Less Alcohol - JULY 2020 - One Day at a Time

MissMay

@RubyRed427 @mainelylisa @FeelinFooFoo
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In association with alcohol, the hot flashes may be a result of the abnormal changes to our body's thermoregulatory mechanisms.
Drinking leads to more blood flowing through your blood vessels.
Red cheeks and face- When your body cannot metabolize the compound, the blood capillaries in your face (and neck and shoulders) dilate and turn your face red.

glampkin89

I was drinking a lot and building quite a high tolerance. I started on June 16, 2020 to just do a 21 day no alcohol challenge. Yesterday, my challenge was over but guess what guys???? I really didn't want to neither have a desire to consume alcohol! Amazing. Now I am waking up at 4:30 AM to go run and start a new 21 day challenge.

IT IS THE SMALL VICTORIES THAT ADD UP MY FRIENDS!

mainelylisa

@MissMay Deer munchies....I can so visualize a cartoon. But I'm so sorry for your garden--I know your heart and soul grows there. I'm trying to blow sunshine up your way today.

I don't do well not drinking at parties (I supposed I've done well *entertaining*--but those are stories for my memoir, lol). Would love the opportunity & challenge to try that now. Well, hopefully eventually.

Something that helps my wine envy when watching people--mostly women--drinking a dewy glass of white or rose on a lovely patio or wherever--is noticing that many if not most women I see drinking are overweight. And of course women my age who drink regularly are quite a bit overweight in general. It just makes it a bit less sexy and desirable to see the direct cause and effect.

Cheers, @glampkin89 & @globalhiker and everyone who is succeeding at drinking less. Indeed the small victories!

forestdweller1

The reason I didn't mow my yard yesterday. I stayed inside and made 3 different kinds of won tons for the freezer...jalapeno\cream cheese, bacon \cheddar\ cream cheese, and spanakopita.
Nephew who supplies my yearly venison assures me that he doesn't harvest any from my yard. Just because I love to look at them doesn't mean I don't also love a venison steak with a glass of Malbec.
My sympathy to @MissMay. I had a beautiful day lily garden in Maryland with about 10 different colors. As each bloomed, it was devoured by a deer the by the next morning. Casualty of living in the forest...Right now the mulberries are under attack. I got enough to sprinkle on one bowl of cereal, then...poof. All that grows in that area now is piles of fresh deer poop.

Been doing well keeping out of the wine. Last night was an exception, with the aforementioned venison & Malbec.

@FeelinFooFoo ...what kind of adorable cat was that ?? Something Scottish, perhaps ?? Catpuccino wants to know !!

forestdweller1

BTW...Please don't anyone take my posts as a bid for hugs...I'm a sarcastic cynic...My daughters even gifted me a "National Sarcasm Society" plaque for my wall. Been there, got the T-shirt.

shorepine

I have a deer issue in my yard, too. They eat my flowers and it makes me so sad. Our veggies are all protected with fencing but it ruins the view to fence my flowers. I've tried various forms of repellent, but I let my guard down for two seconds and they chomp through my flowers. We also have a herd of elk. They are even worse because they will come through and just trample everything. a huge herd of 800 lb animals! Fortunately, they don't tend to go near the flowers since they are a bit too close to the house for their comfort but it has happened before.

I try to let my dogs out earlier in the morning and that seems to help, only they are so used to deer and elk they have kind of stopped seeing them as beings that should be chased.

On the bright side, I feel lucky to have such wildlife close by and so I'll stop complaining now.

I had unplanned beers last night! Arrgh! We had our first event of any kind in ages yesterday as my daughter graduated preschool (in a socially distanced parking lot ceremony). Afterward we decided to go to a local restaurant to celebrate- our first restaurant meal since March. It was so nice to have our dinner and beers brought out to us, it was kind of worth the unplanned beers. I do not usually drink beer but it was a taphouse so I decided why not. I'll be AF the rest of the week!

July 1: shared a bottle of wine
July 2: AF
July 3: AF
July 4: a lot of wine at a friends house for the 4th
July 5: AF
July 6: 2 beers

So far in July: 3/6 days AF

forestdweller1

😻. How sweet they are !! Thanks for sharing !!

Womona

glampkin89 wrote: »

I was drinking a lot and building quite a high tolerance. I started on June 16, 2020 to just do a 21 day no alcohol challenge. Yesterday, my challenge was over but guess what guys???? I really didn't want to neither have a desire to consume alcohol! Amazing. Now I am waking up at 4:30 AM to go run and start a new 21 day challenge.

IT IS THE SMALL VICTORIES THAT ADD UP MY FRIENDS!

That’s fantastic! Glad it’s all working out for you. It’s amazing how our tastes change when we cut something out for a while!

Womona

@MissMay sorry the deer chomped your flowers! It’s just such a disappointment to come out and see your garden denuded.

@FeelinFooFoo beautiful cats! Top picture looks like he’s plotting your death, not just judging you!

@Pogostickers wonderful to hear!!

4/7 AF for me. Thanks for all the hugs on my July 4 overindulgence!

dawnbgethealthy

Hi. I am Dawn. Turning 60 in September.
I live in SE BC, Canada.
I started on this thread November 28.18 - at that time I was having drinks every day. That first AF day was very hard! I vowed to have 1AF day per week to start, then progressed to 2AF days per week etc.
My goal now (that is working for me) is 16-20 AF days per month. I have been keeping within that since last October. I am comfortable and happy with that goal. If I exceed that, then great.
I have never ever been able to exceed 3 drinks or I throw up. Moderation is thrust upon me.

Wednesday July 01 - AF - Happy Canada Day.
Thursday July 02 - AF - Super long day at work. I kept thinking about having drinks tonight if I could ever get through the day. I used the delay tactic when I finally did arrive home so hungry and tired. I'm sure tomorrow will be better for having abstained.
Friday July 03 - AF - Scheduled Mojitos with a gf tomorrow after garage Sale-ing and the farmer's market. Would have liked to have a couple today after being up a ladder painting in the hot sun, but saving it up.
Saturday July 04 - Mojitos and stuff.
Sunday July 05 - AF - Felt like having drinks though.
Monday July 06 - AF - I might have drinks at band practice tomorrow, we'll see.
Tuesday July 07 - AF - I was going to have drinks if the guys were drinking beer at practice, but they drank water today, my super water : - )

Rolling total: 6AF days out of 7 days.

dawnbgethealthy

Sorry about your lillies @MissMay
So much work and love put into the garden.

The food portion of my garden (my backyard) is fenced now. The one exception is a long planter that I keep on my my front porch railing with hot peppers in it. I had it in the same spot for 14 years and the Deer never touched it, but last year they tried them, then came back repeatedly and ate them all!! I hope that they had painful poops the *kitten*.

Ours are Town Deer born and raised.

MissMay

"Less Alcohol - MORE PETS"
Love the pet photos. Oh my gosh, I have super cat allergies. So that is why I am a canine owner. BUT everyones cats are so darn adorable. That side photo of Denver is precious with the front paws sticking out below, like a kitty yoga move!

Thanks for the tips on how to keep the deer from destroying my gardens. There, as we know, is only one way to get rid of them. That will come this Fall with bow hunting from a group of friends that hunt. If I could put out deer contraceptives I would, or perhaps give them some of that wine that pairs well with venison as @forestdweller1 mentioned and then while they are passed out have them relocated to another state. It was cute at fisrt four years ago when I had my first sighting in 12 years since owning this property. Then, each year it has doubled or tripled many of them having twins or even three fawns. I have close to 5 acres, so fences are not an option.

July 7th AF

globalhiker

0 drinks/7 days.....I used to have a nice forested lot without any fencing and experienced the elk herds in my yard. I think they slept there at night. They used to keep the property nicely manicured since they ate most everything but the pine trees and one rosemary bush. The downside was the endless POOP....I don't miss that!

forestdweller1

@FeelinFooFoo ....Catpuccino is a butterfly tabby, colored like black coffee with some cream swirled in, and a dusting of cinnamon on top...hence, the name. Agree with those who say cats are continually plotting our demise, all the while charming us. Beware the stairs before coffee.
REALLY, @MissMay ?? Marinating the deer BEFORE harvesting ?? Interesting concept.
Fencing to deter deer ?? Not likely. They have cleared my 5 foot wooden front gate from a dead stop. They can levitate.

Finished the second half of the wine last night, so I'm done for the week. For July at least, I've got a handle on this moderation stuff. Feels great, DECIDING whether to drink or not.

shorepine

Hello! I'm enjoying the kitty pictures! We have some cats too. One housecat and two barn cats. The housecat definitely has stolen a piece of my heart. She's just a kitten, 8 months of age. Technically she is my 5 year old daughter's cat but she sleeps next to me and my husband often. I love purring lap cats. Even if they are plotting my demise while purring.

I've been waking up feeling pretty good lately. One major change is that I've been committed to daily yoga or stretching. It makes such a difference in how my physical body feels! I like to do it first thing in the AM. After coffee (I'm not THAT much of a gogetter).

We just found out that we may have been exposed to covid on Saturday. We went to dinner at a friends' house- the one family that we have been still seeing for the sake of sanity, and their son just tested presumptive positive. No one has any symptoms, he went to get an outpatient procedure this week and so had to get a test. As a result, we now have been instructed to self-isolate. I'm trying not to panic. the son is getting another test today, since the first one wasn't 100% a sure positive. I have fingers, toes, everything crossed that it comes back negative. Deep breaths. We have to self isolate until we hear for sure how his second test went. If it comes back positive, my family will all be getting tested.

July 1: shared a bottle of wine
July 2: AF
July 3: AF
July 4: a lot of wine at a friends house for the 4th
July 5: AF
July 6: 2 beers
July 7: AF

So far in July: 4/7 days AF

mainelylisa

This has been a really stressful couple of weeks, but y'all are cracking me up big time! THANK YOU!!! (And sending positive vibes your way, @shorepine! Seems the tests are sure iffy--hope it's a false one)
@Pogostickers That's awesome and must have made a world of difference in your relationship/life.
@feelinfoofoo Denver is an apropos name for a cat that plots from ahigh...
@shorepine The Plotting Purrer--doesn't that sound like a purrrrfect name for a band?
@dawnbgethealthy Maybe this herd jumped over the great Wall from Mexico?

mainelylisa

So I'm prepping for a sigmoidoscopy tomorrow morning. When I had my colonoscopy a few years ago, I used "drink only clear liquids" as an excuse for a bottle of wine. Maybe it was even more than a bottle. After all, this is not fun stuff and I wanted something to make it a little more pleasant. Still not fun stuff, but for all I know, all that wine is what has made my colon not so happy in the first place, so I'm drinking my Squirt soft drink and just going to watch some true crime and read Mrs. D is going Without for fun (in between bathroom breaks, lol).

Oh, and after rereading this post, I realize I unintentionally made a gross pun with my beverage choice--sorry--but it's really true!

Womona

@shorepine i hope your test is negative! Fingers crossed and prayers sent.

@mainelylisa good luck tomorrow! The prep is the worst!

Another AF day! 5/8 so far but I’m still making up for how many drinks I had on July 4!

nowine4me

As you could guess from my handle, I have a thing with wine. I felt totally in control until Covid, and went off the rails. I bought some wine glasses that I got today, they have hash marks for 2, 4, 6 and 8 ozs and a calories count for each. 4oz is 100 cals. For the first night in months, I stopped at that. The glass was a simple pattern interrupt from my normal favorite glass.

Samand303

Cat and plants. And my apologies ahead of time if they post sideways