Less Alcohol - FEBRUARY 2021 - One Day At A Time
Replies
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Only one glass of wine tonight. No micro sips, it went down pretty quickly on an empty stomach, but didn’t pour more. Yay!8
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lisamestiza2021 wrote: »-45 C here today and for the next few days. i'm so tempted to get my SO to pick something up *if the car starts* today. winter is brutal to get through... i will try to stick out this day. haven't had anything since Jan 21. cross fingers
Brrrr! That’s way too cold!
i pride myself in being a Canadian who can handle living in harsh winters - but today was one of those days where...
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DH & I went to the liquor store SPECS and bought about dozen bottles of wine for our wine & cheese party next Saturday. We also went to Houston Dairymaids to pick up a variety of cheeses. Spices from Penzeys. Oh and C&W Meat Market for alligator sausage for the savory (not sweet) alligator & shrimp cheesecake bites I'm making from a Jacques-Imo's Café in New Orleans recipe.
Amazing enough we only opened 1 bottle tonight ... and I drank my planned 2 glasses.
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@chocolate_owl
Thanks for the info!
That makes sense, since it was a bodybuilder that told me that. He was obviously talking about undoing lifting by drinking alcohol.1 -
Indoor dining is available in BC, but people drive over from Alberta and fill the places.
My friends went out to dinner tonight and invited me, but I am not comfortable since people take off their masks to eat. I definitely don't want to put myself in a position of possible exposure.
Our vaccines aren't arriving in this country right now.
Saved some calories and might have had cocktails.
All good, there is hockey on TV.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.
Wednesday Feb 03 - AF - Planned AF
Thursday Feb 04 - AF - Because I needed 2 in a row. Planned drinks with my bubble friend tomorrow, but we'll see.
Friday Feb 05 - Drinks
Saturday Feb 06 - AF - Going to get at least 2 in a row or more.
Rolling total 4AF days out of 6 days6 -
17 days in a row AF 🙌
Heading home tomorrow. I want to keep this number growing.8 -
CryingBlue wrote: »Still AF for this month. Trying to find a place to eat out tonight that is not outdoors. I really don't want to sit outside in my nice dress freezing my rear off.
Fingers crossed to find indoor dining. You have my curiosity up, now we are going to have to see your nice dress.
We did take-out and at dinner in our hotel robes 😂
Maybe I'll ware the dress next time we get a date and it's warmer out.6 -
Day 6 AF done! No wine cravings, was able to skip the Stress gummies. BUT my "wine devil" negotiated with me and convinced me to buy 3 other "addictive" items because I was not drinking: tortilla chips, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I bought all 3 and ate them for lunch. Did I have 1 serving? No way, wine devil doesn't operate that way! He always wants MORE. UGH. Needless to say off in auto-pilot I went and I ate half a bag of chips with half a container of cheese (ugh) and about 60 chocolate chips for dessert.
I ran into this scenario before. What he will say next is "look, this stop drinking thing isn't working out, better to drink a few glasses of wine so you don't feel the impulse to eat these foods in excess which are fattening".
I refuse to give into his irrational demands.9 -
I found a good workbook on Amazon recommended by the Association for Behavior and Cognitive Therapies. I just started on it and find it very easy and straightforward. It's useful for learning motivational techniques which I need - and it's good for just about any behavior one wishes to change- even chocolate chip excess!
Passing this along in case anyone is interested in identifying ways to change thought patterns but doesn't wish to visit a therapist:
Author: Suzette Glasner-Edwards
Title: Addiction Recovery Skills Workbook: Changing addictive behavior using CBT, Mindfulness, and Motivational Interviewing Techniques.
New for about about $23 on Amazon. Suggest new only since one needs to write in it.
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https://timetothrivetherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-addiction-recovery-skills-workbook.pdf
Just found this. Somebody saved the book content in pdf format! Anyway, this is the book I was talking about.5 -
Lilylady3k wrote: »DH & I went to the liquor store SPECS and bought about dozen bottles of wine for our wine & cheese party next Saturday. We also went to Houston Dairymaids to pick up a variety of cheeses. Spices from Penzeys. Oh and C&W Meat Market for alligator sausage for the savory (not sweet) alligator & shrimp cheesecake bites I'm making from a Jacques-Imo's Café in New Orleans recipe.
Amazing enough we only opened 1 bottle tonight ... and I drank my planned 2 glasses.
Congratulations on sticking to your plan! Especially with all the wine you bought. The menu for your party sounds just delicious. We all *may* crash your party! Haha!4 -
globalhiker wrote: »https://timetothrivetherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-addiction-recovery-skills-workbook.pdf
Just found this. Somebody saved the book content in pdf format! Anyway, this is the book I was talking about.
Thank you for the pdf book!2 -
globalhiker wrote: »Day 6 AF done! No wine cravings, was able to skip the Stress gummies. BUT my "wine devil" negotiated with me and convinced me to buy 3 other "addictive" items because I was not drinking: tortilla chips, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I bought all 3 and ate them for lunch. Did I have 1 serving? No way, wine devil doesn't operate that way! He always wants MORE. UGH. Needless to say off in auto-pilot I went and I ate half a bag of chips with half a container of cheese (ugh) and about 60 chocolate chips for dessert.
I ran into this scenario before. What he will say next is "look, this stop drinking thing isn't working out, better to drink a few glasses of wine so you don't feel the impulse to eat these foods in excess which are fattening".
I refuse to give into his irrational demands.
It’s pretty normal to crave a substitute, especially sweets, as we come off all the sugar coursing through our systems that was put there by alcohol. It is very insightful that you knew you were eating on auto-pilot. That’s a great thing to keep in mind for next time you have chips! Measure your the serving into a bowl, and put the bag away.
We Catholics have a nice prayer... “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Protect us from the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen”
I’d say that any prayer you make to get the Wine Devil off your shoulder is basically telling him to GTFO! Haha!
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Thank you for the suggestion ... I'll look for it!globalhiker wrote: »I found a decent de-alcoholized wine!!!!
Rondel Zero from Spain. It's a Cava and tastes quite like prosecco.
I picked it because it listed 2/3rd less sugar/carbs compared to the Fre brand I hated. It's got excellent effervescence and a pear flavor.
40 calories.
I'd say the sweetness is still a wee bit too much for me. I added a splash of Pellegrino to it for minerality and to reduce the sweetness a bit.
Found it at Total Wine in the U.S., about $10 but this will work for days like Superbowl, Valentine's, and the occasional weekend my grown kids come over and we have dinners.
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Woke up refreshed. Another AF night & a Saturday night to boot. What a difference after Friday night drinking & Saturday morning feeling like crap. Not sure I want to drink during the game today. I will probably indulge since one of my favorite wino
friends is coming over. She will most likely go through 1.5L of wine & crash on our couch. <yikes>
Plan is to not drink again until next weekend when we'll celebrate Valentine's Day. It's all good because the goal was to cut down & limit drinking to weekends rather than stop altogether. So that goal is being achieved.
That was a LOT of science about the effects of alcohol on weight loss & metabolism. Most of it was over my head. My simple brain is fine with the basic concept that alcohol slows down weight loss & calorie absorption on top of adding empty calories. That will be motivating enough for me. But I do appreciate that there is genuine science under there.
@globalhiker don't let that set back throw you off the path altogether. With the portions of the "bad things" put 1 serving on a plate, then stow the container away. Eat slowly to savor every decadent "naughty" bite. Through my dry January I was wolfing down Hershey's kisses. As bad as that was, it was still better than wine. Baby steps. I also learned to lighten up a favorite cake which addressed my sweet tooth issues but didn't add too many calories.
Today will be bad because I'm going to eat all the Super Bowl snacks. I hope to fit in a long walk. But I also know I don't eat / snack like this regularly so it will be OK. It's 1 day out of 365. Maybe I have 1 of those per month but not generally. Hang in there.6 -
@Womona how did you know I was Paisley fan? That's one of my favorite songs.
Update:
I had a heart to heart with my Sister about my new direction with drinking. I'm trying to reassure her that we do not have to follow down our Mom's drinking road. She had been wanting to cut back also and our talk put her in a better frame of mind to do something about it.
My GF and I are having my Sister and my BIL over tonight to watch the game. Focusing on fixing fun foods to eat verses alcohol to suck down. There will be beer, nothing like in the past.
I make a mean homemade chili sauce. My specially for the game will be foot long chili/cheese dogs.
GO CHIEFS🏈🌭9 -
@chocolate_owl I was lost reading the first paragraph. 🤣😂5
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Yesterday the wine devil just would not go away from Friday....A trigger I have is we order a pizza and buy a six pack of beer then watch a movie at home. Then after the movie I take a beer nap and when I get up I don't eat anymore food (the pizza and beer are afternoon events) then I have/had a few whiskey and waters.
However I am not feeling bad nor do I regret the lost day so to speak, I am thankful I am not doing that behavior on a daily basis any longer.
Ok back to AF until next Friday or Saturday or weeks from now. It is one day at a time but always improving.7 -
Enjoying all the snowy pictures, and all the useful info and tips in this thread.
Hope everyone has a great Sunday whatever your plans may be.
I am going walking, and maybe some cycling today as it is sunny and cool enough in the low 70's.
February
2/1 - AF
2/2 - AF
2/3 - AF
2/4 - AF
2/5 - 3 wine
2/6 - 1 wine6 -
Saturday night in our house is almost always takeout night. Husband asked me what I wanted, and after some back and forth we settled on fajitas. My logic: lean grilled meat + grilled veggies, a bit of avocado, skip the tortillas = fairly healthy dinner! Reality: he also ordered pupusas, the meal came with chips, and he opened a $40 pinot noir that I LOVE, so I just said eff it and ate and drank everything. I'm gonna make that man a flow chart explaining what wines he's allowed to open when
2/1 - AF
2/2 - AF
2/3 - 2 Drinks
2/4 - 1 Drink
2/5 - AF
2/6 - 2 Drinks
Planning to be AF today because I'm a weird American who has less than zero interest in the Superbowl. There will be no party, no beer, no snacks, and no more blowing out my calorie goals!
To everyone who came to my TED talk text wall yesterday, I apologize for my nerdiness, I have been on this site for far too many years
@globalhiker Thanks for posting that PDF! I skimmed it, I'm hoping to have a talk with my husband about it.
@Lilylady3k I want to know everything you got from Dairymaids!!! Nothing beats a gourmet cheese plate. And thank you for that photo showing the wide world of bitters - I'm really liking the idea of bitters + club soda as a Friday afternoon "cocktail" now that I know there's a million flavors.5 -
chocolate_owl wrote: »
@Lilylady3k I want to know everything you got from Dairymaids!!! Nothing beats a gourmet cheese plate. And thank you for that photo showing the wide world of bitters - I'm really liking the idea of bitters + club soda as a Friday afternoon "cocktail" now that I know there's a million flavors.
@chocolate_owl
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@lilylady3k nice haul on beautiful cheeses. What is your special occasion for all the goodies next weekend, Valentines Day?6
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Fit_Happens_2021 wrote: »Enjoying all the snowy pictures, and all the useful info and tips in this thread.
Hope everyone has a great Sunday whatever your plans may be.
I am going walking, and maybe some cycling today as it is sunny and cool enough in the low 70's.
February
2/1 - AF
2/2 - AF
2/3 - AF
2/4 - AF
2/5 - 3 wine
2/6 - 1 wine
Oh how I would love to have a 70 degree day. Watching the snow come down right now at fast rate until 10:00PM, going to be snowed in.8 -
Today I can hardly lift either of my arms up above my shoulders. My workout DVD program had a tricep workout that I tried for the first time yesterday. Only 18 minutes long, easy breezy I thought as I popped it in the DVD player. Last night they seemed a bit tender. Then I woke up around 1:00AM wondering WTH happened. My triceps were unfire. Still not able to do much over my head. All I want to do is tighten up some skin, not compete in a woman's body building contest. I refuse to wear long sleeves the rest of my life.
No PAIN, no gain.
A-1
AF -5
Kombucha tonight during the game in my most festive stemmed glass.7 -
@lilylady3k nice haul on beautiful cheeses. What is your special occasion for all the goodies next weekend, Valentines Day?
DH & I invited our best friends (one couple we have known almost all our lives as well as college), our kids & their spouses, my sister, his brother and my mom for a Wine & Cheese Party to celebrate our first date 40 years ago at a wine & cheese party while in college.
Menu for the evening:- Wine of course! Coffee, tea, sparkling water, sodas.
- Alligator Sausage & Shrimp Cheesecake mini bitesize
- Natchitoches Meat Pies
- Firecracker Shrimp
- Crustless Crab Quiche (mini)
- Charcuterie Board with cheeses, various salami style meats, olives, almonds, sweet & tangy & hot peppers, etc
- Pepper Shooters Stuffed with Proscuitto and Provolone
- Berry bowl of strawberries, blueberries, black berries
- Baked brie
- Cheese ball
- Crackers (Trader Joe's plain water, red beet, fig & olive, bagel everything seeded)
- Breadsticks
- King Cake for dessert
- Dove heart shaped dark chocolate
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Lilylady3k wrote: »@lilylady3k nice haul on beautiful cheeses. What is your special occasion for all the goodies next weekend, Valentines Day?
DH & I invited our best friends (one couple we have known almost all our lives as well as college), our kids & their spouses, my sister, his brother and my mom for a Wine & Cheese Party to celebrate our first date 40 years ago at a wine & cheese party while in college.
Menu for the evening:- Wine of course! Coffee, tea, sparkling water, sodas.
- Alligator Sausage & Shrimp Cheesecake mini bitesize
- Natchitoches Meat Pies
- Firecracker Shrimp
- Crustless Crab Quiche (mini)
- Charcuterie Board with cheeses, various salami style meats, olives, almonds, sweet & tangy & hot peppers, etc
- Pepper Shooters Stuffed with Proscuitto and Provolone
- Berry bowl of strawberries, blueberries, black berries
- Baked brie
- Cheese ball
- Crackers (Trader Joe's plain water, red beet, fig & olive, bagel everything seeded)
- Breadsticks
- King Cake for dessert
- Dove heart shaped dark chocolate
everything looks so delicious! what a time
if we had all those people over, the covid *REPORT YOUR NEIGHBOUR*phone line would be ringing off the hook and everyone would be fined....
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Today I can hardly lift either of my arms up above my shoulders. My workout DVD program had a tricep workout that I tried for the first time yesterday. Only 18 minutes long, easy breezy I thought as I popped it in the DVD player. Last night they seemed a bit tender. Then I woke up around 1:00AM wondering WTH happened. My triceps were unfire. Still not able to do much over my head. All I want to do is tighten up some skin, not compete in a woman's body building contest. I refuse to wear long sleeves the rest of my life.
No PAIN, no gain.
A-1
AF -5
Kombucha tonight during the game in my most festive stemmed glass.
all fancy - love it!5
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