Less Alcohol - January 2019 - One Day at a Time

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  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    January accountability ~18 day so far
    Me (no alcohol): 11 days
    Alcohol: 7 days (15 drinks)

    To view the weekly count toward 4 ... AF Mon Dec 31!
    Jan 1 - AF
    Jan 2 - Dinner out with hubby after challenging day at work transitioning my role. Looks like it will take weeks to ramp them up. Didn't leave chair for 9 hrs. (excuses) - limited myself to 1 glass of wine
    Jan 3 - Bunco - limit 1 glass wine. Slipped up and had 2-3 (I call it 12 oz 3 if light pour / 2 if heavy pour) What happen to my resolve to drink water after 1 glass?
    Jan 4 - Traveling with my mom & sister 7 hrs today for a funeral Saturday. Plans to limit to 1 glass of wine was blown. I lacked the willpower which I need to work on. 1 margarita at mexican restaurant, 1 glass of wine in hotel suite everyone gathered at after dinner.
    Jan 5 - AF Driving 7 hours return trip
    Jan 6 - AF
    *This past week Monday thru Sunday I hit my 4 days of AF by reigning it in Sat and Sun! No social challenges next week. It will be just me and my own willpower to bank AF days for the month to offset challenging weeks ahead.

    Jan 7 - AF
    Jan 8 - AF
    Jan 9 - AF
    Jan 10 - AF - Driving 6 hours this evening
    *Last 3 nights I skipped the beer and bourbon & did not join DH in drinking. Patting myself on the back for the resolve to stick to 4 nights AF this week M-Th. Planning for wine with dinner Fri & Sat but I'm feeling so much more in control these days with this resolve.
    Jan 11 - 4 glasses (2 red, 2 white) Opened 2 bottles of wine with DH should have limited myself to 1 glass from each; almost doubled my number of drinks for the month in one night sitting outside with neighbors looking out over the water and grilling steaks.
    Jan 12 - Used 3/4 cup of the 1 bottle of white for cooking the Risotto. 2 smaller glasses. Success in that everyone else had 1 drink before I started pouring wine for myself and DH with dinner.
    Jan 13 - AF - proud that I did not just join the crowd this evening

    Jan 14 - AF - ding ding ding DH & I had steak without red wine!
    Jan 15 - AF
    Jan 16 - Bookclub - intention was to limit 1 glass wine but after rough day at work had 2; splitting a bottle with my daughter
    Jan 17 - AF
    Jan 18 - 2 glasses of wine with dinner
    Jan 19 - Planning AF - offering to be designated driver; party is 50+ miles from home
    Jan 20 -

    Jan 21 - Bookclub - limit 1 glass wine
    Jan 22 - Dining out club - limit 1 glass wine
    Jan 23 -
    Jan 24 -
    Jan 25 -
    Jan 26 -
    Jan 27 -

    Jan 28 -
    Jan 29 -
    Jan 30 -
    Jan 31 - Retiring from company after 30 years - plan to celebrate but limit 2 glasses
  • kittybenn
    kittybenn Posts: 444 Member
    @NovusDies - yes, habits are really weird and fascinating things. I think about them a lot. Yep, made it through yesterday, and today I'm on day 19. We went to a big pig roast our friends have every year. They brew their own beer for the event and my husband offered me a sip just to taste it because he thought it was great. I didn't cave. At this point, I've come too far! And, as people drank more and more, I was checking them out from a different perspective than usual, which means for me about four glasses of wine at that event. People seemed really louder and less coherent. It was fine, and not irritating at all, just kind of funny. Makes me wonder how I sounded in years past, LOL. Again, it was excellent driving home and not worrying for a single second about having to take a breathalyzer.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    My goal is 4-5 AF days per week.

    January 1st - AF
    January 2nd - AF
    January 3rd - AF
    January 4th - 3 drinks Friday night. I actually had 4, but then threw up lol. This is the reason that I never have more than 3 if I choose to have drinks. Good reminder. Yes, I can never be "drunk" because I can't have more than 3.
    January 5th - AF So curious that each and every day that I have drinks I am down 2 pounds the following day. I think that I read somewhere on this post that it dehydrates you. It comes back the next day of course : - )
    I don't log my AF or not AF until the following morning for the night before.
    January 6th - AF - 5 days out of 6. Very busy week, so more AF days to come.
    January 7th - AF - 6 days out of 7 for the month
    January 8th - AF - 7 days our of 8 for the month so far
    January 9th - AF - 8 days out of 9
    January 10th - 1 champagne, later on 3 drinks
    January 11th - 2 drinks - 8 out of 11 AF. I am pleased with that.
    January 12th - 3 drinks - 8 out of 12 AF. Going to rack up some more AF days.
    January 13th - AF - 8 days out of 13
    January 14th - AF - 9 days out of 14. Began logging at night before bed instead of waiting until the next morning. No danger of sleep drinking I don't think : - )
    January 15th - AF - 10 days out of 15.
    January 16th - AF - 11 days out of 16
    January 17th - AF - 12 days out of 17 - as I look at this I see that I keep including December 31st in the count.
    January 18th - 3 drinks - 12 AF days out of 18, definitely ahead of where I was in December.
    January 19th -
    January 20th -
    January 21st -
    January 22nd -
    January 23rd -
    January 24th -
    January 25th -
    January 26th -
    January 27th -
    January 28th -
    January 29th -
    January 30th -
    January 31st
  • MissMay
    MissMay Posts: 3,748 Member
    edited January 2019
    Good day to be stuck inside and do nothing but cook healthy and bake healthy because of the Nor' Easter snow storm. In the past (my past) I would have already at 11:00 AM had been adding rumchata to my hot coffee because of the bad weather.
    Not these days.....
    Wishing everyone another successful day and upcoming week.
    GO PATS!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    MissMay wrote: »
    Good day to be stuck inside and do nothing but cook healthy and bake healthy because of the Nor' Easter snow storm. In the past (my past) I would have already at 11:00 AM had been adding rumchata to my hot coffee because of the bad weather.
    Not these days.....
    Wishing everyone another successful day and upcoming week.
    GO PATS!

    Ahem.
    GO CHIEFS!
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    I’m having a nice sober weekend. A little sore from my work out yesterday, not a bad thing. I wanted to get more cleaning done but I’m feeling kind of lazy, lol. Oh-well, at least I’m sticking to my calorie and AF goals! Hope everyone else is having a nice weekend asl well!
  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,773 Member
    @VeggieGirlforLife I have hit that wall! I was feeling great when I first started cutting back, but then I noticed I’ve become a sleep machine and can’t get anything done! Maybe my body is finally used to less alcohol?

    Stayed home and cooked with my husband Friday night- and drank too much and “drunk ate” after dinner. Again. WTF is my problem? So irritated with myself. It did get better. Yesterday (Saturday) had only seltzer with a splash of cranberry (YUM) after a memorial service while everyone was drinking. But I ate too much at the reception. Sat night had my allotted one glass last night out with friends, and had wine with lunch out with hubby today. Was craving wine tonight but didn’t imbibe.

    I have just been sleeping a lot and porking out since before the weekend. All my weight loss has come back. Granted it’s my TOM (sorry gents!) but I definitely don’t have the spring in my step I did when I started AF. I hope its just TOM issues. Just a little discouraged his weekend.
  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,773 Member
    @kittybenn I don’t think it’s at all surprising that you crave sweets after going AF. Our bodies basically had sugar coursing through it with the alcohol, and now we still need the sugar. I trust that craving will subside as well. Lots of people are able to cut way back on sweets!

    Hmmm, maybe that’s why I feel so tired and listless- I need some chocolate! Haha!
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    My goal is 4-5 AF days per week.

    January 1st - AF
    January 2nd - AF
    January 3rd - AF
    January 4th - 3 drinks Friday night. I actually had 4, but then threw up lol. This is the reason that I never have more than 3 if I choose to have drinks. Good reminder. Yes, I can never be "drunk" because I can't have more than 3.
    January 5th - AF So curious that each and every day that I have drinks I am down 2 pounds the following day. I think that I read somewhere on this post that it dehydrates you. It comes back the next day of course : - )
    I don't log my AF or not AF until the following morning for the night before.
    January 6th - AF - 5 days out of 6. Very busy week, so more AF days to come.
    January 7th - AF - 6 days out of 7 for the month
    January 8th - AF - 7 days our of 8 for the month so far
    January 9th - AF - 8 days out of 9
    January 10th - 1 champagne, later on 3 drinks
    January 11th - 2 drinks - 8 out of 11 AF. I am pleased with that.
    January 12th - 3 drinks - 8 out of 12 AF. Going to rack up some more AF days.
    January 13th - AF - 9 days out of 13
    January 14th - AF - 10 days out of 14. Began logging at night before bed instead of waiting until the next morning. No danger of sleep drinking I don't think : - )
    January 15th - AF - 11 days out of 15.
    January 16th - AF - 12 days out of 16
    January 17th - AF - 13 days out of 17 - as I look at this I see that I keep including December 31st in the count.
    January 18th - 3 drinks - 12 AF days out of 18, definitely ahead of where I was in December.
    January 19th - 2 drinks
    January 20th - AF - 14 AF days out of 20
    January 21st -
    January 22nd -
    January 23rd -
    January 24th -
    January 25th -
    January 26th -
    January 27th -
    January 28th -
    January 29th -
    January 30th -
    January 31st
  • Eileen_Fiona
    Eileen_Fiona Posts: 89 Member
    Not been on for a few days and I’m sad to say I had alcohol on Friday night :s really disappointed but one good thing is I had s lot less than I would normally have had (2 glasses of Prosecco).

    The first issue was I won a hamper in work that included 2 bottles of vodka and a bottle of Prosecco. The second was my OH had decided to have a couple of beers with dinner then started on the vodka when we got home... and I love Prosecco. I will say that in the past a night like that could have easily seen us share 2-3 bottles and I had two glasses instead. Still pretty annoyed though and hoping now to not have any more slip ups before the end of January.

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  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    January accountability ~20 days so far
    Me (no alcohol): 13 days
    Alcohol: 7 days (15 drinks)
    Goal: AF days 4 per week / 16 per month

    Jan 20 - AF, company w/ steak & roasted veggies dinner for all, Saints game … no alcohol for 6 of us … my sister brought orange cosmos but she was the only one that drank it

    Beat my goal ... 5 AF days this week!
  • MissMay
    MissMay Posts: 3,748 Member
    edited January 2019
    @kittybenn that is such interesting information, thanks for sharing. Some where I heard people claiming day 10 was a huge milestone (which I never got that vibe). 3 weeks is definitely more satisfactorily. I will have to check out that mindful drinking movement.

    I did a consecutive 30 days without alcohol between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the most wicked of drinking times for most. Adding at least one day to my streaks to surpass my previous streak is my little mind game with myself.

    A page or so back someone asked if anyone else was going to keep going for longer than just dry January for AF. I plan on cruising thru January and to keep it up until I "feel" I want a drink.
    In the past I would reward myself for doing an AF streak. That always turned out badly because I came to realize I was a binge drinker. WAS is my key word because I now know if I drink I have to keep to no more than 2 standard size.

    Big hugs to those who slipped up a little bit this weekend. Your still hero's on here to us.
  • SallyLuvsFitness
    SallyLuvsFitness Posts: 13,724 Member
    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    My third AF free weekend in a row!! As with others, weekends are usually hard for me. But this weekend I barely even thought about having a drink. That in itself is a huge success for me. I have been kind of lazy all weekend, I had hoped to get more done around the house but I did work out and kept to my calorie goals so all in all it was a good weekend! I'm still planning on staying alcohol free till my b-day in February, then continuing AF till I reach my goal weight. My weight isn't going down as quickly as I was hoping but I'm determined!

    I am also really happy about not drinking! I totally understand about the weekends and have felt great about not drinking! I haven’t been thinking about it either! Saturday night I was watching a movie with my hubby and for the first time in a really long time, I was sleepy with no vino! I am staying AF until I hit my goal weight. I may have a few glasses of wine in Feb here and there (special dinner, etc.); however, so much better than last year! I thought I would be losing more weight with the reduction of empty alcohol calories; however, the scale is going down and I feel awesome! Looking forward to a great workout this morning!
  • kittybenn
    kittybenn Posts: 444 Member
    @NovusDies - can so relate to this: "Somehow this kept my inner child from rebelling and the adult in me was able to make mindful and responsible choices." This is so smart, and thanks for sharing. I like your idea about how unsatisfying it is to have very little (wine, for me) because it's so hard to fit into your calorie limits. I really don't know what I'm going to do after January, but you've given me lots to think about. Thanks.
  • kittybenn
    kittybenn Posts: 444 Member
    @MissMay - yes, I think I'm prob a binge drinker (and eater) too. Not all the time, but I can really get out of control with both sometimes. So, just not sure about Feb, although I've become familiar with the idea of not scheduling drinking days and only drinking on occasions. I think that might work for me. BTW, I just threw all the sweets in the house away and am allowing myself only fruit if I want something sweet. It was really getting a bit ridiculous, and I'm hoping I'm over it now. Yesterday was good, sweetswise.
  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    January accountability ~21 days so far
    Me (no alcohol): 13 days
    Alcohol: 8 days (16 drinks)
    Goal: AF days 4 per week / 16 per month

    Jan 21 - Bookclub - limit 1 glass wine; finally lived up to my plan to not have a second glass in a social situation!
  • kittybenn
    kittybenn Posts: 444 Member
    @Lilylady3k - Congrats on your success. I love your idea of deciding that you'll only have one glass of wine and then stop. I've struggled to do that. It seems like one is never enough and always leads to more. Maybe the key is deciding way ahead of time.
  • MissMay
    MissMay Posts: 3,748 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    8 days left and I'll be 31 days AF!! I can't believe I've been able to pull this off and I'm not going to let anyone/thing stop me! As much as a glass of wine sounds great, the feeling of being AF feels much better :) I have enjoyed reading the daily checkins with you all because it keeps me motivated to push through the day AF. Have a great 22nd day of the year!!

    WOOT WOOT I am with you!
  • SallyLuvsFitness
    SallyLuvsFitness Posts: 13,724 Member
    Happy Dry January! I have saved over 10,000 calories of not drinking wine! I am going to do dry January besides for a few days! What are your plans in Feb?

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