Less Alcohol - September 2018 - One Day at a Time
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WinoGelato wrote: »Just wanted to pop in and say good job to those making strides in moderating, abstaining, and/or supporting others in their individual goals. This thread and group were a great support to me early on in the year.
WineGelato I have been thinking of you wondering how you are. I always loved your posts and informative input. Don't stay away so long.2 -
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I was fine having lunch in a pub today. My son had a pint of beer, I had Bitters, Lime and Lemon.
Didn't feel any urges to drink at all. All the bottles behind the bar just looked like pretty ornaments.6 -
Still taking baby steps. Blew my day 7 on Monday. Now on Day 2 again. Anniversary celebration today. Can I skip the champagne? Or, if I do not, can I stop at 2 glasses? We’ll see. I do not like how I woke up feeling yesterday. Headachy. Nauseous. Exhausted. Regretful. Work tomorrow will be torture if I do a rerun of Monday night.
I like what you said viceam... so true... Learning moment: This is a lifestyle change. Don't be afraid to re-direct your friends. For all you know, they may look up to you and be inspired to change as well
Good morning all! Happy Friday i had a great anniversary, enjoyed dinner out and 2 glasses of champagne. And then i quit! Too frequently in the past, I'd get home and say hmmmmm, wouldn't an after dinner drink be nice and then proceed to drink til drunk, munch on whatever i had in the pantry.... chips, nuts, cookies.... and feel like crap in the morning. Felt good to enjoy the bubbly and still wake up yesterday feeling great.8 -
SO inspiring to hear everyone's progress! Reflecting on this week, noticing good changes - I can run faster and more effortlessly, whites of my eyes are bright & sparkly, skin looks way less dry, lost 2 inches off my waistline, creative ideas come to me at work, & I feel generally calmer and more confident than before. Feeling way more grounded & think I am past that "physical" dependence stage and now need to work on "mindfulness". Trying out some free online mindfulness meditation apps and will see what it does....:)6
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You all ROCK!!!! Keep it going because I still love hearing/reading everyone's post. Each one has a special message.1
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I'm new here and so thankful to have found this!
A little about me...I'm 46 and married for 10 years. We have 5 kids, 26, 24, 23, 22 and 20(our only girl). We have 6 grandkids, 4 girls and the youngest 2 are boys. I live in Texas.
I have drank all of my life. I've gone for years not drinking and I've gone for years binge drinking. I'm currently on an 8 year streak where I drink at least a 12 pack a night. I've wanted to quit or cut down for years now. Last Friday, I went to the doctor and found out that my cholesterol is 3 times what it should be. I have never been more motivated than I am right now to change my life. Friday night I didn't drink anything. Saturday I had a bottle of wine and 3 beers(I would usually drink 2 bottles then have a few beers). Sunday was not a good day and I ended up close to my usual count. I've done better this week and can say that I have cut my usual in half. I realize that I am still drinking my weekly allotment in one day but I was drinking my monthly allotment in 2 days so I'm already encouraged by my progress. I started back on MFP because it always helps me to see that I destroy what was otherwise a healthy day with alcohol consumption every evening.
I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments and hope to be able to change more each week.11 -
Baby steps...baby steps. Try drinking several glasses of water before you start on your alcohol to ensure you aren't drinking more because you are thirsty \ dehydrated.
Try actually tasting \ savoring each sip. [okay, in my case, gulp]. If you find that you aren't enjoying the taste of each mouthful, you might as well save the calories & cholesterol bomb and go back to water.
Sooooooo much easier to say than do, isn't it ??
I actually lowered my stats enough that my doctor stopped yammering at me about being "pre-diabetic".6 -
@txmoonstar WELCOME. We all have different goals, levels and ideas of how we as individuals need to control our consumption. You are not alone in the things you have listed of ups and downs. It is never to late to get back in the level of control you want. It may be tough...real tough in the beginning. But you can get there. Thank you for sharing your intro. We are all here to listen at anytime you need.
@feelingFooFoo I hate to say it is normal. But it is to have unexpected bumps in this rocky road we are traveling on. But you did a good job on stretching out the S.O.B. cocktail and now you are seriously considering small glasses of wine VS large glasses. ALL GOOD in my eyes. And as you put it, another lesson learned.
I too was confronted with a friends husband wanting to buy a round at a place we went the other night. I was having lemonade and nachos. The friend and her husband arrived later at our seats as we were almost done with our beverages and food. As they talked more to us they ordered more alcohol for them. Then the next time around they wanted to treat us. Beer? he said to me. No thank you I said. Oh what was in your glass? Lemonade I said. He asked, REALLY??? Yup I replied. Another one of those then he asked? No I said seriously I can't drink any more fluids of any kind. Odd look from him....OK then he said. The end.
Everyone strive for your goals today what ever they are.6 -
Today I am committed to not drinking for one week. I have stopped drinking completely several other times in my life, but have never been able to fully quit. The longest I've gone is 7 months. I just came back from a 3 day conference where there were big fancy receptions and dinners each night so planned this week beforehand. I'm looking forward to feeling better and to using my calories for actual food instead of 2-3 glasses of wine.7
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I am an old grumpy guy and so at this point I cant be tempted bribed cajoled embarrassed into drinking, I find a way to pass on the drink. Today is our 44th anniversary and we will be going out and joining a group and I wont even need to discuss this anymore with anyone. A year ago on our anniversary our group was joined by another couple about our age who kept insisting he buy us drinks for our anniversary. I politely said no thanks and he kept asking, until rather loudly he said " wont drink with me"? To which I smiled and said no its not that I have my long run tomorrow morning and cant tolerate alcohol if I am going to do my 8 mile run. Stunned he looked at me and said you run 8 miles and the rest of the group I was with just nodded yes. End of offers
We can find a lot of excuses to drink but really only need one reason to not drink, for whatever our reason is we don't want to. So if someone offers and you are not at your limit you can say thanks just one or if you already passed your limit thanks anyway maybe another time. It is always up to you to decide.
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Last night I took the advice and savored each taste. I usually gulp but this time I sipped and enjoyed 2 glasses of wine over a few hours. Of course as the evening progressed and my stress level went up, I drank 6 beers.5
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Well this is a quiet Sunday in here. Nice to see a new face. Welcome@lauragreenbaum glad you are here and might I say 7 month is a good victory to go AF. Life does hand us an obstacle course at times but with good strategy you can get around it.
Great thoughts and suggestions @Ke22yB. I try to keep my responses short and sweet. No one wants to hear a book as to why they are drinking and we are not.
Good job @txmoonstar. I used to inhale everything I drank, even coffee. Not sure why but I have slowed down too.
Today marks 14 of being AF. It seemed a pretty easy 2 weeks because I had no events to go to that were overly alcohol intense. I told a friend today I am better and happier drinking if and when I want rather than when it is expected of me when I am out.
Also today marks 235 days of everyday check in to MFP. Things are looking up uP UP!3 -
txmoonstar wrote: »Last night I took the advice and savored each taste. I usually gulp but this time I sipped and enjoyed 2 glasses of wine over a few hours. Of course as the evening progressed and my stress level went up, I drank 6 beers.
@txmoonstar Great try!! Keep at it.
Try to be aware that each drink makes us less able to resist another drink.4 -
This weekend: went through 24 hours without any drinks. Yippie! Felt ok but at the 25th hour, I drank 16oz wine, more than my planned 10oz. I got that stressed anxious feeling, the need to eat & drink immediately or all hell is going to break lose. Didn't help I was also doing intermittent fasting & had gone on a long hike. Suppose my blood sugar was rock bottom & my cortisol through the roof.
Lesson learned: 1) anticipate the trouble "hours", 2) prep: have a game plan -snack a few hours before - maybe filling fruit like watermelon or a banana and a few nuts at 3-4pm & drink iced herbal tea (I bought calming ones like passionflower, lemongrass). This way when I approach the normal "drinking time", I am already in a somewhat calm state.
This week: officially declaring "plan" is to begin1 drink a day (5oz wine) by Thursday.
Last day of the month: officially declaring "plan" is to go "AF". All those happy "AF" folks convinced me
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Good morning, everyone. Just catching up here. Love reading the posts and many are so inspiring. I had a pretty challenging weekend. Hurricane Florence passed through our area. We are in the Charlotte area, so we had mostly rain rain rain. Not nearly as bad here as our friends on the coast. I was very proud of myself that I did not drink my way through the entire storm. My sweetie and I had a couple glasses of wine on Friday evening. On Saturday, I had nothing. We spent most of that day and evening at the hospital awaiting the arrival of my sweet grandson. Yesterday, I had a glass with dinner and a glass after dinner. So, while I did not stay completely AF over the weekend, I definitely stayed within moderation. I have realized if I can keep myself busy when I hit those trigger times, I don't have time to think about the wine. Now, even though I kept the wine consumption under control, we are not even going to discuss the hurricane snacking. Let's just pretend that didn't happen4
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Hi, @viceam. I'm not by any means "pushing" being AF as THE way to go. However, I have to say that your post reminds me of all the planning and strategizing I have done. It finally got too exhausting (and never seemed to really work as I wanted, anyway), so after 48 days AF, I have to say it's at least worth experimenting with. Good luck!5
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donimfp: appreciate this & I agree - for me it seems that dependency, even with less alcohol, is still there after all these weeks of tapering & I want it gone-Congrats on 48 days AF too, wonderful accomplishment!2
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Just went to the new "Sober" forum. 9 pages in, I got so depressed I had to quit reading. Not sure why the thought of never drinking again was such a downer. I never got to the point of staggering drunk or blackouts, I just drank so much that it affected my weight and budget.
Beginning month #4 of AF with no intention of staying that way forever. Looking forward to enjoying a well-sauced dish of spaghetti squash with a glass of Chianti next month. And then leaving the table !! [crossing fingers]
Getting over my sads by cleaning out a closet until Cat tells me it's time for a lap-sit.
Congratulation and hugs to all those who are meeting their goals, and those who are doing Day One one more time.4 -
frankly, i have more friends with my friends of bill w than with anyone who drinks-typically. there are exceptions
don't just cut something out of your life. fill it with something beneficial. imho4
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