Less Alcohol - APRIL 2021 - One Day At A Time

AR10at50

@lmlmrn -That sounds awful! I hope you feel better soon!!! Karen

@globalhiker - That is very interesting!!!

Total-18AF Days out of 28 days which is an improvement from the daily drinking I used to do.

Lilylady3k

@globalhiker - Yes! There is definitely a cost savings when reducing or eliminating alcohol. My calculation tracking was just the liquor store ... we buy wine and beer at the grocery store ... and oh my the restaurant/bar prices are $$$. It is a viscous reality check on the spending side of life.

Any extra savings would be great for my retirement travel plans

lmlmrn

Just an update to all here. Saw ENT today, put a scope down nose into throat...and poof yup, nasty infection down there. Diagnosis: yeast infection from round of antibiotics I took, and PA would not give me 'the pink pill' - you gals know what I am taking about--told me to eat yogurt with the live bacteria, which I did. So know I will be taking a few medications to clear this up....will this never end

on the subject of menopause. Been there done that. Yes you will attack weight around the middle and the crazy hormones are no help. I still have what I call my apron but the less alcohol I drink the less pronounced it seems to be. I have not lost any weight but just look a tad better. Also it is all true about the liver stopping its job to to digest the alcohol which means it has to store that dinner you just ate and get back to it....oh never

Lilylady3k

Well the whiskey tasting turns out to be next Thursday not this week. So a none event.

Couple of turkey & 7up during dinner and on the porch. Waited until everyone was through their 1.5 drinks before pouring my own. One way to not drink as much ... start with water for the evening!

Menopause - Well what I've noticed is that all my friends lose their nip in curved waist and get the straighter sides ... a little tummy even on my skinniest friends during menopause seems to be normal. Will not drinking help ... probably. What I definitely know as I'm on the other side of that now ... if you drink red wine you will have hot flashes during the evening. For some reason red wine triggers the night sweats and hot flashes more than other drinks.

ahoy_m8

@lmlmrn I feel for you. chronic sinus infections are no joke. DD was on antibiotics and prednisone for over a year. She was taking last-resort antibiotics, and that was pretty scary. Finally after ruling out causes like allergies she had surgery— removed very infected and enlarged adenoids, altered her septum and enlarged a couple passages. She had infections subsequently (it takes membranes and cilia about a year to heal, hence vulnerable to infections after surgery), BUT she has felt so much better. Night and day. I hope you find some relief. I know how she suffered.

dawnbgethealthy

Interesting stuff on the cost of alcohol.

The average of $500 per month not including bars, grocery store alcohol purchases etc. still works out to $7k per year which could be a couple of very nice vacations as @globalhiker said.
The vacations would provide lasting memories, the alcohol...just gone, perhaps straight to our middles.

At $25 dollars per bottle @Lilylady3k X 30 days = $750 per month, except if 2 bottles are consumed per night, then $1500 per month X 12 = 18,000 per year (oh, my brain really does not like math lol) - which is more than I make in a year!
Staggering.

We often discuss the benefits of less alcohol (for myself, most of you know it is all about weight loss and it truly does work) but we seldom talk about the dollar figures.

dawnbgethealthy

Hi : - )

I joined this thread November 2018. I was a daily drinker at that point.
I am drinking less chiefly to lose weight.
My goals now are the same as they have been since January 2020, kind of my sweet spot.
16-20 AF days per month
NO drinking 2 days in a row - this is changing with my new work schedule
Keep 2 AF days in between drinks days - this also is changing with my new schedule, it is turning out to be 5AF days in a row and 2 consecutive A days.
3 is my max or I throw up - this is never likely to change.

Here goes my diary style:


Friday April 23 - Planning on a couple of drinks tonight. I was up ultra early and finished all of my work by 10:30. I got 2 rows out of 10 of the potato garden dug up and planted. It is supposed to rain the next couple of days, but I just couldn't physically do any more today. Going to have a nice scented bath tonight, pull the TV up to the tub and watch HGTV with a couple of drinks.
Saturday April 24 - AF - Rainy day today. A drink would have been nice, but I didn't, I work tomorrow. Planned AF now until Thursday or Friday.
Sunday April 25 - AF - Worked a split shift
Monday April 26 - AF - Just home between another split shift, busy day tomorrow with various jobs, so AF it will be.
Tuesday April 27 - AF - Long work day, trying to pull jobs forward so that I might get two full days off this week instead of one.
Wednesday April 28 - AF - Brutally long work day today, by choice. I really felt like having a drink when I finally got back home. I have only one small job in the morning and then my 4 hour restaurant shift tomorrow. I have a bottle of Skinnygirl Margarita in the fridge and a glass in the freezer. I definitely will be sitting out back in the sun with a drink tomorrow. Also planned drinks on my friend's patio for Friday.
Thursday April 29 - 2 drinks. I enjoyed them much more than I used to when I had drinks every day. I brought Bhindi Masala home from the restaurant for dinner (okra), really delicious.


Rolling total: 21 AF days out of 29 days

MissMay

Oh my gosh between @lmlmrn sinus infection, menopause discussions and the yearly cost of sucked down dollars I am exhausted mentally thinking about it all.

@lmlmrn we know our bodies better than anyone. You should have been given antibiotics right off, not told to eat yogurt. I am so sorry it got to the point you had to go through such agony. Mend quickly.

$$$ the price we spend for "fun". Not to mention trying to reverse the negative effects it has plagued on our bodies by spending more $$$ to do so. In 2018 I kept a log of money spent during that crucial year I was transitioning to drinking less. Even that was more than I wanted or could afford to waste on too much alcohol.

Maybe at the same time I work on sticking to my allowed drink limit on alcohol days. I will also put a dollar cap in my monthly calculations again.

LET'S HEAR FROM EVERYONE as to how you feel about April's out come for yourself( and or the S.O. in your life sharing this LESS ALCOHOL journey)

As I mentioned. I need to work on not going over my 2 drink limit if I do decided to have alcohol on a particular day. Guess that is why they refer to it as " The drinks kept flowing". Well I need a dam at the end of my flowing river. And that starts now.

So looking forward to MAY 2021 and our new fresh thread.

All of you are so appreciated 💙

globalhiker

April was good to me.

The Good: I was AF most days except for 2 "events". I have no cravings and feel generally great. Zero hangovers. I am able to revert back to AF easily the days after drinking.

The Area to Improve: One day during vacation I brought wine to the cabin which I said I would not do. This was after a day of having wine at lunch. Also the diet and exercise went by the way-side THE WHOLE MONTH! I didn't gain but didn't lose anything.

Husband is still on same AF plan as I. I love him

MAY is the last-chance month before swimsuit season and I need my buddha rolls gone

ahoy_m8

MissMay wrote: »

LET'S HEAR FROM EVERYONE as to how you feel about April's out come for yourself( and or the S.O. in your life sharing this LESS ALCOHOL journey)

Honestly, all the months run together in these pandemic times. I had to look back at my log to see how I did. On the whole, I've maintained my weight just fine, stuck to my exercise regimen fine and ate reasonably (avoided overeating impulses). Every weekend I drank more than planned one day, but not a crazy amount more.

With 2 exceptions:
1) I ate and drank a ton on Easter. The excess food calories were mostly from a dessert at my mom's that was mind-blowingly caloric, but it was good and the first time I was in an indoor room without masks (eating) with my parents in over a year, so I would do it all again. I don't know how I drank that much that day, but I logged a lot of alcohol. I'll just chalk it up to a holiday and not beat myself up about that.
2) Last week an old out of town friend came for dinner and we drank a ton. Like 3 bottles of wine for 3 people. We always drink a ton with this person, so it's a long established pattern but not a good one.

I would probably do well to examine the expectations I have for my consumption on holidays and with certain people. These are only a few incidents, but it's clearly an area for improvement. I also wish my SO would drink less for a couple reasons. We open that 2nd bottle only seldom now, but he often has hard liquor after the wine bottle is gone. He also has a beer or hard liquor during the week (I'm a weekend-only drinker), but that is almost always a small quantity.

It was a good question, @MissMay . I would not have reflected on it this way if you hadn't asked. I've got stuff to sort out here.

chocolate_owl

I am so very happy to be done with April.

The good: I'm vaccinated, I'm back in the gym, and my closet is paradise.

The bad: Birthday partying extended longer than it should have, depression kicked my butt for 2 weeks, I got hammered the first time I went out in the world, I have no idea what my monthly drink tally is, I haven't journaled at all, I didn't lose a single pound (to be fair, water retention from new exercise is probably masking a 2-lb loss), and all that stuff I bought for my closet went on sale 2 days ago.

For May, I just want to do all my good daily habits. Track my drinks. Track my calories. Journal. Spend half the month AF. Exercise 5-6 days a week.

Tomorrow is Derby day. Husband has already planned on watching sports car racing most of the day before we switch over to horse racing. He will be drinking the entire day, I'm sure. There will be a lot of pressure to drink excessively so he'll have a drinking buddy. That's not how I want to start May off. I'm going to go to the gym, buy new workout shoes, and prep my containers for replanting, but I'm still going to have to manage my evening and not do the cocktail/2 wine/port combo that used to be standard for a day like this.

MissMay

* LINK TO MAY THREAD *
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10831729/less-alcohol-may-2021-one-day-at-a-time#latest

lmlmrn

April 1-4, ....3 AF day 1 A,- 3 spirits
April 5-11... 7 days AF
April 12-18 ...5 days AF, 2 days A- 3 wine, 4 spirits
April 19-25....5 days AF, @ days A 4 wine, 4 spirits
April 26-30
....April 26----2 spirits in the from of hot toddies
....April 27--tried a hot toddy it tasted awful and went back to sipping broth
....April 28---AF
...April 29---AF
....April 30---plan to be AF since we are flying in the am, can't have a fuzzy head when packing the last minute stuff

April will be 24 AF days out of 30! proud of that, best so far

MAY first week on vacation

On the medication front, I think is is working on my throat? In any case I am not crying when I try to sip water or broth, just a slight grimace now, who knows by tomorrow morning.

MissMay

April's less drinking goals were not as controlled as I wanted them to be. Twice, I went over my goal of 2 standard size drinks. It would have been nice to stop at the second drink.. No one was pouring them for me. I was the one refilling my glass.

My over all April accomplishments: 11 drinks total
30 days-
5 A
25 AF

GOOD ACCOMPLISHMENTS-
no consecutive days of alcohol

See you on the new May thread

Lilylady3k

April accountability: 7/30 days AF
Alcohol: 23 days (47 drinks)
Goal: Limit 1-2 glasses per day; 12-16 AF days per month. Aim to drink no more than 2 nights in a row.

4/1 - AF
4/2 - 3 wine
4/3 - 2 wine
4/4 - AF
4/5 - 2 wine
4/6 - 2 wine
4/7 - AF
4/8 - AF
4/9 - 1 wine
4/10 - 1 beer
4/11 -AF
4/12 - AF
4/13 - 2 wine
4/14 - 3 wine
4/15 - 1 wine
4/16 - 3 wine Rehearsal Dinner
4/17 - 4 wine DD’s 1 year anniversary celebration
4/18 - 2 wine
4/19 - 1 wine
4/20 - 1 wine
4/21 - 1 wine
4/22 - 2 wine
4/23 - 3 wine
4/24 - 3 … 1 Little Sunday Cocktail + remaining 1/2 can Vinny New York Bubbly Wine, 1 glass wine.
4/25 - AF
2426 - 2 wine
4/27 -2 wine
4/28 - 2 wine
4/29 - 2 bourbon & 7up
4/30 - 2 rum & coke


Didn't hit my targets consistently. Not my worst ... but I can definitely do better. On to next month!

Lilylady3k

Regarding $$$ spent on alcohol each month and/or year. It does add up!

As @globalhiker said: Drink Less=Get Rich

@dawnbgethealthy & @MissMay - your calculations and comments provide additional insight on this topic. Thanks.

dawnbgethealthy

Hi : - )

I joined this thread November 2018. I was a daily drinker at that point.
I am drinking less chiefly to lose weight.
My goals now are the same as they have been since January 2020, kind of my sweet spot.
16-20 AF days per month
NO drinking 2 days in a row - this is changing with my new work schedule
Keep 2 AF days in between drinks days - this also is changing with my new schedule, it is turning out to be 5AF days in a row and 2 consecutive A days.
3 is my max or I throw up - this is never likely to change.

Here goes my diary style:


Friday April 23 - Planning on a couple of drinks tonight. I was up ultra early and finished all of my work by 10:30. I got 2 rows out of 10 of the potato garden dug up and planted. It is supposed to rain the next couple of days, but I just couldn't physically do any more today. Going to have a nice scented bath tonight, pull the TV up to the tub and watch HGTV with a couple of drinks.
Saturday April 24 - AF - Rainy day today. A drink would have been nice, but I didn't, I work tomorrow. Planned AF now until Thursday or Friday.
Sunday April 25 - AF - Worked a split shift
Monday April 26 - AF - Just home between another split shift, busy day tomorrow with various jobs, so AF it will be.
Tuesday April 27 - AF - Long work day, trying to pull jobs forward so that I might get two full days off this week instead of one.
Wednesday April 28 - AF - Brutally long work day today, by choice. I really felt like having a drink when I finally got back home. I have only one small job in the morning and then my 4 hour restaurant shift tomorrow. I have a bottle of Skinnygirl Margarita in the fridge and a glass in the freezer. I definitely will be sitting out back in the sun with a drink tomorrow. Also planned drinks on my friend's patio for Friday.
Thursday April 29 - 2 drinks. I enjoyed them much more than I used to when I had drinks every day. I brought Bhindi Masala home from the restaurant for dinner (okra), really delicious.
Friday April 30 - A bunch of drinks. It was beautiful outside. My guitar player and my friend came over. I kept my drinks to 1/2 ounce each.


Rolling total: 21 AF days out of 30 days