LESS Alcohol ~ JANUARY 2023 ~ One Day At A Time
Replies
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My goal is to be AF at home. So far for January six days AF at home with four days completely AF.
Going AF at home is good for weight loss, not only am I going without the calories from the wine but also the calories from a big bag of twisties or sour cream and chilli chips I use to buy with the wine.
The money I am saving is likely to go towards a new gym membership. Wins all round
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Hop Water - 4 C water + 1/2C hops boil and seep 5-10 min, strain.
Okay, the homebrewer in me really wants to see further experimentation with this. With beer, you might boil your wort for 45 minutes, for example. You might add hops early in the boil for more bittering, closer to the end for more flavoring, or right at flameout for more aroma. You can use different strains of hops at each stage, or combinations. Some strains are more floral, some more citrusy, some vaguely piney, etc. Some are more bitter than others.
Oh yeah, also, hops comes in various forms - whole cone and pellets being most common. There is a HUGE difference, which does the recipe call for? I'm assuming whole cone.
I really want to know how far this hops water thing can be taken, or if there's even a point to taking it that far. Maybe that would be overkill.
Oh yeah AF today. Managed to squeeze in that last stop at SMKW and grabbed some Arkansas stones on the way out of town. Had a fairly uneventful drive and made good time for the first leg, dogs were at least as happy to get out of the car as the rest of us. Looking forward to getting back home tomorrow, not so much looking forward to seeing what I weigh. I've eaten like a trash panda all week.
-m7 -
@MissMay ...I see my daughters and I aren't the only ones keeping the ICE company afloat. One of them finds it too sweet and cuts it with water. Claims it gets her to the "8 glasses" sooner.
And it is a better beverage for my evening breakfast than wine. 🙃
AF since New Years's.
Talking to Catpuccino helps ...until he blinks his big celery green eyes, yawns, and walks away. Was he not LISTENING ??
@mfowler883 How did you manage to go to Cherokee and not see a performance of "Unto These Hills" ?? LOL.
LESS A, more FUN.
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Happy Weekend Everyone!
Made if through both a Friday and a Public Holiday without drinks.
We took down the Christmas tree yesterday and all of the decorations and that's something we'd have definitely done with a bottle of wine on the go usually. Yesterday it was sparkling water with Cloudy Apple cordial (squash).
So we are 6 for 6 AF for January.
Woop woop will be a full week after today!12 -
forestdweller1 wrote: »Talking to Catpuccino helps ...until he blinks his big celery green eyes, yawns, and walks away. Was he not LISTENING ??
@mfowler883 How did you manage to go to Cherokee and not see a performance of "Unto These Hills" ?? LOL.
Catpuccino sounds like most cats. Heck, my dogs do the same thing to me sometimes - they're better listeners when they think there might be food involved.
By the time we made it to Cherokee, it was getting late, dark and rainy and most things were closed. I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe I'll go back some day and see "Until These Hills."
-m
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Hello! It’s Amanda, I’m back. It’s a new month and a new year! I’ve been thinking about 2022 and 2023. I’ve got some goals for the year and staying 98% AF is one of them. I love this group, I love this thread, it really works.
1/1: AF
I saw my mom yesterday and she was talking about cutting back on the wine again. She knows my dad needs to cut back too but 4:00 comes at their house and it’s like an alarm goes off, the wine gets poured. I simply told her I would support them however I could.
Back to work and doctor’s appointments this week.
1/2: AF
Sad and nervous today. Sticking with my meditation goals so that’s something.
1/3: AF
Sad and nervous today too. Considered coming home and drinking vodka while I was in the doctor’s office yesterday. I didn’t but the feeling was real. I know I’m supposed to be strong but I’m not sure I can make it through this breast cancer *kitten*. Ah maybe I’m just feeling sorry for myself.
1/4: AF
Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I gotta dig deep and find my happy place.
1/5: AF
Feeling better today. Plans to get out of the house this weekend. Lovely weather, 32, drizzling and gray. Warm for Michigan this time of year.
1/6: AF
13 days AF
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@dawnbgethealthy How is the ankle and the side effects from the shingles shot?5
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Hubby and I stopped by the pub on the way home from a family event. He had 2 beers and I had 2 wines.I woke up as usual with the racing heart 5 hours later. This is completely predictable at this point. Husband said, " you know, I was feeling really good and positive and now I just feel blah." I reminded him that alcohol is a depressant. We both decided we would rather not have done that. Today is a new day and we will just move on. I am glad he feels the same as I do about this. We get Covid boosters today so I know I will feel awful the next 24 plus hours. I'm one of those that get sick after. At least I can just lie around and not have anything I need to be doing.7
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3 glasses of wine last night. Luckily I feel totally fine today because it was mostly with dinner. I definitely didn’t need to pour the 3rd glass but I was in a celebratory mood.
Bad news is we had pasta a second night in a row, I really just have to cut that way back if I want to lose weight.
I did a very light workout in the morning, and lost a tennis match in the afternoon. At least I had fun playing tennis. Sometimes I play with ladies who are a little bitchy, give very questionable line calls, etc, but yesterday it was all in good fun with very nice, fun ladies. Even though we got our butts kicked!9 -
What should have been a 7 1/2 hour drive from NM to AZ turned into 10 1/2 hours with an accident delay and then 110 mile detour. Had 2 strong drinks when I finally made it home.
1/1 - 1/ 5 AF
1/6 A12 -
@dawnbgethealthy I. remember feeling horrible after my second shingles shot. The first one was a breeze. Well, at least you won’t get shingles. You definitely do not want that! Hope your symptoms go away and that your ankle feels better soon!4
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AF Jan. 1-5
A. Jan. 6 (Had wine with daughter and husband at dinner and then we played games. It was really fun but of course this morning I remind myself "you could have had just as much fun with no wine.". )
One day at a time...10 -
Breathe57103 wrote: »What should have been a 7 1/2 hour drive from NM to AZ turned into 10 1/2 hours with an accident delay and then 110 mile detour. Had 2 strong drinks when I finally made it home.
1/1 - 1/ 5 AF
1/6 A
Wow 3 hours of traffic really sucks!5 -
Robyn here. I have been a part of this group for a few months and have significantly reduced my alcohol intake. I'm drinking less for health and weight loss.
Goal: 16-20 AF days monthly. Last Month: 16 AF days. I post the next morning
1/1: Drinks (0.5)
1/2: AF
1/3: Drinks (1)
1/4: AF
1/5: Drinks (1)
1/6: AF - Hubby has been very sick and it turned out to be diverticulitis. The great news is that he is already feeling much better and could eat last night thanks to some strong antibiotics. We're both going AF for the next 7 days while he's on the antibiotics. I had two Clausthaler NA beers last night instead of the usual one. That second one helped me to stay away from the late night snacking. My weight is down this morning.
Rolling Total: 3 AF Days out of 68 -
@joans1976 Glad you had a better day. I hope you have a great weekend.3
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mfowler883 wrote: »Hop Water - 4 C water + 1/2C hops boil and seep 5-10 min, strain.
Okay, the homebrewer in me really wants to see further experimentation with this. With beer, you might boil your wort for 45 minutes, for example. You might add hops early in the boil for more bittering, closer to the end for more flavoring, or right at flameout for more aroma. You can use different strains of hops at each stage, or combinations. Some strains are more floral, some more citrusy, some vaguely piney, etc. Some are more bitter than others.
Oh yeah, also, hops comes in various forms - whole cone and pellets being most common. There is a HUGE difference, which does the recipe call for? I'm assuming whole cone.
I really want to know how far this hops water thing can be taken, or if there's even a point to taking it that far. Maybe that would be overkill.
-m
Unfortunately the book did not give me much direction regarding the hops. I picked up 2oz of Chinook Hops which has a citrus-y aroma and high bittering. The actual description reads:
A pine forest washed with exotic spice infused with grapefruit. The alluring aroma and high bittering value has gained this hop the full respect of all brewers.
I think the next time I go to the beer supply store I will look at the other options. they also had the pellets but I did not want to experiment with them. I am also going to use more than 1/2C hops for the next batch I seep. I would like a stronger more pronounced flavor.
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January 2023
January accountability: 3 days AF
Alcohol: 3 days (9 drinks)
Goal: Limit 2 glasses per day; 20-25 AF days this month.
1/6 - 3 wine ; sister came over, DD & her family moved back in since their sewage line is still under repair and they wanted to give his family a break for the weekend. Wine was flowing during our weekly steak dinner.6 -
@RockinRobyn672 Gosh, diverticulitis is no joke! So glad he is getting it treated and feeling better.
@dawnbgethealthy How is your ankle feeling? I believe you that staying off it is difficult (and a little depressing), and I imagine the joy you will feel when you lace up your skates again. Like @Womona, my first singrix wasn't too bad but the second one had more side effects. The worst was chills so strong I was kind of convulsing. It was super weird and a little unsettling, but despite being intense, side effects only lasted ~12 hrs after shot to 36 hours after, so 24 laying low. Hope you're side effect free soon.
@MissMay If it's not too late to ask, and if it is not bad form to do so, please take a couple pics of the gallery and exhibit! It would be fun to see your work and that of others in your new community. (I agree that the organizer probably suggested wine because she thought it was the easiest thing to bring and she wanted to make it welcoming and easy for the newcomer.)
Cheers to everyone getting out there and having a good time without alcohol! My 2022 tracking spreadsheet noted a couple weeknight social events where I abstained and actually thought I had a better time because of it -- more present and more interesting. And then Friday came and I drank a whole bottle of wine. WTF? Whoever said abstinence seemed easier than moderation, I'm right there with you.
AF M-Th and 2 glasses wine last night at DD#2's goodbye dinner (with 2 boyfriends). Very fun.5 -
Just came across these mocktail recipes for Dry January and they sound both good and doable with things one can actually find in the grocery store. https://apple.news/A1RLLoX1_R2CMpxMLMiJyng
I am devoted to GOYA ginger beer as a replacement for alcohol in drinks to give them a kick/lift. It is so super spicy it makes me sneeze/cough if I happen to inhale the effervescence when opening the bottle. I am about to go experiment with some star anise bitters my husband brought home. I also have some fresh carrot juice and some tart cherry juice and some clementine italian soda and the ginger beer, so I think some fun can be had with combining a couple of those ingredients in a nice glass.
ETA:
Winning mix: 3 parts carrot juice with 3 parts zero proof rum 1 part lime juice and 3 dashes bitters stir over ice and pour into martini glasses, top with ginger beer and thinly sliced wheel of lime, garnish with sprig of thyme if you have it (I was just cooking with it and thyme and carrots go well together).
You could probably leave out the zero proof rum altogether or replace it with a dash of rum or vanilla extract used for cooking.7 -
My gosh, so much going on in here.
What happened to Dawns ankle? Was there an ice-skating incident? How did I miss that?? 😭
Sunnydays and Rubyred dig deep girls, you can still take hold of January.
@forestdweller1 yes I enjoy ICE and thinning it out with water as well. Your cat needs its own reality show by the sounds of it. OH YES "the look" all the pets have that going on.
@ahoy_m8 of course the battery was dead on my phone last night and I had to leave it home. I will be going back to the gallery and collect some photos next week of others works. But in the meantime here is the one I submitted.
The artist's reception was very nice and they took the wine bottle no problem. I kept to my ICE in a stemmed glass and no one questioned it. Then afterwards we headed to a very nice dining spot because there was rumor of music and dancing. And the rumor was correct.
Who says older Caucasian woman without alcohol can't dance??? LOL What a great band of out New Orleans that was playing. We will be going back since I found out they stock the Heineken00 I drink.
January accountability
6 AF
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Another AF day winding down. I had a glass of the St Regis alcohol-removed champagne. Not terrible, not as sweet and obviously grape juice as the Welches bottle.
DH is out tonight with his friend, and is staying out overnight. Usually I would use nights like this as my “free pass” to drink as much as I want alone, and not get judged by him. But instead, I am cleaning my kitchen, spending time with my teenage son, and watching discovery ID. It’s all good.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far
-Georgia10 -
January accountability: 4 days AF
Alcohol: 3 days (9 drinks)
Goal: Limit 2 glasses per day; 20-25 AF days this month.
1/7 - AF, DH too
My older granddaughter's 1st birthday party in the afternoon and then back home again with my house full of guests (DD, her husband, baby and 2 goldendoodles). No-one opened wine or any other alcohol this evening. Nice.9 -
Played golf today. The person I was golfing with wanted a beer when we finished. I didn't want to drink, but caved and had one 16 oz Michelob Ultra. Ugh.
1/1 - 1/ 5 AF
1/6 - 1/7 A9 -
@ Breathe57103..."Tomorrow is another day"...Scarlet O'Hara.11
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So that week 1 of 2023 completely booze free
I'm really chuffed, even more so as my wife is sticking to it too.
7 Days AF for January.12 -
Hello! It’s Amanda, I’m back. It’s a new month and a new year! I’ve been thinking about 2022 and 2023. I’ve got some goals for the year and staying 98% AF is one of them. I love this group, I love this thread, it really works.
1/1: AF
I saw my mom yesterday and she was talking about cutting back on the wine again. She knows my dad needs to cut back too but 4:00 comes at their house and it’s like an alarm goes off, the wine gets poured. I simply told her I would support them however I could.
Back to work and doctor’s appointments this week.
1/2: AF
Sad and nervous today. Sticking with my meditation goals so that’s something.
1/3: AF
Sad and nervous today too. Considered coming home and drinking vodka while I was in the doctor’s office yesterday. I didn’t but the feeling was real. I know I’m supposed to be strong but I’m not sure I can make it through this breast cancer *kitten*. Ah maybe I’m just feeling sorry for myself.
1/4: AF
Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I gotta dig deep and find my happy place.
1/5: AF
Feeling better today. Plans to get out of the house this weekend. Lovely weather, 32, drizzling and gray. Warm for Michigan this time of year.
1/6: AF
13 days AF
1/7: AF
11 -
Good morning All. I had yet another Covid shot as it is rampant again here in the Mid Atlantic. Had a fever last night of 102.3 and crazy dreams. It's down to 100.3 this morning so progress is being made. I don't have any plans today which was on purpose; I was expecting to feel yucky. I don't think it will be hard to be AF today.9
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Jan 1- AF
Jan 2 - AF
Jan 3 - AF
Jan 4 - AF
Jan 5 - 6- 7- A
Jan 8 - AF-
enjoyed a few planned A days - stayed in control- now ready for some AF days11 -
Jan. 1 AF
Jan. 2 AF
Jan. 3 AF
Jan. 4 AF
Jan. 5 AF
Jan. 6 A
Jan. 7 AF
Back on track. Happy the one night didn't derail my feelings and goal. We did decline an evening out with heavy drinking friends. No point in going and feeling tempted and then having a bad Sunday hungover. I "played the whole movie in my mind."13
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