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Less Alcohol ~ AUGUST 2021 ~ One Day At A Time
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Yeah AF last night and since there is no alcohol in the house at this time....well will be AF this week. I talked with DH and he is on board with 1 day a week to be our alcohol day with a caveat, we both have to agree on the day. So it could be any day of the week for that matter, then we purchase 1 item to share, be it a bottle of wine or small bottle of spirits. Any leftover is either moved out of the home or dumped. Lets see how this month plays out.
It all sounds good in theory. Plus with the three days in a row last week the scale spoke to me this am and said...enough of this nonsense10 -
Hi Everyone...I'm doing well with my alcohol break. But breaks bring forth feelings that have been drowned. One of mine is struggling with where I'm living. There have been discussions here in previous months around retirement and partners not being on the same location page. Well, I'm not retired yet, and struggling. DH loves Maine--he's from here. He has family here. I've lived here 3 years. It's beautiful, but for me doesn't trump going sleeveless...day or night..in the summer. And I need not mention winters.
I know there are solutions not thought of, but it's an uncomfortable place and there will be uncomfortable discussions. But ultimately there will be honesty and problem solving. Two things that don't happen when I'm drinking away my uncomfortable emotions.10 -
Fit_Happens_2021 wrote: »Day 1 completed but sleep was a problem only got 3 hours tossing and turning but fingers crossed for day 2.
I have had a lot of sleep problems because the alcohol tends to let me fall asleep but wake up a few hours later and not be able to get back off. I tried melatonin once and it did nothing for me, then I saw someone on this thread mention Olly sleep gummies and thought I would try them. Well, I was shocked, they really do help me stay asleep! They aren't a 'forever' solution because most of us will gain a tolerance to them after about 2 weeks, but they help to sort of 'reset' your sleep pattern.
@globalhiker I will. I am not sure what I am doing as it is the first long distance RV trip I have planned, but we are in Texas and plan to first visit Colorado, then Utah and not sure how far we will get to after that. We are trying to keep it to 2 weeks.
@Fit_Happens_2021 - When our kids were little we camped in a single tent ... hauling all our stuff around in the van. Everyone remembers the trip as awesome and even as adults my kids still talk about it. We did 2 weeks ...
From Texas we went to
1. Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes, Colorado (hiking, kids climbed the rocks with ropes we brought, visited the town)
2. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (all the normal sites Old Faithful, Angel Falls, etc, lunch at Roosevelt Lodge + we had a guide take us out fishing in a boat on the lake)
3. Custer State Park (BlueBell camp ground) in South Dakota (lots to see! horseback riding
... on the way stopped at Devils Tower & Deadwood. Kids loved Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, hiking & picking wild raspberries (July) for a cobbler, Needles Highway with Pigtail bridges).
Stopped a night at a hotel between each to wash clothes, buy groceries and let the kids swim.
Extra day leaving and returning to Texas.9 -
mainelylisa wrote: »Hi Everyone...I'm doing well with my alcohol break. But breaks bring forth feelings that have been drowned. One of mine is struggling with where I'm living. There have been discussions here in previous months around retirement and partners not being on the same location page. Well, I'm not retired yet, and struggling. DH loves Maine--he's from here. He has family here. I've lived here 3 years. It's beautiful, but for me doesn't trump going sleeveless...day or night..in the summer. And I need not mention winters.
I know there are solutions not thought of, but it's an uncomfortable place and there will be uncomfortable discussions. But ultimately there will be honesty and problem solving. Two things that don't happen when I'm drinking away my uncomfortable emotions.
Have ya'll considered summers in Maine and Wintering in Texas?
Good luck with the retirement and location discussions!
It is tough as you know I'm struggling through this right now.6 -
Hi Again Everyone,
I've been enjoying reading all your goals and targets for August!
I managed 17 days AF last month and I want to hit 20 days this month.
So far I'm on 1 day AF for the month. We had drinks on Sunday but we were both back on it on Monday.12 -
Half a glass of wine last night, just to try a new Spanish rosé my son found. Delicious. Tonight we’re on the boat, and I’m sure I’ll have a drink with dinner afterwards. So Wednesday and Thursday will be my AF nights!9
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I am continuing with my usual goal, 16-20 AF days for the month, diary style
Sunday Aug 01 - Drinks, planned drinks day - 2 1/2 drinks. Thursday is next planned drinks day.
Monday Aug 02 - AF
Rolling total: 1AF day out of 2 days4 -
wasn't supposed to drink yesterday, HOWEVER managed to keep it to just one beer with dinner, small whoop11
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Another month.. So far I am not going to set any goals yet. Have been pretty good around drinking when I have since the 75 day challenge. Do not feel the need to drink like I used to and am able to keep it to 2 drinks at the most. Anyway I am hoping to keep as AF as possible. Good Luck everyone for August and meeting your goals. Always glad to read your inspiring posts and the support you give each other. Love it!12
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I rejoined with my weight-loss group for August, and am trying to post a daily check-in, they go something like this:
Daily check-in
Mon, Aug 2
Journal - done
Walk - done (84 mins, 14k+ steps)
Calories - done, under
Alcohol - done AF
Day one done, only 29 more to go!
I figured that this fits in well with this group also.
2 AF / out of 2 days
So good to read all of your posts, truly keeping me motivated to keep my drinking under control better!8 -
I've been lurking the last two months and decided to join this month.
I'm generally AF Mon-Thu but usually have a few drinks on the weekend. My problem is that I have a tendency to go overboard at times. The problem with this is that my calorie limits are so low already because of being a smaller person I end up not eating enough on those days.
For this month I'm going with a slightly modified whole30 for the anti-inflammation benefit which means no alcohol. However, I have a short vacation next week (three nights out of town) and don't plan to be on plan then since it's nearly impossible with restaurant food. I also have a wine tasting planned on the last day of the month.
So for August the goal is to be AF on all but four days. On the days I drink, I need to limit it to no more than the equivalent of three drinks.
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August goal is at least 2 AF days for every 1 drinking day (So 21 AF and 10 drinks days max). On the drinks days I plan to have no more than 2.
8/1 AF
8/2 AF
8/3 AF
I've noticed since cutting back on alcohol my mood is generally much more positive. I will take that as a win!10 -
I think I could use this group to stay on track. My drinking definitely increased during the pandemic and I feel like I have used alcohol as a crutch to fall asleep and relax from the stress and I'm sure it contributed to my pandemic weight gain. I hesitated joining this group because I wasn't really sure what goal I want to set for myself beyond getting my alcohol consumption down further than I managed in July (going down from just about daily). For this month, I will try for only two weekend days/week maximum.
8/1 AF
8/2 AF
8/3 AF10 -
I am continuing with my usual goal, 16-20 AF days for the month, diary style
Sunday Aug 01 - Drinks, planned drinks day - 2 1/2 drinks. Thursday is my next planned drinks day.
Monday Aug 02 - AF
Tuesday Aug 03 - AF
Rolling total: 2AF days out of 3 days6 -
Another night done and dusted yesterday.
2AF/3 which immediately made me think of this.....
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OMG huge Meatloaf fan here @Stockholm_Andy. That is awesome.
And the follow up song to that would be-
"You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth" because that ain't bad at all.
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WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME to our new faces, @CateAussie , @LazyBlondeChef , @Mellie289. And a big thank you for all of the returning guys and gals from our previous monthly threads❣.
Always room for more to join in on this drinking LESS journey.
I love hearing that most of you have been following and listening to us for a length of time. Kinda makes me chuckle because to keep our paths straight some days we(and I mean any given one of us) can get really comical (Lisa, lmlmrn, etc).
I have been known to spit coffee onto my sliding glass doors while reading some of the hysterical writings in here. HUMOR is good medicine and therapy, I will take it over a hangover/party night anytime.
YOU ALL ROCK!
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Well DH continues to open really nice bottles of wine each evening. Normally I would say okay ... 2 AF days I can now have wine tonight. But I promised myself M-TH to be AF before bloodwork on Friday. Nice whoosh on the scale this morning is helping me mentally. Staying strong!
Goal: Limit 1-2 glasses per day; 12-16 AF days per month. Aim to drink no more than 2 nights in a row.
8/1 - 2 wine
8/2 - AF
8/3 - AF
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Today I woke up feeling happy, well about time. I don't think I will drink today just because I feel good and want to keep the momentum up.
Hello to any newcomers....I'll say this, your goals can change anytime. I keep changing mine up and this keeps me motivated to stay in the game. And the sleep thing for me comes and goes and I just say oh well and try to sneak in naps where I can.
For travelers out there coming to the southwest, I really like southwest Colorado (Ouray, Telluride, Silverton and nearby spots). Million dollar highway I loved. There are lower-altitude (I need under 7000 ft) and less costly towns to stay at night, checking that out now and may then loop around into the Moab area in Utah. In Utah I really liked Kolob Canyons and Capitol Reef (less busy). Then Grand Canyon "North" is spectacular (may close by Oct 15) I find tons better than the hotter and busier South area.
Feeling trapped in my house with another month or two of hard work ahead of me. I will need to plan some weekend getaway hikes to stay sane and not drink. Starting to think if we had a more balanced life of more movement and less work, we wouldn't have to rely on artificial ways to just feel like a happy human.8 -
Just to add to the retirement discussions, the big deal for us is the medical insurance cost and how to keep working part-time so that we can enjoy work satisfaction and have that pocket money but still have plenty of time for activities and enjoying life. We're exploring that now since it seems some companies do have part time work that offer benefits (hospitals, insurance companies).
And I realize our best health insurance is in our power now...taking care of ourselves today....and the days following.9 -
Got in a nice sail yesterday, and a hard cider while sailing was nice. Ordered a gin and tonic with dinner, but it was so strong, I couldn’t finish more than maybe half. I need to rack up a few AF days, my weight is creeping up again. Oh, ans i need to stop with the banana bread ans bagels/lox/cream cheese. That’s certainly not helping! Haha!8
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globalhiker wrote: »Just to add to the retirement discussions, the big deal for us is the medical insurance cost and how to keep working part-time so that we can enjoy work satisfaction and have that pocket money but still have plenty of time for activities and enjoying life. We're exploring that now since it seems some companies do have part time work that offer benefits (hospitals, insurance companies).
And I realize our best health insurance is in our power now...taking care of ourselves today....and the days following.
@globalhiker - Health insurance is the only real reason DH is still working. We've figured out that COBRA will cover for about 18 months after he leaves work. But it is very expensive. Right now I think we are looking at $20k-24k per year for the two of us until we are eligible for Medicare at age 65 (and that is no bargain looking at my mom's payments + supplement).6 -
My partner is on board with being AF with me outside of the four planned days. That'll make it easier for me.
01 - AF
02 - AF
03 - AF
7 -
Well I bought a glucose monitoring kit to monitor my fasting insulin and compare reactions after eating different foods. It's kinda fun (if you like playing with needles). Here's some insight from yesterday/this morning.
YESTERDAY
Morning (fasting w/ coffee & half & half14 hrs) - 103
After dinner of half turkey link & small side of roasted potatoes & veggies, side salad w/ blue cheese dressing, Brooklyn Special Effects NA beer - 115
Bike ride - easy, made it up hill sitting (DH was super impressed--he could not)
TODAY
Morning (fasting w/ coffee & half & half 12 hrs) - 105
After breakfast of 2 eggs, half BAGEL w/ cream cheese, coffee w/ half & half - 145!
Bike ride - help me Rhonda! Maybe it was coincidence, but I think it was carb crashing.8 -
3 AF / 3 days... the cravings are less... but not gone, yet.
Trying to hold on until Fri/Sat, the a little indulgence. 7 -
Hello to all the wonderful newcomers. I love when we get to know you and read your journeys.
AF again today so yeah me! 4 of 4 days. @Stockholm_Andy That song brings back so many memories Thank you for that
@mainelylisa That is fascinating about your blood sugar when you ate the bagel. I cared for a 12 year old type 1 diabetic for a year and got to know the numbers. I have often thought of getting a meter but just have never done it.
@MissMay , talk about spit my coffee out I think I just did when I read you think I have a funny bone or does that go the other way around? I think I hit your funny bone?
ah well I am off to find some chocolate8 -
August goal is at least 2 AF days for every 1 drinking day (So 21 AF and 10 drinks days max). On the drinks days I plan to have no more than 2.
8/1 AF
8/2 AF
8/3 AF
8/4 2 Michelob Ultra after an afternoon at the pool with my DIL and 2 grandchildren and a very enjoyable couples golf match.
I kind of feel like a light weight. I feel a pretty good buzz after drinking 24 oz of light beer. Maybe I will have a drink or 2 one night this weekend otherwise plan AF until next Tuesday.
I am working my way towards retirement after hiring my replacement at our family owned business. I just feel like I am in the best place mentally that I have been in a long time.
Keep up the great work everyone!8 -
Hello
I am going for an AF August. I have been moderating my drinking and have planned drinking dates on my birthday and anniversary. I cut back last Oct. for physical and mental health reasons. I do get cravings, but I don’t keep it in the house and the time it would take for me to go to the store is enough for me to change my mind.and do something else.10 -
8/1 AF
8/2 AF
8/3 AF
8/4 AF - I would totally have a glass of wine or two tonight if I had any in the house. I have little ones sleeping, so no chance of going out to the store (good thing), so my willpower just has to hold when I do the shopping.
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