after a few beers on a Friday night. Oh well – I’m sure I can be forgiven for receiving – so I took just a tiny sip, rather than my normal big gulp. Sleep – wow, much better, and I enjoyed chilled lemonade with ice. Fabulous. The bottle of white wine in the fridge isn’t even staring at me anymore. Result.
Day 4 – Went home after a busy day back at work, enjoyed a lovely iced lemonade, back to routine, running children around to clubs but wait! Huge difference – the house was calm. I was calm, I didn’t even flinch when half a pint of squash covered the dining table and floor in the middle of tea. I seemed more organised, energetic, washing was up to date, a bomb hadn’t hit the kitchen, the dining area looking pretty good. Went to bed at a reasonable time and mentally and physically I felt good.
Day 5 morning – woke, I actually got out of bed when the alarm went off – I didn’t roll over, grunt and go back to sleep. Made sandwiches for work, cleared up after breakfast – that’s a first. Feeling that good I parked the furthest away in the overflow carpark for a extra few steps into work – and to top it off I walked up 3 flights of stairs to the office. I’m going to be so fit, healthy and irresistible, I might even bag myself a date at this rate. Feeling positive.
Jane
