Less Alcohol - March 2019 - One Day at a Time

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  • francineb4
    francineb4 Posts: 20 Member
    edited March 2019
    Thanks Teri- I sooo understand that stress with the parents AND the off-spring. And stress is the #1 thing that leads to my drinking. I am trying to understand my thoughts more and I know that drinking for stress is like peeing yourself because you are cold. It helps for a second and then things are worse.

    Also, I am with you on your preferred drink. I love beer. Trying to lose weight with keto has helped break the beer habit and I don't like the carb friendly alcohol as much (this doesn't stop me from drinking it mind you). I have been able to limit the beer to 2 -3 a week and I dont really want more than one after getting used to less carbs on keto. I am hoping as I slowly limit all alcohol, it will get easier and easier.
  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,005 Member
    March accountability ~14 days so far
    No Alcohol: 7 days
    Alcohol: 7 days (13 drinks)
    Goal: AF days 4 per week / 16 per month

    You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. - John C. Maxwell

    Doing better this week. Not as many challenges
    Mar 11 - AF
    Mar 12 - 2 glasses of wine - alumnae meeting
    Mar 13 - AF
    Mar 14 - AF
    Mar 15 -
    Mar 16 -
    Mar 17 -
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,892 Member
    @FeelinFooFoo
    Happy birthday!!
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,892 Member
    My goals for March will be the same as the previous months - 4 AF days per week. I have found it to be a realistic goal for me. I hit my goal in February (and surpassed it a little). Daily accountability is good. I was a daily drinker before making this resolve.
    I log the next morning usually.

    March 01 - 3 drinks - yes, chose to do that because I have a free Saturday to sleep in, basically no responsibilities or commitments. I had a very busy week and it was so nice to finally kick back, have a great dinner and a few drinks.
    March 02 - AF
    March 03 - AF
    March 04 - AF
    March 05 - AF - technically my goal of 4AF for the week.
    March 06 - AF
    March 07 - 3 drinks
    March 08 - 3 drinks - time to rack up some more AF days. I think that I broke that good advice on here not to have drinks 2 days in a row. It too quickly can fall back into a habit that I don't want to go back to.
    March 09 - AF
    March 10 - AF
    March 11 - AF - now to get the scale to move!
    March 12 - AF - I really really wanted to have cocktails last night, but also didn't want to look puffy, so vanity won out : - )
    March 13 - 3 drinks. Those of you who have seen me on here before know that I throw up if I exceed 3 : - )
    March 14 - AF

    10 AF days out of 14 days so far
  • globalhiker
    globalhiker Posts: 1,685 Member
    I had a few strong urges this evening to drink. Because the beer is within my reach, probably. It's in the fridge. So the temptation was there. I even heard myself starting what I used to do. Running through all the reasons to drink. Trying to make it the logical thing to do. Almost trying to talk myself into drinking! Like the devil on my shoulder saying 'go on'

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
  • MissMay
    MissMay Posts: 3,749 Member
    @FeelinFooFoo HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I want to lick the frosting off the ends of the candles. LOL
  • marcvb35
    marcvb35 Posts: 291 Member
    edited March 2019
    today’s plan. Don't buy a bottle.
    3/7 – well its been 34 hours without my whiskey. Not really an accomplishment for some but after failing at Less I am attempting cold turkey. I do have a couple cheat days planned for social events but no bottles in my house for a long while. I have no confidence that I will succeed.
    3/8 – 58 hours AF – long story – delete delete delete. I am regretting cold turkey. To anyone that drinks 1/5th or more of 80 proof a day alcohol. Get medical support or taper off before quitting cold turkey. Read up. I have every symptom besides death so far and I do not feel cleansed of alcohol yet. Going to be a hard weekend!
    3/9 – I have not slept well or felt good since Tuesday nights normal binge drinking. Oh Well I didn’t die or drink. I am quite sure I had night tremors or mild seizures the last few nights.
    3/10 – one of the hardest days yet but I am sticking to my plan.

    3/11 - I debated and debated about not drinking even though the written plan says celebrate on Sundays. Well I ended up picking up a bottle before going to a party. Bottle sat in the car for the first hour. Then when I opened it, I didn’t stop till it was gone. good by 1/5th see you next Sunday. Slept like a baby.
    3/12 - AF yesterday but probably still some alcohol in system from Sunday. Slept okay and don’t feel entirely horrible like last week.
    3/13 – AF but sure was a long day. Really wanted a drink badly. Could not sleep most of the night only got about 2 hours shut eye at most.
    3/14 – AF – slept the night, probably out of necessity but still it was nice to only toss and turn instead of needing to get out of the bed. Still a rough night, my body is not liking the change, blood pressure is through the roof even with meds, I am going to try and ride it out till Sunday again.

    3/15 – AF again. – hosted a dinner party and since I didn’t buy a bottle on the way home I so wished someone would offer me a drink, not that I like wine, or Rum, but I would have had anything with alcohol in it, oh well Sunday is right around the corner, hopefully I can resist my wife’s invite out for cocktails at the bar tonight with her friend!!!!

    Edit - I just noticed my dates are off. I had my last drink according to the plan on 3/6 - my next planned drinking day is every sunday after start date.
  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,005 Member
    March accountability ~15 days so far
    No Alcohol: 8 days
    Alcohol: 7 days (13 drinks)
    Goal: AF days 4 per week / 16 per month

    You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. - John C. Maxwell
    Including the last few days of February to monitor my weekly goal which I missed this time around.
    Feb 25 - AF
    Feb 26 - 2 glasses of wine
    Feb 27 - AF
    Feb 28 - AF - @ fishing camp for long weekend which is always a challenge!
    Mar 1 - 2 glasses of wine
    Mar 2 - 2 glasses of wine
    Mar 3 - 2 glasses of wine - driving this evening 5 hrs but then unexpected dinner at my sisters afterwards for spaghetti & wine

    Mar 4 - 2 glasses of wine - DH picked up a bottle for dinner
    Mar 5 - AF: Don’t order alcohol on plane even though you have free drink tickets! DH did but I ordered bloody mary mix instead. Then at dinner after we landed I drank water while he had wine.
    Mar 6 - 2 glasses of Albariño (white spanish wine). San Francisco: One glass at each restaurant we explored (Hog Island Oyster Co & Coqueta 5 Spanish tapas) and NO nightcap back at the hotel!
    Mar 7 - 1 beer - DH's sales rep had a beer waiting for me when I joined them after I strolled through the San Fran MOMA for 4 hours. No will power to turn it away when sitting in 3rd Street Tap Room.
    DH & I made a pact no alcohol for the rest of Lent which will commence for us Friday! This will be very challenging for the both of us.
    Mar 8 - AF
    Mar 9 - AF
    Mar 10 - AF
    It was a rough week of challenges but managed to pull together 4 of 7 days AF!
    Mar 11 - AF
    Mar 12 - 2 glasses of wine - alumnae meeting
    Mar 13 - AF
    Mar 14 - AF
    Mar 15 - AF
    Mar 16 -
    Mar 17 -

    Hit my 4 AF days this week with ease (back to Jan type success)! AND I finally crossed the mark this month of more days AF than with alcohol. Half way to my March goal of 16 AF days!
  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,005 Member
    March accountability ~16 days so far
    No Alcohol: 8 days
    Alcohol: 8 days (14 drinks)
    Goal: AF days 4 per week / 16 per month

    You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. - John C. Maxwell
    Including the last few days of February to monitor my weekly goal which I missed this time around.
    Feb 25 - AF
    Feb 26 - 2 glasses of wine
    Feb 27 - AF
    Feb 28 - AF - @ fishing camp for long weekend which is always a challenge!
    Mar 1 - 2 glasses of wine
    Mar 2 - 2 glasses of wine
    Mar 3 - 2 glasses of wine - driving this evening 5 hrs but then unexpected dinner at my sisters afterwards for spaghetti & wine

    Mar 4 - 2 glasses of wine - DH picked up a bottle for dinner
    Mar 5 - AF: Don’t order alcohol on plane even though you have free drink tickets! DH did but I ordered bloody mary mix instead. Then at dinner after we landed I drank water while he had wine.
    Mar 6 - 2 glasses of Albariño (white spanish wine). San Francisco: One glass at each restaurant we explored (Hog Island Oyster Co & Coqueta 5 Spanish tapas) and NO nightcap back at the hotel!
    Mar 7 - 1 beer - DH's sales rep had a beer waiting for me when I joined them after I strolled through the San Fran MOMA for 4 hours. No will power to turn it away when sitting in 3rd Street Tap Room.
    DH & I made a pact no alcohol for the rest of Lent which will commence for us Friday! This will be very challenging for the both of us.
    Mar 8 - AF
    Mar 9 - AF
    Mar 10 - AF
    It was a rough week of challenges but managed to pull together 4 of 7 days AF!
    Mar 11 - AF
    Mar 12 - 2 glasses of wine - alumnae meeting
    Mar 13 - AF
    Mar 14 - AF
    Mar 15 - AF
    Mar 16 - 1 beer - Texas Street Grill after hiking
    Mar 17 -
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,892 Member
    What does "kitten" mean? I have seen several of you mention it and it is not yet in my vocabulary. Definition please : - )
  • BuffMom84
    BuffMom84 Posts: 180 Member
    @beebva4 I know exactly how you feel. It's tough waking up the next morning and thinking, why did I do that last night? Then you lay there and think about how many other times you asked yourself that same question. And you wonder why you ever started drinking in the first place! The only thing we can do is dust ourselves off (apologize to anyone if need be) and try again. At least we are at the point where we are seriously trying to cut back. A few years ago I'd get drunk 4-5 times per week, made a fool out of myself at times and did not even care.

    @pramason38 It's funny you say that, because I didn't really even feel like drinking on Friday night. I probably should have just not gone to my sister's house because then I wouldn't have started drinking. She's the kind of person who can drink 2 beers and stop but when I get started I always have 4 or 5 (or sometimes more like Friday night). I didn't need to drink on Thursday. Yeah I get pretty bad anxiety in big crowds but I could have gone to the concert and not drank at all (I've done it before). It still would have been fun.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,892 Member
    My goals for March will be the same as the previous months - 4 AF days per week. I have found it to be a realistic goal for me. I hit my goal in February (and surpassed it a little). Daily accountability is good. I was a daily drinker before making this resolve.
    I log the next morning usually.

    March 01 - 3 drinks - yes, chose to do that because I have a free Saturday to sleep in, basically no responsibilities or commitments. I had a very busy week and it was so nice to finally kick back, have a great dinner and a few drinks.
    March 02 - AF
    March 03 - AF
    March 04 - AF
    March 05 - AF - technically my goal of 4AF for the week.
    March 06 - AF
    March 07 - 3 drinks
    March 08 - 3 drinks - time to rack up some more AF days. I think that I broke that good advice on here not to have drinks 2 days in a row. It too quickly can fall back into a habit that I don't want to go back to.
    March 09 - AF
    March 10 - AF
    March 11 - AF - now to get the scale to move!
    March 12 - AF - I really really wanted to have cocktails last night, but also didn't want to look puffy, so vanity won out : - )
    March 13 - 3 drinks. Those of you who have seen me on here before know that I throw up if I exceed 3 : - )
    March 14 - AF
    March 15 - AF - This is all about weight loss for me. Seriously, not a day goes by that I don't want to have drinks of one kind or another, but I want to lose weight more! Company coming, I don't know if I will imbibe or not, but I have been pretty "good" this month so far.
    March 16 - AF - Planning on drinks for Sunday

    12 AF days out of 16 days so far