Dry July 2013 - anyone jumping on the wagon this year

[~Vanessa~]

After saying for the last couple of years..."next year I'll do Dry July" I have finally signed up...... now comes the hard part of telling others that I'm doing it, and sticking to it.

Although I wouldn't consider myself a huge drinker, weekends are very rarely alcohol free, and quite a few more than the 2 standard drinks you are supposed to limit yourself to.

My other half is a Tradie, so drinking alcohol is part of our normal "almost everyday" life. Every six weeks he is on call for a week at a time, so we have been doing 7 days straight (including the weekend) with no alcohol for those weeks, but you would think that some one had cut off his oxygen supply for most of those days. I think i mentioned doing it a while back and I don't expect him to join me at all, so maybe that will make it harder, but I am determined to see the month through......and hopefully raise money for adult cancer care at the same time.

I'm thinking of all the things I could get done around the house because I will have all that extra time, and with both hands free, no need to juggle the beer or wine glass while trying to hang the washing.

My sleep which will hopefully be much more restful, no toxic hangover or "slow" mornings.

So who is joining me on this challenge (or maybe not so much of a challenge for some)?
Lets share our achievements and challenges together

And if anyone feels like giving me that little bit more incentive to stay with this, donations can be made at http://au.dryjuly.com/profile/vanessahenley

[cookie1]

Vanessa I think that is a wonderful idea. I think Wonder may have done it last year.
I am happy to do it but as I rarely have a drink it would be dumb. In fact I had 3 glasses last Wednesday and a couple of glasses of port in the month before and that is about all I have had since Christmas.
I wish my brother would do it though. I'll try and be brave and suggest it.

[obbie]

Good on you Vanessa.

[Cornish Cream]

Good luck with your challenge Vanessa.

[CreamPuff63]

I probably should do it. Every day drinking lots of wine - all home made and no additives so no hangover. Sometimes I wonder if there is much alcohol in it cos you don't get that drunk either (or maybe I just don't know it)

[jo_nz]

I think I might jump on board. I get a fairly minor asthma cough and have a suspicion it is worse after a glass or two of wine! So will give this a go and if It helps, I might have to give up altogether!!   

[Wonder]

All the best Vanessa it's for a great cause and your body will also thank you. As cookie mentioned I did it last year and I found it much easier than I thought. I'm a moderate drinker and drink way more than 2 standard drinks on the weekend, but now try limiting the mid week alcohol (unless we go out). I found people were very supportive and I stocked up on sparkling mineral water to have in a wine glass which tricked me into thinking I was having a glass of bubbly!

[Aussie Brenda]

Good for you Vanessa, not I won't be going you I love my glass of wine each night, at my age enjoy everything you can.....

[Jude59]

I'm with Aussie Brenda but I am trying to stick to two wine free days a week. 

[Halex]

Good on you Vanessa.

I dont think I could actually do a whole month without a glass of wine.

Does this include no cooking with alcohol?

 

[Wonder]

I thought it would be much harder than it was, but it's for such a great cause and I had the added incentive of my brother passing away from Cancer on the first day of the challenge, so while he thought it was a stupid idea it did spur me on to make sure I kept to it.

You are able to have a drink if you get people to donate a free pass to you but I felt that was cheating so just accepted the donations and didn't use the free pass that came with them.

[mab19]

Good for you Vanessa.

[Greyhoundmum]

No that sounds like a good idea!  not for me though Im doing a 50 things in 50 days which starts mid July, maybe next year!!

[EmeraldSue]

My DH kept suggesting that we do this, and I always resisted until last year. He gave in after a week or so and started drinking again, but I managed to finish the month. As Wonder said, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I did have some friends try and get me to have a glass or two, but I stayed strong. I'm not going to do it this year as I'm going on a weekend cruise in July with some girlfriends and I'm sure that there will be a few drinks involved
Good luck!

[dragongirly]

Good Luck Vanessa!