Less alcohol- February 2018- one day at a time
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@Poston1966 I urge you to read the first 5 chapters online of "alcohol explained" at the website of the same name. It tells you exactly why you are feeling these things physically. I ordered this book and it is still not here for some reason (maybe it's really popular this time of year- idk) but the 1st 5 chapters were alarming enough to me personally to really dial it WAY back. It may give you some extra resolve. We are all here for you!
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Iʻm in. Iʻve been weaning from it, but we had champagne and elderflower syrup yesterday for Super Bowl mimosas. Iʻve been on a kombucha journey thatʻs made it easier to reduce the alcohol, because itʻs flavorful (as long as I donʻt let it ferment too long) with less sugar, even with fruit juice. I was also doing lemon and seltzer which was helpful, but Iʻm on a mission to increase my water intake. Plain.old.water. haha.7
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I have got to kick the doggone chocolate habit!!! Uuugggghhhh!!!!3
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I have been following along on your journeys for the last few weeks and you all have inspired me to drink less. More days than not I would have a glass or two of red wine (and maybe 3 or 4 glasses on weekend nights). Since 1/21/18 I have only had alcohol on 2 days (so 14 days dry in the last 16 days). I call that a victory! Keep up the great work!10
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Sign me up!
I have (do) use booze as a stress reducer. I’m sure the gym will serve me better
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When I was stressed with my job, I’d have two pints at the bar after work, then come home and have three more beers. When I didn’t want to be at home because of whatever reason, I went to the bar to escape. Now, that I’m under a whole new kind of stress, I find myself drinking at least 2 drinks a night and probably 5 or more on weekends. That’s average too. That has to stop.
I think alcohol is adding to my stress now. I wake up at 3:00 am and have racing thoughts just about every night I consume. I wake up tired in the morning. I tell myself, ok, no more, but I’ll just want to unwind before I go home and stop at the bar. Now I’m hoping my unwind time is an hour at the gym.
I’ll support all of you on this journey because I know how hard it can be!!9 -
Day 5 of 5 here. I’m really finding Annie Grace’s daily emails and videos are pretty thought provoking. I am really enjoying them.
So I use to log my food most days but would stop after lunch. I rarely logged dinner because I knew with it and the liquor I’d always be over. Today I’ve logged my whole day and I am over by 237 calories. Now think back when I would have drank probably 500 calories and then eat crap right before I went to bed. No wonder I can’t loose any weight8 -
JulieAL1969 wrote: »
You are in an inspiration! xo
Thank you for sharing. It is very inspirational! I have never been on any marathon. Maybe you lit a spark for me to do one in the future. Good luck and enjoy your next marathon!! 1 -
today is day 34 dry!12
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runtodayamyrun wrote: »Day 5 of 5 here. I’m really finding Annie Grace’s daily emails and videos are pretty thought provoking. I am really enjoying them.
So I use to log my food most days but would stop after lunch. I rarely logged dinner because I knew with it and the liquor I’d always be over. Today I’ve logged my whole day and I am over by 237 calories. Now think back when I would have drank probably 500 calories and then eat crap right before I went to bed. No wonder I can’t loose any weight
yeah I was easy drinking 500 a day4 -
5 weeks down! I was the DD for my parents and aunt last night. We went to Hooters for the Super Bowl and I am very glad I didn't drink (it ended up raining).4
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fitand50inSD wrote: »I have been following along on your journeys for the last few weeks and you all have inspired me to drink less. More days than not I would have a glass or two of red wine (and maybe 3 or 4 glasses on weekend nights). Since 1/21/18 I have only had alcohol on 2 days (so 14 days dry in the last 16 days). I call that a victory! Keep up the great work!
Fantastic job- 14 days alcohol free. We would all call that a victory!!! Xoxo4 -
imlightning wrote: »Sign me up!
I have (do) use booze as a stress reducer. I’m sure the gym will serve me better.
When I was stressed with my job, I’d have two pints at the bar after work, then come home and have three more beers. When I didn’t want to be at home because of whatever reason, I went to the bar to escape. Now, that I’m under a whole new kind of stress, I find myself drinking at least 2 drinks a night and probably 5 or more on weekends. That’s average too. That has to stop.
I think alcohol is adding to my stress now. I wake up at 3:00 am and have racing thoughts just about every night I consume. I wake up tired in the morning. I tell myself, ok, no more, but I’ll just want to unwind before I go home and stop at the bar. Now I’m hoping my unwind time is an hour at the gym.
I’ll support all of you on this journey because I know how hard it can be!!
I used to do that too. Drinking at a local bar to de-stress after work. Then, get home and want more. One of the books says that alcohol actually causes the anxiety/stress you are feeling. I will try to find a screen shot of that paragraph. I thought that was probably accurate , because even after the first drink, it must not have helped that much, because I wanted one more and then one more.
Ahh I feel for you. In the book This Naked Mind, the author says the same thing. You wake up in the night and wonder why do I do that, and yet the next day by 5 p.m. You drink again. You are definitely not alone. Lean on us for support. We are all in it together;) xoxo5 -
@Poston1966 I urge you to read the first 5 chapters online of "alcohol explained" at the website of the same name. It tells you exactly why you are feeling these things physically. I ordered this book and it is still not here for some reason (maybe it's really popular this time of year- idk) but the 1st 5 chapters were alarming enough to me personally to really dial it WAY back. It may give you some extra resolve. We are all here for you!
Jen That is the book I was thinking about. @imlightning The book is Alcohol Explained. It's a real eye opener, I agree with Jen.1 -
eddie_fields wrote: »
There’s a tremendous little local liquor store in Cocoa Beach, Florida that I went to nearly everyday for three years when I lived there. When I was moving, I told the owner (a pleasant Indian man) that I was relocating out of state. He said “I love you man and will miss you, I see you more than many of my family.”
I thought it was very polite...and that maybe I had a problem. Haven’t drank since Jan 1...hoping to make a nice little run here.
Thanks for sharing
That's a sweet, touching story. You are doing very well. Do you feel it gets easier as the days pass? I do. Now, I dont have any cravings. I just sometimes miss the taste, sight and smell of a nice martini.
At the different local bars in my town, all the bartenders used to say "Hi Julie" when I'd walk in. They all knew my name. I , too, thought that it may have been problematic that I was a regular. Now, I have change my after work routine. I tend to go either to the library, grocery store or the gym. Then, I don't get tempted to stop anywhere else.5 -
Day 17 in the books! My best friend has been AF for 3 days and she is reading This Naked Mind. She keeps sending me screenshots of the latest thing she has read :-) Have a good night, all. My sleepy tea has done it's job!5
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islandbeez wrote: »Day 17 in the books! My best friend has been AF for 3 days and she is reading This Naked Mind. She keeps sending me screenshots of the latest thing she has read :-) Have a good night, all. My sleepy tea has done it's job!
I am reading that too! I really like it so far. It helps me psycho analysis myself which I totally love to do! Great job on #17!2 -
I'm in. Had one beer this weekend. That's it for this month.5
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I’m really enjoying reading these posts. I find each of them inspirational in their own way! I don’t have friends & no one around me cares about healthy & being the best version of you. I’m always trying to improve myself and reach new goals. I am at my last 10lbs and struggling ... I know the unnecessary alcohol is holding me back. Well...once I have one glass my expectations drop and then the late night snacking starts. I’m down for removing alcohol from my diet.
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greathouse1803 wrote: »I’m really enjoying reading these posts. I find each of them inspirational in their own way! I don’t have friends & no one around me cares about healthy & being the best version of you. I’m always trying to improve myself and reach new goals. I am at my last 10lbs and struggling ... I know the unnecessary alcohol is holding me back. Well...once I have one glass my expectations drop and then the late night snacking starts. I’m down for removing alcohol from my diet.
You have friends and a support system here. Good for you to be at your last 10 lbs! And don't be too hard on yourself. I've been considering quitting drinking/drastically reducing for at least 10 years. I am finally in the right mindset (mostly due to this thread) to do it. We are all on our own journeys here.7 -
Ugh! Such a problem this can be. I'm in. I'm not going cold turkey, but I NEED to cut down. I'm a wine at night person. Only 2 I tell myself....then 1 more, then a half. No idea why but it's been a struggle for me for over a year. It sucks.11
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Went to a work lunch with clients today and turned down the wine! I was a little worried about it, because it's a bit of an image thing (there's an expectation generally that if the client is having a drink you will too), but we ended up having a good chat about Febfast and it was all cool.10
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Had 2.5 glasses on Sunday during the Super Bowl (split a bottle with a friend) but spread out over several hours and definitely less than normal. Again it didn’t taste great - not sure if I’ve just had a couple of meh bottles since cutting back or if my tastes are changing.
Planning to be dry all this week and maybe next weekend. Have a sales meeting in Dublin next week - that’s going to be a big challenge for a number of reasons.8 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Had 2.5 glasses on Sunday during the Super Bowl (split a bottle with a friend) but spread out over several hours and definitely less than normal. Again it didn’t taste great - not sure if I’ve just had a couple of meh bottles since cutting back or if my tastes are changing.
Planning to be dry all this week and maybe next weekend. Have a sales meeting in Dublin next week - that’s going to be a big challenge for a number of reasons.
Good luck to you!
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Last night was a pre-planned date night with hubs. I had 3 pre-planned glasses of wine.Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
Hangover! Note to self: this does not feel good!
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
Awesome. I'm hoping it will be good for mine as well. The menopot MUST GO. lol
Good Luck! x one day at a time!
Tonight I was feeling so down on myself, about to write my JFT post, - this afternoon I got a bloody MacDonalds burger at the drive through! WHY WHY! Arrgh 500 calories of crap. Ah well, sigh. Then tonight, bed time, I realised. well ... no alcohol today, didn't even think about it. So I guess overall, I gotta take today as a win.
Good night y'all and good luck to us all today and tomorrow.10 -
Bit late to join this challenge too, but ok!! Haha. I haven’t had any alcohol at all since January 2nd. I did a 30 day challenge of NO alcohol, which was ok, but now I’m changing the rules for myself so it will be more difficult. I’ll allow myself SOME alcohol, but only on weekends, and not too much. That will be difficult. I am a moderate drinker normally. Can easily sink a bottle of wine by myself and my boyfriend and I will share wine on a few occasions during the week. So I will cut down, and start making healthier non alcoholic beverage choices most days of the week!7
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After an almost totally dry Jan, I had a couple of glasses of wine on Saturday night. I didn’t really like the taste! it’s made a big difference to my marathon training and I think my mindset has shifted. I was drinking Fri-Sun with my husband but I’m feeling the benefit. Not much difference on the scale, but the other benefits are worth it. I had intended on going back to a couple of drinks on a Friday & Saturday in Feb, but I’m going for dry. I think it’s easy to form a habit and getting this far along is forming a non-drinking habit! Sorry but long post, but it’s funny how quickly you can change behavior9
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So looking back on Sat night, I still don't regret drinking because it was kind of like a test. But honestly, since then I have been in a funk. My head has been cloudy and my feelings have been depressed. I've also been pretty anxious. This morning it just occurred to me I may be feeling these things due to drinking this weekend. And I didn't just drink Saturday, I binged on wine to the point of blacking out.
I really need to come to terms with what I want out of this "experiment" - do I want to stop for good or not? My initial answer is no, but at the same time, do I want to go up and down like this every time I drink? It's like I'm going through withdrawals all over again, same things I felt 2 weeks ago. I was feeling so good before Saturday too.
In looking into why I drank Sat night, my reasons were twofold; Initially I decided to because my husband and I were arguing. I know that's a huge trigger for me. Which in reality doesn't make sense... I mean, what is that going to solve? Absolutely nothing. The second reason is because all of my female relatives were drinking, and I guess I was suffering from FOMO. I dunno. Those don't seem like solid enough reasons to drink and feel *kitten* for at least three days afterwards...15 -
And thank you for letting me vent here. I don't feel like I have anyone to talk to about this who understands, so this place is very helpful.13
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