Less Alcohol - FEBRUARY 2020 - One Day at a Time

Day 5 AF done! Waking up happy! We are ON-A-ROLL!

Today is definitely Monday!! I was AF Saturday, and did a very calculated, planned martini yesterday. Just one!

My husband and I have started "Sundays from scratch" at home, meaning since we are all home, we will make something yummy from scratch. The kids help, and last weekend were cinnamon rolls (how had we never made these before?!!??). This usually is a most of the day occasion, and yesterday my husband (my former chef) toiled in the kitchen making pan fried pork dumplings. Drinking a glass while cooking is a common thing for us, so we chose a "night cap" martini instead and drank Soda Stream sparkling water all day up until that point. I liked being able to look forward to something rather than feeling like I need to start as soon as the flour comes out of the pantry. I woke up a little more anxious than I have been, but not sluggish in any way.

So, I am at 6/9 days AF! It helps coming here and knowing I am not alone in undoing these habits.

As usual, I am going to try for 16-20 AF days for the month.
Short month, so this might be challenging.
I had 18AF days for January

Saturday February 1 - AF - Superbowl party tomorrow (yes, we Canadians love it too) so not planning to be AF. I am planning to intersperse glasses of water between drinks, and I have 1 cold no-alcohol beer to take with me to the party.
Sunday February 2 - Drinks and too much fattening food, but very fun. Shakira and JLo were great!
Monday February 3 - AF - Felt a bit rough this morning until I had my lemon water.
Tuesday February 4 - AF - It is my designated drinks day, but I also am trying to have 2AF days in a row in between, so abstained.
Wednesday February 5 - 3 drinks
Thursday February 6 - AF
Friday Feb 7 - AF - The weight is finally coming down after Superbowl. We have a big event here in town next weekend, Winter Blitzville, the second annual. They close off the downtown and snowmobiles flip in the air over ramps, there are live bands, bbqs on the main street, fireworks etc. Many people will come back and forth from my house over the course of the day and night (I live right downtown) and I will put a giant pot of mulled wine on the stove for people coming and going to use the washroom and warm up a bit. I am going to try for only 2 drink days before then, because I will for sure want to indulge in some Mulled Wine. Guess that I will need to clean my house a bit lol.
Saturday Feb 08 - AF - It was a planned day for drinks, but I wasn't feeling that well, so wanted to give my body a fighting chance.
Sunday Feb 09 - AF - I was going to have Champagne to watch the Oscars, but didn't. OMG, 4 AF days in a row!! Second time ever
Sunday Feb 10 - AF - My first time to 5 AF days in a row. Planned drinks day tomorrow.


Running tally - 8AF days out of 10 days so far

Another day AF! 6 down just another 54 to go!

Day 6 AF done! Yesterday I had a strong wine craving hit around noon that just came at me from nowhere. I realized I had not yet eaten, so I had a generous but healthy lunch (salad, sweet potato, etc) and poured a cranberry juice on ice in my wine glass and the craving went away rather quickly.

lilann1961 wrote: »

7/10 days AF for February!

And I actually got the laundry done. It didn't sit at the foot of my bed in a basket until the weekend. You all have no idea what a huge accomplishment that is! I do understand that had I had a glass of wine, my energy would have plummeted and I would have sat down as soon as I could. Instead, I did the dishes while the kids got ready for bed, and then I folded the last load. It really is the little things you notice when an old habit starts crumbling. Here is to day 9 AF!

Sounds like me,I tend to just live out of the basket all week🤣 glad you got it done 👍 everyone sounds fabulous and sticking to their goals! 6:47 am in Vegas I won't be drinking today.

I, and many others, appreciate this post OP.....good stuff! I struggled with this in my early 20's and haven't looked back since taking control....I've reduced consumption to twice a week, strictly red wine, in moderation. Learned through finding myself and personal growth that my health and decision making/consequences are more important over the long term.

1 - 330ml beer, 250ml wine
2 - AF
3 - AF
4 - AF
5 - AF
6 - AF
7 - AF
8 - 330ml Belgian beer (11%)
9 - AF
10 - AF
11 - AF

Hi all! I’ve just caught up on this thread, and I am cheering you all on! Great insights , interesting stories and lots of positivity!

So far only 3 drinks this month, so that’s 8/11 AF. Met friends for cocktails and dinner Saturday night. Place we went to makes a really good fig martini, but I decided that if I had one, and then a glass of wine with dinner, that was way too much for me, and I had to drive home. So, I just had one glass all night and nursed it. Proud of my decision!

Had wine with lunch on Sunday at a girls day out, and needed a nap afterwards. My productivity plummets after I drink!

Morning MFP'ers!

I started Couch to 10K this week in an attempt to undo the fitness rut I had been in since getting a pretty bad case of plantar fasciitis and tendonitis in 2017/18. Overall, it was over two years of pain, then a long time healing! So Week 1 Day 2 was yesterday. I was a much stronger runner in the 2012-2015 timeframe, so it is kinda a bummer to see just how far I fell off the wagon. It was cold, but my dog and I got it done! I am so worried about re-injuring, I stretched and stretched and stretched afterwards.

I also refilled my soda stream cartridges and got the zero calorie grapefruit flavor enhancer...so between that and the run, alcohol wasn't even a thought!

8/11 days AF for February! I love the thought processes on this thread. We are now all thinking ahead to prep for days where temptation will be there, and I truly hope everyone sees that as a positive and not a stressor.

Day 7 AF for me! My daughter turned 17 today and a wine would have gone nicely in the kitchen as I prepared her low carb cheesecake and chicken cauliflower bake. Alas, I had no wine in the house and had to go to work! As nice as the wine would have been, I definitely wasn’t craving it!

As usual, I am going to try for 16-20 AF days for the month.
Short month, so this might be challenging.
I had 18AF days for January

Saturday February 1 - AF - Superbowl party tomorrow (yes, we Canadians love it too) so not planning to be AF. I am planning to intersperse glasses of water between drinks, and I have 1 cold no-alcohol beer to take with me to the party.
Sunday February 2 - Drinks and too much fattening food, but very fun. Shakira and JLo were great!
Monday February 3 - AF - Felt a bit rough this morning until I had my lemon water.
Tuesday February 4 - AF - It is my designated drinks day, but I also am trying to have 2AF days in a row in between, so abstained.
Wednesday February 5 - 3 drinks
Thursday February 6 - AF
Friday Feb 7 - AF - The weight is finally coming down after Superbowl. We have a big event here in town next weekend, Winter Blitzville, the second annual. They close off the downtown and snowmobiles flip in the air over ramps, there are live bands, bbqs on the main street, fireworks etc. Many people will come back and forth from my house over the course of the day and night (I live right downtown) and I will put a giant pot of mulled wine on the stove for people coming and going to use the washroom and warm up a bit. I am going to try for only 2 drink days before then, because I will for sure want to indulge in some Mulled Wine. Guess that I will need to clean my house a bit lol.
Saturday Feb 08 - AF - It was a planned day for drinks, but I wasn't feeling that well, so wanted to give my body a fighting chance.
Sunday Feb 09 - AF - I was going to have Champagne to watch the Oscars, but didn't. OMG, 4 AF days in a row!! Second time ever
Monday Feb 10 - AF - My first time to 5 AF days in a row. Planned drinks day tomorrow.
Tuesday Feb 11 - 3 drinks - I thought that they might hit me after 5 AF days, but surprisingly they didn't. Hmm. Big dinner I guess.
Wednesday Feb 12 - AF - Even though I didn't feel "buzzed" last night, I still felt a bit rough today. Planning on AF until Mulled Wine on Saturday.


Running tally - 9AF days out of 12 days so far

Day 8 AF done! I now have a 2 bottle a day Pellegrino habit but it's still way cheaper than wine and makes my skin glow. I just like the mineral taste it has and it's not overly fizzy.
I didn't get a craving for wine last night but I did have a nervous stomach. I distract myself by watching Netflix and it seems to work. Insomnia is back which I didn't expect but that too went away eventually. Minor inconveniences that will go away I keep telling myself.

Yesterday was four solid weeks AF! Each day has gotten easier and easier, one at a time. The longer I go without it, the less I crave it...

Well I struggled a bit yesterday. It rapidly snowed a few inches in the evening, making picking up my daughter from dance a looooooong drive (and I had the brilliant idea of taking the dogs for the car ride). When I got home, I seriously considered a martini (I have no wine in the house), but instead ate a bit over my calories and drank some more grapefruit flavored soda stream. It worked, but it was a struggle. I would really like to lower my tolerance and continue to see the sleep improve, and waistline decrease. My food was not on point, but I still consider it a win for the day.

9/12 days AF for February.