LESS Alcohol ~ FEBRUARY 2023 ~ One Day at A Time

dawnbgethealthy

So this is my old time-y ice breaker. I hammer that thing lol. Good tool : - )

dawnbgethealthy

I am in.

I am Dawn, I live in SE BC Canada
My ongoing goal remains, 16-20 AF days per month.
I had 17AF days for January (a long month)

I do this diary style to keep track, and I post the next morning

Saturday Feb 04 - Drinks, one of them out. Having a nice Sunday so far. Plan is AF today, and to stay above 50% for the rest of the month. Planned drinks (and dinner) pre-ballet Wednesday (Cinderella).

Rolling total: 2AF days out of 4 days. 50% won't cut it in 28 days

RubyRed427

2 days AF
3 days A

I'm satisfied with my progress so far.
Goal is 14 days AF for February.

zensome

So last night I stuck to my plan, until... I didn't. I actually went to the Volksfest, came home and made dinner for my son and then went back! But, no regrets, I got to spend some time with one of my brothers who I don't see often. Back on track today, definitely AF today so that is 3/5 AF days for me so far this month. Looking forward to getting a good night's sleep and feeling rested tomorrow for a new work week.

ahoy_m8

dawnbgethealthy wrote: »

So this is my old time-y ice breaker. I hammer that thing lol. Good tool : - )

Ha! I needed a straight edge shovel. Love the hockey stick!

@zensome the festival and family time sounds super fun.

Had a moderate weekend (by my standards)… 2 wine Fri (one before dinner, one after), 2 wine Sat with dinner (had stepdad over) and a cocktail tonight=5 for the week.

Lilylady3k

February accountability: 2 days AF
Alcohol: 3 days (5 drinks)
Goal: Limit 2 glasses per day; 12-16 AF days this month.

2/5 - 1 wine; 1 bottle 4 people

globalhiker

I agree with @joans1976, we are a kind and real and smart and fun group.....wonderful for you to say...!

So February is the month I am taking a break from counting, just challenging myself to put in the time for daily cardio exercise and socializing. This is really, really hard for someone like me (nerd with many desktop spreadsheets tracking it all) but I think it will help me because I need to quit all the micro-counting (calories and drinks and miles and steps and the points and the scale weight) and re-focus on devoting quality time to my physical well-being and socialization.

This aside, I understand each one of us is unique and we need to find our own solutions...and any solutions that work and do no harm are perfect...doesn't matter if it's prescribed medication, psychotherapy, sticking to tracking, herbal teas, stress gummies, AF drinks, etc. I think it's smart and perhaps necessary to lean on friends or a professional if going at it alone hasn't proven successful.

The important thing is that each day we work on doing it..being better than the day before and we move towards realizing our better selves.

tmbg1

2/1- 2/2- 2/3 -2/4 - A (2 glasses each and no craving or desire to go for a third!)
2/5 - AF
2/6 - AF

joans1976

Hey everyone, I’m Amanda. I live in Michigan and it is freezing and gray here but at least it’s staying light out past 5 pm now. ☀️
I joined this lovely thread in the summer of 2022 and it has made a huge difference in my life! I’ve gone from being 25% AF to 98% AF. My last A day was Christmas Eve and my last A day before that was 10/28/22.

The people here are kind and real and smart and fun! Welcome to all newcomers!

2/1: AF
I can’t even post here what has happened with work, for one it is too long and for another it’s too infuriating. I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

I downloaded one of the apps @missmay has in her recommendations at the beginning of the month. It’s called “Reframe.” So far it’s telling me about the psychology of alcohol but letting me put in my “why” and AF streak. There is a forum too. I tread lightly there as I have pretty high standards for my LA friends 🙃 I’m using a 7 day free trial now.
39 days AF

2/2: A 2
Ugh. Such bad decisions last night! I had 2 vodka drinks but they were pretty stiff and I feel like total garbage this morning. I am so, so, so disappointed in myself but I also know that this doesn’t mean I will start drinking daily again. This hangover is too atrocious. Yuck. I’m off to hydrate and find something for my rolling stomach.

2/3: AF
Feeling bad I will have to start my AF streak over but I can otherwise look at it as only having 3 A days in a 4 month period, which is pretty amazing if I do say so myself. And oh how I paid for that short lived little buzz yesterday! I got my Covid vaccine and went to the doctor with a very sick stomach and the sweats. No bueno. It was a balmy 9 degrees F here yesterday so errands were fun.

Hopefully a quiet weekend inside with some self care!

2/4: AF
It’s amazing to me how long it takes to feel better after drinking when you do it after not doing it for awhile. My weight was up, I felt bloated and just…No. Besides the psychological effects.
It’s a balmy 34 degrees F here today so I think I’ll go jump in the lake…

2/5: AF
Hello Monday, so we meet again.

joans1976

Where’s our boys at? @Stockholm_Andy @mfowler883 ?!? (Sorry if I missed any other men, I just know that these 2 are in fact male and haven’t seen them in a few days)

Womona

AF last night, and I slept well. Weight is up again because I ate like crap yesterday. I signed up for my workout class this morning and absolutely DO NOT WANT TO GO! Yeah yeah, I know I should just go whether I want to or not. But still, I’d rather sleep in!

RockinRobyn672

I'm Robyn and live in SE Virginia. My goal is 16+ AF days per month. I had 18 AF days last month. I'm drinking less for health and weight loss. I post the next morning.

2/5: AF - The weather was a little warmer in Virginia and is predicted to be in mid-50s this week. I am so ready for spring! I stuck to AF although I was tempted while watching the latest episode of "The Last of Us". My weight was down this morning making up for the weekend gain. I'm contemplating staying AF until I reach my goal weight.

Rolling Total: 2 AF Days out of 5

RockinRobyn672

joans1976 wrote: »

Where’s our boys at? @Stockholm_Andy @mfowler883 ?!? (Sorry if I missed any other men, I just know that these 2 are in fact male and haven’t seen them in a few days)

@joans1976 Ditto!

lmlmrn

Hello everyone
Yesterday was lunch out with 2 beers, was tempted to have a 3rd but refrained. Then after my beer nap and later in the evening DH helped himself to a little Tito's. I did not...so yeah.
I downloaded all 4 of the sobriety apps, I had tried 3 of the 4 before but this time I had all of them to examine side by side so to speak. Now I have 2 of them still on my phone...I needed to find a new distraction/motivation. So far it is Dry Days and nomo.

I wish I could say I have a hard and fast goal for this month but I don't. I can only take this in baby steps since I feel January was not a great month alcohol and weight wise.

So DH and I are going to try really had to at least not go out this week M-F. That is as close to a goal as I can get this round.

back later

2timesacharmmfp

Not off a solid start this month...4 A/1 AF this month so far.

When I'm in my routine I can usually stick to my goals, so new additional goal for this month is to work on sticking to it even when things pop up. Planning AH through Thursday so that should rightsize my numbers a bit and get me back on track mentally as well!

dawnbgethealthy

I am in.

I am Dawn, I live in SE BC Canada
My ongoing goal remains, 16-20 AF days per month.
I had 17AF days for January (a long month)

I do this diary style to keep track, and I post the next morning

Saturday Feb 04 - Drinks, one of them out. Having a nice Sunday so far. Plan is AF today, and to stay above 50% for the rest of the month. Planned drinks (and dinner) pre-ballet Wednesday (Cinderella).
Sunday Feb 05 - AF - Felt tempted watching the Grammy's, but didn't imbibe.

Rolling total: 3AF days out of 5 days. 50% AF won't cut it to reach my goal in 28 days

zensome

@globalhiker I get what you meant about tracking every little thing, it get exhausting and sometimes I wonder why I bother. There have been times in the last few weeks that I thought if I was not consciously trying to cut back on alcohol, I wonder if I would even be thinking about it? But, I know it has helped me to track these last few weeks, to get a clear picture of my habits,

I also noticed we are missing @mfwoler833 & @Stockholm_Andy the last few days. I hope they come back!

I was AF last night and plan for that again today. At the beginning of the month, I pre-filled my calendar with 0 drinks for all Sundays & Mondays because starting out the week with a hangover is the worst. Plus this guarantees that I have 8 days AF planned right from the start.

I don't remember who it was but there were a couple of people who talked about the Lemonade flavored ICE drink. I couldn't find that flavor but got a few others and tried the mango-orange last night. So good! Definitely getting that again, so thanks for the reviews/recommendations!

I hope everyone is meeting their goals and if not, be gentle with yourself! It is still early in the month, you can get back on track right now!

itladyee

It was a good/bad weekend, depending on which side of the fence you're on! I own it all.

I had wine both Saturday and Sunday, currently on a 3 day run. Today, no wine is in sight. Tomorrow going out to dinner for wedding anniversary. My husband chose a winery. There will be wine. I should be good for the rest of the week until Saturday as we have another dinner planned for my husbands birthday celebration. And then there's that big game on Sunday!!

2/1 AF
2/2 AF
2/3 A
2/4 A
2/5 A
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February
AF = 40%
A = 60%
30 day experiment: Day 19, AF 15 (78%)

@lmlmrn ~February does appear to be challenging? Thanks for the book information. I will check it out.

DawnCumm

Hi all, I too found you guys mid January and jumped on your bandwagon. I am a wine lover and was drinking daily. So the plan is to keep up the AF during the week, allow wine (1 glass) on Sunday as we always have a family meal. But BFF dinner group on the 9th, going to wine country on the 14th, family trip end of month....so those are my ok to drink wine days. We will see how it goes.....

Lilylady3k

dawnbgethealthy wrote: »

I am Dawn, I live in SE BC Canada
My ongoing goal remains, 16-20 AF days per month.

Rolling total: 3AF days out of 5 days. 50% AF won't cut it to reach my goal in 28 days

@dawnbgethealthy - This statement is very insightful! Put in that perspective of % AF for the month.

My goal is normally 12-16 days AF. Well it turns out if I hit 12 AF then I have 16 A days in February interesting. Or the reverse 16 AF and 12 A days. What a fluke!
I am at 2 out of 6 days. 33% definitely doesn't cut it to get to my goal. I need to be closer to 43% to 57% to be on target.

Thanks for prompting me to think things through. I need to make it 3 out of 6 today. Planning AF tonight since I know that tomorrow night I'm having wine with DD at the cooking class we planned earlier.