S/O - Dry or moist January - Alcohol

[icedcoffee]

A thread for those who are being more mindful about their alcohol consumption this month.

I'm doing "dry" January in that I am only drinking twice and will limit to 2 drinks those nights.  No big deal.

But now I'm getting targeted for a lot of non alcoholic drinks on Instagram.  Has anyone tried any of them?  Thoughts?

I find sometimes I just want a drink with "bite" at 5:00 on a Friday.  

How's everyone doing?

[icedcoffee]

Some of the drinks I've been shown ads for:

Moment drinks
Apothekary
Cuirious Elixirs

[erbear]

I am trying to cut back. I have committed to drinking only on weekends (Friday-Sunday) and limiting myself to 2 drinks in any day. Our neighborhood brewery made a N/A beer that I am wanting to try. I'm not sure if this will be satisfactory to me but I'm willing to give it a shot. I certainly have noticed that even in 2 weeks, I am feeling better.

[icedcoffee]

Also--I mistakenly drank too much on NYE (I stuck to my 2 drink limit but the bar made one of them SO strong) and I have an Oura ring and that night it showed my resting HR and OMG it was a very good reminder to me that I need to not drink too much.

[buckeyegirl]

I am doing a dry January. It's been one week and I have noticed some improvements, however, I still want a drink in the evening. I haven't tried any of the na beer because I just doing think it can be hoppy enough to make me happy. Part of dry January was for health benefits but the other part was to save money so I don't want to find something else to drink.

[SusanBAnthony]

I really like Hop Tea. Some of them are pretty bitter.

[aprilsails]

I’m not doing a completely dry January but I am also limiting. For evenings, I love having a virgin Caesar while I’m making dinner. Makes me feel like I’m getting to relax with a drink, and is actually very healthy for you. I don’t know how common Clamato is for American posters though. It’s a staple for Canadians.

[scribellesam]

I cut down my drinking habits a lot last fall and tried Zero Proof Tequila and Seedlip Grove to try to make more interesting mocktails. I was not that impressed with either; they add a little hint of alcohol essence to a drink but essentially it was $30-$40 for a bottle of mildly flavored water.

My favorite is just a Q mixer with lime - they have a lot of interesting flavors that aren’t too sweet like Hibiscus Ginger Beer and Elderflower Tonic. If you’re okay with adding a very small amount of alcohol, I also enjoy adding Scrappy’s Firewater bitters if you don’t mind spicy drinks - it mimics the bite of alcohol in a satisfying way.

[penguingrrl]

I’m doing dry January, although I started on the 3rd because an old friend came on the 2nd so we had a couple glasses of wine. I’ll go until Feb 3 to do the full month. At over a week in I feel no different (no better rested, sleep and energy haven’t improved, etc), which is weird, but also isn’t a bad thing.

I rarely drink anything other than red wine, and the only times I’ve missed it is with certain dinners. Sunday I made chicken parm and that was outright weird without a glass of red with it, but water instead was honestly fine. I switch between seltzer with a splash of juice in it and plain water and am happy with both. I’m also working out a whole lot harder and being more mindful of food choices, so all over I hope I start to feel healthier during this month.

[gottadobe]

I'm doing a completely dry January and have not felt the desire to sub NA drinks/cocktails.

What I have found difficult is going outside and sitting to get some sun and wanting a beer (or 3). I find I'm spending more time inside as a result, so I need to find something else to do outside to reduce the urge. Wanting to drink due to location (for me) is a bit of a stark realization that this is a good idea.

I'm also hoping to drop some weight from eliminating beer.

[mrsukyankee]

I've cut back on alcohol (too many celebrations during this month). Even when drinking, I've cut back a lot already and this month I'm trying to do even less. I sleep better and feel better. I do notice that I want a bourbon on occasion (I love the taste and to take an hour to sip a small amount), but I've held back. I don't drink alternative as none that I've found in the past was worth it to me (I drink for taste/smell more than for the alcohol).

[erbear]

Part of what I'm finding really hard is that I don't really drink anything but beer, wine, coffee and water. I don't drink soda or juice or flavored water. It's boring

[mrsukyankee]

Jan 11, 2023 10:19:38 GMT -5 erbear said:

Part of what I'm finding really hard is that I don't really drink anything but beer, wine, coffee and water. I don't drink soda or juice or flavored water. It's boring

As I now can't drink anything but water, outside of alcoholic drinks (due to Covid taste issues), I definitely get this. I'm drinking a lot of water and I've cut back on coffee (only one a day with few exceptions). It beer, wine and whiskey are the only things with flavour that actually taste good to me (darn it Covid!). It's very boring.

[Scout'sHonor]

I'm getting a ton of those ads too icedcoffee , It's kind of ridiculous! I'm trying to cut down to twice a week (don't know what that says about me though  ) I got some Athletic Brewing NA golden and it's decent. I also love margs, so I've found the mix (without the tequila) and lime seltzer together is good. 

[icedcoffee]

Jan 11, 2023 10:37:37 GMT -5 Scout'sHonor said:

I'm getting a ton of those ads too icedcoffee , It's kind of ridiculous! I'm trying to cut down to twice a week (don't know what that says about me though  ) I got some Athletic Brewing NA golden and it's decent. I also love margs, so I've found the mix (without the tequila) and lime seltzer together is good. 

It's crazy.  I'm mostly curious about the ones that say they have a relaxing effect.  LOL

The marg idea is a good one!  I think that might satisfy my desire, actually.

I want to play around with bitters too.

[icedcoffee]

Oh!! Trader Joes had a cranberry ginger beer that is really good and definitely gave me the bite was looking for!

[breezy8407]

aprilsails Definitely made some Caesars during my bartending days, but I've found its hit or miss here if people have heard of clamato. I used to see people put it in their light beer.

I am doing dry-ish January, and am struggling to find things that excite me instead of wine. So far grapefruit Spindrift has been a good alternative. I don't really drink soda and don't love flavored seltzers like LaCroix. I've seen good reviews on Surely wines, but dang are they expensive! So I haven't ordered any yet since saving money is also kind of the point of not drinking.

[livinitup]

I am doing Dry January, too. I recognized that I was drinking way too much back in October and cut back significantly but the urgency to drink was a new feeling and a bit scary.

Sober TikTok is very inspiring !

I really prefer abstaining rather than all of the negotiating I used to do around alcohol. For example last night, we went as a big group for a birthday celebration and it was NBD to pass on the Margaritas. However, it automatically made me the DD. Haha, I’ll take it!

Plus, I am back in weight loss mode (WW) and it’s so much more manageable without counting points for alcohol (the points are crazy!).

[Velar Fricative]

Fre NA wine was fine. Not the greatest but was helpful when I craved something.

I think NA beer is a lot better anyway. Right now I have some NA Brooklyn Brewery stuff, but I also like Athletic beer. I have yet to try others though I’d like to since there seems to be more and more coming out.

[rupertpenny]

I actually like the Athletic Brewing IPA. It is decently hoppy and nice to have with dinner. I haven't tried their other varieties. I find drinking plain gingerbeer to be a satisfying replacement sometimes.

[eddy]

I am just going to say I am so proud of myself. It is embarassing that I knew this was going to be a struggle for me. I knew I was just going to be bored. Alcohol is my little fun treat. So taking that away during bleak January was going to be really hard. And it has been boring lololol.

I did have two beers on Sunday night. I had to go home for a funeral of my  childhood BFF's father. I had two drinks as I sat down with my friend and talked about all of our happy memories. Anways, NBD back on track now. I was proud of myself for not going home and making myself one more drink. That is normally my achilles heel.

I have tried Athletic Beer and it is SO good. I took a little CBD gummy and had one of those on Friday and the ritual felt just the same. 

I also saw a tiktok that really helped me frame my intention. Her take was you should be counting how many drinks you HAVEN'T had this month. And that is the part that should be celebrated. That helped when I let my guard down and had the beers with my friends. I still had a really triumphant week.

My general cravings as well are quite reduced. Last week felt more like a sorry little struggle. This week it has been NBD.

[fernweh]

I wasn’t originally planning to do dry January but I had some blood work done at the end of December with the results showing that I have elevated enzymes in my liver. Doctors recommendation was to cut back on alcohol among other things. I have never drank that much anyway so I just cut it completely- which will likely end up being a long term thing.

[scm1011]

I'm doing dryer January, which really has just been cutting out weekday drinks and being more mindful on the weekends. I agree with the eddy that its mainly boring. I really miss my evening glass of wine.

[devonpow]

I’m doing dry January. I don’t usually drink unless I’m on vacation or out at a party. At home maybe once a week tops I’ll have wine. But we were on vacation for both thanksgiving and Christmas so I drank a lot then, plus DH is very into craft beer and craft cocktails and drinks something like that basically every night. He’s doing dry January to try and drop a few pounds so I’m supporting him

I haven’t noticed any difference for me (DH has lost 5 pounds - men have it easy sometimes omg) but last night I went out to a Mexican restaurant with friends and my mock margarita was very disappointing. Oh well

[melmaria]

I’m doing what erbear mentioned and not drinking Monday-Thursday.

I’m frustrated though, because it has had ZERO impact on my sleep and that’s really what I was hoping for. I still sleep like shit on the days I don’t drink and I can’t tell a difference in my sleep between drinking vs not.

[goldengirlz]

Jan 11, 2023 9:40:53 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Some of the drinks I've been shown ads for:

Moment drinks
Apothekary
Cuirious Elixirs

I’m a fan of Curious Elixirs. I’m not sure I can feel the relaxation from them, but they do taste like a craft cocktail. I pour them in a highball glass over ice. And they’re low in calories.

ETA: I did dry January last year, but I’m skipping it this year. I don’t really drink that much (just one drink with dinner on Fridays and Saturdays) so I didn’t feel all that different. It’s just not my vice of choice.

[carmenere]

I never have any desire to drink in January except for 1-2 fancy drinks on my birthday. And honestly I'm still reeling from a Halloween party hangover 

I've seen lots of adds for Seedlip and Monday but haven't tried either.

[nabum]

I don't post much but I'm doing Dry Jan this year also. I attempted last year and only made it 3 weeks. The year before I only made it 6 days

Last year we bought a lot of NA substitutes but nothing was that great. If you're THC friendly can get CANN social tonic, it's a low dose THC/CBD drink that tastes pretty good. Last year it helped me satisfy the ritual portion of having an evening drink on the weekend and the buzz was super mild, and easy to moderate since I was sipping it vs a gummy, which can sometimes hit too had. This year I bought them but so far I haven't had any or had the desire to drink any yet. Just lots of soda water, coffee, and water. Here's to developing healthier habits in the new year!

[eddy]

Also I have really been struggling to fall sleep, which is annoying as hell. I normally don't have an issue. December was a particularly boozy month. I wonder if my body just got used to wine helping me doze off. Now I am having to retrain myself? I pride myself on being able to fall asleep easy and I don't normally have drinks every night. So I don't know what is going on, but I would like for it to get figured out.

[wildrice]

Jan 11, 2023 10:19:38 GMT -5 erbear said:

Part of what I'm finding really hard is that I don't really drink anything but beer, wine, coffee and water. I don't drink soda or juice or flavored water. It's boring

I hadn't thought about it that way, but I think that's my thing too - without alcohol it's just coffee and water 24/7. I end up wanting a glass of wine or whatever in the evening because I crave the flavor more than anything. I think OP is on the right track thinking about NA drinks to replace them with, though. Sometimes I drink because I enjoy the effect of alcohol, but so many times it's really just because I want the taste of it so perhaps it would be healthier to be more proactive about finding other options.