Less alcohol- February 2018- one day at a time
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Oh no! But dinner will be fun. Maybe a movie?2
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I survived my first social "function" last night. My niece and her boyfriend came over. We always drink when they hang out. I told them last week I was taking a break for a while. They offered me one of theirs when they got here, but didn't push when I declined it. My son wanted to make sure I stayed on track though, and brought me one of my seltzer waters so I didn't cave. When my husband and the two of them went outside to smoke, I stayed in and finished the movie I was watching, then went to bed. Hubs (who rarely drinks, and wasn't drinking last night) said those two stayed for another 90 minutes, drinking the entire time. I don't smoke, but before I started this, I would have been out there drinking with them, and probably would have had at least one more beer after they left. So here's to a hangover free Sunday morning, and the 10 mile run I just completed because of it.9
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DCRunnerGirl78 wrote: »I survived my first social "function" last night. So here's to a hangover free Sunday morning, and the 10 mile run I just completed because of it.
Great job! 10 mile run! I thought I was doing good just to get to the grocery store before 8am!
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Anyone else have trouble sleeping after you quit or cut back? Any recommendations? I've been waking up A LOT at night. Someone at work recommended taking GABA supplements--I took one last night and I did fall asleep easily but then was up half the night. I fell asleep ok at a reasonable hour and slept until about 1:30 am but then I was wide awake and could not fall back asleep until about 5am. I'm not really a big fan of tea--I thought about trying a sleepytime tea or something like that.2
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JulieAL1969 wrote: »@erikNJ I'm going to two hour mediation workshop at my yoga studio. Makes me think of your yoga goal.
That is great! I have always just done it in my living room, maybe i will get to the point of going tona studio one day. I really felt much better when I did it a few years back. I’m sticking to it this time!3 -
@Cardinals_3, yes, yes yes! The sleep troubles were the very worst part of going AF at first for me. One night I was up literally the entire night. Finally gave up at 5:30 a.m. and just got up for the day. Ugh! I finally went to a wellness-oriented pharmacy nearby and consulted with their "wellness" person. Told her I was giving up alcohol. It had been I think 7 or 8 days at that point, and I was still having sleep problems. She recommended a supplement that supposedly would help restore the sleep cycle. She said that at first the liver does a lot of "work" at night getting back to normal. The supplement is Kavinace Ultra PM by NeuroScience. It definitely does the trick. I've been sleeping like a baby since then. There are 30 in a bottle, and she said to take them and then my sleep should be ok without them. The ingredients are basically melatonin and GABA. Good luck. I feel your pain!3
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Morning all - confession time, went to a cajun kitchen last night and had beer cuz the bartender asked me if I wanted a drink while I waited for my food....should have avoided sitting at the bar10
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one beer, it's over now........tell yourself what you would tell anyone here: moving on
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dressagerider1020 wrote: »
Great job! 10 mile run! I thought I was doing good just to get to the grocery store before 8am!
@dressagerider1020 Groceries before 8am is a MUCH bigger accomplishment in my books!
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Cardinals_3 wrote: »Anyone else have trouble sleeping after you quit or cut back? Any recommendations? I've been waking up A LOT at night. Someone at work recommended taking GABA supplements--I took one last night and I did fall asleep easily but then was up half the night. I fell asleep ok at a reasonable hour and slept until about 1:30 am but then I was wide awake and could not fall back asleep until about 5am. I'm not really a big fan of tea--I thought about trying a sleepytime tea or something like that.
I think it’s common - especially if alcohol was used right before bed as a nightcap. I recommend chelated magnesium, and melatonin. Also make sure you go to bed and get up at the same time, it helps your body know when is time for sleep and don’t nap. I’m positive it will get better. I do drink tea before bed sometimes the Yogi bedtime is tasty.4 -
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Hi, Everyone ... I've enjoyed catching up on the posts. On Friday night, I did feel a few "I want to have a drink" pangs ... there was a fairly big snowfall in our city, and I had to drive across town, which can be very stressful under bad conditions. Normally, I would comfort myself by saying, take it easy; there's wine waiting when you get home! Now, it's just "take it easy: .... (Kind of like what was said to me in the days of beginning to run, "Slow down, and then taper ...").
I think the drinking served as a reward system (as smoking did years ago) ... but I guess I am rewarding myself plenty by not drinking. I bought some AF chardonnay today; don't know if I'll save it for Valentine's day. Guess I'll be happy if it is not too disappointing. I would have said while drinking that I drink for taste, and I never really liked the feeling of being drunk, which is probably why I ate so much while drinking. As I often compared bad wine to "beer mixed with grape juice" I don't know what to expect of the AF wine. Also bought some Kombucha, which I rather like, too.4 -
Epic fail last night! I went to my grandson's bday party. I did good there with 2 small cups of red wine. THEN my husband being the alcohol bully that he is took us to the neighborhood pizza place with my parents and the wine flowed there!!!
One good thing I guess I can say came out of it is that I didnt smoke!5 -
I ordered the book by Allen Carr. Quit Drinking the Easy Way. Has anybody read this one? It's in my mailbox right now and I will start it after work tonight. So far this month I'm off the mark...Only 3 AF days so far, Bah!! Hoping this book has some good ideas3
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I did a dry January with no problems and I felt awesome! Weight loss was steady and I had such clear thinking. This month I haven’t had any binge drinking but I still have 1 or 2 drinks several times a week. Since I’m keto those two beers or glasses of wine hit me extra hard. Also it’s slowing my weigh loss greatly even though I count the calories and mostly stay within my macros. Love this group and I’m late to February but love following everyone’s progress and reading your stories.9
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I ordered the book by Allen Carr. Quit Drinking the Easy Way. Has anybody read this one? It's in my mailbox right now and I will start it after work tonight. So far this month I'm off the mark...Only 3 AF days so far, Bah!! Hoping this book has some good ideas
3 days is excellent! I hope you let us know if you like the book, and if it's helpful for you.3 -
Epic fail last night! I went to my grandson's bday party. I did good there with 2 small cups of red wine. THEN my husband being the alcohol bully that he is took us to the neighborhood pizza place with my parents and the wine flowed there!!!
One good thing I guess I can say came out of it is that I didnt smoke!
Not smoking is great! It's another day, keep trying, that's what I'm doing 2 -
@Skyweigh, I do the same thing sometimes, use it as a reward after something really bad or really good. And I think you're right, we're better off rewarding ourselves without it. But if there's a slip, we always have another chance.
When did you stop smoking? That was really hard for me. It seems like it might be easier these days, since you can't smoke anywhere anymore. I remember smoking at my desk at work, and big ashtrays in the hallways. Man, I'm really old
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I ordered the book by Allen Carr. Quit Drinking the Easy Way. Has anybody read this one? It's in my mailbox right now and I will start it after work tonight. So far this month I'm off the mark...Only 3 AF days so far, Bah!! Hoping this book has some good ideas
I'd be waiting for the review1 -
I did a dry January with no problems and I felt awesome! Weight loss was steady and I had such clear thinking. This month I haven’t had any binge drinking but I still have 1 or 2 drinks several times a week. Since I’m keto those two beers or glasses of wine hit me extra hard. Also it’s slowing my weigh loss greatly even though I count the calories and mostly stay within my macros. Love this group and I’m late to February but love following everyone’s progress and reading your stories.
I also found that having a definite Dry month was easier than the mostly dry month - its psychological6 -
Epic fail last night! I went to my grandson's bday party. I did good there with 2 small cups of red wine. THEN my husband being the alcohol bully that he is took us to the neighborhood pizza place with my parents and the wine flowed there!!!
One good thing I guess I can say came out of it is that I didnt smoke!
Its ok, that was your cheat Saturday, dont have another for at least a month3 -
@dressagerider1020 I'm pretty old! I quit smoking July 22, 1990, age 35 after 22 years of smoking, 15 of them "trying" to stop. Those times when I started again, I guess I learned, but with that addiction it does seem to be that when I reverted to smoking after a long (or short) quit, I smoked more and more! It was very important, when I finally did quit, to be able to be around people smoking and to be non-judgmental. This had been a stumbling block during previous successes with leaving it alone. Also, I wanted to quit because I was embarrassed to smoke. I don't miss it a bit, and haven't for years, but the first year, I was really depressed and crazy. I learned a lot about that addiction, and to this day quitting is one of my proudest and most important accomplishments. One thing that is really important is to have a very personal reason to quit -- for me it was vanity, or how I identified or thought of myself. I did not like smelling of cigarettes, etc. and wanted to be a person that did not smoke, so I tried to think like a person who did not smoke. For instance, a non-smoker does not deliberate about whether to smoke when under stress. I learned that there is an incredibly strong subconscious inclination to smoke (well trained over the years!). About 5 years cigarette-free, I mused whether there were circumstances under which I'd smoke, and I questioned whether I would smoke if I had a terminal illness. I cut that thought down immediately, knowing that if there were circumstances which would allow me to smoke, then there might even be an unconscious volition to create those circumstances! I know that would seem very far-fetched to a lot of people, but not to me. Bottom line, it is a matter of reinventing oneself and identifying with the new, improved version. Thanks for asking about this ... it really is a huge deal to stop smoking, and ... to redefine our view of alcohol, as I'm now learning.3
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Cardinals_3 wrote: »Anyone else have trouble sleeping after you quit or cut back? Any recommendations? I've been waking up A LOT at night. Someone at work recommended taking GABA supplements--I took one last night and I did fall asleep easily but then was up half the night. I fell asleep ok at a reasonable hour and slept until about 1:30 am but then I was wide awake and could not fall back asleep until about 5am. I'm not really a big fan of tea--I thought about trying a sleepytime tea or something like that.
YES! I'm on my 32nd day and only manage 5-7 hrs of sleep per night. I do take the magnesium citrate supplements and drink either Sleepytime or chamomile tea in the evening. Last night I downloaded 'Headspace', a meditation app. I'm anxious to try it tonight.4 -
@dressagerider1020 I smoked from age 15-45 with the exception of when I was 9 months I was pregnant, twice. I'm 9 years smoke free. I think it got easier to quit (I tried several times) as it got more and more frowned upon by society plus when they made our bars and restaurants smoke-free that made it easier to quit. I was sick of trying to hide it from my kids and neighbors etc. Anyway, I used the patch. I just cut it in half every 3 days or so until it was just about gone and so I weaned myself slowly. I wish there was an alcohol patch but there is no such thing unfortch.4
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For me quitting smoking was easier than alcohol struggle. I had aids like the gum and vaping. Plus smoking required effort, had to find time to go out to smoke.....the smell on the clothes was horrendous, social stigma was bad.7
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Cardinals_3 wrote: »Anyone else have trouble sleeping after you quit or cut back? Any recommendations? I've been waking up A LOT at night. Someone at work recommended taking GABA supplements--I took one last night and I did fall asleep easily but then was up half the night. I fell asleep ok at a reasonable hour and slept until about 1:30 am but then I was wide awake and could not fall back asleep until about 5am. I'm not really a big fan of tea--I thought about trying a sleepytime tea or something like that.
YES! I'm on my 32nd day and only manage 5-7 hrs of sleep per night. I do take the magnesium citrate supplements and drink either Sleepytime or chamomile tea in the evening. Last night I downloaded 'Headspace', a meditation app. I'm anxious to try it tonight.
I am doing 5-7 most night, try and make it up on weekends.2 -
Cardinals_3 wrote: »Anyone else have trouble sleeping after you quit or cut back? Any recommendations? I've been waking up A LOT at night. Someone at work recommended taking GABA supplements--I took one last night and I did fall asleep easily but then was up half the night. I fell asleep ok at a reasonable hour and slept until about 1:30 am but then I was wide awake and could not fall back asleep until about 5am. I'm not really a big fan of tea--I thought about trying a sleepytime tea or something like that.
YES! I'm on my 32nd day and only manage 5-7 hrs of sleep per night. I do take the magnesium citrate supplements and drink either Sleepytime or chamomile tea in the evening. Last night I downloaded 'Headspace', a meditation app. I'm anxious to try it tonight.
At my meditation workshop today, they also mentioned that people like "Headspace". Other meditation experts the teacher mentioned were Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. At the session today, I learned that there are many forms of meditation. The teacher said meditation can be life changing and it doesn't have to be complicated. A person can start with 2 minutes. And then work towards 5 minutes. Sitting quietly , focusing on breathing in and out. That's how simple it can be. Hope Headspace is good. I am going to download it too!3 -
One of the books or videos I've seen had an interesting point:
If you tell someone you quit smoking, they say good for you! Wow! Wonderful.
When you tell someone you are quitting drinking, they say "Why would you do that? How boring would that be. " Recently, I told a guy I know that I am quitting drinking. And he sarcastically said, "Good luck with that!" And bought my friend and himself a shot! And they drank it in front of me.
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It’s taken me a long time to realize this was contributing to my weight loss fails...6
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