Dry January 2025 (The Sober Thread)

Norm said:
Society normalizes alcohol to an absurd degree. There’s a comic out there that makes this great point. If you tell people at parties you don’t drink, it’s like a Spanish Inquisition. If you were to tell these same people you don’t drink water, they would just say, “oh, ok.”
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Nine times out of ten I have found if you tell someone you don’t drink or aren’t drinking at that time and they push back, the push back is due to their own insecurities.
 
Called my buddy on Sunday for his birthday. Earlier in the month we both talked about dry January so I asked how it was going… I could tell he was buzzed. He said he made it halfway and that was good enough. Talked about our skiing plans (flying out tomorrow) and then he said something along the lines just cause you’re doing dry January and feeling the benefits does that mean you’re not gonna drink again? I was kinda taken back by that because I don’t really know.

People don’t do “dry January” for fun, there’s usually an underlying concern. Health, weight loss, drinking too much, etc..

For me, it’s a mix but I feel I got a bit sloppy with drinking, making it a priority and part of most activities. Now that my kids are older, 16 and 19 I don’t want them to see me and alcohol in this light and thought this would be a good time to start.

Will I have drinks this week in Colorado.. maybe, maybe not. It’s my choice and will see how it goes. What I know is, I’ve realized that a change is needed and I’m going to try and continue to work on it.
 
JimN said:
I've tried several flavors of the Daypack seltzers, and they are all really good. That said, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them, as they probably aren't any better than whatever seltzer you normally like. They say they are infused with hop oil, but they just taste like any other good seltzer to me. I'll probably get more if I place another online order from Athletic just because why not, but I wouldn't just place an order for the seltzers if I wasn't also ordering fake beers.
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If you (or anyone else in here) want to try any of these let me know:

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They mostly just sit around my fridge and would love for someone else to try em and I've got plenty of all.
 
Norm said:
Society normalizes alcohol to an absurd degree. There’s a comic out there that makes this great point. If you tell people at parties you don’t drink, it’s like a Spanish Inquisition. If you were to tell these same people you don’t drink water, they would just say, “oh, ok.”
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Funny you should mention this, because I had a similar thought yesterday about smoking. When you tell people you quit smoking it’s met with support and congratulations, even from other smokers. But if you tell people you quit drinking you need an explanation.
 
February check-in. I made it the whole 30 days and I'm eternally grateful it was not a struggle. I say that humbly knowing it's a vastly personal experience and some people continue to battle daily. No plans to have a drink any time soon, but who knows what the future holds. For now I'm enjoying the feeling of mental clarity and excellent sleep, and I know that it's also amplified by keeping active at least 6 days a week, even if it's just a 20-30 min weights session.

I'm being cognizant of replacing one thing with the other, and I 100% did not want to fall down the sugar trap. Instead I'm drinking a week's worth of coffee about every 2 days. I didn't get the seltzer thing at first (especially because most are sugar laden or have extra crap like "natural flavor") but a friend turned us on to these so I've been drinking 1 or 2 a day just to break up the monotony of water and to tone down the caffeine a bit.


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Congrats @rlb

I was sailing along until the trip to Colorado. Since I was hooking up with some old friends, figured it was gonna be difficult. Had a few drinks each day, nothing crazy and I'm back on the wagon since we got home. Again, my goal is to cut out the binge drinking and so far I’m feeling good about it.

Went skiing Saturday and skipped the lunch beer and then Saturday night I added bitters to the seltzer instead of the bourbon.

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Zaskar said:
Congrats @rlb

I was sailing along until the trip to Colorado. Since I was hooking up with some old friends, figured it was gonna be difficult. Had a few drinks each day, nothing crazy and I'm back on the wagon since we got home. Again, my goal is to cut out the binge drinking and so far I’m feeling good about it.

Went skiing Saturday and skipped the lunch beer and then Saturday night I added bitters to the seltzer instead of the bourbon.
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Thanks! I probably would have the same results if I were in your shoes. Setting/the people around me have a pretty big influence that's hard to escape. Thankfully the Mrs and I are doing this together, so it makes it easier to have a partner and also someone to keep you honest. We had the rare opportunity for a kid-free Saturday lunch date a few weeks ago. Normally it would have resulted in some afternoon drinks thus setting the tone for the rest of the day. But since we were in it together it was much easier to skip all of that.

And it was said before but don't beat yourself up over hitting the restart button. At least you'll always have that option.
 
rlb said:
I made it the whole 30 days and I'm eternally grateful it was not a struggle. I say that humbly knowing it's a vastly personal experience and some people continue to battle daily. No plans to have a drink any time soon, but who knows what the future holds
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I made it through Dry January as well, and I guess now I'm on to Dry February. I don't plan to be totally sober forever, but I feel pretty fucking amazing and honestly don't really have any interest in drinking currently.
 
JimN said:
I don't plan to be totally sober forever, but I feel pretty fucking amazing and honestly don't really have any interest in drinking currently.
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Nicely done, and same for me too. On the flip side, I tend to get motivated by things like a streak, so the longer I go the less willing I’ll be to break it. Win-win in the end.

Also, there will be other temptations ahead like vacations, BBQs at my brother’s (always good beer and bourbon flowing), etc. I’ll have to keep reminding myself that it’s not worth it.
 
rlb said:
Anyone still hanging on to dry January? 90 days here. Now I'm on a streak that I don't want to break! I've been enjoying some NAs here and there, which are technically not 0% alcohol so may be a bit of a cheat, but I'm still feeling pretty good!
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I'm still in it as well. I honestly don't really find myself missing real beer much at all, though I do drink 1-2 NA IPA's pretty much every day. I kinda miss wine sometimes and will probably start drinking it occasionally in the near-ish future, but I still have no problem with temptation when pouring wine for my wife.
 
JimN said:
I'm still in it as well. I honestly don't really find myself missing real beer much at all, though I do drink 1-2 NA IPA's pretty much every day. I kinda miss wine sometimes and will probably start drinking it occasionally in the near-ish future, but I still have no problem with temptation when pouring wine for my wife.
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I go back and forth on missing it. I was looking at baseball schedules yesterday and was thinking that sitting through a game without a beer was going to be a challenge. But I’ve also been able to avoid my wife’s wine without issue.
 
While I’m not drinking on the daily I’ve had a few random beers here and there and a glass of wine out at dinner last week. I’ve had a few work days where I’m thinking, I’m definitely drinking tonight but then the interest passes.
 
Zaskar said:
Congrats @rlb

I was sailing along until the trip to Colorado. Since I was hooking up with some old friends, figured it was gonna be difficult. Had a few drinks each day, nothing crazy and I'm back on the wagon since we got home. Again, my goal is to cut out the binge drinking and so far I’m feeling good about it.

Went skiing Saturday and skipped the lunch beer and then Saturday night I added bitters to the seltzer instead of the bourbon.

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Lots of terrific bitters out there

I like 50/50 seltzer/tonic also for more of a cocktail mocktail thing.

2523 days
 
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