Less Alcohol - OCTOBER 2020 - One Day at a Time (Try a Sober October)

looneycatblue

Love the garden photos... but I agree with many of you, time to see some kitten pictures too!

4 AF / 4 days

I am planning to stay AF through Friday, that will give me 7 in a row. On Saturday my Son and his Fiance are coming over to cook a birthday dinner for me, and he already mentioned bringing over a bottle of wine... so I will break my streak then and enjoy a glass.

globalhiker

Still at 10 days AF. Yesterday I did stick to 1 one can like I promised myself I would.

@dawnbgethealthy seriously you are my hero....and hero awards also go out to all the kind and determined people on this thread who all have the same mission of making their lives better, happier, healthier as well as helping to lift the spirits of others.

I mean it!

LoveyChar

And, @MissMay I'm drinking a cup of coffee and thinking about you because no coffee is so much worse than no alcohol, in my opinion. I'm sorry. I can give up alcohol but I'd cry if I had to give up coffee. You're getting relief, though, so I'm sure it's the best feeling!

LoveyChar

Only this month did I ever start counting drinks instead of days. In the past I would count days and could get crazy with it, like an unlimited binge. So now I'm counting drinks.

I have two sober months this year and I'm thinking about making November, December, January sober months but making no commitments because that's when I fail. So I'll stick with the "less" mentality and not deprive myself. But if I do have a drink, I'll count it as opposed to the days.

Like many of you, my husband is an every day drinker but I'm starting to realize more and more that he cares less and less if I drink. He'll put football, basketball or baseball on and there is some sport on almost every day between the NFL and college and he'll get lost in Fantasy Football or other sport groups on his iPad or phone and he drinks and lays on the couch dominating the living room. Meanwhile I'm left taking care of the kids and I'm not complaining, just saying he relaxes while I rarely do. So drinking is definitely not a social thing for me anymore, instead, maybe it's more of a privilege. Besides I'd prefer wine in the bathtub or while watching a good movie. This is all over the place... But to sum it up, it's one less reason for me to drink when I really rarely have the opportunity to enjoy it much anymore, anyway.

shorepine

Hi everybody, it is hard to take pictures of my new little barn kitten because he is a black fluff ball and kind of disappears in his fluff! Not the best coat for a barn cat as he is always getting hay stuck to him. Since we found out he is only 6 weeks old we are keeping him in a crate at night. He has already started to come up to the house. We will see how long he ends up as a barn cat for.

shorepine

Oh and I should add, his name is Blackberry, since he was found in the blackberry bushes. We have a policy of naming animals we adopt as strays with the place they are found. We have also had cats in the past named Tractor and Freeway.

I too had lots of interesting thoughts after it was pointed out in here that I was doling out my drinking days. I have recognized that too. And yeah, I am totally rewarding myself for not drinking, with drinking. My relationship with alcohol is so weird! It's caused me to really rethink my goals.

I set out this year to drink less. There wasn't any particular "come-to-Jesus" moment or anything. I don't really have the problem of getting very drunk and doing things I regret. I'm kind of the responsible mom type right now. But I just was nagged by this uncomfortable feeling that I was drinking too much. I drank every night. Mostly just 2 glasses of wine. but why did I need to drink every night? And then at social events, I always just drank way more than was necessary, even if I was never the falling down drunk type.

The easiest way for me to drink less has been to keep track of how much I drink and post here to stay accountable. I'm the kind of personality type who is always writing things down, making lists, planning. So posting here and tallying my drinking days has been the method I used to stop. I have reduced my drinking by at least 50% this year, going from drinking everyday to drinking only 2-3 days a week. I'm proud of that. Especially because I know so many people who dealt with the stress and anxiety of this year by drinking way too much. But ultimately- I'm not really sure my mentality is where I want it to be on this issue. I constantly want to drink alcohol. If I didn't set goals, 20 days AF this month for example, I would just drink whenever, probably most days. I'm so relieved when it's a drinking day I let myself have wine because I love it. But since I have so much wrapped around it mentally, I then feel guilty.

Anyway, I'm kind of rambling but clearly I need to think more about my relationship with alcohol and what I really want. I will keep on what I'm doing for the next two months to finish out 2020, but I don't know after that. I was hoping to reach a happy place of moderation, but I'm not sure the right path to get there.

Here is my month's progress:

Oct 1: 2 drinks
Oct 2: 6 drinks
Oct 3: 4 drinks
Oct 4: AF
Oct 5: AF
Oct 6: AF
Oct 7: AF
Oct 8: 3 drinks
Oct 9: AF
Oct 10: 4 drinks
Oct 11: AF
Oct 12: AF
Oct 13: AF
Oct 14: AF
Oct 15: AF
Oct 16: 4 drinks
Oct 17: 2 drinks
Oct 18: 2 drinks
Oct 19: AF
Oct 20: AF

So far in Oct: 12/20 days AF

FeelinFooFoo

shorepine wrote: »

Hi everybody, it is hard to take pictures of my new little barn kitten because he is a black fluff ball and kind of disappears in his fluff! Not the best coat for a barn cat as he is always getting hay stuck to him. Since we found out he is only 6 weeks old we are keeping him in a crate at night. He has already started to come up to the house. We will see how long he ends up as a barn cat for.

Oh, my heart ❤🤗
What a lovely kitten.

FeelinFooFoo

I don't know where to start haha

I have had, to date, 3 big binges, and 1 smaller binge. I even got back on the smokes (had about 40 in total) happy to be back off them 😖 so easy to get back into that trap. This has all been caused by work stress, very bad work stress. And a desire to 'escape'.

But, when I don't get really strict with myself, and allow permission to drink, I don't moderate. And I don't regulate. I don't count. I just take the biscuit. So still searching for me 'answer'. Guess I will just keep on this journey and I should eventually find what works for me. But, a sober October it has NOT been ! 🤷🏼‍♀️

dhcurtis22

Empty calories I keep telling myself....Was sober from March to to July of this year....then my conscious brain started telling me stories of it would be different this time....sorry but it doesn't that way....one day at a time so far so good since September 1st....wish me luck y'all....down 22 pounds since March 1st

dawnbgethealthy

@shorepine

Oh my gosh such a cute kitty! Totally looks older than 6 weeks. So Blackberry might become a house cat? : - )

I, like you, was a daily drinker, and I would still like to have drinks every day, but don't. I can never drink to excess or I throw up lol. 3 drinks is my max. When I was drinking every day it was usually 1 or 2 after work kind of thing.
Moderating for some is less number of drinks, for others it is less days with alcohol in the system. We find what works best for us individually.


Oh, and I also used to eat Ribs once per week and have cut that back to once per month. Not having Ribs ever again doesn't interest me at all.
Joining one of the many Sober forums does not interest me either. For sure I really enjoy and savour a Brandy on a rainy day once in awhile. And of course the occasional fresh Mojito from my Mint patch in the summer time. I think that I appreciate a lovely cocktail moreso now that it is not a daily occurrence.

dawnbgethealthy

I am Dawn and live in South East British Columbia. I am 60.
My goal remains the same as it has been for quite some time, 16-20 AF days per month.

Wednesday October 14 - AF. I worked out of town for my favourite company today (Foster Grant) and stopped on the way home for a wee trail walk. it was gorgeous with blue skies all day.
Thursday October 15 - AF. I had to do the 6 minute wait 3 times, but it worked. I had to get those 2AF in a row.
Friday October 16 - Drinks. Both of my tenants left to go home for the weekend. Yay. They are awesome guys, but I love having the house to myself. Rainy day, no opportunity to hit the trails, but all good.
Saturday October 17 - AF - Felt like having drinks, but refrained.
Sunday October 18 - AF - Had to get my 2 AF days in a row.
Monday October 19 - AF - My whole day's work got screwed up today because of a technical glitch - containing the instructions. I puttered around, felt like having drinks, but didn't.
Tuesday October 20 - Drinks. Had a great hike after work, came home and did my paperwork and then had a few. It was nice.
Wednesday October 21 - AF - Easy choice, I have a very early and long day on the docket for tomorrow

Rolling total: 15 AF days out of 21 days so far.

dawnbgethealthy

There are some people that we haven't heard from in awhile!
@mainelylisa , @Womona and the bike riding woman (I forget her handle) who has provided us with great pics of Bavaria and biking in fantastic places. Of course hoping that they are all okay.

Lilylady3k

2 glasses of wine (actually some of my 2nd was poured into DHs when he ran out while we were sitting on the porch with others). When I left the group to host my bookclub over zoom I switched to water and did not refill my glass with that 1st bottle sitting in front of me. Then I did not take any out of the 2nd bottle DH opened.

Feeling good this morning. Still soberish but not AF.
Oct accountability: 6/21 days AF

Lilylady3k

@looneycatblue - My birthday is next week too! My daughter is moving into her new condo on Friday (the one we remodeled) and hosting a dinner & drinks for me Saturday night at her new place. So I'll raise my glass to your birthday that evening too!

@shorepine - Love the name Blackberry! Perfect for the situation and his/her coloring.

globalhiker

11 days AF so far. Seriously, my birthday is next Wednesday. I then officially qualify for the supermarket senior citizen discount. LOL.

How many Scorpios do we have here?

While I don't plan to be AF much of next week, I do think the way to go for me in November is getting back to tracking drinks and also calories. If I know I am striving for a weight loss benefit, it's a major incentive for me. Seems like when I let the diet go this month, the AF momentum went along with it.

LoveyChar

@dawnbgethealthy Her name was HelenGoldthworpe (probably not spelled correctly, something like that).

@globalhiker I'm a Scorpio, birthday on Sunday and two days later is my daughter's birthday!!! Woohoo on the senior discount and the birthday! October is the most amazing and beautiful time of the year, in my opinion, and I love having an October birthday to add to all the other fun! My hubby is also a Scorpio, first born Scorpio (me too) so two very dominant, controlling and very passionate people married to each other. Three Scorpios under this roof 😬

looneycatblue

Almost a Scorpio, on the cusp. My birthday was yesterday, so I am a Libra. # 62, hard to believe I am that OLD! Hooray for Senior Discounts!

5 AF / 5 days

MissMay

looneycatblue wrote: »

Almost a Scorpio, on the cusp. My birthday was yesterday, so I am a Libra. # 62, hard to believe I am that OLD! Hooray for Senior Discounts!

5 AF / 5 days

Lol...we have a trifecta going, time to place a bet.
Dawn just turned 60. I just turned 61 and you just turned 62.
WE ARE NOT OLD. 😅
We are wiser than we know.
Happy Birthday.

MissMay

Welcome BlackBerry, you cutie you.

MissMay

Day...... I can't remember without coffee. Yes I am a coffeeholic. Yes I want it back. Bad things could start to happen. Check the evening news if you don't hear from me.