Less Alcohol ~ JANUARY 2022 ~ One Day At A Time

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Replies

  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,940 Member
    My usual goal, 16-20 AF days per month.

    My schedule pretty much dictates my AF days. It will be different until March, our local 3 arenas opened up!! There is senior/parent tot skating from 9-10am Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the biggest arena, the ice surface is sunken down, so quite warm for skating. The other 2 are the temperature of the outside.
    I will be AF on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays for the next few months.

    Diary style is how I keep track


    Friday January 7th - Drinks, Mulled Cider with Spiced Rum. Planned drinks for Saturday also.

    Rolling total: 5AF days out of 7 days.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
    Xellercin wrote: »
    Mouse_Potato wrote: »
    Last night I finally got back on the wagon. I spent the previous two nights doing a lot of soul-searching and analyzing and "sitting with my discomfort." So, I've got 1/7 days AF this month, which is already better than October, right? :lol: Actually, since my goal is "mindfulness," it still counts. I did not drink mindlessly or out of habit!

    I've been doing TAE (@sarah7591 https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/the-alcohol-experiment-registration), but I'm just not feeling it so much this time. I read my old journal entries and find nothing has changed. I can only relate to about 30% of what she says. HOWEVER, that 30% is powerful. I really love the videos on cravings and discomfort. I am very grateful that my alcohol cravings only come around my "witching hour" and they disappear quickly if I don't feed them. If any of you have ever quit smoking (or tried and failed), you know what I mean!

    Yeah, you might have hit your limit as to what benefit TAE can give you, it's a great first start, but it's not a comprehensive program. If you benefitted from it, but feel like you have reached your limit, perhaps consider further resources.

    I feel like I got what I needed from it. I've seen other people do very well on the program, so I would definitely recommend it. I'm just not the kind of drinker she is targeting.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    Mouse_Potato wrote: »
    Xellercin wrote: »
    Mouse_Potato wrote: »
    Last night I finally got back on the wagon. I spent the previous two nights doing a lot of soul-searching and analyzing and "sitting with my discomfort." So, I've got 1/7 days AF this month, which is already better than October, right? :lol: Actually, since my goal is "mindfulness," it still counts. I did not drink mindlessly or out of habit!

    I've been doing TAE (@sarah7591 https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/the-alcohol-experiment-registration), but I'm just not feeling it so much this time. I read my old journal entries and find nothing has changed. I can only relate to about 30% of what she says. HOWEVER, that 30% is powerful. I really love the videos on cravings and discomfort. I am very grateful that my alcohol cravings only come around my "witching hour" and they disappear quickly if I don't feed them. If any of you have ever quit smoking (or tried and failed), you know what I mean!

    Yeah, you might have hit your limit as to what benefit TAE can give you, it's a great first start, but it's not a comprehensive program. If you benefitted from it, but feel like you have reached your limit, perhaps consider further resources.

    I feel like I got what I needed from it. I've seen other people do very well on the program, so I would definitely recommend it. I'm just not the kind of drinker she is targeting.

    I wasn't either. I benefitted from it, but it was other resources that drew me to the conclusion that I wanted to quit completely and that helped me quit. TAE was just an excellent, use friendly starting point.
  • NVintage
    NVintage Posts: 1,463 Member
    This looks good!
    https://youtu.be/Xkn9mQmy1nM
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    Fit_Happens_2021 wrote: »
    As I progress through TAE I have realized that I have more than one habit, compulsion, indulgence or whatever word might describe having too much of something we know we should have less of. This is not specifically on topic so I will put it in a spoiler, but my realization has only come about as I stopped drinking daily so it is related in that the less alcohol helped me to see it.
    Without going into lengthy detail one of them is, what I guess you might call, a news cycle addiction. I have known for a long time that I should cut down on my news consumption, but only now have I realized I have a problem with it. Every morning one of the first things I do is look to see what is going on, and then I gasp and get a rush of adrenalin (not in a good way) when I see something awful happened to someone, or someone said something terrible, or someone did something terrible, or something is happening somewhere that scares me for the future... there is always something yada yada yada rinse and repeat. I find myself stomping into my husbands office (works from home) saying "Look at this!!" and it is affecting him now. I have to get a handle on it and I have no idea how, just saying I won't look at all has not worked, cutting down has not worked, so I am thinking I will treat it as I might treat any other addiction. If anyone has experienced this and knows of support for this please let me know.

    There are TONS is amazing resources for handling compulsive/addiction behaviours.

    Perhaps you will find something helpful in this list of the top rated mental health apps.

    Otherwise, if you can afford it or have insurance. Any properly qualified, registered psychologist or psychotherapist will have exactly the skills necessary to help you develop healthier habits and coping skills.

    https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    looneycatblue wrote: »
    Ugg! the sock came off Fri night after bowling... and unfortunately didn't get put back on until this (Sun) morning! :# I'm feeling a bit sluggish now, missing the wonderful freshness and energy I had been feeling last week. I am trying not to beat myself up... just reflecting and moving on. Today I will be AF :)

    Jan 2022: 6AF/2A

    Don't hear yourself up at all, just try and learn as much as possible from the experience in terms of how you want alcohol to feature in your life moving forward.
  • Fit_Happens_2021
    Fit_Happens_2021 Posts: 303 Member
    edited January 2022
    Xellercin wrote: »
    Fit_Happens_2021 wrote: »
    As I progress through TAE I have realized that I have more than one habit, compulsion, indulgence or whatever word might describe having too much of something we know we should have less of. This is not specifically on topic so I will put it in a spoiler, but my realization has only come about as I stopped drinking daily so it is related in that the less alcohol helped me to see it.
    Without going into lengthy detail one of them is, what I guess you might call, a news cycle addiction. I have known for a long time that I should cut down on my news consumption, but only now have I realized I have a problem with it. Every morning one of the first things I do is look to see what is going on, and then I gasp and get a rush of adrenalin (not in a good way) when I see something awful happened to someone, or someone said something terrible, or someone did something terrible, or something is happening somewhere that scares me for the future... there is always something yada yada yada rinse and repeat. I find myself stomping into my husbands office (works from home) saying "Look at this!!" and it is affecting him now. I have to get a handle on it and I have no idea how, just saying I won't look at all has not worked, cutting down has not worked, so I am thinking I will treat it as I might treat any other addiction. If anyone has experienced this and knows of support for this please let me know.

    There are TONS is amazing resources for handling compulsive/addiction behaviours.

    Perhaps you will find something helpful in this list of the top rated mental health apps.

    Otherwise, if you can afford it or have insurance. Any properly qualified, registered psychologist or psychotherapist will have exactly the skills necessary to help you develop healthier habits and coping skills.

    https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps

    Thank you, looking at the apps now :) We have good health insurance, but I would rather see if I can find self help first. I lost trust in psychotherapists after several bad experiences.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    Fit_Happens_2021 wrote: »
    Xellercin wrote: »
    Fit_Happens_2021 wrote: »
    As I progress through TAE I have realized that I have more than one habit, compulsion, indulgence or whatever word might describe having too much of something we know we should have less of. This is not specifically on topic so I will put it in a spoiler, but my realization has only come about as I stopped drinking daily so it is related in that the less alcohol helped me to see it.
    Without going into lengthy detail one of them is, what I guess you might call, a news cycle addiction. I have known for a long time that I should cut down on my news consumption, but only now have I realized I have a problem with it. Every morning one of the first things I do is look to see what is going on, and then I gasp and get a rush of adrenalin (not in a good way) when I see something awful happened to someone, or someone said something terrible, or someone did something terrible, or something is happening somewhere that scares me for the future... there is always something yada yada yada rinse and repeat. I find myself stomping into my husbands office (works from home) saying "Look at this!!" and it is affecting him now. I have to get a handle on it and I have no idea how, just saying I won't look at all has not worked, cutting down has not worked, so I am thinking I will treat it as I might treat any other addiction. If anyone has experienced this and knows of support for this please let me know.

    There are TONS is amazing resources for handling compulsive/addiction behaviours.

    Perhaps you will find something helpful in this list of the top rated mental health apps.

    Otherwise, if you can afford it or have insurance. Any properly qualified, registered psychologist or psychotherapist will have exactly the skills necessary to help you develop healthier habits and coping skills.

    https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps

    Thank you, looking at the apps now :) We have good health insurance, but I would rather see if I can find self help first. I lost trust in psychotherapists after several bad experiences.

    I hear you, there are terrible professionals in every profession unfortunately. It's a shame that with healthcare the patients are so vulnerable that just one or two terrible practitioners can turn people off of important healthcare forever.

    If you ever do go back to professional mental healthcare, be picky as hell. If the person doesn't make you feel 1000000% safe and comfortable within the first 10 minutes, just leave and find someone else.

    I say this as someone trained in clinical counselling. I usually have to go through 2-5 therapists when I'm looking for a new one. I'm shamelessly picky.
  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,025 Member
    edited January 2022
    AF this evening. Trying to get back on the right foot and catch up my AF days to my A days. :smiley:

    January accountability: 3/9 days AF
    Alcohol: 6 days (12 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.

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