Less Alcohol - APRIL 2021 - One Day At A Time

chocolate_owl

Well, I re-entered society this weekend. I got my hair cut! I joined a gym! I put heels on and went to a restaurant! I went to our local wine bar! And it's a good thing I talked husband into a Lyft because we got utterly wasted. Something about being out in the world flipped on Party Mode, and even though nothing bad happened and an Advil took care of the headache quickly the next morning, I thought I'd have built up better decision-making skills by now. As far as alcohol (and weight loss, I failed to lose a single pound, ugh) goes, I'm writing off April and looking forward to May.

The weekend *was* really good though. My hair looks fabulous. Working out felt great and like a thing I can do without causing myself pain. Everything we ate and drank was delicious. Sunday was very sober, and after rehydrating I still got a good workout in.

TinaLeigh67

@chocolate_owl Isn't it crazy how that Party Mode gets you? I tell myself one, maybe two drinks and then I'll stop but it seems once I get going Party Mode takes over. It took me awhile to figure that one out. I now try to limit to twice a month, but don't always suceed. Sounds like you had a great time though. Sometimes that is needed.

dawnbgethealthy

@globalhiker
Thank you so much for posting those pictures!!
I love them. Maybe I will dream of that cabin tonight, so idyllic.

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
Keep 2 AF days in between drinks days.
3 is my max or I throw up.

Here goes my diary style:


Friday April 23 - Planning on a couple of drinks. 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 couldn't 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.


Rolling total: 19 AF days out of 25 days

Lilylady3k

One deep pour wine this evening with pizza Stopping there.

Womona

@globalhiker love the pictures! I am inspired to get outside and hike!

One glass of wine after a very long day yesterday. It was newly opened thanks to my DH and I had one. Predictably I woke up at 2:00 AM. Will I never learn?

MissMay

Good morning just spent 45 minutes commenting to EVERYONE individually and I lost my post.

😠😡💩

AF last night.

globalhiker

Imagine for a second what would happen IF people would set their goal each day, focusing on TODAY only?

Assuming we sleep 8 hours, we're talking a 16 HOUR GOAL.

There would be no waiting for a future start date, a Monday, the first of the Month, etc.
There would be no backsliding
There would be no delays in progress
There would be no feelings of guilt or powerlessness
There would be no self-sabotage

There would be faster results
There would be less health damage possibly
There would likely be faster weight loss
There would be a feeling of confidence and power
There would be acceptance of imperfection
There would be resiliency and speed, the ability to get back on track quickly

Positive change for me starts each morning. I'd like to live the rest of my life this way....because I don't have the luxury of endless time to be pushing progress some date into the future.

AF yesterday and same goes for today. Plus I am applying what I just wrote to my weight loss initiatives which keeps getting pushed out into the endless future time pit.

dethstar77

Started a new challenge yesterday with a group of my bootcamp buddies. It's 75 days long and one of the main things is absolutely no alcohol. So am going to give it a shot, I might fail on other aspects but going to do my best to make sure that I dont fail coz of the alcohol part. So here it goes.. 1 day down...

lmlmrn

@Lilylady3k I love that saying about the baby steps just what I needed to read today


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
...April 28
...April 29
....April 30

MAY first week on vacation

chocolate_owl

AF last night - trying to stay as hydrated as possible. I've always gotten DOMS pretty bad when I start lifting after a break, but I don't remember it being THIS intense. It's hard to fully extend my arms. Will be skipping the gym today to properly rest up, and I won't be drinking because I don't need any diuretic effects making it worse. This is a "good sore" though - it's a temporary pain, I know what caused it, I know I'll adapt, and I know my body will thank me in the long run!

Next planned drink is Friday because the recipe calls for white wine and Friday is my official rest day, but it honestly sounds really unappealing right now. My body only wants water lol.

MissMay

Personal observation this Spring-
The daffodils are the most abundant and lovely as I can ever remember, everywhere in our area. Even on a blah day they make me smile.

Had a 4 ounce pour of my favorite jalapeno pale ale last night. I bought a flight board just for the occasion a few months ago. It TRICKS my mind to drink out of a full 4 ounce glass, rather than be disappointed with the same 4 ounces in an 8 ounce or pint glass.

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

***REMEMBER those that are new to our thread.
We start a new thread each month. The link to the May 2021 thread will be posted here later in the day (EST) on Friday April 30th. We appreciate all the participants and support. 😊

TinaLeigh67

Today is day 11 AF. Weekend wedding coming up, so I know there will be some drinking but hoping to keep it under control and limit myself. I was a late comer to drinking. I am 53 and started sampling at 50. I have noticed that since drinking, any weight gain I've had has gone right around the middle section. I never had that problem in the past, so that is what I'm contributing it to.

globalhiker

Happy Wednesday...start of another day to make good things happen!

75 days is impressive, @dethstar77 and I sense it will get easier as the days go by.

@langstontl, enjoy the wedding weekend and do share with us how it went. Maybe you can enjoy the good food and dance off the calories?

My BMI has not budged and I even started morning fasting. But I went away last weekend and ate out, snacked with no control and drank too, so I have only myself to blame for weight stagnation. I'm contemplating staying AF until 4th of July. I just don't have any solid reasons to drink prior and could use another AF stretch to get my BMI at 25 or less.

AF yesterday and same deal for today

Lilylady3k

Headed to our fishing camp 🎣 today. DH decided this morning that he does not want to go to the liquor store to buy wine for the trip which was his original plan. He asked that I pack only 1 bottle for steak night that we have in our rack at home and maybe 1 other bottle a neighbor gave us last night as a thank you. So 2 bottles of wine at the camp for 5 nights! YEAH! Sounds good to me.

His concern is he believes that the drinking is starting to effect his health. I totally agree that it is affecting both of our weights and especially his health physical and mental. Example consumption when I have 1-2 glasses of wine each night like last night (then I stop even though I would like to continue ... but I've finally gotten it under control and can limit my consumption for the most part) Last night he actually opened and consumed 2 bottles of wine (10 glasses - my 2 glasses) + he had 2 large bourbon & cokes (16oz glasses).

So maybe I'll get a few more AF evenings this month and into the early part of next month.

Looking for both of our health stats to improve when he is with me on plan Hopeful for a better May and hitting my targets consistently!

lmlmrn

Some of you can remember I have been battling a sinus infection for over two months now, round one of antibiotics I did great for about 7 days when the drugs where done and now it has come back with a vengeance. I have an appointment tomorrow with an ENT to hopefully get me on the right path to better health. The pain in; my throat is so bad that it feels like there is glass going down and a big sense of phlegm stuck there. So with the post nasal drip into my throat makes me cough and I cough so hard I gag and well you know...I have had almost no sleep for three night. Poor DH he tries so hard to help and I have done nothing but keep him up.

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
...April 29
....April 30

MAY first week on vacation

chocolate_owl

AF last night. I can extend my arms today! It's the little things

@langstontl Enjoy the wedding! My dad would maybe have 4-5 drinks a year before he and my mom divorced at 56. Post-divorce he made new friends, got a new fiancee, a drinks a lot more now. The drinking has aged him a lot more than the cancer did. It's definitely smart to be limiting how much you consume. But it's worth mentioning that menopause often leads to weight redistribution and abdominal fat gain...

@globalhiker I'll race you to getting down under 25. I'm 8 stubborn lbs away.

@Lilylady3k So glad to hear that your husband is willing to take a mini vacation without much alcohol and is starting to take a harder look at his health. I can't imagine my husband thinking we could go away for 5 nights and only have 2 bottles of wine. He's starting to lose fine motor control in his hands, and I'm worried it's CNS damage from decades of drinking heavily.

@lmlmrn Oh noooo I'm so sorry to hear that your sinus infection is back. I hope the ENT can get you fixed up!

TinaLeigh67

@chocolate_owl
True on the menopause. I actually haven't gone through it yet, but I know I am getting very close. I hadn't even considered that.

dawnbgethealthy

langstontl wrote: »

@chocolate_owl
True on the menopause. I actually haven't gone through it yet, but I know I am getting very close. I hadn't even considered that.

Yes, menopause and perio. The years leading up, the time during and then after can really change the body quite a bit - distribution wise. Hormones go all over the place.

I am through the other side of it now.
I didn't really have much in the way of wrinkles because I got quite fat for 10 years during the meno stages, but as I have been slimming down I am really wrinkling and wondering if it is simply aging or that being fat for so long stretched my skin out lol.

I don't know for sure if alcohol contributes to packing it on around the middle or not, but I have a few slim friends who drink pretty much daily that are quite large around the middle area, so it could be true, or it could be aging. Who knows?
As for myself, I am fighting that tooth and nail - less alcohol, nutritious food, and lots and lots of activity, mainly dance based and outdoor stuff.

Our bodies changing can be distressing indeed!
I definitely notice that when I don't drink I am far less bloated.
I guess that you will be experimenting to find out.

dawnbgethealthy

@lmlmrn

OM gosh, the sinus stuff is back again??!!??

Oh no!!

I hope that you get to the bottom of it.
Really sorry to hear this.