LESS Alcohol ~ JUNE 2023 ~ One Day at A Time

Chickadee00

Thanks for the welcome @itladyee 😊

Chickadee00

Thanks @Michieb125 I try my best to stay positive. I like your self care day, that sounds really good. 👌

MissMay

Hi everyone Happy June 1st
WELCOME @Chickadee00 lots of support here. You have a great foot in the right direction!

As in previous month beginnings I like to show what ONE standard drink is. This can be helpful if you thought a shot does not count as one drink. Or if your counting tall boys and filled to the brim wine glasses or goblets as one drink.

Good luck on your day one
.i will be AF.

Chickadee00

Thank you for the welcome to your thread @MissMay 😊 and thanks for sharing what one standard drink is, I often forget that so it's good to be reminded!

MissMay

Good morning June LESS ALCOHOL gang

This month I will be doing a daily check in with my previous days A/AF occurrences. I had gotten away from this daily accountability, letting it slide for probably over 3 years.

To busy? I suppose this was the best excuse I could muster up. Well, if I can take the time to delete unnecessary emails all day long, I can do this very important check in for myself.

Yesterday planned AF as I mentioned earlier in the day was almost sabotaged by DH. Went out to listen to music on the Santa Rosa Sound, I ordered and drank Heineken00. Hit another spot to watch the amazing sunset before heading home, there again I ordered and drank Heineken00.

Get home, was sitting on back porch all happy listening to crickets in the dark and Pandora music on my tablet. DH walks out with a GIANT red wine goblet spilling over filled with the evil MANGO-RITA I have spoke of in the past. WTH?

I could have sucked it right down, I could have broke my promise to be AF, I could have started that drink spiral where I take a drink, then my drink takes a drink, then the drinks take me.

I stood my ground to remain AF. I explained it to DH kindly, and he gladly drank the rita.

I feel the need to tighten the ropes for June. Not that I have been out of control, yet I feel I have been having drinks once again out of habit or routine. And this is my nutty comparision. Have you ever wondered if you took your daily vitamin or not? Because it is part of my routine and I do it so automatically there used to be days when I just could not recall popping my vitamins in my mouth(until I bought a weekly pill container🤣)

So here it is day one of June officially noted AF ( with a close call)

HAVE AN INCREDIBLE DAY!

MissMay

Chickadee00 wrote: »

Thank you for the welcome to your thread @MissMay 😊 and thanks for sharing what one standard drink is, I often forget that so it's good to be reminded!

@Chickadee00 😊😊😊 it is OUR THREAD, not my thread. Glad you are finding it helpful.

Womona

Welcome @Chickadee00 ! And hello to all my AF peeps!!!

@cwolfman I, too, am ambivalent about this whole drinker/non drinker thing. I can moderate, but I haven’t even tried to have AF days these last few months. So do I ratchet that up or just make peace with the fact that I like my one glass of wine per day and take the win on the fact that I got it down from two?

With sailing/ golfing/ hang out after work in the beautiful weather season upon us, there are so many more opportunities to drink than normal.

Well, good luck to everyone on their June goals!!!!

Chickadee00

MissMay wrote: »

Chickadee00 wrote: »

Thank you for the welcome to your thread @MissMay 😊 and thanks for sharing what one standard drink is, I often forget that so it's good to be reminded!

@Chickadee00 😊😊😊 it is OUR THREAD, not my thread. Glad you are finding it helpful.

Yes of course. 👍

I've not really set any goals with my alcohol intake at the moment. I would like to try and get away from drinking daily. That would be a good start I suppose. I will just take it a day at a time.

Wishing everyone a good day !

GaryM_25

@Chickadee00 - I'll tell you I am sooo glad I got away from daily drinking a couple months ago! My headed is clearer, mental positive feedback cycles are at play instead of negative feedback cycles, I sleep better and more.

Yesterday, the scale said 185 which I haven't been at for about six or seven years. Ten years ago, I was at 175.

Last night, I had a (as in one) beer with my wife while watching the basketball game.

This morning, I seriously realized I need to do some shopping. With one of my belts notched up to the tightest hole, I pulled my shorts and belt down over my hips!

I know I've been wearing 36" waist pants for about seven years. This week, my wife bought me a pair of 34" shorts. I put them on and proceeded to pull them down over my hips.

Greatly reduced alcohol intake + calorie counting + lift-till-failure weights + cardio intervals is working.

dawnbgethealthy

Thanks for keeping us going @MissMay : - )

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 18AF days in May.

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

Thursday June 01: AF - Planned drinks over the weekend.

Chickadee00

Out watering some of my plants. It's so hot, feel like turning the hose on myself. Enjoying the weather with a few beers and no shame in that.

And yeah @GaryM_25 , I'm looking forward to hopefully experiencing some of the benefits of moving away from daily drinking. I don't drink 1 or 2 in which case I wouldn't be so interested in monitoring my drinking, for me personally. But yeah, it's an individual thing.

itladyee

Goals for June

Self-care and positive vibes ~ One day at a time
Zig-zag calorie count - Daily Average 1400
Success = No more than two glasses of wine per night. Bonus Points for ZERO!

Current Streak - AF = 0 ~

6/1 A ~ Husband was excited as he had been off pain meds long enough to have a cocktails. He made pomegranate sours. Tasted really strong and really sweet to me since I had not had one in quite a while.
Success Days # 0
Bonus Days # 0

I've got to get it through my thick head....alcohol ruins weight loss....maybe I need to get out my paper and write it 500 times...

@MissMay ~ Congrats on standing your ground! Just awesome!

The Month recap to stay accountable

My 2023 Stats...

Current Month
AF = 0
A = 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January
AF = 53%
A = 47%
February
AF = 29%
A = 71%
March
AF = 0%
A = 100%
April
AF = 14%
A = 86%
May
AF = 23%
A = 77%
June
AF = 0%
A = 100%

Michieb125

@MissMay thanks for the great reminder about serving sizes and that a huge glass of red wine isn’t really one drink. This made me think about the hysterical amount of red wine that actress Kristen Bell drinks nightly in the dark comedy, thriller movie called The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window!

The scale is down another lb. which tells me my focus on calorie deficit (activity over consumption) is working. And, I could never have done this without giving up all the liquid calories of my past. I’m also not missing out on enjoying all foods within moderation.

Before my decision to embrace Less Alcohol I used to measure exact ounces but that only made me obsessed with measuring ounces and too great a focus on that. My mind was on overload unnecessarily. Now that I am AF most of each week, I do allow myself to enjoy a glass or two of wine now and then and yes, I buy only tiny bottles now which is helpful as they are measured amounts. Whatever works, right? New habits are slowly forming and right now, for me, I prefer occasional imbibing for a dozen reasons.

Not to offend anyone at all and I have the highest respect for her as well. I heard Oprah Winfrey on a podcast several years back state that having one glass of wine was ‘just getting started.’ It was all in fun of course but I think many of us might be able to identify with that (or used to).

June stats:
AF - 1
A - 0

Personal Goals:
AF - 20-22 days
A - 8-10 days

ahoy_m8

Thank you @MissMay. Much appreciated!
Ditto to everything @globalhiker said and safe travels to you. I hope you get one or two beautiful hikes in!
@joans1976 I enjoyed your May post here Way to go in May! I feel ya' re: figuring out a drinking "style." If I'm honest, I'm a weeknight abstainer and on weekends drink more than is "healthy." I admire people like @womona who have success with one/day and @dawnbgethealthy & @cwolfman13 who are so considerate to their tomorrow-selves. I appreciate and learn from all those examples.

Kind of a rocky start to the month. Had drinks Memorial Day evening. Had drinks Wednesday celebrating dad & stepmom anniversary. Painters finished my house interior last night and I REALLY felt like cracking into champagne over that (it's been a mess here). So much for being a weeknight abstainer! I waited it out last night and used the champagne calories on leftover graham crackers & marshmallows instead.

Goal:
M-Th AF
F-Su <2

Sunday is my danger night. For whatever mindgame reasons, that is the night I am most likely to feel IDGAF and ditch the plan. Maybe it's depleted willpower from a week adhering to plan? Not that I am having any kind of sustained success with weekend moderation, but if I were going to cut back, converting Sunday to AF could be a logical step. Maybe I'll mention it to DH since he is also looking to cut back on alcohol.

Michieb125

I aim to check in daily the next morning for my own accountability. This keeps me on track and I also learn so much from others’ experiences on this thread.

@Chickadee00 love the pic of your azaleas - there are gardening lovers here too. Myself and @dawnbgethealthy and I’m sure many others.

@GaryM_25 I would say you found your mojo and a big congratulations on all your successes this spring!

@MissMay your June goals are admirable and you are off to a strong start.

@itladyee sounds like your husband is doing well! Off the pain meds is a good sign.

@ahoy_m8 I like how you mentioned our ‘tomorrow selves’ again. A good reminder. That darn IDGAF is real too. That was me on Memorial Day as well.

Make it a great day!

zensome

Hello LA Friends! I am jumping back in for June. I am not a lurker, as I have posted here in the past but it has been a while because I came down with pneumonia at the end of March and spent the first 10 days of April in hospital, 6 in ICU. I am slowly recovering and getting back to myself but still have a way to go. Once I was back home, I slowly caught up with all the posts I missed here and have been, not lurking, but “following along” since then.

This is a very inspiring group and it has helped me to keep things in perspective as I heal. I have a renewed appreciation for my good health and healthy habits that I have practiced for many years. I know that being active and eating a mostly clean diet (few processed foods, lots of fruits & vegetables) helped me to survive my ordeal.

It has been frustrating to not be able to go hiking, running, gardening, even grocery shopping, but there are other people on this thread who have posted about their recovery from cancer, injuries, surgeries etc and I have been inspired by their tenacity so I am just trying to be patient with the process.

I have been AF since March 22 so that is a total of 72 days! I haven’t gone that long without alcohol since I was pregnant 18 years ago! For the most part, I have not really wanted any but there have been times that it has crossed my mind. Most mornings I was waking up feeling like I had a hangover without any alcohol and I haven’t wanted to exacerbate that. The last few mornings have been better but most days it is pretty unpredictable how any activity will affect me, making me too tired, or causing a headache etc. I’m not sure what adding alcohol to the mix will do. I might try to have a beer tonight or tomorrow and just see what happens but it will depend on how I’m feeling later.

I'm not setting a specific goal for June, I am just going to see what happens.

Chickadee00

@Michieb125 Are they alzaleas?? I thought it was a rhododendrons bush ! That's what it says on the label, anyway. I am a novice gardener. We spend a small fortune on plants, if only we knew what we were doing !

Michieb125

@Chickadee00 I was wrong with my quick opinion! And, I’m sure you have a rhododendron which I would love to grow. I just checked and found both azaleas and rhododendron are in the same family so to speak! They look quite similar but rhododendron normally stay evergreen year round.

https://www.monrovia.com/be-inspired/azalea-care-guide-how-to-grow-azaleas.html

Chickadee00

Michieb125 wrote: »

@Chickadee00 I was wrong with my quick opinion! And, I’m sure you have a rhododendron which I would love to grow. I just checked and found both azaleas and rhododendron are in the same family so to speak! They look quite similar but rhododendron normally stay evergreen year round.

https://www.monrovia.com/be-inspired/azalea-care-guide-how-to-grow-azaleas.html

Oh good ! We were wanting an evergreen. It's for the front door.

You find that with plants, many are from the one family. We bought a variation of a mountain fire. I think they are quite sturdy. They would have to be with our gardening knowledge lol thanks for the link.

SunnyDays930

@zensome I am glad you are on the road to recovery. That experience must have been scary.