Less Alcohol ~ NOVEMBER 2021 ~ One Day At A Time
Replies
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@Lilylady3k what a beautiful picture extravaganza you gave us. You and your girls are lovely. And the baby shower food and decorations, are well........are you taking reservations for new events? I want to party with YOU.8
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Ugh...Day light savings time affected me last night. At 7:15pm I was packing it up and headed to bed. Oh maybe working out in my (not so tiny) yard for 3 solid days had something to do with it to. Trying to absorb all this beautiul Fall weather before Winter attacks.
AF first week of November. Drinks planned this coming Saturday night, two maximum.
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I want to party with @Lilylady3k too...elegant presentation too
I'm doing good and did have a "managed" 2.5 glasses (I pour 4 oz) white wine last night.
Here's my strategy that works for me for those days where I feel I want to "indulge" but remain in control of myself:
1-plan a fixed window of time, like 5pm-6pm around meal time (if you start early, the risk is you have more time to keep going)
2-buy small-size where avail and if I do get a full bottle, I measure out what my planned drinks are in advance and throw the rest down the drain (waste of money yes but saving in calories and health and hangover avoided)
3-once planned drinking time is up, drink "planned" water or something similar. Plan for 2 small waters for every 1 drink and relocate out of the "drinking space" and go watch a movie or something.
4-get my daily dopamine fix by exercising moderately vigorous daily - I always had good AF control on days I exercise. It's like feeding my body what it needs and if I miss it, I am more apt to crave "the bad stuff" in the evening.
I know I am more "addicted" to certain types of wines, like the fizzy roses, so I have a rule: don't buy it. If it's not in my house, it doesn't go in my mouth. Same goes for chips and ice cream and candy.
Let's kick butt in week 2 !!!
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@Lilylady3k what a beautiful presentation. The diaper cake really does look good enough to eat 😁
Been quite anxious this morning but managed to keep my self busy. Repotted some house plants and organised the children’s clothes they’d grown out of. Feeling much better now and aiming AF until next Friday/Saturday again … 🤞week 2 goes as well as week 1. Only 1 night drinking in November so far - a massive reduction from daily drinking.7 -
@Lilylady3k lovely photos and cute theme! It all looks very, very tempting. That would all go in the freezer at my house. Doesn't save me from a snaccident, but does provide one more guard rail.
Good for you @jonsek, for finding ways to address the anxiety. Distracting yourself with something productive has got to be the most healthy and, well, productive approach to managing it. FWIW, I notice alcohol amps my anxiety. I'm not sure if it is more pronounced as I age, or if it always did but I only noticed when I stopped daily drinking. I hope you experience a noticeable difference soon.
@dawnbgethealthy thank you for sharing your thought processes. When facing a choice whether to drink (or eat) my mind subconsciously flashes to "what would dawnbgethealthy say to herself" and it genuinely guides my thinking away from impulse towards prefrontal cortex risk-reward/consequences evaluation. I think of you all the time! I also love your attitude towards work and time off. I don't remember, though, what is your other job that takes you out of town?6 -
Wow what a baby shower! @Lilylady3k What a wonderful day it must have been.
Last night AF so yeah.
My sister flies in tonight so will have no temptations for alcohol since she is a non drinker and will be here until Thursday morning.
So far this month 2 alcohol days out of 7 The best in two months so far. Feels good to be back on my journey being AF and no more side effects from the medications I can no longer take. The downside? my weight is going back up, I know it will go back down in a few weeks but still.....
@MissMay I am at it again with another mandala (shades of yellow), I have still to seal the other swipes but I am in no hurry still deciding on keeping them or not6 -
dawnbgethealthy wrote: »
@dawnbgethealthy The older one is Loki and the pup is Bucky - sticking with the Marvel theme
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@Lilylady3k What a wonderful table! I love the way dishes were presented, they looked absolutely mouth watering!
@globalhiker Thanks for sharing your strategy on staying AF or at least not to over do. I will give it a try next time I feel the urge.
Nov 1- 7: 6 days AF, one day binge
Nov 8: AF8 -
I ended with 16AF days for October. My ongoing goal is 16-20 AF days.
November 28th 2018 was when I started on this thread. My late Dad's birthday.
I have learned to drink less over the past 3 years, although it was very tough at first weaning myself off of being a daily drinker.
Diary style is how I roll and keep track.
Saturday November 06 - AF - Went to a Christmas Farmer's Market with a friend about 1/2 hour away. Really great. Kind of felt like having drinks, but didn't have my work schedule that begins Sunday, so didn't.
Sunday November 07 - AF - Quite a different schedule for me at the restaurant this week, no splits until the weekend, Wednesday and Thursday off - two days in a row! Wednesday I will go out of town for my other job, then am planning to have a few drinks that night when I get home.
Monday November 08 - AF - Really felt like having drinks, had to use some willpower : - )
Rolling total: 7AF days out of 8 days.6 -
I'm with you Dawn. Felt like drinks but let DH enjoy the bottle of wine and the bourbon & cokes on his own. I took that night off and was AF. Willpower 5
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@ahoy_m8
Foster Grant is my other job, I am a Field Rep/Merchandiser, I basically maintain displays, set planograms, order sunglasses and reading glasses, that type of thing. I have worked for them for quite a long time, very nice International Company.
I have weekly stores, bi-weekly stores, and monthly stores. My out of town job is a monthly, it is in Kimberley BC. I am very excited to take @globalhiker to see that area when she comes for a visit. Gorgeous there.
It is a small sort of Bavarian town, with a ski hill and copious amounts of hiking and biking and stuff.
Before I decided in April (at 60 years old) to begin a waitress job, I was working for many Merchandising companies - I liked the lifestyle because I could for the most part get all of my jobs for the week and decide when I wanted to fit them in - I definitely could take an hour off to ice skate any time that I wanted.
I have quit them all now except for Foster Grant, which I will never quit. When I go to the main portal to order office supplies to be sent to my home, there is a Country drop down menu for where they should ship to you, including Jamaica, Maldives etc. If I ever decided to move somewhere tropical (unlikely because there wouldn't be any lakes to skate on) I could transfer, make a little scratch and keep doing a job that I really like part time. Every time that I need to order supplies I do a little dreaming : - )7 -
Nov 1,2,3 AF
Nov 4 - wine - 2 glasses
Nov 5 - 6 - wine - 3 glasses and threw up both days - why do I do this to myself?
Nov 7 - AF
Nov 8 - AF
Nov 9 - AF6 -
Lilylady3k wrote: »I'm with you Dawn. Felt like drinks but let DH enjoy the bottle of wine and the bourbon & cokes on his own. I took that night off and was AF. Willpower
This is a big part of why I never returned to drinking after taking my 90 day break. After awhile, not drinking didn't require me to use any will power.
I knew if I started again, I would have to go back to thinking about whether ot not I would drink any given day and utilize willpower not to.
I have a sobriety app that I log in every day quickly, I don't need it, but I like it because it keeps track of my sobriety milestones.
But for it I wrote a list of the reasons I don't drink and it shows me that list every morning, although I haven't actually read it in forever.
But on that list is "I'm fed up with thinking about alcohol every day"
ETA: note, I'm not preaching that anyone who wants to moderate should quit, I'm just reminiscing about how challenging I found it to have to use willpower ever day I wanted to not drink.
It's been a long time so I forget, but the quoted post brought back vividly those "happy hour" struggles when I was trying to cut back.5 -
@Xellercin - Thank you for sharing your success and one of the benefits ... not having to think about whether or not you want to drink!
I had a M-Th AF plan which I did well with in 2019 but then DH started drinking more and it derailed me. I liked my not having to think about it on M-Th. Why not impose that on myself again. It made it easier to not have to make decisions.
After this first glass I no longer thought about it because I had made the decision to be AF and just did it.4 -
We watched the first episode in the new season of Great British Baking Show. I love that program. But it makes me want to SNACK SO BAD!
We have sweets in the house, but I resisted. Extra drinks make resisting that much harder.
THIS! My husband always watches some kind of cooking show after dinner, and even though I just had a full meal, it makes me hungry! I can’t even watch it. Everything looks delicious!2 -
We watched the first episode in the new season of Great British Baking Show. I love that program. But it makes me want to SNACK SO BAD!
We have sweets in the house, but I resisted. Extra drinks make resisting that much harder.
THIS! My husband always watches some kind of cooking show after dinner, and even though I just had a full meal, it makes me hungry! I can’t even watch it. Everything looks delicious!
That's funny, I always watch that show and marvel that nothing looks that appetizing. I don't know why, but everything I look at on that show makes me think it would be too sweet.1 -
@Lilylady3k you and your girls are gorgeous! What a lovely picture. Can you cater my next party? Food and decor are amazing!
Two drinks each day Fri-Sun. Sunday I was just super crabby and reached for a dinner time drink because I needed to relax. Between all the alcohol, food and bread this weekend, of course my weight is up. AF last night after work, and will stay that way until this weekend.
I need to get back to what I was eating during my recently completed no sugar/no alcohol challenge. I dropped a ton of weight and looked great, now it’s all creeping back up. I am bloated and pouffy. It’s only been about 2 weeks off this challenge and I realize that bready carbs and alcohol simply don’t agree with me. I feel sluggish right now.
I do feel great eating lots of veggies and keeping alcohol to an absolute bare minimum- I’m talking one to two glasses per week, vs 2 per night all weekend long. So, I’m back at being a better advocate for my little self!
Hope everyone has a great week. I love reading all of your posts!9 -
@Womona I share the same sentiments. I think my on-again, off-again drinking pattern may be causing my immune system to go into chaos and I too get an almost instant bloating effect if I start to drink again on consecutive days. I need to respect myself and listen to my body.
@dawnbgethealthy - we're looking at early-mid June for the Alberta trip....waiting on husband's on-call schedule for 2022 to determine dates....considering flying to Montana, visiting Glacier first then drive across the border to Kimberley and staying a night or two before heading to the national parks or plan B is flying into Calgary, hitting the Canada parks first then looping south to Kimberley. Whichever option is going to be the least Covid-complicated we'll pick. I'll keep you posted soon as I know!6 -
Lilylady3k wrote: »@Xellercin - Thank you for sharing your success and one of the benefits ... not having to think about whether or not you want to drink!
I had a M-Th AF plan which I did well with in 2019 but then DH started drinking more and it derailed me. I liked my not having to think about it on M-Th. Why not impose that on myself again. It made it easier to not have to make decisions.
After this first glass I no longer thought about it because I had made the decision to be AF and just did it.
@Xellercin 's point about not having to think about it or argue with yourself resonates for me. I've been AF on weeknights long enough that I don't think about it during the week. Even with a vacuvin-ed bottle on the kitchen counter, it just doesn't cross my mind. Also, a couple years ago I stopped banking calories during the week for alcohol on the weekend, and since then I eat a little more during the week, and I genuinely enjoy that. It's small but enjoyable nonetheless. So I guess I'm splitting the baby because I do think about it -- what I'm going to have and how much -- on weekends.
I disagree with @Xellercin , however, about the Great British Baking Show. I want to taste it all!7 -
Marmelade75689 wrote: »I usually binge drink. And end up in pretty nasty situations, where I have to apologize to my friends and family. My last blunder was in September, so i stopped completely drinking for over 30 days. I resumed drinking in October, small quantities and only at home...I don't want to slip up and start drinking large quantities again so I joined this group for accountability.
I want to have a sober November, with a maximum of 2 days of drinking, just red wine.
There is a place for help other than here not that this group isn't a bad place because I think that it is a great place for accountability, however, there is another place where you can be accountable face to face.0 -
Been AF since January of 19947
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Nov 1,2,3: AF
Nov 4, 5: couple of drinks, planned
Nov 6: AF
Nov 7: 3 glasses of wine with a friend
Nov 8: meant to be AF but hubby wanted a drink and I caved. Disappointed in myself. Back on the AF track today!
Running total AF days 5/97 -
Going to a social this evening for an alumnae group ... they requested that we bring wine bottles to share. Instead I'm taking leftover sweets (pear cake and cookies) from the baby shower this weekend.
Planning an AF evening!7 -
11/1 - AF
11/2 - 1 small glass of wine
11/3 - AF (plan for another AF day - Plan worked! Planning for another):)
11/4 - 1 drink (didn't "need" it, habit?)
11/5 -2(make that 3) drinks, not bad for a bowling night... almost forgot, had a white claw after getting home.
11/6 - planning to be AF today (it still early, will update in the morning) didn't happen - about 3 drinks
11/7 - still going down that slippery path, 2 drinks
New Week -
11/8 - Success - sipped on chamomile tea and water all night, + only 1 pc of Halloween candy (too much left over)6 -
Nov 1,2,3,4 - AF
Nov 5 - two bottles of wine
Nov 6,7,8,9 - AF10 -
Nov 1,2,3 AF
Nov 4 - wine - 2 glasses
Nov 5 - 6 - wine - 3 glasses and threw up both days - why do I do this to myself?
Nov 7 - AF
Nov 8 - AF
Nov 9 - AF
Nov 10 - AF6 -
Here is one of the groups favorite quotes about drinks.
This is for those struggling with keeping to a number you have in mind for a goal.
This is for those who are confused as to WHY they can't stop once started.
We've all been there.
It gets easier.
Needed to see this today, thank you @MissMay
6AF days out of 9, sounds good but the 3days turned into binges. So angry with myself! Thousands of empty calories, all un-doing the 40lb loss I’ve achieved so far.
Been some really inspirational postings on here, thank you all!
Time for a reset.5 -
I ended with 16AF days for October. My ongoing goal is 16-20 AF days.
November 28th 2018 was when I started on this thread. My late Dad's birthday.
I have learned to drink less over the past 3 years, although it was very tough at first weaning myself off of being a daily drinker.
Diary style is how I roll and keep track.
Saturday November 06 - AF - Went to a Christmas Farmer's Market with a friend about 1/2 hour away. Really great. Kind of felt like having drinks, but didn't have my work schedule that begins Sunday, so didn't.
Sunday November 07 - AF - Quite a different schedule for me at the restaurant this week, no splits until the weekend, Wednesday and Thursday off - two days in a row! Wednesday I will go out of town for my other job, then am planning to have a few drinks that night when I get home.
Monday November 08 - AF - Really felt like having drinks, had to use some willpower : - )
Tuesday November 09 - AF - Planning to have drinks and possibly pizza tomorrow night when I get back into town. Completely looking forward to a full day off from all jobs on Thursday.
Rolling total: 8AF days out of 9 days.3 -
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Marmelade75689 wrote: »Nov 1,2,3,4 - AF
Nov 5 - two bottles of wine
Nov 6,7,8,9 - AF
Congrats on all of those AF days! Your tolerance for alcohol will probably go down because of it.3
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