LESS Alcohol ~ APRIL 2023 ~ One Day at A Time

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  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,926 Member
    @joans1976

    I wake up way too early too, I had the same second job for so many years that I used to do in the morning before my other job. Now that I have an evening job as my second I really need to learn to sleep later!

    Your weekend sounds perfect!
    I really hope that you find a new job soon.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,926 Member
    I am Dawn, I live in South Eastern British Columbia.
    I joined this thread in November of 2018, a daily drinker at the time
    My primary goal with drinking less is weight loss.

    My usual goal is 16-20 AF days for the month,
    I had 17AF days in March.

    I do this diary style, I normally post the next morning.

    Saturday April 22 - Drinks. I held out many times, but kind of caved at 6pm. Carrots and Beets are planted in a few places, I have to repair one of my other beds before I can plant the rest of them. Planned AF now until Friday.

    Rolling total: 10AF days out of 22 days.
  • Michieb125
    Michieb125 Posts: 869 Member
    It has been really lovely here and quite warm the last few days. My DH and I worked on the backyard yesterday for about 6 hrs. After the winter (and long rainy season this year) it looked pretty sad. We always have to do a major spring clean up but looks so nice when we are done - will definitely have another weekend of weeding to tackle. We washed my car and his truck out front, planted strawberries, put up my shade canopy over my small patio table, layered the mulch we made with another organic brand into one large raised bed, picked up some amendments that were on sale at Home Depot and ordered a storm door for my greenhouse. Then I was ready to call it quits! Had a mini Prosecco while cooking dinner followed by planned white wine for Saturday night. Planning AF until next weekend as we round the corner towards the end of the month. I might challenge myself to do more AF days in May and will give it more thought.

    AF - 15
    A - 7
    Goals - 20-22 AF days total
    Limit - no more than 2 glasses on A day
  • Michieb125
    Michieb125 Posts: 869 Member
    @dawnbgethealthy - thank you so much for answering my question and sharing how you work hard to reap the fruits of your labor by harvesting and eating your plants from your garden! You have a ton of experience to offer. These are cool pics of the cute little onions too! This year I will bottle some tomatoes and also use your tip of incorporating herbs before roasting to prep them for Italian or Mexican dishes. I love beets too but the ones I grew last year were teeny, tiny. Might try again in fall.

    @joans1976 wow your energy is coming back. It is so telling what a difference a year makes. Happy for you to feel so great!
  • tmbg1
    tmbg1 Posts: 1,451 Member
    4/1 - A
    4/2- AF
    4/3 - AF
    4/4 - AF
    4/5 - AF
    4/6 - 4/7 - 4/8 - A
    4/9 - AF
    4/10 - AF
    4/11 - A
    4/12 - AF
    4/13 - 4/14- 4/15 - A
    4/16- AF
    4/17 - A
    4/18- AF
    4/19 - 4/20 - A
    4/21 - 4/22 - A
    4/23 - AF
    10 AF so far this month - not great - the extra alcohol is showing on my belly - ugh
  • Fursian
    Fursian Posts: 564 Member
    @GaryM_25 Thank you! :)
  • Michieb125
    Michieb125 Posts: 869 Member
    edited April 2023
    What’s that saying about “best laid plans?” No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it.
    Ended up having unplanned wine last night after another busy day. I did enjoy the 2 glasses of La Crema Chardonnay but now very ready for AF for the weekdays. I can feel a difference with just the 2 days in a row imbibing. My sleep has been wonderful for a couple of months but last night was pretty bad.

    My sister is coming to visit on Friday for two nights and we are going to our Art and Wine festival in town. I have prepared to save my last 2 A days for this and still meet my monthly goal. Keeping within the limit will be a challenge.

    @GaryM_25 congratulations on four weeks alcohol free! Also, your steadfastness with your weight loss and exercise goals.
    One thing I recently read is that a small weekend binge has much less negative health impact when the rest of the days are alcohol free and the body systems can recover; that it's the everyday chronic drinking that never lets the body "catch up."

    Thanks for the thought provoking question…..I personally have to agree with this - interested in your source. In the alcohol experiment they note that A depletes hydration by taking water out of our cells, and A mimics sugar among a whole host of other reasons daily drinking doesn’t do us ‘good.’ The arthritis foundation and American heart association have good info out there on how to prevent health issues and a big reason I am no longer a daily drinker (two decades). My doctor suggests as we age, the greater chance of disease and disorders, so if we reduce obesity or alcohol consumption the greater our chances of remaining healthy. All so interesting!

    AF - 15
    A - 8
    Goals - 20-22 AF days total
    Limit - no more than 2 glasses on A Day
  • joans1976
    joans1976 Posts: 2,201 Member
    @LilRock25 Oof that’s tough. I don’t envy you. Hang in there.

    @Michieb125 Your life is so exciting. Can I come live with you? I have 2 lovely felines 😊
  • tmbg1
    tmbg1 Posts: 1,451 Member
    4/1 - A
    4/2- AF
    4/3 - AF
    4/4 - AF
    4/5 - AF
    4/6 - 4/7 - 4/8 - A
    4/9 - AF
    4/10 - AF
    4/11 - A
    4/12 - AF
    4/13 - 4/14- 4/15 - A
    4/16- AF
    4/17 - A
    4/18- AF
    4/19 - 4/20 - A
    4/21 - 4/22 - A
    4/23 - AF
    4/24 - AF
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    @GaryM_25 Many people retain water with air travel, so don't sweat the one pound. Could vanish on its own is a day or 2.
    @dawnbgethealthy Garden inspiration!!! I think about your walking onions from time to time. So cool! But man, what a bummer about Perry. Not very professional.
    @Fursian Uggh. Hope you all feel well soon. I too went way over the "govt recc limit" once this week and wonder why I don't think more about there being no safe amount. Wish I did.

    Nice weekend. It's weird that I can be looking forward to fun things, have fun doing them, and still be aware of feeling depressed. Just trying to stay present to it, not fight or suppress. Had fun and HS reunion #1, so many people I wish I had had more time with, was not tempted to drink. Forgot I have classmates who quit drinking long ago; one fun friend quit 35 years ago. Had a glass of what DH opened when I came home, and I enjoyed that. Saturday I had a cocktail with neighbors, a glass from the bottle opened Friday, and then guess what... we opened another bottle. :s So much for stopping at 2.

    DD#2 arrives midnight Wednesday (severe weather forecast), I'll have grandparent lunch Thurs, then I fly out Friday for HS reunion #2. I love my HS friends (both girls only schools). We just pick back up where things left off, like time never passed. I'll be AF again this week, and drinks will be flowing with the old pals. DD#3 graduation is the weekend following that, so lots to celebrate these days.
  • Michieb125
    Michieb125 Posts: 869 Member
    @joans1976 I joined here in February ‘23 while you were finishing up your treatments, and thank you for sharing how the news of breast cancer began. You are a warrior to get through that, keep your weight down and achieve AF living. My mother is also a 15 year BC survivor and my good friend was diagnosed two years back and went through treatment too. Health has always been important to me, but is now a much bigger priority at my age.

    @GaryM_25 your resource about the effects of A look worthy of exploring (thank your wife). I’m all about evidence based research over antidotal information. I like your suggestion to listen to the podcast and share thoughts. How about starting next week under May’s thread - LA?

    @ahoy_m8 you are super busy with loads of activities and reunions. Sounds super fun and hectic at the same time!
    Take care of yourself.

    @dawnbgethealthy yeah that place may not be the better job in the long run anyway. Something better is waiting for you!

    @RockinRobyn672 sounds like a fun getaway and good choices for NA. You have fun times ahead!

    I’m continuing to work in the garden in this glorious sunshine this week.

    Will be AF until Fri and Sat with sisters visit this weekend and make my goal of 20/30 AF days for April. That is 20 days of LA in a month for me. Yikes, that does feel really good to say.

    AF - 16
    A - 8
    Goals - 20-22 AF days total
    Limit - no more than 2 glasses on A Day
  • itladyee
    itladyee Posts: 5,481 Member
    On 4/13 got the news about my change in status causing me to pay additional taxes.
    4/18 Followed up with HR to see if there we any updates - Was told it was under review.
    4/24 - Got an email last night from HR that they were "still reviewing" and hope to have some information by the end of the week.
    12 days of being on edge...Not sure what my next steps are at this point. I spoke with my accountant and he said they need to adjust my pay so that the impact is Tax Neutral.

    At any rate, I find my self falling into old habits. While not AF, I was doing really well at limiting my intake. I've had a couple of bad days...bright side, only a couple.

    I am starting to calm down a bit though and I will find a way to deal with this situation if the answer isn't exactly what will be best for me.

    I'm mentally moving on to May.
    I'm actually doing well with my calorie cycling, even with a couple of not so good days.
    My goals for May will be to continue to zig zag the calories and aim for no more than 2 glasses of wine per night. If I do less, that's a bonus but I'm setting myself up for success vs failure at trying to be AF as that's not working.
    On the days where I have limited calories, I will have to only have 1 glass.

    Deprivation and stress do not work well for me. Hoping by May I am less stressed!

    Thanks to all who commented and gave me support! I appreciate it!

    Off to catch up with all the posts, sorry if a little late with my comments and I add on as I read more...

    @brittgreenlikethecolor88 ~ You are doing a fantastic job! Keep it up! Love the green checkmarks! Success is beautiful!
    @dawnbgethealthy ~ How did the interview go for the new job? I know it's not what you want but hopefully it's tolerable. (I may find this answer as I play catchup) - Yep, I see the answer - sorry that one didn't workout but like you said, it wasn't your desired role. And BAM..... the job that you wanted came through! That's sooooooo great! Can't wait to hear about Perry's Place!! - Oh No.....I am so sorry it didn't work out at Perry's. Bummer.... Praying that something you enjoy and can make $$ comes your way soon!
    @Fursian
    I could (and want/have) beat myself up, but that never seems to help, instead I'll just promise myself that I'll keep trying and say that I will get this under control one way or another.
    Nicely stated!
    @sinisterbarbie1 ~ I love NYC! I've been 3 times and it's about time to go again! Glad you are enjoying yourself and Kudos on being AF for more than a year! That's awesome!
    Thank you for the recipe. I will try it soon.

    @rockinrobyn672 ~ those beach pictures are dreamy! Now I want to be on a beach basking in the sunshine. We have some beautiful days here last week but now winter is back. It was actually snowing this morning!

    @Garym_25 ~ You have done an excellent job with being AF and weight loss! I like the increased focus on behaviors vs results. That makes a lot of sense. Sounds like you're also rocking that business trip! I use to travel a lot for work. so that meant that food and drinks were on the company. I applaud you in your choices! One pound is definitely a VICTORY!!
    I adore her. It was four years ago today I asked her to marry me.
    Awe that is soooo sweet. Congrats on your "engagement" anniversary! I will check out the podcast and think it will be a great focus for May!

    @joans1976 ~ How 's Roger handling the asthma! Wow. How your health as well? You have had a lot of changes in the year and I'm happy to see you on TOP! Good Luck on the job search.


    As other's have stated, this board is so uplifting and motivating. I am now regretting that I burred my head in the sand and didn't jump on to support. Sorry. I will get my head together!

    Oh some good news
    @ahoy_m8 ~ I heard from my friends son on Sunday and she is back home from the hospital.. I will give her a call this weekend :)

    The Month recap to stay accountable
    4/1
    My plan starts/restarts tomorrow.... Mayo Clinic "diet" . Today wasn't so bad. Had 6 ounce filet and asparagus and two glasses of wine for dinner. I have only one bottle of wine left in my house and I don't plan to buy any more this month.....
    4/2/2023
    Well.... the day was actually going well. I had a couple of breakfast sausage for breakfast (not the best choice but I haven't been shopping yet). For lunch, cobb salad and for dinner Chicken with a southwest salad. All meals accompanied by water! I made it until 8:30pm when my husband came home from work. He cracked open a beer and started recapping his negative day... so two glasses appeared .... bottle is almost empty🙂
    4/3/2023
    I skipped breakfast, considering IF again. if only to kick start some action. Good for lunch (leftover Chicken and Salad) and dinner was an airfried pork chop and broccoli. Husband turned on the NCAA championship game and make Pomegranate Sours. I had one and a half (about 6 ounces).
    4/4/2023
    [Noted yesterday]I'm already claiming today as AF. Gotta get started and ignore the triggers.
    Yeah! That worked....:) AF! Mental mind games. It's funny. Once you put your mind to it, it's fairly easy. When your mind isn't committed, is easy to waiver. I came home and immediately poured my substitute wine (Ocean Spray 5 calorie juice) and proceeded to cook dinner. My husband came in and out of nowhere said, lets have a shot of Maker's Mark. I said no thank you, but go right ahead. He didn't. Then later on in the evening we were watching Jeopardy and the final Jeopardy question comes on and he says...if I get this right, you have to take a shot. It was like the devil incarnate! I said no!
    4/5/2023
    Weird day....as far as alcohol was concerned. I've been going to a place to get my nails done for over 15 years. My nail tech use to tell me to relax as my hands would be quite rigid while we would attempt to do my manicure. I use to tease that they should sell wine, that would relax me. Yesterday I went to get my eye brows waxed, nails and pedicure done. While getting my eye brows done, the tech says, would you like a glass of wine? I looked at her like she had two heads. She said, we have cabernet or moscato.... I politely declined. She continued that I could sip while getting my pedicure done. I declined again. Then when getting my pedicure done, my regular guy asked again. I just chuckled and said no thanks. I had received message late Monday from my friends son that she was in the hospital (she's 84). I tried calling Tuesday day and evening and left a message. I missed his call again but he didn't leave a message. When I got home, I tried again and got the message that his voice mail box was full. So that left me a bit concerned and put me in a solemn mood. I poured my substitute wine and air fried some catfish for dinner. It just wasn't doing it, so I finished that bottle of wine (not quite two glasses). Now here comes the weekend as I'm off tomorrow for Good Friday.

    When all is said and done and I get annoyed for not staying AF, I have to give myself credit that I am continuing to limit alcohol and not drinking nearly as much. And I can see the difference with the reduction. Glad I found this group.

    4/6/2023
    Thursday was my "Friday" as I'm off today!

    Guilty - went shopping for weekend meals including Easter dinner and did buy wine. Did drink wine. I think my next AF target day will be Monday, 4/10...I want to have mimosas on Easter Sunday morning. The rest of the weekend is unplanned.

    I learned that today (4/7) is National No Housework Day.... I must observe!🙂

    4/7
    4/8 -
    4/9 - Easter - Had my desired Mimosa's and had wine with dinner
    4/10 -
    4/11/2023
    I spent time regrouping yesterday. Just like eating, it so easy to continue those drinking days once they've started. I had more alcohol on Easter than I have had in quite a while. Monday it was easy to come home and pour that glass of wine. I was content with getting back on track yesterday but just had a horrible day.

    I really want to meet my weight loss goals for this year and in order to do so I've got to get a handle on both eating and drinking. Now I say this while coming off of vacation and the holiday so I feel like I'm really out of control, but if I look back, I'm not. I took half the cheesecake to work, we ate 1/4 of it on Easter and 1/4 is still in the refrigerator! Hopefully my husband will make it go away.

    Sooner or later, I'm going to find something I can consistently work with. I am doing a combination of things. The Mayo Clinic diet focuses on servings of food groups, basically making sure that you are balanced within a certain calorie range. The problem is I swap things on the menu which is legal, but I think my swapping upsets the food balance. I think I will continue to use some of the recipes that they provide and plug them into MFP to make sure my I am within my range of calories and carbs. I am going to alter my daily calories, ZigZag or Calorie cycling they call it so that I don't consume the same amount of calories everyday. I will average about 1400 calories but not all days will be the same. And finally, I had some success with IF last year so I'm going to add that process to the mix as well.

    It will be almost impossible for me to include wine on my low calorie days, so that's another motivator to help me with this plan.


    Recap for 4/13/2023
    This has been a horrible week. Not so much with overeating or drinking, but other stuff had been grating my nerves which then leads to over drinking and then overeating. Last night there was overdrinking.

    The short story is this... since this is a public board, I won't go into detail but if anyone has knowledge or experience with going from W2 to K1 and is willing to educate me, please inbox me. The end result as I see it, is causing me to have a significant reduction in income due to additional taxes being paid by me. I had a quick conversation with my cpa, but it's the final hour of tax season so he's really busy and thought he was done with me!

    I worked from home today to avoid biting anyone's head off.
    4/14 - 4/24 - MIA




    My 2023 Stats...
    AF = 1
    A = 13
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    January
    AF = 53%
    A = 47%
    February
    AF = 29%
    A = 71%
    March
    AF = 0%
    A = 100%
    April
    AF = 3%
    A = 97%
  • brittgreenlikethecolor88
    brittgreenlikethecolor88 Posts: 1,080 Member
    Goal: AF - Sunday-Thursday.
    Max of 3 drinks per day on Friday & Saturday.

    Apr 3 - MON: AF ✅
    Apr 4 - TUES: AF ✅
    Apr 5 - WED: AF ✅
    Apr 6 - THUR: AF ✅ 🎉
    Apr 7 - FRI: 5 Drinks ❌
    Apr 8 - SAT: 3 Drinks ✅
    Apr 9 - SUN: AF ✅
    Apr 10 - MON: AF ✅
    Apr 11 - TUES: AF ✅
    Apr 12 - WED: AF ✅
    Apr 13 - THUR: AF ✅
    Apr 14 - FRI: 1 Drink ✅
    Apr 15 - SAT: 3 Drinks ✅
    Apr 16 - SUN: AF ✅
    Apr 17 - MON: AF ✅
    Apr 18 - TUES: AF ✅
    Apr 19 - WED: AF ✅
    Apr 20 - THUR: AF ✅
    Apr 21 - FRI: 5 Drinks ❌
    Apr 22 - SAT: 5 Drinks ❌
    Apr 23 - SUN: AF ✅
    Apr 24 - MON: 1 Drink ❌ Stressful evening 😕
  • tmbg1
    tmbg1 Posts: 1,451 Member
    4/1 - A
    4/2- AF
    4/3 - AF
    4/4 - AF
    4/5 - AF
    4/6 - 4/7 - 4/8 - A
    4/9 - AF
    4/10 - AF
    4/11 - A
    4/12 - AF
    4/13 - 4/14- 4/15 - A
    4/16- AF
    4/17 - A
    4/18- AF
    4/19 - 4/20 - A
    4/21 - 4/22 - A
    4/23 - AF
    4/24 - AF
    4/25 - AF

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