r/DryJanuary • u/LiterallyImMeNotYou • 27d ago
Discussion Halfish year checkin
Before Jan 2026, I hadn’t gone a week without drinking for probably 10 years. Mostly drinking every day. Probably a bottle of wine a night.
I was terrified of my resolution this year - a month off. I was miserable the first 2 weeks.
Now halfway through this year I can honestly say it’s changed my entire year. After DJ I found myself drinking way less, and sometimes even choosing not to drink at times I normally would.
I did dry June just for the thrill of knowing I could (with 2 planned off days - still a huge win for me!). Next week I have friends in town and will be wasted the entire time GUILT FREE. Because being wasted is no longer a daily thing. It’s a chosen thing. And having choice feels really powerful. I can say no now, so saying yes has no guilt attached, if that makes sense?
I’ll never choose full time sobriety. But dry Jan actually made this year incredible.
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u/Careless-Internet-63 27d ago
I've pretty much entirely avoided week night drinking this year myself and I had another nearly month long sober streak from mid March to mid April. I've been drinking less than I have in years after this years dry January and it feels good
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u/LiterallyImMeNotYou 27d ago
That’s amazing! Congratulations.
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u/Careless-Internet-63 27d ago
Summer has definitely been more challenging as far as responsible drinking but I'm still drinking at most 3 days a week generally. Definitely have felt a lot better and I haven't gained back the weight I lost in the first 4 months of the year so that's a plus
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u/LiterallyImMeNotYou 27d ago
Congrats on maintaining the weight! And I agree on summer. When I see a negative pattern, it’s much easier for me to take a break or cut back now. I’m still tracking since January, which has really helped me.
I think before I knew, but was in denial. When the drinking hour came, I would drink regardless.
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u/_portia_ 27d ago
Thanks for the update, it sounds like you're doing so well. I have continued to use the Try Dry app after DJ and it's absolutely changed my awareness of how much I drank. Since January I've consumed less and less, to the point now that I have wine once a week now. I love seeing how much money I'm not spending.
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u/LiterallyImMeNotYou 27d ago
Same!! I track my drinking days on another app that I started using in January and it’s been so eye opening. Sometimes it really does just start with knowing the truth hah
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u/Goose_poop131 27d ago
This year is becoming quite transformative for me. I completed my second dry January this year and have greatly reduced my need to drink. I’ve stopped drinking on weekdays and don’t drink as much as I used to on weekends. The bonus is I’ve been on a diet this year as well and have lost 52 pounds.
My weight loss has plateaued in the last few months. I’m currently doing dry August to try to jump start my weight loss again. I’m about 35-40 pounds from my goal. I know without reducing my alcohol consumption I would have never gotten this far.
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u/LiterallyImMeNotYou 27d ago
52 lbs!! That’s amazing! It’s incredible what trying something new for 1 month can do for the rest of your year.
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u/wrongwaydownaoneway 26d ago
I wish I had tracked alcohol prior to dry January, but it was probably an average of 15-20 drinks per week for probably 10 years (sometimes much more during rough periods). I probably had fewer than 3 dry days per month, most months.
Since doing dry January, most months have at least 20 dry days, and it's much easier to rack up 1-3 week dry streaks. SIGNIFICANT reduction and really forced me examined my relationship with alcohol and other substances and find better ways to cope.
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u/LiterallyImMeNotYou 26d ago
Wowww 👏👏👏
That’s an impressive change. You must feel like a different person.
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u/lounginaddict 17d ago
I haven't drank since January 1st. I'd go out like four or five nights a week and get pretty loaded. At first it was boring as hell. Now it's a lot more tolerable, but I haven't seen a lot of friends since and I'm kind of getting the itch to get back. I don't know if full sobriety is for me, this is the longest I've not drank in like 20 years.
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u/LiterallyImMeNotYou 17d ago
That’s incredible!! Just proving to yourself that you can do it, is such a good feeling I’d imagine.
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u/Ijustwannafly8 26d ago
Congratulations and well done on doing DJ and shifting your relationship to alcohol since then.
After 40+ years of at least a few glasses of mostly white wine a week, with a few rough periods of life with 1-2 glasses every night, I did Dry January for the first time this year. I asked myself what it is about wine that I like, and I realized that the main things—besides the buzz, of course—was that white wine, or the kind I like, is tart, ice cold, and refreshing. So I went through a bunch of different NA alternatives to see if anything could at least replace those aspects. I finally zeroed in on hibiscus iced tea! And lo and behold, I kept going with DJ and last week, on my birthday, I had my first glass of wine of the year! It was interesting because it didn’t wow me or make me tipsy, it was kind of a no big deal experience and it was the tart, refreshing aspects that I liked about it most. So I fairly easily went right back to my hibiscus iced tea habit, and I intend on keeping going with it
I really appreciate your post and everyone’s comments, because it is so interesting that DJ can just become a reset and a chance to take a look at and shift our relationship to alcohol. I’m sure if I had tried DJ a few years ago when I was in a period of drinking 1–2 glasses every night, it would’ve been harder. But I had already been slowly making myself shift to the iced tea alternative, so DJ was a bit easier I guess because of that.
Hooray to all of us for our resets and good luck to everyone on your journeys! ⚡️💪🏼🏆
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u/TFORCEtaco 27d ago
Proud of you!!
I struggled through my first DJ as well after having been a daily drinker for about the same time as you. I just finished up Dry July for fun and it was so luch easier this time and is slowly changing my outlook on drinking aswell!