Less Alcohol - JANUARY 2021 - One Day At A Time

MissMay

Who was it a while back that said they really never thought about a nip being considered a drink? They thought a nip was a nip....a kinda of "free pass" to be calculated in with the beers they were having that evening?

I am sure, like myself in the past, many do not even keep track of the drinks they have. But it only makes sense, like the amount of food we put in our bodies. Just because a food item appears small in size does not mean it is not packed with fats and calories we are trying to avoid.

AF again last night. I did however throw in an extra bouillon cube into the dinner I was making and this morning I fill like a Macys Day balloon.

HAPPY 3rd FRIDAY of January. Two more to go.

Womona

globalhiker wrote: »

Jan: 5 AF days/13

Had great sleep finally....it's nice to wake up refreshed and relaxed. I never have that feeling if I drink the night before or in the first few days of going AF, but after day 4 it starts to kick in.

Here's to another day to get better, stronger, smarter, faster, and most importantly, happier.....!

You stole my post! I was going to say the exact same thing this morning about amazing sleep after a few days AF.

Great minds think alike!

Lilylady3k

MissMay wrote: »

Lilylady3k wrote: »

Unexpected dinner out Brandini’s lettuce wrap burger, no fries & Paco y Lola Albarino (1 glass of dry white wine).

A lettuce wrap sounds refreshing. What all is in it?

@MissMay - Many of the restaurants around me offer to replace the bun with layers of iceberg lettuce which you can then either pick up like a regular burger or use a fork & knife. I usually start holding them then as they disassemble I tackle them with my fork.

Any of Brandini's regular burgers below are wonderful. Usually the condiments are on the side for dipping.



I've also started ordering fast food burgers without a bun with extra shredded lettuce. Not really missing the buns!

Womona

@Sweet_Pandora that blackout sounds scary!!! Amazing that you didn’t look wasted to your hubby. You’ll find that after a while of cutting way back on alcohol, tolerance also goes way down. When you have that first glass of wine , you’ll really feel it in a way you didn’t before! At least that’s been my experience. How do I get through a whole evening at a party or a dinner out? I nurse that baby like anything. Micro-sips to make that one glass of wine last all evening!

dawnbgethealthy

New month, new year.
I am Dawn, I live in SE BC

I will post with my usual diary style to keep track of my AF days.
Keeping to my usual goal of 16-20 AF days per month, which is manageable for me and doesn't put too much pressure on me.


Tuesday Jan 12 - AF - Really wanted to have a couple of drinks, but it would have been for stress relief and I am trying to avoid using it for that.
Wednesday Jan 13 - AF - Big wind/rain storms here. It would have been nice to have a drink after work, but I might slip up the mountain tomorrow for a skate at the arena in between jobs, so I want to be as fresh as possible in case the roads are okay to travel, so staying AF tonight. Planning to have drinks either Thursday or Friday.
Thursday Jan 14 - 2 drinks. I didn't even pour the 3rd one (I usually have 3) because I knew that I would throw up if I did. Either I am becoming less tolerant, or it is that I don't think that I ate all day before having a drink.

Rolling total 12AF day out of 14 days

brittgreenlikethecolor88

Overall a successful week! 4/5 is a win for me Might make up for my slip-up day tonight by staying AF. I will be golfing with my dad in the morning, so passing on my normal couple drinks tonight will leave me feeling more rested in the AM.

4 AF days / 5 Days.

Goal- 5 AF Days/ 7 days. (AF Sun-Thurs)

globalhiker

Jan: 5 AF days/14. Yesterday was a great calm and productive day until DH came home from a bad day at work irritable, irrational and then dumped his stress on me.

Then dinner looked like this:

Overdrank yesterday, a whole wine bottle. Started with a plan to have 2.5 oz wine mixed with 2.5 oz cranberry juice. It was cheap white wine so the juice made it better, plus I "rationalized" it was half the alcohol, so I could have another. Well, that went down all too easy. I didn't even feel tipsy. Then my head thought, well, I already "screwed up", so may as well keep going. Now I am grouchy that wine devil tricked me and got the best of me.

I'm not going to fall for it today......

MissMay

@globalhiker it really sucks your day went down like that, especially since your intentions were good and planned. Kick that wine devil off your shoulder today. And put in ear plugs if you start hearing grief from hubs.
💙

MissMay

Way to go both @brittgreenlikethecolor88 & @dawnbgethealthy, and dawn I don't think I have ever seen your numbers like that 12/14 WOW.

@Womona love your term, micro-sips!!

DancingMoosie

I think I started AF last Tuesday, so 9/9 AF for me!

lmlmrn

Hello to all
Last night I gave in to the monster in the bottle. I made the decision and bought some brandy. I had two drinks (measured) then went to bed.. The alcohol went straight to my head. But still I am giving myself kudos for 9 of 14 days AF.
@MissMay that is a terrific quote by F Scott Fitzgerald. Just a reminder to me why I am striving for AF lifestyle or at least a huge decrease until I can reach my goal of AF 30 out of 31 days

Fit_Happens_2021

3/14 AF
(goal = 14 AF days by end of Jan)

I am so glad I found this thread, it is very inspiring reading about everyone else's experiences. With the weekend approaching, I am bracing myself. I usually plan to allow drinks on Fridays & Saturdays, but I had a rough start to the year and only got my first AF day in on Tuesday this week (yes I drank every evening for the first 11 days of the month
So I'm planning to ignore the weekend with regard to drinking this weekend.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

lmlmrn

MissMay wrote: »

@globalhiker it really sucks your day went down like that, especially since your intentions were good and planned. Kick that wine devil off your shoulder today. And put in ear plugs if you start hearing grief from hubs.
💙

Just FYI I had to save this quote to put up on my inspiration board to read every day thank you

TheSunAndTheRainfall

That *is* a great quote! Very indicative of the relationship we can find ourselves accidentally having with alcohol. It makes a great servant but is a poor master.

11 days AF here so far, I'll be well pleased if I can bank a nice solid 20 by the end of the month.

MissMay

EVERYBODY'S numbers are fantastic. Be it 0 or 15

WHY?? Because you now have awareness, your getting in here voicing the good, the bad or the ugly of your less drinking journey.

Your working on a new YOU.
Your supporting this group with all your posts.
Your showing your accountability
Your becoming stronger in mind over the drinking brain.

YOU ARE INSPIRING!
🤗

Trish1c

@MissMay I needed to read that but it's Friday night here & I'm feeling weak. Seriously thinking about going out to buy a bottle of wine. I suppose that's better than having cases in the house. 😟

Womona

Had one and only one glass of wine with dinner. Took enough small sips so it lasted the whole meal. I wanted another half glass or so but didn’t. Yay! Planning the same for tomorrow night and lunch with a friend on Sunday.

Hope the wine doesn’t mess up my sleep tonight! It’s been amazing these last 2 nights, don’t want to mess that up!

Lilylady3k

I feel successful. At DD's condo last night ... DH, DD & DSIL had 2 open bottles of wine before and after we went out to dinner at Palazzo's for pizza. We took a bottle with us to the restaurant. I had 1 glass of wine at the restaurant and none before or after at their condo!!!

But my reward to myself & of course the pizza did damage on the scale this morning.

MissMay

Good morning

I read a handful of you had concerns or uncertainties about this weekend . Since we all have different goals, days and amounts for drinking less I can offer up this comfort.

We are mid way through, exactly half through Janauary. If you have been happy with your results and proved you can drink less by your own set of goals because your conscious of what your consuming....THEN YAY. Even if you stumbled last night or you stumble today you can still continue and have a successful month.

The same goes for anyone that has in their mind, not had such a great beginning to January. Guess what? There are 16 days left to make it better. Don't give up. All efforts are accountable.

Here is a good analogy:
You find that when you drive your car you tend to go a wee bit over the speed limit. You know it has consequences if you continue to drive fast.
So do you pull over, park the car, and never drive again? (please tell me you said no🙄)
NO YOU DON'T. You become aware of your heavy right foot and adjust accordingly. You have to moderate your driving skills to stay within the speed limit.

Ok, I had some fun with that comparison and may have been talking out loud about my own driving skills.

Stay the course~~~~~
15 days
1A
14AF

MissMay

@Lilylady3k what incredible packaging for that ice cream. I would buy it just because it is fun. And the ingredients do sound scrumptious.
Try to drink lots of water today to flood out the pizza and ice cream from last night. I think our scales are getting together with the wine devils to drive us crazy.
Enjoy your Saturday.