Less alcohol- January 2018- one day at a time
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I’m late to the party! Also trying to cut back. I drink 2 nights (at least) a week pretty religiously for years. I’m hoping I can make it one, and then hopefully none! It makes me less energetic at work, affects my relationships and ruins my weekends (hangovers).4
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JulieAL1969 wrote: »My husband had a rough day at work and usually on Mondays he comes home with a 12 pack of beer. Which he will drink mostly himself if I have my own bottle of wine. Good thing I don't have any wine right now. If I help him drink his beer then usually one of us runs to the store to get more. I do NOT want to start this week off with one drink let alone six or seven!
Maybe you can go shopping or go somewhere to work out this evening. I bet if you left the house for a little while, the craving or temptation may pass. Or watch Tony Robbins youtube video for motivation. Sending you hugs.
Thanks. I bought the book you recommended, The Naked Mind, and started reading it. I also did yoga and cleaned a bit. Haven't even wanted a drink tonight and husband is on his 6th or 7th beer. He can have the hangover for both of us tomorrow, I'm drinking some tea!6 -
Katzedernacht wrote: »I love a good craft beer, sadly most IPA's and stouts are heavy on alcohol = high in calories, so what I am doing now is choose beers with alc. % of around 4-5.5 tops and saving the big ones for very special occasions. I'm not gonna stop drinking but I have greatly reduced the quantity, last year I'd drink a lot with my friends, mostly cos I got bored (that's another whole different subject) but now that's solved, so once a week or every 2 weeks works for me, fitting it within my macros and calories of course.
Sounds exactly like me. I have cut down to one day a week. I start with one good stout or ipa. Then i drink lower abv the rest of the night. I have actually been finding a way to enjoy light beer, which is something i thought was impossible for me4 -
pawprintsigns63 wrote: »Too late to join this group? I just found this today. I have been reading some of the post. I actually downloaded a free trial for Audiable, and have "The Naked Mind" ready to play while on the treadmill. I don't need to loose much weight, but I sure need to quit drinking everynight, and start working out!
Not too late.. i think we are going to have a February dry season..
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Hello, i like this challenge here very much!
Reading all your posts is very helpfull in understanding what is going wrong! Any chance fro me to join and participate here? I would be very helpfull for me. Greetins from Germany 5 -
FlottenAdmiral69 wrote: »Hello, i like this challenge here very much! Reading all your posts is very helpfull in understanding what is going wrong! Any chance fro me to join and participate here? I would be very helpfull for me. Greetins from Germany
Welcome..1 -
Day 13 for me. As I said earlier, I cannot moderate. Everyone is doing so well. Let's keep on keeping on. 4
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Morning, everyone!
I come to this thread every morning while having my coffee, and all your posts inspire me for the day! I have continued to be alcohol-free this month beyond those first couple of days of January. I started the challenge just wanting to be damp, but it quickly turned dry for me. I plan on continuing it into February and beyond, and I'm excited about the challenge as well as the positive changes I've seen in myself since abstaining.
I've definitely created new habits for myself...a cup of tea and a snack ~4pm before leaving work; knitting in the evenings to keep my hands and mind busy; getting things done that I've been putting off forever; better quality time with my family.
Whenever I have random thoughts of having a glass or two of wine in the evening, I internally ask myself what it is I want from the act of drinking a glass of wine. Is it to relax? To socialize? To escape mentally? Is it because it is a habit? Once I've figured out the why, it's much easier to fix the how with something other than alcohol.
I hope you all have a wonderful day today!11 -
Good morning everyone, it's nice to wake up and not have a hangover. Although I'm sore because my husband took over the entire bed when he finally passed out last night so I moved to the couch. Watching him drink those 12 beers last night made me realize that this is how I also look sometimes when I get drunk. He was depressed, drunk crying, stayed up too late and also very annoying when he finally did come to bed. Then he overslept and went to work an hour late today.
Last night he told me that he was depressed and that he hasn't been depressed in a very long time. I told him, well you know, alcohol IS a depressant. And he said, no, alcohol makes me feel better.
Neither of us are like that every time we drink, but it did make me think about how that can look to the kids.
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@kcn2bluesky - Love this insightful post, and most of all this:kcn2bluesky wrote: »Whenever I have random thoughts of having a glass or two of wine in the evening, I internally ask myself what it is I want from the act of drinking a glass of wine. Is it to relax? To socialize? To escape mentally? Is it because it is a habit? Once I've figured out the why, it's much easier to fix the how with something other than alcohol.
Day 23 begins. Hard to impossible for me to imagine saying this on Dec. 31. We've come a long way since day 1 of this inspiring discussion.
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Finally got audiobook of Naked Mind from library. I got though intro, chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 during my morning commute. I’ll be honest, and maybe it’s due to listening and not reading the words, she goes over my IQ level a little bit so far. Although I do get the conscious and unconscious mind stuff. interesting she points out that society and media insert alcohol everywhere, making our unconscious mind think alcohol is just expected to be part of your life! Look at The Bachelor, Bravo shows, even Hoda and Kathie Lee!! They all drink!! I wonder how much our children see and if this exposure affects them too?? On another note, her book had put my consumption in to perspective. I’ve never drank to a black out but I easily can polish off a bottle of wine over the course of 3-4 hours. I think I am alcohol dependent (habit) more so than disease of alcoholism. But I don’t want to go down that path as it runs deeply in my family tree. Sorry for the long post!!6
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mmccool719 wrote: »Finally got audiobook of Naked Mind from library. I got though intro, chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 during my morning commute. I’ll be honest, and maybe it’s due to listening and not reading the words, she goes over my IQ level a little bit so far. Although I do get the conscious and unconscious mind stuff. interesting she points out that society and media insert alcohol everywhere, making our unconscious mind think alcohol is just expected to be part of your life! Look at The Bachelor, Bravo shows, even Hoda and Kathie Lee!! They all drink!! I wonder how much our children see and if this exposure affects them too?? On another note, her book had put my consumption in to perspective. I’ve never drank to a black out but I easily can polish off a bottle of wine over the course of 3-4 hours. I think I am alcohol dependent (habit) more so than disease of alcoholism. But I don’t want to go down that path as it runs deeply in my family tree. Sorry for the long post!!
I have it on audio and felt the same way as you, I know actually seeing it in print will make it easier for me, but enough gets through so it makes a huge impact. I have the book in my Amazon cart so I can read it myself. Also reading the daily exercises on her website is really insightful, think about doing that when you decide to go alcohol free. She really makes you think about why you are repeating this behavior every day. Mine seems to be more habit than actual need, I just have to learn to think differently and am trying to put new habits in place.3 -
I was just thinking about last November when I went to a concert for one of my favorite bands. The arena did not serve any kind of alcohol whatsoever! Usually alcohol is a main attraction of rock concerts and I of course indulge in several overpriced beers or cocktails just because it's there.
I remember listening to people around me and everyone was outraged that alcohol wasn't served. Some people even left before the concert was over. I wasn't too bummed out about it because I was broke at the time and sort of glad I didn't "have to" spend money on alcohol that night. And you know what? I had a great time anyway!5 -
mmccool719 wrote: »Finally got audiobook of Naked Mind from library. I got though intro, chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 during my morning commute. I’ll be honest, and maybe it’s due to listening and not reading the words, she goes over my IQ level a little bit so far. Although I do get the conscious and unconscious mind stuff. interesting she points out that society and media insert alcohol everywhere, making our unconscious mind think alcohol is just expected to be part of your life! Look at The Bachelor, Bravo shows, even Hoda and Kathie Lee!! They all drink!! I wonder how much our children see and if this exposure affects them too?? On another note, her book had put my consumption in to perspective. I’ve never drank to a black out but I easily can polish off a bottle of wine over the course of 3-4 hours. I think I am alcohol dependent (habit) more so than disease of alcoholism. But I don’t want to go down that path as it runs deeply in my family tree. Sorry for the long post!!
Just wait until you get to the part about what alcohol does to our vital organs! I read that last night and I swear, it makes me feel like I've been poisoning myself for years. Which, I guess, I have.
I'm so thankful to this group for exposing me to The Naked Mind and now The Alcohol Experiment!
No booze yesterday was a success but as someone pointed out, I expected it to be easy since I was still recovering from that terrible hangover on Sunday. Damn those high gravity beers! 3 -
Oh! And I wanted to ask... has anyone here experienced any difficulty sleeping in the first few days after you quit drinking? It took me forever to fall asleep last night! Hopefully that will pass after a few days. I'm usually a good sleeper and I need my good sleep! 4
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I only just found this thread, but I think I could really use the support. I had stopped drinking regularly for over a year when one week, last November, I slid hard back into my old habits and not just previous years' habits, but more like college days habits (think 4-6 beers a night, or a bottle of wine). Now it is really starting to wear me out as well as seriously disrupting my weight-loss progress (down 125 lbs). I went both Saturday and Sunday w/o a drink, but had a beer last night when I got home from work. I guess the good news is that I only had one, rather than 3-4.
Does anyone have any tips on how to limit to once or twice a week without backsliding all the way?4 -
1/21: No alcohol
1/22: No alcohol
1/23
1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
1/29
1/30
1/313 -
1/1-NADA
1/2-NADA
1/3-NADA
1/4-NADA
1/5-12 oz wine
1/6-5 oz wine
1/7-12 oz wine
1/8 NADA
1/9 3 oz wine
1/10 12 oz wine
1/11-NADA
1/12-15 oz wine and 2oz whiskey( more than planned)
1/13-16 oz wine
1/14-NADA
1/15-NADA
1/16-NADA
1/17-NADA
1/18-NADA
1/19- 8 oz wine
1/20-NADA
1/21-20 oz wine
1/22-NADA6 -
Awesome job!1
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Hi, I hope you don't mind me joining you! First day of getting back on the wagon with healthy eating after the Christmas indulgence and I've only managed 2 alcohol free days so far. I struggle as my hubby drinks a couple a beers and some wine every night and I tend to join in, I find it hard to say no...especially after dealing with an very demanding (and recently diagnosed autistic) 4 year old all day, along with anxiety and other stresses...I find it helps me to unwind...but then end up feeling rubbish the next day. So I'm joining you all here. I hope I won't be judged too harshly! I rarely drink to get drunk, just to 'take the edge off' but it has massively impacted on my weight, skin, and body confidence to boot so I just want to try and cut down. Maybe even just stop for 2 or 3 nights a week would be a good improvement!9
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faithfulheart888 wrote: »Hi, I hope you don't mind me joining you! First day of getting back on the wagon with healthy eating after the Christmas indulgence and I've only managed 2 alcohol free days so far. I struggle as my hubby drinks a couple a beers and some wine every night and I tend to join in, I find it hard to say no...especially after dealing with an very demanding (and recently diagnosed autistic) 4 year old all day, along with anxiety and other stresses...I find it helps me to unwind...but then end up feeling rubbish the next day. So I'm joining you all here. I hope I won't be judged too harshly! I rarely drink to get drunk, just to 'take the edge off' but it has massively impacted on my weight, skin, and body confidence to boot so I just want to try and cut down. Maybe even just stop for 2 or 3 nights a week would be a good improvement!
Welcome... jump on in. Great group here!3 -
springsweet wrote: »Oh! And I wanted to ask... has anyone here experienced any difficulty sleeping in the first few days after you quit drinking? It took me forever to fall asleep last night! Hopefully that will pass after a few days. I'm usually a good sleeper and I need my good sleep!
Yeah I think that’s normal. I had a headache the first week I stopped drinking and a few restless nights of sleep but now I am sleeping better and longer than ever (unless my 5 year old crawls in bed w me and smacks me in the face at 4 am like last night)
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springsweet wrote: »Oh! And I wanted to ask... has anyone here experienced any difficulty sleeping in the first few days after you quit drinking? It took me forever to fall asleep last night! Hopefully that will pass after a few days. I'm usually a good sleeper and I need my good sleep!
I always have worse sleep when I don't have a beer or two. Not sure why... but it is the case for me.5 -
Has anybody checked out Annie Grace's youtube channel? I can't stop watching/listening to her videos while I work today. I highly recommend! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4KpBxerD_BIksjUfUT4hVw 2
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faithfulheart888 wrote: »Hi, I hope you don't mind me joining you! First day of getting back on the wagon with healthy eating after the Christmas indulgence and I've only managed 2 alcohol free days so far. I struggle as my hubby drinks a couple a beers and some wine every night and I tend to join in, I find it hard to say no...especially after dealing with an very demanding (and recently diagnosed autistic) 4 year old all day, along with anxiety and other stresses...I find it helps me to unwind...but then end up feeling rubbish the next day. So I'm joining you all here. I hope I won't be judged too harshly! I rarely drink to get drunk, just to 'take the edge off' but it has massively impacted on my weight, skin, and body confidence to boot so I just want to try and cut down. Maybe even just stop for 2 or 3 nights a week would be a good improvement!
Welcome! And just to put your mind at ease...this thread has been devoid of anyone judging others! Only genuine compassion and support!7 -
No alcohol for me since I joined, about 5 days.15
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springsweet wrote: »Oh! And I wanted to ask... has anyone here experienced any difficulty sleeping in the first few days after you quit drinking? It took me forever to fall asleep last night! Hopefully that will pass after a few days. I'm usually a good sleeper and I need my good sleep!
Yes it does happen. Having relaxing baths and meditation help s immensely. Hoping out gets better for you...xo congrats for doing it.3 -
faithfulheart888 wrote: »Hi, I hope you don't mind me joining you! First day of getting back on the wagon with healthy eating after the Christmas indulgence and I've only managed 2 alcohol free days so far. I struggle as my hubby drinks a couple a beers and some wine every night and I tend to join in, I find it hard to say no...especially after dealing with an very demanding (and recently diagnosed autistic) 4 year old all day, along with anxiety and other stresses...I find it helps me to unwind...but then end up feeling rubbish the next day. So I'm joining you all here. I hope I won't be judged too harshly! I rarely drink to get drunk, just to 'take the edge off' but it has massively impacted on my weight, skin, and body confidence to boot so I just want to try and cut down. Maybe even just stop for 2 or 3 nights a week would be a good improvement!
Welcome..
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kcn2bluesky wrote: »Morning, everyone!
Whenever I have random thoughts of having a glass or two of wine in the evening, I internally ask myself what it is I want from the act of drinking a glass of wine. Is it to relax? To socialize? To escape mentally? Is it because it is a habit? Once I've figured out the why, it's much easier to fix the how with something other than alcohol.
I love this. Figuring out the Why. This could be used in so many other cases than just alcohol.6 -
Hello everyone.. last night i found another substitue for a night cap. .. if u have a membership to a 24 hr gym, go and do a work out. I say, i felt a milliins bucks. Right ready for a shower and crash out. 4
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