Less Alcohol ~ JULY 2022 ~ One Day At A Time

dawnbgethealthy

@MissMay

I really liked your point about the goal of Less drinking instead of No drinking. Throwing the towel in completely is an option when we set ourselves up to never have something again.
I feel that it translates also into our eating habits also (for those of us still trying to lose weight). For instance: no more toast ever... or a half slice of toast (instead of 2 pieces), or only having toast once or twice a week.
This could just be me, but deprivation seems like a hard thing on the emotions and willpower.

I do love cocktails - now as a treat, no longer every day.
I still want to dip toast fingers into egg yolks from time to time.

dawnbgethealthy

Hi : - )
My name is Dawn.
My continuing goal is 16-20 AF days per month.
I had 19AF days in June.

Diary style:

Friday July 1st, Canada Day: Planned Mojitos today. I am off of work at 3pm and the celebrations (very close to my house) start at 2pm with the dignitaries' speeches etc. There will be bands and all sorts of fun stuff. I will be back and forth from my house throughout. @globalhiker you are familiar with my Mojito process, and with my friend and guitar player Fred who I will be hanging with for the duration amongst others. Love love love that you know where I am now when I describe stuff : - )
Saturday July 2nd - Got into Gin Slings after working many hours in the yard in preparation for 2 rainy days. Grass got cut and stuff. Planning AF for Sunday. Have fun on the 4th everyone.
Sunday July 3rd - AF - Got out for a nice lake walk during a break in the rain.
Monday July 4th - AF - Going to try and stay AF until the weekend.
Tuesday July 5th - AF - I felt like having drinks after my lovely pedicure last night, but decided not to.

Rolling total - 3AF days out of 5 days.

ahoy_m8

Kudos to everyone for sticking to their goals over the holiday. Well done!

A family member on my ex's side died suddenly, literally right at the gate of a family reunion, so it made for a somber mood around here. DD#2 is staying through this week (and working remote) to go to the funeral. DD#3 just drove back to school this AM. She will be back for DD#1's bday next week. DD#1 moved into her new house this weekend, so we were busy and had lots of time together but not necessarily all at the same time. Come to think of it, we didn't have one meal with all 5 of us, but many fun meals with 4.

I drank and ate a lot on the 4th so I'm cutting back again this week to balance that out. I'm inspired by you guys, though, so thanks to all who shared. AF Tu-Th this week.

ahoy_m8

globalhiker wrote: »

July 4- I was AF! Hope yesterday is day 1 of my "AF streak".

My favorite non-alcoholic beer was Moritz.

@dawnbgethealthy, say hi to Fred from us. Nice pictures.....!

Back to work to save up my pennies for my next hiking trip. No clue yet where.

I'm going to keep an eye open for Moritz. Can't say that I've ever seen it.

My cousin and I are talking about a hiking trip in Umbria in the fall. Anyone have experience or suggestions? We're looking at walking from Spoleto to just beyond Casperia, about 12-15 miles/day for 6 days. And then spending a couple days someplace else on the way to Rome. Maybe a Roman era spa if I can find something interesting.

tmbg1

July 1-2 A
July 3-4-5-6 AF

Lilylady3k

AF this evening!

July accountability: 3 days AF
Alcohol: 3 days (4 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.

globalhiker

@ahoy_m8 I think Moritz beer is only sold at Total Wine. To me, it tastes close to a real Peroni Italian beer. Somewhat light and low on the calorie side.

Honestly, never been to Italy but I heard good things from friends who went to Florence. Check out google images for Capri and Amalfi and let me know what you think. Those places look so gorgeous!

Yes, I did pull 48 hrs. AF on a holiday weekend. Proud, maybe. I need to get my exercise in and keep at challenging myself.

You all keep challenging yourselves. Your only limit is YOU.

Womona

AF last night, and work was busy but not insane. Whew! Tonight is wine night at work, but I’m only having one.

RockinRobyn672

7/1 F - AF
7/2 S - 3
7/3 S - AF
7/4 M - 4
7/5 T- AF
7/6 W - AF

I started in late June, so this is new to me, but so far, I've been able to stick to my weekly goal. It's working for me to count in my mind and track "3A days" weekly instead of the opposite (4 AF days weekly). Funny how the (or my) mind works! LOL

joans1976

7/1: 2 drinks
7/2: 2 drinks
7/3: 3 drinks
7/4: AF
7/5: AF
7/6:AF

It’s so liberating to type “AF.” I was hoping my sleep would get better but it hasn’t, I have to dig deeper into that. I’ve had sleep troubles my whole life though, even before drinking. Even though I’ve been alcohol free the past three days, there’s still alcohol in the fridge, kinda like my safety net. 3 out of 6 days isn’t too shabby but not ideal either.
Thank you for this thread ❤️

dawnbgethealthy

@RockinRobyn672

I am with you on that one, counting A days instead of AF days. It really helps me some days when I feel like having drinks to say to myself that I can wait for a planned A day.

@joans1976
Me too, I have had sleep problems since I was a kid, long before alcohol ever entered the picture.
I credit mine to FOMO, having older siblings that were having so much fun that I didn't want to miss anything, so I forced myself to stay awake even when tired. Tired does not help me sleep. I have tried a bunch of stuff, but am open to suggestions.

dawnbgethealthy

Hi : - )
My name is Dawn.
My continuing goal is 16-20 AF days per month.
I had 19AF days in June.

Diary style:

Friday July 1st, Canada Day: Planned Mojitos today. I am off of work at 3pm and the celebrations (very close to my house) start at 2pm with the dignitaries' speeches etc. There will be bands and all sorts of fun stuff. I will be back and forth from my house throughout. @globalhiker you are familiar with my Mojito process, and with my friend and guitar player Fred who I will be hanging with for the duration amongst others. Love love love that you know where I am now when I describe stuff : - )
Saturday July 2nd - Got into Gin Slings after working many hours in the yard in preparation for 2 rainy days. Grass got cut and stuff. Planning AF for Sunday. Have fun on the 4th everyone.
Sunday July 3rd - AF - Got out for a nice lake walk during a break in the rain.
Monday July 4th - AF - Going to try and stay AF until the weekend.
Tuesday July 5th - AF - I felt like having drinks after my lovely pedicure last night, but decided not to.
Wednesday July 6th - Another day when I felt like having drinks, but decided to wait it out.

Rolling total - 4AF days out of 6 days.

lmlmrn

Hello everyone
And yeah to @MissMay for sticking to less alcohol not no alcohol. As @dawnbgethealthy laminates, deprivation only leads to more cravings I find.
I have approached this past 1.5 years (wow can't believe it) as less not none. It really has helped. Am I drinking less, yes I am. Am I as stressed and obsessed about the next A day or A drink, no, I am much more relaxed about it. The AF days are about the same 19-25 days per months, but my anxiety level has waned.

So as this remodel progresses and my anxiety level is shooting through the roof. We have gone out for meals out of necessity and hence I treat/allow/forgive myself for the 2 beers I drink. But instead of going home and continuing I stop and am not stressed about it.

Today I will be trying to remove the old flooring in the Master bath and a plumber is meeting me this am to talk about the shower enclosure.

BTW the counter tops are in and look great. Now to just wait 48 hours for the sink hook up and dishwasher(if I can talk plumber guy into it). Monday will be the microwave install.

back again later

ahoy_m8

@lmlmrn That is some phenomenal kitchen progress. Way to go!

joans1976

@dawnbgethealthy you want falling asleep tips, general sleep tips.....? I am a long time no sleep sufferer. Its either not able to fall asleep, up from 2am-5 am or up at 4 am and cant get back to sleep. Im currently going through a period of not being able to fall asleep. I can give you tips on here or send you a message. I feel you on the FOMO as a kid, I had two older brothers (who hated me-I was the youngest and a girl-ewwwww) so I needed/wanted to know what was going on after my early bedtime.

joans1976

@RockinRobyn672 Thats a great idea, looking at the AF days instead of the A days. Im stealing it!

tmbg1

July 1-2 A
July 3-4-5-6-7 AF

Lilylady3k

joans1976 wrote: »

It’s so liberating to type “AF.”

I totally agree! Posting AF feels good 😊💜😊💜😊

Lilylady3k

July accountability: 4 days AF
Alcohol: 3 days (4 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.

* 7/1 - 1 wine
* 7/2 - AF; 1 Heineken 0.0
* 7/3 - AF; 1 Heineken 0.0
* 7/4 - 1 Saint Arnolds Summer Pils then switched to an AF beer 1 Heineken 0.0
* 7/5 - 2 wine
* 7/6 - AF
* 7/7 - AF

Lilylady3k

Last night DH wanted wine but said it didn't go with what I was cooking LOL
He said he needed to break his nightly habit. He had 1 beer on 7/6 and stopped which was great!
Then last night he kept asking while I was cooking dinner ... is this your grocery list? Not much on it but it is all breakfast foods maybe I need to run to the grocery store. Me - Nope I'll fix xyz instead for breakfast so no need.
After dinner ... he wanted to run to the grocery store to again execute my grocery list of eggs, bread, English muffins. I asked are you wanting a bottle of wine? Him - nope I just need to get out of the house. Me - Okay let's go to the grocery store then.
Returned home with no wine Successful evening staying AF for both of us.

The struggle is real! But it is wonderful to have you guys for support. Thanks for being here.