Your Dry January® challenge ultimate weekender guide

Okay. Consider it your mission to get seriously clued up about alcohol-free drinks this Friday night! You can check out our low and no alcohol drink reviews to get you started, but the rest is up to you. There’s a plethora of options out there, including drinks options our taste testers won’t have come across, such as hyper local craft alcohol-free beers and spirit alternatives. So, get yourself down the shops or have a browse online and find a selection that looks appealing to you. (Remember, there’s no need to spend a fortune doing this – use your Dry January® challenge official partners and supporters special offers to save a packet!). You can even make your own alcohol-free alternatives at home if you want to cut down costs further (check out our recipe from Alcohol Change UK Community Champion, Paul, for a warming alcohol-free Pernod to get you started).

Get a few trusted friends or loved ones who know about your Dry January® challenge around and have them taste test some of your creations. Better still, why not challenge your mates to an alcohol-free cocktail showdown and get all the creative juices flowing?

In all the excitement (and deliciousness!) of the taste testing, we’ll bet you’ll clean forget about your usual Friday night habits. You will need to try to remember to claim that Try Dry® teacup if you’re using the app though, as you start off your weekend with another dry day - bring on the confetti!

Remember, you don’t need to hide away during your dry month challenge weekends and, if it’s something that’s important for you normally, you should definitely still mark the end of your working week and beginning of your leisure time. After all, you’ve worked hard! If you’re still relatively near the beginning of your dry month, you might find alcohol-free drinks particularly helpful to have at this time, as you navigate high risk times like cravings. They don’t work for everyone though, so take a read of this blog if you’d like the full picture: Should I use alcohol-free drinks during my break from alcohol?.

If Friday nights are tricky, make plans for Saturday morning that you can’t wriggle out of. For some people this can be joining the local park run with a training buddy, taking your kids for a bike ride, or going to have a cup of tea with your gran. Make your morning plans more important than having a drink the night before. And if it feels important to you and will mean the world to that someone else it will make it easier to stick to your alcohol-free goals this month.

Saturday morning might mean a lovely lazy start for you, or it might be business as usual between life admin, being the kids’ taxi service, and many other commitments. The great news is all you need is five minutes for this next tip to help you level up your ultimate alcohol-free weekend!

If you’ve not heard of it before, mindfulness describes being aware of the present moment and being able to acknowledge thoughts, feelings and sensations without reacting to them. Mindfulness can be really helpful when trying to change behaviour, manage stress and anxiety, or build resilience. Practising simple mindfulness exercises can help you build resilience, giving you a moment’s grace during cravings or stressful times.

We’re going to run you through something called ‘five-finger grounding’ which is great during moments of overwhelm. Using the fingers on one of your hands to keep count, follow us through this simple exercise.

Step 1: Start by looking around you and name five things you can see. Count them on your fingers.

Step 2: Now focus on four things you can feel. Maybe it’s the feel of your shirt, or the chair you’re sitting on. Count them on your fingers.

Step 3: Now name three things you can hear around you such as people talking outside or the ticking of the clock. Count each one on your fingers.

Step 4: Now move on to noticing two things that you can smell around you at this moment. Perhaps it’s your perfume or aftershave? Or a cooking smell? Count each one on your fingers.

Step 5: Lastly, focus on one thing you can taste. If you can't taste anything, then instead you can choose your favourite thing to taste.

Now you’ve given the exercise a go, how do you feel? Do you feel calmer or more relaxed? This quick exercise can be practised any time you feel like it, helping you restore a feeling of calm when you need it. It might feel a bit silly to do at first, but try and think of it like practising lifting a heavy weight at the gym. The more you do it, the more you will start to notice your strength and technique building.

So, whether it’s taking that first five minutes of your day after your alarm goes off, or snatching a few moments between tasks – make sure you try and give this one a go and set yourself up right!

With any luck, by some point during Saturday afternoon, there’s some flex for you to carve out just a little bit of free time for yourself. If so, our next ultimate alcohol-free weekend suggestion is to pick back up an old hobby or start a new one. For lots more hobby suggestions that don’t break the bank, check out our blog: Low cost and free hobbies for your dry challenge.

Still stuck for ideas? Getting out into nature is always a good place to start and can help boost mental health, so think things like hikes, bike rides, orienteering, or even long scenic drives if the weather isn’t on your side. Whatever floats your boat – just get up and get out there! Whether you take your family and friends along or go solo, remind yourself of what’s possible when you’re the best version of yourself. Just remember to match your chosen activity to your energy levels for the day (especially if you’ve had a big week, or you’re still adjusting to your new dry month sleep routine).

Alternatively, if starting a brand-new hobby doesn’t feel like a goer for this particular Saturday, can you spend a little time refreshing yourself on your reasons for signing up for the Dry January® challenge instead? Whilst these will vary from person-to-person, some common ones we often hear are improving relationships. If this sounds like you, now’s your chance to put it into action. Why not call on a loved one you haven’t seen in a while in-person or on the phone? Not only will you get the chance to catch up, you’ll also get the satisfying feeling of taking positive steps towards your ultimate goal – sounds pretty epic to us!

Now you’re getting used to the idea of how much you can achieve in your alcohol-free weekend, are you ready for another challenge?! Can you take on a recipe for tonight’s meal, maybe even a classically boozy one such as risotto or braised meat, and make it with alcohol-free alternatives? You can take a look at our recipe series from Community Champion, Paul, and his partner Lisette to help get your ideas going. How about this one to start you off: Recipe: Alcohol-free whisky-infused pork ribs with a chilli and lime glaze. You could even wash it down with a warming alcohol-free Pernod if you’re really looking for a challenge, or the winning creation from your alcohol-free cocktail master class on Friday.

And, of course, once you’ve had your fill of delicious food and the washing up is done - don’t forget to tick that teacup off in the Try Dry® app once you’re tucked up in bed. Another alcohol-free weekend day bossed!

Have an easy plan in place for your high-risk moments over the weekend period. These will be different for everyone, so it’s important that your plan reflects you too.

We call these simple “If…, then…” plans and they are a great way to prepare for any tricky moment. The beauty of them is in their simplicity, and they help you to get in the practice of thinking and planning so you aren’t caught out.

Here are some starters for ten:

“If I get offered a drink, then I will ask for an alcohol-free beer.”

“If I have a craving to drink in the evening, then I will make myself a cup of tea.”

“If I am going to the pub, then I will call ahead to ask about alcohol-free options.”

That’s right, it’s another morning mindfulness session today because you can never have too much of a good thing! But on a more serious note, as we mentioned on Saturday, practising mindfulness can help you build resilience, and help give you time to think during cravings or stressful times. So doubling up on your mindfulness practise during your alcohol-free weekend could be a seriously good idea, especially if you find Sunday’s a tricky time for drinking urges.

You could just repeat the grounding exercise from Saturday, or you could try out this quick alternative that helps you learn how to notice sensations in your body:

Step 1: Clench your fists tightly together for five seconds and then release.

Step 2: Pay special attention to how your hands feel. Can you describe it? You can close your eyes if it helps you focus.

Step 3: Repeat as many times as you like. (Some people recommend doing it three times in a row).

Now you’ve given the exercise a go, how do you feel? Did you manage to take a few moments to observe how your hands felt? This quick exercise can be practised any time, helping you build up your mental muscles and bring you a moment of clarity when you need it.

For many of us, Sunday afternoon is traditionally a time to share with loved ones, perhaps centring around a roast dinner. Whether or not this is your usual set-up, leaning into this today could be another step towards supercharging your alcohol-free weekend downtime.

One thing our participants tell us every year is how keeping busy can be a superpower, especially near the beginning of the challenge. Staying busy may also be key for you if Sundays are usually a big drinking day. So, if you feel like a distraction would be handy today and enjoy that type of thing, why not offer to host the Sunday roast? If that’s not possible for you or alternative plans are already in the diary, could you offer to make a delicious dish for the Sunday gathering instead? If you’re heading out to a pub for a roast, remember to use some of that no- and low-alcohol nous you’ve banked since Friday’s alcohol-free masterclass to find a pub with the best alcohol-free drinks selection! However you decide to approach it, you may just end up with a belly full of delicious food, as well as quality time with people you care about which sounds like a recipe for a successful Sunday to us!

Of course, resting when you can is important for us all, so don’t feel you have to rush yourself off your feet, but you could try and have a manageable distraction up your sleeve to keep your mind off cravings until you feel more sure of yourself. Before you know it, weekend hangovers will feel like a distant memory!

Sundays are also often a day of rest for many of us, and the association with drinking alcohol to relax can be a really hard habit to break. Sometimes the feeling that the new week and the responsibilities and tasks that comes with can feel overwhelming, which also feels like a reason to drink. If that sounds like you, make sure you look out for your weekly Sunday Evening Reminder on our daily motivational emails if you’re signed up, or via the Dry January® social media. They are there to help you stave off the Sunday Night Blues, as well as helping you feel motivated and refocused on these trickier days.  

Now could also be a good time for getting some of those thoughts or worries about the coming week out of your head before the new week begins in the form of journalling. You could use a pen and paper for this, or you could use the confidential notes section of the Try Dry® app if you prefer.

Writing’s not for everyone, so if you’d rather, you could try talking it through with a loved one. (They may also help you find a way around some of the thoughts that have been irking you that you hadn’t thought of yourself).

If you do decide to journal, don’t forget to celebrate what you’ve achieved this weekend and the fact that you’ve done it all without alcohol. And last but certainly not least, if you’ve been tracking your dry challenge days using Try Dry® celebrate your success as Sunday draws to a close by ticking off that little yellow teacup at the end of it all!

Make this month more than about not drinking alcohol! See it as just a starting block, what else can you add in that goes along side this challenge? For example, our founder of the campaign Emily Hamilton first came up with the concept when she gave up drinking in January to help with her half marathon training. Why not set your sights on the Dry January® 5k/ 10k to be held this year on 2 February? Whether you run in person or virtually it can be a great focus for this month. Suddenly not drinking on the Friday and Saturday nights turns into you training on Saturday and Sunday mornings. You can even turn down the booze by saying you are in training for your race. You get the drift.

The beauty of this is it can be anything, whether that’s cycling, swimming or just being more active with your family. It makes that time you are taking back from the duvet all the more worth it. And this new routine, along with collecting your Try Dry® teacup each day will see you well on the way to success.

And all this has the added bonus of helping you stick to your goal this month, and we know how good it feels when you do. Remember you’ve got this.