Less Alcohol - January 2019 - One Day at a Time
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Hi Megan. It does my heart good to see you younger people in here to try and curb your drinking to much cycle. Life is to short to waste being tied down by alcohol all the time. And yes being conscious is a huge key. Nice to have you in here.2
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We are all very fortunate to be able to get on this thread and have the support we need from others from all over this big world. I feel EXTREMELY fortunate because I was not only able to find this group, but I realized another poster on here was living in my own state. And after supporting each other through this thread for months, we were able to meet up in person and have an even nicer talk on New Years Eve. Many many thanks to you @mainelylisa for being at the right place at the right time. 💖5
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I’m planning on doing Dry January at least - and seeing where it takes me. I have so much I want to accomplish this year! Alcohol hinders my motivation - so out it goes. Not mentioning these plans to anyone else in my life. This is just for me.5
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I am happy to be back... my NYE story... went to Primm (aka Stateline) for NYE... had a wonderful dinner, and the wine was flowing... 4 down the hatch way too fast! I went back to the room to rest around 10:30, my wonderful, non-judge-mental Husband got me back up just after midnight... we went back out and danced the night away... just drinking water... lucky for me felt fine the next day... just wished I hadn't missed the fireworks at the strike of midnight! I am determined that NYE 2019 will be different!3
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Hi All - I'd love to join in, as well! I'm doing Dry January and then hoping to move towards no drinking Sun-Th nights after the end of the month. Aside from the 20 pounds I'd like to lose, I'm also marathon training and have big goals for my race (and alcohol certainly doesn't help with my performance). Thank you so much for starting this thread!4
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Welcome @RockinMBC , @looneycatblue and @Sub4_2018 . Hopefully all of you saw page one here. It is packed with helpful ammo to help ease your way into the less alcohol life. Check it out.
As I mentioned I was going to look back at my 2018 drinking stats and post them.
They are amazing compared to my old alcohol intake.
84 days that alcohol was consumed in 2018
171 total drinks for the entire year of 2018
Averaging out to 7 drinks per month. When in the PAST I would have drank 7 drinks in one day.
😉
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Starting my dry January as well. Thanks for the jumpstart of inspiring 2019!2
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Two out of two January nights AF so far! I was very tempted to drink tonight, especially because I had a lot of calories left but had a hot chocolate instead. It was delicious and I only drank half.4
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I joined a thread like this a year ago, I'm not sure if this is the same one. But I can say I definitely drank less in 2018 than I did in 2017. I was in a bad living situation in 2016-2017 and I used drinking as my crutch. I would drink/get drunk probably 4-5 times a week. (The other days were spent hungover). After I was able to move and was in a better situation, it was hard to get out of the drinking habit at that point. So last year January I decided I would drink less. It was a lot harder than I imagined. Overall I probably drank on average 2 times a week last year.
And this year I hope to drink even less! I'm meeting my fitness hero Cathe Friedrich in May. She does road trips every year and I'm finally going to one so I get to meet her and exercise with her. So now I need to buckle down even more on exercising and drinking a lot less will definitely help me reach my fitness goals.4 -
@kittybenn and @MissMay Thank you! I am looking forward to retiring and having more time for me ... with much less stress in my life!
My personal goal is to drink less alcohol. Targeting 4 nights per week AF usually M-Th ~16 AF nights per month. DH & I are dropping the nightly bottle of wine with dinner. Listing my social challenges and plans to not go with the flow drinking 2-4 glasses of wine when out with friends!

January accountability ~2 day so far
Me:(no alcohol) 1 days
Alcohol: 1 days
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
Jan 4 -
Jan 5 - Plans to be AF to make up for the weekdays
Jan 6 -
Jan 7 -
Jan 8 -
Jan 9 -
Jan 10 -
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Jan 15 -
Jan 16 - Bookclub - limit 1 glass wine or beer
Jan 17 - Bingo fundraiser @ winery - limit 1 glass wine
Jan 18 -
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Jan 20 -
Jan 21 - Bookclub - limit 1 glass wine
Jan 22 - Dining out club - limit 1 glass wine
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Jan 31 - Retiring from company after 30 years - plan to celebrate but limit 2 glasses2 -
I joined a thread like this a year ago, I'm not sure if this is the same one.
And this year I hope to drink even less! I'm meeting my fitness hero Cathe Friedrich in May. She does road trips every year and I'm finally going to one so I get to meet her and exercise with her. So now I need to buckle down even more on exercising and drinking a lot less will definitely help me reach my fitness goals./quote]
Yes @bufffmom84 this is the same thread, I recall your user name. Great to see you back and to hear you were able to cut back weekly. How awesome to get to meet Cathie Friedrich. I would love to met my fitness inspiration Chalene Johnson from Beachbody.
Welcome @winodini.1 -
We are all very fortunate to be able to get on this thread and have the support we need from others from all over this big world. I feel EXTREMELY fortunate because I was not only able to find this group, but I realized another poster on here was living in my own state. And after supporting each other through this thread for months, we were able to meet up in person and have an even nicer talk on New Years Eve. Many many thanks to you @mainelylisa for being at the right place at the right time. 💖
Thank you, @MissMay for being so very supportive, inspirational, and so non-judgmental. Meeting up with you during the holidays, which seem to vex me, was wonderfully uplifting. So much to talk about in so little time. ...
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It's the same one and welcome back! Thanks for catching us up on your life. Two times a week is amazing. I also drank a lot less this year after Dry January. It definitely broke that daily drinking habit, which is what I really needed to do. I now typically drink Fri-Sun, and really not all that much, maybe 1-2 glasses of wine.I joined a thread like this a year ago, I'm not sure if this is the same one.
Day three of Dry January begins - good luck to everyone! I'm not finding it nearly the white-knuckle experience it was for me last year.
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2 days AF in the books... finding it hard to fall and stay asleep, but I know it is just my body adjusting. Even with less sleep, I am waking up more refreshed! On to day 3... I hope you are all doing well with whatever path you are choosing...3
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Im in on this all. 3 days in and could kill a glass of wine already. I have not managed a full sober week in 20+years, but im determined to make January dry. 1 day at a time10
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I was going to do Dry January but decided against it for two reasons. I like going to my sister's house on Friday nights and having a few drinks (she never drinks much and I find when I drink with her I don't drink as much in a night as I do when I drink with my husband). And I figure if I cut myself off completely I might be so looking forward to a drink in February that I'll fall back into my old habits.
I've been drinking regularly since I was 17, I mean 21, and I have stopped drinking long periods of time (obviously both times when I was pregnant) before only to go back to old habits. So my plan is to cut way back instead of trying to stop completely. I know this doesn't work for everyone but hopefully it will work for me. I downloaded a sobriety app to count my sober/drinking days and to see how much money I'll save by not drinking.7 -
I am in for dry January. Thanks!3
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Day three and feeling good. Already less heart burn, lol.2
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I would like to join in on this i'm not a daily drinker but if i go out on the weekends it all goes down hill heavy drinking leads to eating junk food and i even look forward to eating junk food after drinking. i think it is my coping mechanism for feeling insecure. but i'm getting horrible hangovers and would rather wake up ready to hit the gym then stay in bed all day. I still want to go out and have fun but I want to reach my goals. any tips for an af weekend. I haven't had a drink since new years eye 4
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So inspiring hearing how Dry January has helped some of you drink way less. @MissMay - You're 2018 stats are amazing! I'm tracking my intake in the Dry January app and am hoping my 2019 stats are a vast improvement over this past year.
I also loved the information on page one of this thread, especially loving and taking care of your tomorrow self. Day 3 AF off to a good start!2 -
I’m really glad this group exists. Good to know other people who are trying. My goal is to cut back. Tonight I’m going to a wine bar to listen to some music. I’m only on day 3 here so I want to keep the momentum going and not order one glass which will quickly turn to another and the ordering food I shouldn’t have that will offset my fitness goals. I’m posting this to hold myself accountable. I hope to report back later with success!12
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AF day three 👍7
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Awesome! I have been drinking too much as I enjoy wine with friends etc... I am ready to cut way back as it has become way too much of a daily habit and focus at the end of the day! Here is to achieving goals!6
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AF day three in the books! Not doing Dry January but trying to significantly cut back.
My friend from out of town is staying with me this weekend and I plan to have a couple of drinks with her. She’s a light drinker so I will be too!2 -
HeatherT929 wrote: »I’m really glad this group exists. Good to know other people who are trying. My goal is to cut back. Tonight I’m going to a wine bar to listen to some music. I’m only on day 3 here so I want to keep the momentum going and not order one glass which will quickly turn to another and the ordering food I shouldn’t have that will offset my fitness goals. I’m posting this to hold myself accountable. I hope to report back later with success!
Wowza I actually did it! I had a salad and tea and I survived and even enjoyed it! Fewer calories, less money, and I’m not feeling sluggish/ready for bed. WIN!15 -
HeatherT929 wrote: »HeatherT929 wrote: »I’m really glad this group exists. Good to know other people who are trying. My goal is to cut back. Tonight I’m going to a wine bar to listen to some music. I’m only on day 3 here so I want to keep the momentum going and not order one glass which will quickly turn to another and the ordering food I shouldn’t have that will offset my fitness goals. I’m posting this to hold myself accountable. I hope to report back later with success!
Wowza I actually did it! I had a salad and tea and I survived and even enjoyed it! Fewer calories, less money, and I’m not feeling sluggish/ready for bed. WIN!
Great job!👏🏻
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Fitness327wk wrote: »Awesome! I have been drinking too much as I enjoy wine with friends etc... I am ready to cut way back as it has become way too much of a daily habit and focus at the end of the day! Here is to achieving goals!
Same 💪🏻
AF day 3 on the books
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Paraphrasing something I've seen:
"Don't do Dry January for the wrong reason and act as if one month off a year outweighs the harm of drinking several drinks a night for the rest of the year"... Haha, no, it certainly doesn't work like that!
I love how @Lilylady3k is planning what days and how much to drink. Setting boundaries is such a great strategy! It's so nice to have things to look forward to, both drinking, and alcohol-free.
It's encouraging to hear @kittybenn saying Dry January helped her to moderate for the rest of the year.
I found it so hard to have one day off, when I started on Feb 1 2018, I kept having another day off because I didn't want to have to attempt Day 1 again. Still going.
We all have different habits, goals, and different methods, but we can all learn from and help each other.
I see a few people starting out...
Be honest with yourself. Challenge your thoughts. Don't believe everything you think. Thinking you'd like a drink doesn't mean you need a drink. Observe the thought, breathe, and let it pass.
Be kind to yourself. That sometimes means being honest to others and admitting you're doing a challenge so people know to support you. Being silent and suffering can make it harder.6 -
Be kind to yourself. That sometimes means being honest to others and admitting you're doing a challenge so people know to support you. Being silent and suffering can make it harder.
Further to what I said there:
Others might feel that you doing the challenge is making them look bad, and feel bad about their own drinking, so they will oppose you.
You might have to sympathise with them.
It's up to you at what point in your attempts at less alcohol you tell others.
You will know when, and in what situations to talk about it, and who to.3 -
So inspiring hearing how Dry January has helped some of you drink way less. @MissMay - You're 2018 stats are amazing! I'm tracking my intake in the Dry January app and am hoping my 2019 stats are a vast improvement over this past year.
I also loved the information on page one of this thread, especially loving and taking care of your tomorrow self. Day 3 AF off to a good start!
@Sub4_2018 Thanks! We've learned a lot from the participants that pop in, and keep popping in.
Love your username and goals! I'm nearly an hour over a sub-4 marathon (did my first in Aug 2017 aged 50, have done a 50 km and another 42.2km this year), but happy with my efforts.
I look forward to hearing about your progress! Have you got a race lined up for an attempt?2
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