Less alcohol-December 2017-one day at a time

That would tempt the S out of me. Stay strong

jeffmp29 wrote: »

That would tempt the S out of me. Stay strong

It would before, but now I am in a different mindset. The funny thing is that last night, when I told him I have not had any alcohol in one week....He said, "Now I am going to have to cut down because you are shaming it into me!" He was pretty intoxicated, so we will see how that goes. LOL!! Thank you for the support!!

lporter229 wrote: »

crazykatlady820 wrote: »

I'm on day 64 of being sober and I am surprised at how little I think of alcohol. Today had been a rough day emotionally. This is the sort of day where I would turn to wine or bourbon and drink until I can't think anymore. Instead I'm feeling all the feelings and I'm okay with that.

This is very inspiring! Thanks for sharing. I have not checked in since last Wednesday, but overall, I am pleased with how I have been doing this month. So far, I have had one night of overdoing it with a bottle of wine, but other than that, I have been able to keep things in check, even with holiday parties and other social events. We had a neighborhood party on Friday and I drank moderately, got up early Saturday morning and walked the dog before meeting my running group at 8AM for a 13 mile run, baked all day, washed all of the sheets on the guest beds, cleaned the house and decorated my tree. It was about 15 hours of non-stop productivity. Definitely could not have accomplished it all had I drank heavily the night before. This is the inspiration I have been using to remind myself why I need to stop before I reach the point of no return.

My in-laws begin arriving on Thursday of this week. I usually don't drink too heavily around them because I like to keep myself in control. I am a bit worried about what could happen after they leave on December 26th though

I like what you said here. I have done one week of being sober and I will remember what you stated about when you had a rough day emotionally, to just feel all the feelings, instead of drinking...Thank you for that. I also agree with the fact that so much more get accomplished...Thank you both and best wishes for the holidays!!!

I found this interesting post and thought that I would share it. :
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How Alcohol Interrupts Fat Burning Metabolism
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So, I've always wondered about the mechanics of how alcohol interrupts ketosis, other than pausing things to process the "poison" alcohol... I found this information in the middle of a recipe post, but I thought I'd share it here. I'm just wondering if there is other information out there to support it. I've always found this author to be a great resource, but I'm just wondering, because there's a whole lot of crazy going on here.

Alcohol Facts

When people go on a diet, they often choose the “light” version of their favorite alcoholic beverages in order to save a few calories. However, that is only a small piece of the puzzle. Fat metabolism is reduced by as much as 73% after only two alcoholic beverages. This scary fact shows that the primary effect of alcohol on the body is not so much how many calories we consume, but how it stops the body’s ability to use your fat stores for energy.

Alcohol in the body is converted into a substance called acetate. Unlike a car that uses one supply of fuel, the body is able to draw from carbohydrates, fats and proteins for energy. When your blood acetate levels increase, your body uses acetate instead of fat. To make matters worse, the more you drink the more you tend to eat; and unfortunately, drinking will make your liver work to convert the alcohol into acetate, which means that the foods you consume at this time will be converted into extra fat on your body.

If that didn’t sound bad enough; alcohol stimulates appetite and decrease your testosterone levels for up to 24 hours and increases estrogen by 300%. The infamous “beer belly” is really just an “estrogen belly.” Biochemically, the higher your level of estrogen is, the more readily you absorb alcohol, but the slower you break it down.

Muscle Tip: Drinking alcohol is the most efficient way to slash your testosterone levels; women…we don’t want this to happen either. Just a single event of serious drinking raises levels of the muscle-wasting stress hormone called cortisol and decreases the levels of testosterone for up to 24 hours. If you are working out to build strong fat-burning muscles yet consuming alcohol, this actually breaks down muscle further and you end up with a slower metabolism. This is because you break down muscle as you lift weights and you repair them as you rest if you have proper hormone levels…if not, you never repair your muscles properly!

Also, we all know that alcohol dehydrates us. In order for fat to be metabolized, it must first be released from the fat cell and then be transported by the bloodstream where it is pushed to the liver to be used as fuel. If you are dehydrated, the liver has to come to the aid of the kidneys and can’t focus on its role of releasing fat.

Alcohol also affects every organ of the body, it’s most dramatic impact is upon the liver. The liver cells normally prefer fatty acids as fuel, and package excess fatty acids as triglycerides, which they then route to other tissues of the body. However, when alcohol is present, the liver cells are forced to first metabolize the alcohol, letting the fatty acids accumulate in huge amounts. Alcohol metabolism permanently changes liver cell structure, which impairs the liver’s ability to metabolize fats, which causes fatty liver disease.


I thought this was interesting...and probably explains why I gained 35 lbs. when I started drinking wine every day.

Good article!

JulieAL1969 wrote: »

MaryBethHempel wrote: »

No alcohol yesterday...which makes my first week without alcohol in about four years....a very big step for me!!
I feel so so much better..I even look better...I am losing weight, working out, and learning guitar...I am very pleased at my new life.

I am so happy for you. Seven days is a long time. I told my girlfriend who I like to go out with that I am thinking of quitting drinking. She replied, "oh please, not yet." She understands, but also she feels she will miss her fun drinking buddy. I can't wait to see what the new year brings for you and all of us on this thread. I have always wanted to learn guitar. Best wishes!!

AWW! Thank you and best wishes for you for Christmas and the New Year!!

@MaryBethHempel _You are doing fantastic! You too @westschmeis!

I had one glass of wine last night. Not bad, but I have not had an alcohol free day this week. I have still cut back consumption, so I am trying to not be too hard on myself. Family has officially started arriving for the holidays, so I am not even going to try and pretend that I am going to stay alcohol free this weekend, but I will keep it to 1-2 glasses per night. I am with you @JulieAL1969 , looking forward to the new year and a fresh start. I finally am starting to feel like I actually WANT to make this change thanks to this thread. I think that has been the biggest thing holding me back.

donimfp wrote: »

Woo hoo! So glad to have found this thread on Dec. 23. I just read all the posts. Everyone is so inspiring. MaryBeth, you are really an inspiration! When I've gone some days without drinking, I, too, notice that my husband's breath smells like alcohol. Surely when I drink, that doesn't happen to moi! I think I'm in the same place as CrazyKatLady. I've just about concluded that it takes too much damned energy to plan and portion and obsess about when and how much and where I will let myself drink. It's easier to me to abstain completely. That said, I can hardly remember the last day I had no alcohol. Today will be that day. I am so in for a dry January. I'l going on a girls' trip to Italy in March so really want to take off some pounds before then. Good thing there is no wine in Italy, right?

Thank you much! Today I am having wine spritzers....I really felt pretty tense and thought that I have done well and I can allow myself to have some wine. I will probably have some wine for Christmas and New Year's Eve., but keep alcohol free the rest of the time. Hopefully I didn't wreck being an inspiration...I intend on being very strict about alcohol intake, but allow some wine days also. The best wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas, and of coarse, a blessed New Year! If this doesn't work for me, I may have to abstain completely....we will see!