Less Alcohol - FEBRUARY 2021 - One Day At A Time
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Welcome to February! Glad to see the looooooooong month of January pass! Last month, I shared my goals (resolution doesn't sound positive enough) last month, and will continue through this month! I am going for small lifestyle changes and good habits!
Goals:
1) Make my bed everyday. - I did great last month! Only two days with an unmade bed.
2) Walk at the minimum once a day. - I moved over half the days in January, so I'll take it and continue to progress.
3) Mostly dry February (less alcohol). - The beginning of January was great, but slipped into some old habits toward the end. Goal is 20+ days AF!
4) Stay close to calorie goals. - I tracked really well in January, with only a few meals missed. Obviously wine has empty calories, so the additional 120+ calories a few days a week didn't help. While I don't drink really anything but coffee, tea and water, definitely need to stick to more water!!
5) Read a book a week (I am doing a 52 book challenge and a 52 prompt challenge). - So far, four books completed!! I have thoroughly enjoyed getting back to reading regularly.
6) Weight-wise, I am looking to lose five solid pounds this month. I am getting weighed at the doctor tomorrow, so I'll use that as the starting point.
Here's to a great February!!
0/1 Days AF7 -
@Fit_Happens_2021 I only take these when I stop drinking and during the first week. They are harmless. I find that taking 2 gummies 30-60 min before bed gets me to sleep but the effect lasts 3-4 then I am very wide awake. Tonight I will have them by my bedside and take them again in the middle of the night.
It's been now about 36 hours since my last wine and I forgot to mention that the "tummy troubles" are kicking in. Feels like that butterflies in the stomach feeling. Just took an Alka Seltzer for that, helping a bit. Passionflower tea comes next.
I tell myself Day 2 and 3 are the worst but it's only 48 hours. Just 48 hours and they go fast.
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hello/good morning/afternoon/evening...depending on your time zone
AF last night which was the plan. I had my sparkling water with 'old fashioned' bitters and sipped on them in my regular drinking glass. I am feeling positive about this month maybe because it is so short?
I really am hoping I can hold out until DH birthday on the 21st.
I have always liked working out and I just could not get into a regular routine since the gyms closed down. They are open now and I have rejoined but trying to workout with a mask is impossible for me (sorry) I keep it on for as long as possible before I just have to lower it to catch my breath. I know the more I go to the gym my cardio endurance will improve again and the 'raising and lowering' of my mask will be less. This seems to be the theme in this gym. But when everyone is off a cardio machine those masks are up over the mouth and nose.
@globalhiker I have never heard of sleep gummies, I will look them up! That is the hard part for me falling asleep at night for the first 3-5 days. After that I am fine. Then I drink again and have to start the whole process over. sheesh why do I do that to myself? LOL
back later9 -
I AGREE @globalhiker You are a frick'n inspiration. Your goals and prep and mind set ROCK. You will do it.6
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Af evening... check!!
1 AF / 1 Day.
Feb Goal: 19 AF / 28 days
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@Fit_Happens_2021 it was magical. It was my BE BOLD moment.
What a workout burned around 300 calories in 20 minutes.4 -
I've been a part of this group for a couple of different months, but I've never started off the first day AF for some reason. I finally did yesterday! I was so tired that I wasn't in the mood for anything but a light dinner and a lot of sleep. I've been really struggling to fall asleep before 1am lately, so I took some ZzzQuil before bed and got a solid 9 hours. Feeling really good today, excited to go for a longish walk at lunch.
Since sleep aids have come up: ZzzQuil has turned into my go-to sleep aid. I don't get a "hangover" from it, I don't wake up at 3 am when my system has finished processing it, and I haven't noticed any kind of dependency on it when I stop taking it. The active ingredient is the same as Benadryl, I think.5 -
LOOK at you all pulling in those Feb 1st AF's. .
The last time I had a bad 1st day of a month (April 1st 2020) I totally blew it and then it was down hill from there because I figured I screwed up so bad there was no turning it around. Will never REPEAT never do that again
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@globalhiker great job on your first AF day.
I'm almost 2 weeks AF now and the sugar cravings have hit me HARD! It's frustrating for me, I'm trying really hard to be careful with my calories and I have gone over all week due to sweets. My brain is looking for that elusive serotonin.6 -
@Fit_Happens_2021 it was magical. It was my BE BOLD moment.
What a workout burned around 300 calories in 20 minutes.
Wow! Coolest snowshoes ever!
300 cal in 20 mins, I clearly live in the wrong part of the country LOL
@globalhiker Good to know! I hope they will help me get off to sleep, I have trouble staying asleep too, waking most nights around 3 am.4 -
@CryingBlue keep small candy around for the cravings. Eat 2-3 Hershey's kisses; not too many calories.
Made a plan for Super Bowl. That will probably involve drinking & too many calories. Ideally I'll get in a walk earlier in the day but we're looking at another storm7 -
I'm glad to see this forum still going after all this time. I've participated in the past with varied success. I haven't been on MFP boards at all recently, but I'm really focusing on trying to make better choices.
My biggest goal right now is to be AF during the week. Limiting alcohol on weekends is something I'm planning as well, but I haven't determined yet what my limit may be. It's unusual to drink more than 3 drinks any day, so I think 7-8 drinks will be my max and only if I choose to partake Friday, Saturday and Sunday.9 -
Re sleep aids-- I have had better luck with the ones where the active ingredient is doxylamine (unisom, or the walgreens knockoff 'wal-som'), vs zzquil which is diphenhydramine. Both are common in nighttime cold medicines. With zzquil I find myself waking up after 4 hours, and pretty quickly develop a tolerance and need higher doses. Doxylamine lasts longer, I've been taking half a pill pretty regularly without needing higher doses, and I find I'm less groggy and unhappy the next day. Would love to learn how to sleep all night every night without either alcohol or a medicine, definitely a 2020 goal...9
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AF again tonight. DH is polishing off the 2nd wine bottle he opened last night.
I’m doing fine on the no alcohol M-Th so far even with this challenging situation. BUT I’m craving that stupid sugar free choc that I gave up this month. That’s been challenging on top of everything else. Hopefully the scale will love me next week with a wonderful loss!6 -
Couple years ago I waa purchasing a 30 pk of beer to have on hand. Never kept track of how many cans I was drinking a night. I mainly bought it because it was cheaper by that size.
Then I did start to notice clothes getting snug, I signed up in MFP to bulk up to shed fat, because muscle burns fat.
At my height, 5'7" even 10 pounds looks bad and flabby. That is when I stopped buying the 30pk and switched to a 12 pk. By now I was paying attention as to how fast they were disappearing.
I was doing fairly well and was down to buying a 6pk every night, was working out regular and at a great weight I felt comfortable with. Then covid hit. I got home bound, stressed and every thing the rest of the world was feeling. And started to get sloppy and flabby again(my GF disagrees she said she liked the extra weight)
My success:
Any how I started coming back into the less alcohol thread and went from drinking a 6 pk every night and a variety of nips(cuz they dont really count, right?)
To buying a 6 pack ( cut out the nips completely) every other day I stash two beers out of my 6 pk in the cabinet so I only have 4 to drink every other night.
* I finished ONE AF day in January .
Last night:
I bought a 6 pk last night and put all 6 in the frig. But I only drank 3, NO MORE HIDING THE OTHERS. I have to face them in the refrigerator face on and have enough control not to grab them to drink.
So tonight I only have those three from yesterday. I guess I am now buying a 6pk EVERY OTHER DAY instead of daily and am switching to only 3 beers each night to even it out.
Does that make sense?
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Way to go @CMB44512! Proud of you!
Here made it through Day 2 without dangerous drama. But messed up eating chocolates with Fre (non alcoholic) brut sparkling wine (a faux champagne). Stupidly went on the internet and read good reviews about it so bought it. Not good.Got royally sick to my stomach. Just not used to all that sugar.
Lessons learned - day 2 - go really, really easy. Never try something new.....
Let's see what tonight brings. All types of cold medicines make me very dizzy so I will just do 2 melatonin gummies to doze and have my kindle by bedside in case I wake up at 1 am like yesterday.7 -
Today I went skiing! It was a very last minute thing with my friend, and we got in a couple of hours. It was literally the best, most wonderful snow I have ever skied on. I’ve never skied in better conditions. That’s one good thing about a foot of snow dumped on us! And I finally got to enjoy it properly!
I’m AF tonight. I’ve been AF for a full 50% of the days this month so far! Haha! I can justify anything.
@CMB44512 Makes perfect sense. So happy to hear the great strides you are making toward drinking less!
@MissMay I can’t seem to open the picture, but snowshoeing through the woods sounds lovely.
Hope everyone sleeps well tonight!6 -
@globalhiker Fre wine is gross. Tired it once, never again. I wonder if the people who write good reviews on it have never had real wine before?
And I totally understand the not sleeping thing. I sleep like poo no matter if I drink or not. Even if I take melatonin I'm awake with in 4 hours.
@CMB44512 makes total sense to me. Great job getting down to 3 beers a day.
Anyone see @HerNameIsMischief around?
Wondering how he is doing.
@Womona @MissMay all that snow sounds lovely. Here on the west coast all we are getting is rain, rain, and more rain.
Another AF day for me. Today I had a harder time winning that mental battle to not go out and buy something to drink. I think I may need to take time and write down all of my reasons not to drink so I have a handy list during harder days. Well, with my inability to sleep maybe I'll be up again at 4:30 and I'll get a chance to do that 🥴
Side note, I really need to get my calories down. I was well over my calories again today. I need to get back down to 1100-1300 calories a day. (I'm short)
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Yeah AF tonight that is 100% for February.
Ever notice how easy it is to negative self talk and how much harder you have to work at positive self talk? I am working to correct this about me.7 -
Hi
I originally decided to drink less to lose weight.
I have been on this thread since Nov 28.18
Thank you to @MissMay for keeping us going.
I am going to post with my usual diary style to keep track of my AF days.
I will be keeping to my usual goal of 16-20 AF days per month. It is manageable for me and doesn't put too much pressure on me. So far I have been able to keep with it. One month I raised the goal and failed miserably, so I learned from that. I think this is my sweet spot.
Monday Feb 01 - AF - Had to at least start the month with an AF day to set the tone for myself.
Tuesday Feb 02 - Drinks. I used to always designate Tuesdays as my "drinks" day, because it is a very long work day paying very little. I worked to get away from that behaviour and was successful many times. My willpower didn't hold out tonight. I want to only have drinks NOT to relieve stress. I just stumbled a little.
Rolling total 1AF day out of 2 days7 -
I would like to participate as I have found myself drinking more alcohol than usual at home. My goal for the rest of February is no drinking at home. I will need to take an alternative route home from work as there is a bottleshop on my usual route. I probably shouldn't take credit card or atm card to work either as I can see me taking the alternative route to staight to another bottle shop!
Today counts as day 1 - tick.
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@lih2 , @lisamestiza2021 , @katiescarlett1987 , @JohnBarth , @annecantfindausername , @tiptoethruthetulips , @Jthanmyfitnesspal wanted to give you all a proper hello and say thanks for giving us some of your history with drinking.
We are a wide range group all with different present drinking habits and goals we would like to achieve. So no matter if you drink hard liquor, beer, wine or some thing else. No matter if you want one less daily drink in your life or only want to drink weekends and be AF for the weekdays we do understand. Some times it takes a bit of shuffling around and readjusting to find what works BEST FOR YOU.
Glad to have you
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@MissMay - thanks for the welcome. i'm hoping to only have something on Valentine's day this month. *hoping being the operative word*
i've started drinking raspberry hibiscus kombucha and soda water that is has no sweeteners of any kind that is flavoured like cherry vanilla. these sorts of beverages help when i'm feeling a desire.
day 3 AF - so far so good8 -
@globalhiker I have never heard of anyone going goo goo over that Fre. Too bad spending the $$ to find out it was horrible.
Yes @CMB44512 I did understand your post. Look at you facing the devil straight on by putting the entire six pack in the refrigerator. Gotta say, that is a clever move.
@lmlmrn give yourself MORE POSITIVITY!
@Lilylady3k chocolate calls my name in the evenings too. Back of the drawer or in the freezer. Frozen chocolate is not so comforting.
@Trish1c that snow band was really wide and hit so many states this week. I am looking forward to Superbowl Sunday also.
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Good morning! I'm in. Goal: max 15 drinks for the month (not all at once), and to hopefully not even want that many, because I'm diving into old and new hobbies. Like snowshoeing and photography. We saw no shadows yesterday, but did see this in our yard. What does a deer call her husband on MFP? DDH?
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@Womona glad you got some skiing in yesterday. I was happy to get out when I did on my snowshoes, as it started to sleet right after I took them off.
Here maybe this photo will come through
OH IT DID.... my legs are NOT the big(LOL). I had on jeans, then snow pants and leg gaiters. Only fell once on my power speed shoeing adventure,7 -
@mainelylisa unless those are pygmy deer with stubs for legs, you got a dump load of snow up North. Wow your snowshoeing must be fantastic. I am jealous!!
Glad to see your in for Feb.😎
Beautiful photo!5 -
@Womona glad you got some skiing in yesterday. I was happy to get out when I did on my snowshoes, as it started to sleet right after I took them off.
Here maybe this photo will come through
OH IT DID.... my legs are NOT the big(LOL). I had on jeans, then snow pants and leg gaiters. Only fell once on my power speed shoeing adventure,
I was noticing your awesome show shoes, not your legs! We all look like Oompa Loompa’s when gearing up for outdoor sports!4 -
@mainelylisa unless those are pygmy deer with stubs for legs, you got a dump load of snow up North. Wow your snowshoeing must be fantastic. I am jealous!!
Glad to see your in for Feb.😎
Beautiful photo!
Those deer don’t look too happy having to slog through all that snow!4 -
So far this month I'm 1 day AF and one very very not.
But it was a planned night last night as I am at a work off sight.
Back on the wagon tonight.12
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