Less Alcohol - October 2018 - One Day at a Time
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Another day clean!!! I'm now on an 9 day roll!!!11
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I just got married this last weekend and don’t go on the honeymoon until 11/3. I think I’m going to plan on no drinks until honeymoon. I mean, I can’t be sober for that!!7
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7 days AF and not a craving or a care (for now)..6
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Still clean!! I could use a drink now as my daughter is on the gulf coast with this hurricane about to hit. Thank GOD im at worn not home or I would be drinking!!!6
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schmidtty86 wrote: »I just got married this last weekend and don’t go on the honeymoon until 11/3. I think I’m going to plan on no drinks until honeymoon. I mean, I can’t be sober for that!!
Congratulations!!!1 -
Daughter is safe now!!!! Just in time for me to leave work so I have ZERO excuse to drink tonight!!!
Happy day 10 Y'all!!!8 -
@forestdweller1 I know that feeling.. I'm a green tea junkie now!
@CCgal2018 exactly!!
@schmidtty86 congrats!
@Beka3695 Glad you're daughter is safe!! Great job on day 10
@anothermfpuser that's awesome!!
Hope everyone has a good day!!3 -
Well, on my 12th day and feeling really good. Sounds like everyone else is doing well too and Congratulations on your Wedding Schmidtty86!4
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Well one learning experience and one thing to celebrate:
This past weekend on my allowed drinking day I decided to go back to drinking some craft beers, I have switched to Miller Lite all year. Although delicious tasting, my body cannot handle those heavy, higher alcohol beers anymore. My stomach was all messed up.
I have a wedding this weekend so I was going to take my sports coat to get dry cleaned. I decided to try it on - it was HUGE. Sticking to my health goals - eating right, working out regularly and switching to light beer only once a week has paid off!14 -
I had my second planned day off on Tuesday when out for a curry night, which means I'm now due to be AF until at least 24th Oct - that time includes at least one pre-planned social pub visit which will be the real test.
Otherwise all is going well - as well as 19 out of last 21 days being AF, I have also gone without caffeinated drinks for the last 13 days and have been running 5 days per week. Definitely feeling healthier, even if energy/sleep levels have still not normalised.7 -
Day 12 AF!!! Yesterday was trying. I had a horrible day at work and got home to find my husband having a cocktail... There is an open bottle of wine with a single glass in it. I am about to commit alcohol sin and pour it down the drain.
Tomorrow I am spending the day with a friend. I know she will want a glass or two. I plan to refrain.
I am proud of myself for going this long!11 -
Trying not to drink for October, I was making gravy last night and usually I use wine to deglaze the pan but I realized if I had an open bottle it would be so tempting, so I just used broth. Felt good to win the struggle and use those calories for mashed potatoes instead!12
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Last night out of the blue a married friend couple contacted my husband and I. Omg.... it had been 4 years since we had seen them my husband and I had calculated as soon as we saw the text and before we texted them back.
Later that night we called them. Hashing over this and that and saying they should come to our town it has been 4 years since they were down this way.
SILENCE on the other end of the phone. What? they said, we saw you two years ago down there. NOoooooo we responded, you have not been here for FOUR years. Well long story short....hubby and I had been out in town two years ago having way to much fun (drinking like fishes going bar to bar). From what we were told by our friends we did all run into each other that night because they had pictures to prove it. And sent them to me.
UGH, SO EMBARRASSING even though I had no idea, no memory what so ever. I told them, well you know I used to drink very heavy. That is a part of my past and I want to make up for that blackout night to you both. They were shocked and tried to assure me I did not drink to much.
I am even surprised they contacted us. My husband is still in denil and says there is no way they were here, because he says we would have remembered. Well...obiously they were here and we were out of control and they have pics to prove it. Maybe I could handle that news better if I were only in my early 20's. But at 55+ it is a hard pill to swallow.
Another reason for me to have less less less alcohol.
Very thankful for this accountability.14 -
Congrats to you all!!
I wish I had seen this thread 2 days ago. I decided to go clean to help me lose some weight. I was doing good until 2 days ago. I went out with friends and had a drink out of habit. I only had one, but I was disappointed because I didn't even attempt to Not drink. Hanging out with friends I haven't seen in a long while took my mind off my ultimate goals. SMH. I plan to do better.6 -
Here’s a long post from me - since I know there are some new participants and maybe trying to figure out how to navigate a world of moderation rather than excess and I haven’t posted in a while.
My approach is “mindful moderation”. Prior to starting in this group in January I was a daily drinker, and I didn’t think an excessive drinker at the time, but when I reflected I realized I was definitely drinking more than I should. And it was just too easy for 1 to turn into 2 to turn into 3 glasses of wine, whether it was a weeknight or weekend. The point when I realized I needed to go from being a lurker on this thread to an active participant on a journey to less alcohol was a night in mid-Jan when I was at a party with some parents from school with my husband and I just kept pouring drinks for myself - probably consumed more than a bottle on my own, and ended up the next morning with a headache, a fuzzy memory, and those all too familiar feelings of regret - what did I do, did I embarrass myself, why did I let myself go too far, no one else seems to have these problems. So I decided to take action.
At first I just said “I’m going to drink less, try not to drink so often” but I wasn’t very specific. And I was somewhat successful with the help of the supportive folks in this group back in January. It was a struggle on some days and I had internal debates between my drinking brain and my sober brain. I was tracking my drinking days, my AF days and my drinks (still am) on a tally sheet next to my bed. I wasn’t drinking every day but it definitely felt like a struggle for a lot of them.
Then something clicked for me, I think around March, and I started taking the same approach as I did with tracking my food when I first joined MFP about 5 years ago. I don’t have to cut out all the things I enjoy, I just can’t have as much as I want or as often as I want - I need to be mindful, work it in, and listen to my body cues as well as social cues. I started paying more attention to how others behaved in social drinking situations, realizing that I had always been the one pouring another glass, opening another bottle - that my friends were content to sit around a table talking, with one or two drinks for the whole evening, and that an open bottle of wine can be re-corked and not consumed. I started noticing that I could drink just one glass with my meal and look forward to tea before bed instead of more wine. That on nights when there wasn’t a social event or a special family meal that I was perfectly content with water for dinner, tea before bed and using the calories on dessert, or saving them up for weekend fun like donuts for breakfast and a big Sunday dinner too. I’ve had more tea and more desserts in the last 10 months than I’ve had in years!
Once the alcohol became just another thing that I worked into my regular approach to health, weight management and moderation, it became pretty simple. I’m definitely still drinking more than those who are really committed to going AF but I feel in control of the choices and the consumption and am mindfully moderating instead of mindlessly drinking.
The reason I decided to post today after a hiatus is that I was over at the same house with some of the same friends last night, after a school event (trunk or treat). In years past I would have put some baileys in my coffee cup for the event, and then continued with wine once we got home.
Last night - we did have a Mom gathering planned and joked about needing our flasks for the event and then hurrying up to get the kids situated with a movie so we could “wine and whine” with tasty food planned as well. So in preparation I thought - well, I do know I want to have some wine with the moms later, so it’s silly to pretend I need a drink to get through a school function - plus not the most responsible thing! I didn’t bring my baileys, and I made yummy appetizers and brought one nice bottle of wine to share after we got together. Over the course of the evening we consumed a total of 4 bottles of wine amongst 8 women. I was the first one to get a water glass and practiced one of my tricks to drink a full glass of water in between every wine refill. I realized I didn’t have to pour a full glass, it’s ok to just pour a half glass and then decide if you want more (sometimes I did, and then I didn’t). It was more about the socializing and we had some great empowering discussions about the challenges of being career focused and Mom focused in a way too busy life - and the answer wasn’t “drink more wine to get by” even though that’s what I had previously believed was necessary. We laughed and ate great food, and drank a little wine, no one drank a lot. I stayed after to help clean up, having stopped drinking more than an hour earlier, put a cork in an open bottle and left it for the hostess to enjoy later.
I texted my husband to say “on my way” before I left the friends house and he said “you sure you’re ok to drive do you want an Uber” and I could say with complete confidence that I was totally good. Came home, had a tea, logged my food and drinks, and though it was a late night I feel really good this morning AND I remember all the great conversations, the laughter, the empowering strong women, the yummy food, and the lovely 2.5 glasses of wine I had.
It seemed fitting to share the difference between one of the nights that started my experience here, and the same environment and outcome 10 months later. Some may feel like this mindful moderation thing is more work than just abstaining, but for me it works well. I no longer feel like I’m trying that hard, I don’t have the internal debates, don’t look ahead to when my next drink will be, don’t feel guilty if I decide that on a Tuesday night I do want one glass of wine even though it wasn’t my plan, I just adapt the plan.
Sorry for the long post... I’ve been reading along in this thread and the sober squad and I’m so glad that so many are doing well, no matter your approach toward achieving your goals.
Heading out for a day filled with kid activities and planning for a pumpkin beer and some chili later tonight now that fall weather is here. Happy Saturday all!19 -
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Last night out of the blue a married friend couple contacted my husband and I. Omg.... it had been 4 years since we had seen them my husband and I had calculated as soon as we saw the text and before we texted them back.
Later that night we called them. Hashing over this and that and saying they should come to our town it has been 4 years since they were down this way.
SILENCE on the other end of the phone. What? they said, we saw you two years ago down there. NOoooooo we responded, you have not been here for FOUR years. Well long story short....hubby and I had been out in town two years ago having way to much fun (drinking like fishes going bar to bar). From what we were told by our friends we did all run into each other that night because they had pictures to prove it. And sent them to me.
UGH, SO EMBARRASSING even though I had no idea, no memory what so ever. I told them, well you know I used to drink very heavy. That is a part of my past and I want to make up for that blackout night to you both. They were shocked and tried to assure me I did not drink to much.
I am even surprised they contacted us. My husband is still in denil and says there is no way they were here, because he says we would have remembered. Well...obiously they were here and we were out of control and they have pics to prove it. Maybe I could handle that news better if I were only in my early 20's. But at 55+ it is a hard pill to swallow.
Another reason for me to have less less less alcohol.
Very thankful for this accountability.
Oh my heart hurts for the two of you. I am so proud of your commitment to drink less.
We lost a set of couple friends bc of our drinking - my husband is in denial about this, too.
Stay strong!!!0 -
Craving tonight. First cravings in 13 days.
Fighting it hard!!!8 -
WinoGelato wrote: »........ It seemed fitting to share the difference between one of the nights that started my experience here, and the same environment and outcome 10 months later. Some may feel like this mindful moderation thing is more work than just abstaining, but for me it works well. I no longer feel like I’m trying that hard, I don’t have the internal debates, don’t look ahead to when my next drink will be, don’t feel guilty if I decide that on a Tuesday night I do want one glass of wine even though it wasn’t my plan, I just adapt the plan.
Sorry for the long post... I’ve been reading along in this thread and the sober squad and I’m so glad that so many are doing well, no matter your approach toward achieving your goals.
Heading out for a day filled with kid activities and planning for a pumpkin beer and some chili later tonight now that fall weather is here. Happy Saturday all!
Great post and congrats!
Yes - agreed - successful moderation is completely / totally possible for those that choose to take that path.. I am one of them as well. For those who have a true addition problem with it are another story altogether. Those (hopefully) are in the Sober Squad and are taking those necessary next steps.
Moderating alcohol is possible the same way moderating donuts are. Had 3 donuts this past week. First donuts I had in years. Probably will be another year or more before I have another.1
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