LESS Alcohol ~ June 2025 ~ One Day at A Time

itladyee

I was impressed that a Seagram's Escape was only 3% alcohol, then I scanned it into my app….and the calories, Yikes. So not worth it!!! DH decided he wants to do a 7 day health challenge starting 6/16 (we are going to a baseball game on Father's day) which includes no red meat (I can do for 7 days) and no alcohol among some other things. I'm on board as often he is my trigger!

@globalhiker ~ Sorry yesterday was not pleasant for you or your DH, but kudos for not giving in and hitting that 10 month mark! I hope the PT is beneficial and he does not have to endure surgery. I continue to push the exercise lever… I was doing something daily but at the end of May (5/29) I decided to bring back my goal of walking a 5k-a-day of intentional exercise. ~3 miles per day, 5 or 6 days a week. In 15 days, 10 days have been +3 miles. 3 of the 5 remaining were 1 to 2 miles.

@Womona ~ I do the same when out to dinner. A cocktail = appetizer, Wine = Dinner. Stopping at two is is good and thank goodness we don't go to dinner every night!! 😎

@Michieb125 ~ glad you had a great time with your sister. I miss time with my sister so enjoy the special times together.

June Stats > 6.11
A=9
AF=2

globalhiker

@LittleSurferGirl7 looks like you did follow through with a habit change by delaying drinking in the morning and not having it in the house then, hey that is a win - even if it's a mini-goal it is a habit change. Similar to the popular intermittent fasting where people shrink their eating window, shrinking the drinking window means fewer hours drinking and more time the body has to repair from the damage the day before. It's just one way to look at it. And you're stepping in the right direction.

Thanks everyone for your supportive words.

Today I am personally working on my eating mismanagement. Last night I was mentally worn out so drove out for chinese take-out, for a very carby large super-sized portion of rice noodles indeed. Day before I went Miss Piggy on having second and third servings of chocolate chips and two yasso frozen yogurt (ice cream really) maybe to get my sugar high on? Then last night I am wide-eye awake at 1 a.m. and yup still awake. All this is coinciding with the weather hitting over the 100s and even though I am inside in A/C, somehow that makes me just want to eat carbs and sugar. I have not upped my protein, in fact, ate way less of it so maybe my system is begging for protein and looks like my brain is translating that incorrectly into wanting sugar. One day, maybe today, I will figure this out!

SparkSpringtime69

June:

AF=5
A=7

LittleSurferGirl7

@globalhiker That's a great analogy with my shrinking drinking window and intermittent fasting. It is a small win. I've been feeling much better since I quit the morning drinking. I was drinking when I woke up and then getting another fifth at 9 am and saving some for the morning. I was basically drinking a fifth (750 ml) a day and now I'm drinking a pint (375 ml) a day. I'm getting very close to quitting, but I don't want to announce when…Stay tuned!

I used to be an ice cream addict. I'm not talking about a single or double cone. I was filling a bowl with probably close to a pint of Vanilla Bean ice cream. Then I would add a little chocolate syrup, some pineapple topping, Reddi-Whip, and finely diced walnuts. Many times I would have two servings.

Then I had surgery and was on tube feeding for a couple of days. All I could eat were ice chips and sugar-free popsicles. One day, a few of the nurses were standing outside my hospital room. I said, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday, for a popsicle today!" Needless to say, I became addicted to the popsicles. Later I discovered the yogurt bars (yes, they are basically ice cream), but they are SOOO good. But I could never eat just one. I started eating three at a time. So I stopped buying them. I'm not sure what happened, but I somehow lost my desire for sweets.

I've heard that people can become addicted to sugar just like alcohol or heroin. My husband is horrible with sweets and salty. He isn't into ice cream. He likes donuts (bear claws in particular), cookies, Pop-Tarts, muffins, Payday bars, etc. Right now, we have partial bags of Lay's potato chips, Fritos, tortilla chips, Hot & Spicy chicharrones, and frosted animal cookies. I stay out of it most of the time. Except, if I'm hungry, I sometimes get into the Lay's with onion dip or tortilla chips and salsa. It makes it a bit difficult to stick to a healthy diet. Fortunately, I don't crave those things. So I can usually walk right by them.

sagosto2

sagosto2

Yay! So glad I found this group! I've been carrying around extra weight for years. I knew it was alcohol. Finally being honest and tracking my food and drinks in MFP proved that to me. I over eat and I over drink! Drinking too much is what got me here. The only problem, it takes work to quit. So I decided to cut back on alcohol and I joined the Reframe app. It's helped me a lot, but I really needed to work the food and the alcohol together because honestly, for me, they are riding along the same circuit in my brain. So day after day, I continue to add a drink, take away a snack, remove the drink and add the snack back in. 😂 It's a dance I do. Most days, I'm so freaking hungry the snack wins and that's a good thing! 😜 Thanks for this community. Amazing!!

itladyee

@sagosto2 ~ Welcome, and you are sooooo right, that do-si-do between a snack and a drink….and tracking really does prove the point. Now to get our heads in the game!

tmbg1

6 AF

1 LA

6 A

nbruns83

@itladyee, I'm so pleased to find you and this discussion. Like any dietary changes, I find that giving up or cutting back on alcohol is a slow process for me. I decided to do "Dry January" in 2022, and it seemed so hard. I marked off each day on a paper calendar, and even tried rewarding myself with $8.00 a day(a bottom-shelf price for wine back then). I told myself I'd be free to spend the cash frivolously. That worked for a couple of weeks.🙄

This past January, I did it with much less struggle. I made all 31 days (even my birthday) alcohol free. I'm so proud of myself. We all need to pat ourselves on the back even for the little steps.

I must confess that I've allowed myself to eat ice cream more than I used to, so I can't say that it's been a strategy for weight loss. But as they say, progress, not perfection.

I'm sorry that I'm not up to speed on everyone's name and situation, but I think you're all winners just for being here and making any effort.

AF - 11 days
LA - 2 days

Michieb125

A big Welcome @nbruns83! Happy you found this group of supportive people who share the same goals as you! Striving for less alcohol, one day at a time. IMOO cutting back on alcohol (wine for me) is a journey not a destination. And, everyone has different goals. Some people are completely AF; others like myself don’t want to completely eliminate it, rather, have taken mindful approach to imbibing less overall. Your stats look great by the way! Looking forward to getting to know you.

There are also some great resources posted at the beginning of thread.

LittleSurferGirl7

Welcome @sagosto2 and @nbruns83!

LittleSurferGirl7

As some of you know, I stopped drinking in the morning back on June 10th. By not drinking in the AM, I have cut back from a fifth (750 ml) of whiskey to a pint (375 ml) a day.

What is interesting is (from past experience), I knew I would lose weight when I quit drinking. But, by drinking 375 ml less whiskey a day, I've already started to notice my weight dropping. I have lost 2.4 lbs in four days. I guess when you think about it…375 ml of whiskey is over 800 calories. So, even though I haven't quit, cutting out that many calories a day has really helped. It's pretty exciting!