Less Alcohol - May 2019 - One Day at a Time
Replies
-
May 1 - one generous size glass of whiskey in celebration of going into contract with selling our house!
Today so far, opened one Truly 100 calorie hard sparkling water and sipping it. Have been logging in my foods all day and hope to keep it to just the one. Will check in tomorrow though!
4 -
I am happy to see that this group is still going strong. I have been away for a while partly due to busy-ness, mostly due to not caring enough about cutting back, too much stress. However, in reality, drinking does not help with the stress, only deadens it temporarily, and then is made worse with the morning after sluggishness.
I am not planning to go cold turkey, just cutting way back. I was drinking "every" night, 2-3 drinks, and having trouble remembering conversations. On top of that the mindless eating, adding lbs that I do not want or need.
So 3 days now, -0- drinks... more energy, clear head, and the scale is moving in the right direction. I am happy to be back...12 -
For May, my goal is to check in daily, focus on adding in new fun activities in my life, advance planning, and distracting myself when the urge hits. I had made good progress before by cutting out the number of days I eat out a month (lost 15 lbs that way). Now I go out maybe 7-8x a month max (it used to be 12x + takeouts). I pick healthy foods but always drink wine. And my favorite place I go to every Saturday pours heavy - Italian Pinot Grigio and only charges $5. I would guess 8oz easy. It's super good value so I order 2. LOL not a good value for my waistline or my liver so who am I kidding????. My goal for May is to cut down the outings down to half this month and instead cook something fun and new at home so I don't feel deprived....scary thought especially since we are entering vacation season but hey I need to change up my patterns....4
-
My husband and I are very social and tonight we frequented a hot spot of ours. Ordering dinner at the bar and discussing upcoming weekend events with the folks that work there. Husband ordered alcoholic beverage and I ordered iced tea in a stemmed glass with an orange twist(my go to beverage.)
So I mention to the bartender that I have a great recipe for a sober mint julupe if she wants to use it Saturday. After I told her the ingredients she said what booze? I said NONE. Ohhhhhh she said, it does sound good even without the booze.
Then she asked why I don't drink very often? So I asked why she "did" drink. She could not answer except to say because everyone else does. Then I replied...not me. Now she is completely at a loss for words. If you don't really like to drink then why do you come to a bar she asked? To be social and to talk with people was my answer. So the reason you get your drink in a stem glass with an orange twist the way you do is to avoid people asking you why you don't drink? Yup I said.
Wow....that is a really smart idea the young bartender commented. I am going to start putting all the adults non alcohol drinks in stemmed glasses. I think they will like that.
Small victory👏8 -
This is so insightful.
I think we start out drinking for a quick "fix".
Drinking (and eating) sensibly actually requires more thought.
For me, the word, "prudence" sums it up.
prudence noun
pru·dence | \ ˈprü-dᵊn(t)s \
Definition of prudence
1 : the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason
2 : sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs
3 : skill and good judgment in the use of resources
4 : caution or circumspection as to danger or risk
It's not being a martyr or miserly.
It's a beautiful feeling of zen, of aiming to have adequate or sufficient amounts, not excess.
To feel that way takes planning. You can plan to have less now, if you want to have more later, so you have a prudent amount overall.
Lovely quote, MissMay.My husband and I are very social and tonight we frequented a hot spot of ours. Ordering dinner at the bar and discussing upcoming weekend events with the folks that work there. Husband ordered alcoholic beverage and I ordered iced tea in a stemmed glass with an orange twist(my go to beverage.)
So I mention to the bartender that I have a great recipe for a sober mint julupe if she wants to use it Saturday. After I told her the ingredients she said what booze? I said NONE. Ohhhhhh she said, it does sound good even without the booze.
Then she asked why I don't drink very often? So I asked why she "did" drink. She could not answer except to say because everyone else does. Then I replied...not me. Now she is completely at a loss for words. If you don't really like to drink then why do you come to a bar she asked? To be social and to talk with people was my answer. So the reason you get your drink in a stem glass with an orange twist the way you do is to avoid people asking you why you don't drink? Yup I said.
Wow....that is a really smart idea the young bartender commented. I am going to start putting all the adults non alcohol drinks in stemmed glasses. I think they will like that.
Small victory👏
Yay, you! Sharing insight is how this thing works!
1 -
Thanks @orphia. It is true that good judgement is so key to over coming indulging once you have a drink.
FRIDAY! Do not look at it as I owe myself the reward of having to work all week to get WASTED. It will not be worth the pain Saturday will inflict on your body.
Have one or two....be happy.... wake up loving the person looking back in that mirror.5 -
Why do I order wine at crappy dive bars? Should have had a mixed drink for my planned night last night. I did stick to only one though, and I love that I have finally achieved real moderation.
I would have enjoyed something like a G &T more and not have had to order mozzarella sticks to kill the taste of lousy wine. You don’t want to see how much my weight went up this morning from fried salty food consumed after 9:00 PM.
But, it was fun to see a singer/songwriter friend of ours perform, and catch up with old friends.4 -
Thursdays are my nights to have a few drinks. I usually take 3 out to my barn with me and brush/ride my horses. It's relaxing and I enjoy it. Last night, between 5pm - 10pm I had 6. Two with my horses, and 4 with my husband. Not feeling too bad today, since I didn't buy vodka when I bought the white claws. Usually I'll have a few white claws and then graduate over to the vodka before bed. THAT really gets me...and I usually hate getting through the next day. But I deliberately did not buy the vodka for that reason. Not in the house, can't have it!
So far May is going reeeeaaaaal good for me ......
May 01 - 3 drinks. My goal was 0. Only had the 3 though, so that was something.
May 02 - 6 drinks.
4 -
5/2
May 1: Goal 3/Actual 5
May 2: Goal 3/Acutal <2 (didn't finish it all) I focused on postponing that first drink. Kept myself busier. Tried to stay off the phone and couch. Success!
Tonight traveling an hour north to visit two sets of aunts and uncles I haven't seen in a while. So if any, one, have to drive home. When I get home, probably 1 to 2 beers. No wine at home!! That use to be my norm....Friday night, it's time for one or more bottles of wine. Feeling better
@beebva4 Congratulations on the sell of your house!! That's reason to celebrate!
@MissMay That is excellent!! You need to frequent all the bars to encourage the stemmed glass for non-alcohol beverages!! Great conversation!
Have a great Friday everyone!!2 -
May 1 - one generous size glass of whiskey in celebration of going into contract with selling our house!
May 2 - 1.5 truly hard waters (150 cals)
Oh and I took a sip of my husbands
whiskey
Today's goal: none!3 -
New month : - )
I will do my usual, log on to this forum every day to keep myself accountable.
April was good, 21AF days out of 30. My goal was 4AF days per week.
I am really working hard on losing weight, so my plan for May will be 5AF days per week.
Best of luck to everyone trying to drink less this month.
May 01 - AF
May 02 - AF - planned night out for dinner, drinks, a concert Friday night the 3rd. I am okay with that, I do it seldom.
Running total: 2AF day out of 2 day so far : - )4 -
May is going fairly well so far. My husband & I had a celebratory shot of TQ (our go-to), we clinched 1st place in our bowling league last night. My husband poured, which was good for me, his was a full shot, mine was 1/2 with an ice-cube. He knows that I am cutting way back, and I am happy that he is being so supportive and not pushing me to drink more with him. He is the BEST! We bowl again tonight, and traditionally have a TQ drink with lime juice and club soda, our version of a Margarita, but way less calories. I will stick with just the one, and drink club soda with lemon the rest of the night. (much better plan than what I usually do on a Friday night!)
Happy Friday Everyone!6 -
Happy Friday!
May 1- 0 drinks
May 2- 2 (3?) glasses of wine- 2 the way I pour them, 3 the way my husband does haha. There’s still a glass in the bottle and he had one too so I’m considering it a win- usually he has one and I kill the bottle.
I’m also trying to drink a gallon of water a day which helps- no wine til I’ve had my gallon so I’m at least starting later instead of while cooking dinner. Plus I know not having enough water contributes to weight gain, I’ve lost a few pounds this week and I attribute most of it to less water retention.6 -
Today it was 1serving sparkling rose 11% alcohol, more so for taste and habit and to not feel deprived. My goal for this weekend is to stay away from restaurants and replace that with fun at home. Plan to watch more episodes of Street Food (not sure if Netflix or Amazon), eat popcorn, and relax. Yes I know, it's the easy way out because if I go out, I will get tempted and before you know it, there will be close to 1,000 liquid calories to log and I really don't need to self sabotage myself on a Friday after so many months at it. Not worth it.6
-
New month : - )
I will do my usual, log on to this forum every day to keep myself accountable.
April was good, 21AF days out of 30. My goal was 4AF days per week.
I am really working hard on losing weight, so my plan for May will be 5AF days per week.
Best of luck to everyone trying to drink less this month.
May 01 - AF
May 02 - AF - planned night out for dinner, drinks, a concert Friday night the 3rd. I am okay with that, I do it seldom.
May 03 - 1/2 litre of wine + 2 drinks! Off the rails with food too - this happens when we consume alcohol. I had a good time, but it is bad for the waistline.
Running total: 2AF day out of 3 days so far4 -
May 1 - one generous size glass of whiskey in celebration of going into contract with selling our house!
May 2 - 1.5 truly hard waters (150 cals)
Oh and I took a sip of my husbands
whiskey
May 3 - AF
Today, not so sure how it'll go. Neighbor is having a get together for the derby, if we go I might have a little. But not my usual crazy shots of stuff.3 -
Thanks for a great topic -- I'm in!
And I am finding that the 1-2 days after I drink are filled with anxiety. Anyone else have this side effect?3 -
SweatsOnSunday wrote: »Thanks for a great topic -- I'm in!
And I am finding that the 1-2 days after I drink are filled with anxiety. Anyone else have this side effect?
Hello and welcome @SweatsOnSunday. Anxiety is a major effect of to much alcohol. Or let me correct that. I think we all have a threshold for consumption and that number varies for each of us. One or two drinks may be just fine for most people while pushing past that two can create havoc in so many ways.
Society and the alcohol industry have brain washed us that alcohol is a way to unwind, relax, forget our problems.
Why then are people waking up in the middle of the night with racing hearts, thinking and worring about problems that don't exist yet and having as you commented anxiety?
So after a long rant from me YES so many of us do experience anxiety afterwards.7 -
Sipped my lovely virgin mint juleps yesterday at our derby parties. Had a lot of comments how, "yum...that looks good". I did offer up tasting and people were surprised there was no bourbon. YET the expensive looking stemmed glass gave a different perception.
This time last May 2018 I had already placed little devil 😈 faced emojis on my calendar. This year smile 😁 emojis.
Oh..... and my husband and I won the derby hat contest at one of our parties yesterday. But guess what the prize was? Yup, A bottle of booze! Oh well.
6 -
New month : - )
I will do my usual, log on to this forum every day to keep myself accountable.
April was good, 21AF days out of 30. My goal was 4AF days per week.
I am really working hard on losing weight, so my plan for May will be 5AF days per week.
Best of luck to everyone trying to drink less this month.
May 01 - AF
May 02 - AF - planned night out for dinner, drinks, a concert Friday night the 3rd. I am okay with that, I do it seldom.
May 03 - 1/2 litre of wine + 2 drinks! Off the rails with food too - this happens when we consume alcohol. I had a good time, but it is bad for the waistline.
May 04 - AF
Running total: 3AF day out of 4 days so far5 -
May 1 - one generous size glass of whiskey in celebration of going into contract with selling our house!
May 2 - 1.5 truly hard waters (150 cals)
Oh and I took a sip of my husbands
whiskey
May 3 - AF
May 4 - 2 drinks. Not too bad for a party and better than I normally would have done. One mint jelup and one truly 100 calorie hard sparkling water.
Today's goal: NADA!4 -
5/3- Friday night was definitely a drinking night for me- had 4 or 5 (didn’t wait for empty on a few refills so probably 4 volume wise) over the evening while watching TV and relaxing, but did not get drunk or wake up hungover Saturday.
5/4- AF Yesterday even with going to dinner out which is a rarity (both dinner out with a toddler and not drinking at a restaurant). Glad I did too, I squeaked in under my calorie goal even ordering scallops and (grilled) calamari- hibachi sides add up quick! This morning was the first this week I weighed more than the day prior but with all that salt last night it makes sense.
4 -
My plan for May will be 5AF days per week.
May 01 - AF
May 02 - AF - planned night out for dinner, drinks, a concert Friday night the 3rd. I am okay with that, I do it seldom.
May 03 - 1/2 litre of wine + 2 drinks! Off the rails with food too - this happens when we consume alcohol. I had a good time, but it is bad for the waistline.
May 04 - AF
May 05 - AF
Running total: 4AF day out of 5 days so far4 -
May 1: Goal 3/Actual 5
May 2: Goal 3/Acutal <2 (didn't finish it all) I focused on postponing that first drink. Kept myself busier. Tried to stay off the phone and couch. Success!
May 3: Goal open/Actual, 2 wines and aunt & uncles, 3 beers when returned home.
May 4: Goal open/Actual, 2 wines at lunch with girl friends...…..wayyy over Saturday when returning home. Calories brought me almost 1,000 calories over my goal. Eye opener! That's why I list it and have removed my diary from public view. Other's don't need to know all that. I've had replies from people in other groups make suggestions that may be a place to cut back.....Me: ya think??? LOL Well I felt so crappy waking up Sunday I missed church....yep, I go But another reminder and bringing it closer and making it easier to feel like I am ready to live life with "less alcohol". I may have felt cruddy physically, but mentally, I am feeling better about things. Yeahhhh……..that feels great!
May 5: Goal 3/Actual 0
6 -
OK well here I am again. We had visitors over the weekend and we had a derby party. Lots of booze, self included. But it was a fun weekend with our friends who we don't get to see often.
The goal now is AF during the week, starting today. My husband is on board with it. We agree that we both drink too much. He also admitted to me that he knows that it is usually him that falls off the wagon first (true) but I also admitted that I happily leap off right behind him, and that is my fault.
Is anybody here doing this with a partner/spouse, and if you are, how do you handle it if he/she slips? I frequently am the drink maker, if he asks for a drink do I remind him we're not drinking or just nod and pour? Curious how other couples handle this.4 -
@2kellymike ask him which he would prefer. Maybe just a wink reminder, something subtle.2
-
My weekend started off great but I let myself down on Sunday. I accept full responsibility. I managed to stay in Friday, skip the habitual Saturday lunch out with 2 extra large glasses of wine, no longer have feelings of anxiety, but then came Sunday. And it was Cinco de Mayo in my neck of the woods (aka drinking day). So feeling deprived and having the feeling that I earned it for doing good the 2 prior days, I bought a bottle of wine and drank the whole thing during the afternoon. How did I let this happen? Well, I really did focus on having a goal for Fri and Sat, but had none for Sunday. Still working through those feelings of deprivation and reward..I suppose a daily goal/intention is in order. A day with no goal = putting myself at greater risk for poor outcome.3
-
2kellymike wrote: »OK well here I am again. We had visitors over the weekend and we had a derby party. Lots of booze, self included. But it was a fun weekend with our friends who we don't get to see often.
The goal now is AF during the week, starting today. My husband is on board with it. We agree that we both drink too much. He also admitted to me that he knows that it is usually him that falls off the wagon first (true) but I also admitted that I happily leap off right behind him, and that is my fault.
Is anybody here doing this with a partner/spouse, and if you are, how do you handle it if he/she slips? I frequently am the drink maker, if he asks for a drink do I remind him we're not drinking or just nod and pour? Curious how other couples handle this.
I don't have this situation as my husband has his own beer fridge and accesses it anytime he wants (a different problem) and he would get upset if I tried to limit his drinks. But an option could be that you could ask your spouse (at the right time) how he'd prefer you handle this and what he sees as the best solution. You could opt to say what you are willing to do and not do I suppose. Delicate situation!1 -
May 1 - one generous size glass of whiskey in celebration of going into contract with selling our house!
May 2 - 1.5 truly hard waters (150 cals)
Oh and I took a sip of my husbands
whiskey
May 3 - AF
May 4 - 2 drinks. Not too bad for a party and better than I normally would have done. One mint jelup and one truly 100 calorie hard sparkling water.
May 5 - 2 lime-a-ritas
disappointed myself on this one.
Today havent had anything and am heading to bed soon, so when I check in tomorrow it'll be AF!3
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions