Less Alcohol - JUNE 2020 - One Day at a Time

whitpauly · June 2020

Doxmum wrote: »

AF June 4/4 Take a Break 13/15. REALLY trying not to drink tonight - looks like I'm going to make it. Why? DH is Canadian and has dual citizenship now. Two step-daughters, 2 son-in-laws (SIL) and 4 grand kids are all Canadian. One family built a nice home here on Whitefish Lake in Montana. Bad windstorm last week resulted in some damage to said house. Nothing DH and I can fix. So SIL drives to border today.

US Border Patrol: "What are you doing here?"
SIL: "I have a house in Whitefish and it was damaged in the storm last week. I'm going down to check on it. I'm coming back tomorrow."
Border Patrol: "That doesn't sound like essential travel to me. I'm denying entry."
SIL: "But it's my house. I pay US taxes on it."
Border Patrol: "You Canadians are going to have to learn the hard way aren't you? Now go back to where you came from."

I have NEVER heard a border patrol agent talk like that. And we practically commuted to Alberta (until Covid). If there is any doubt about the cancer that is metastasizing throughout our country under the current administration, this proves it on a very personal level. The tone and attitude of an organization is set by the leader at the top.

May start day-drinking.

I'd be f$"%en livid! ((Hugs)) 6:57 am in Vegas another 24,my daughter just text me her boyfriend pulled an all nighter and is JUST going to bed so she cant come to work cuz now theres nobody to watch the babies! I'm soooooo pissed off right now!

Doxmum · June 2020

June: AF 5/6 Take a Break 14/16 (I think). Good for everyone for meeting their goals, and feeling well the next day! I'm really struggling during this time of national social unrest. Did my part in a local protest today. Now that I'm "waking up" and educating myself on how entrenched systemic racism is currently, and always has been, I'm appalled and speechless (hard to imagine). Which, in my world = I'll have a bottle of wine and think about it tomorrow. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Namaste

MissMay · June 2020

FeelinFooFoo wrote: »

Hey just checking in. I have 5 AF days so far in June, 1 drinking day, yesterday. I had wine & beer. I binged as I usually do but no guilt involved as I was allowing myself 2 drinking days this month. After the way work has been (very busy and non stop due to staffing levels as quite a few people are out of office shielding themselves) I have been feeling very frazzled and tired. I figure I just wanted to totally let my hair down. (And take advantage of my drinking days).

The down side is I ate a lot of fatty unhealthy foods. I was sick. I have now spent my time in bed. But, I'm still not feeling too bad cos I just wanted to clock off anyway. My 2 books arrived yesterday (Alan Carr quit alcohol and Craig beck alcohol lied to me) so I will read them soon. Be fantastic to deal with work stress in a different way.

One more drinking day left this month....it will be a challenege to see if I do manage just 2 drinking days. I will be very proud if I do so here goes......

@FeelinFooFoo I think your doing a remarkable job of limiting your alcohol. You have a plan, many people that are not on here do not have any sort of strategy. Hope your new books have some techniques you can apply.

MissMay · June 2020

Late yesterday afternoon I told my husband we NEEDED to hit that patio pub again. He asked if they were having music, I told him no. Then why do you want to go? he asked. Because I have been thinking of something I really want there, I said.
By now his eyes are very wide in his eye sockets.....wondering what is going on.
We get there, sit down. I order a Heineken00. He seems more relaxed, now that I have my fake beer. I then tell the waitress I'd like to order food. She hands me a menu, I flip it over to the kids section. I will have the kids corn dog plate!!
Here is the weird part. I NEVER- NEVER- EVER eat hot dogs of any kind. But they stuck in my head the other day when I read them on the menu board and I had to taste them. Not bad dipped in blue cheese dressing. Corn dog frenzy over.

June - day 6 / 6AF
(Corn dogs 1)

globalhiker · June 2020

0 drinks/6 days. Yesterday was an easy day. By easy, I mean the "wine devil" didn't pay a visit.

New comprehensive policies are needed to be approved and implemented and enforced, countrywide, and they need to apply to all types of public safety workers and government workers to ensure all people are treated professionally and politely, and in a respectful manner. Public bullying behavior between government officials needs to end too. We have to be better than this.

mainelylisa · June 2020

@Doxmum It is really hard right now to feel like we have any control and also coming to the realization that things have been much worse for decades than many realized. That's awesome you participated in a protest--that IS taking some control. Growing up and living most of my life in the South...having family in both rural areas and metro (Houston, Atlanta)...I've seen quite a bit.

It's odd--but last week I wanted to drink because in a strange way, I feel like that would be an act of control while trying to cope with lack of control--kinda. So I get the bottle.

@whitpauly I'm sorry about frustrations with family--so hard on top of everything else. Hang in there.

@MissMay Corn Dog Frenzy--love it! That would be a great name for a band! I'm not even sure patios are open yet in Portland.

Great streak, @globalhiker ! I'm so thankful the wine devil visits me less often these days. Though when he DOES visit, it's like he's been at a seminar to perfect his smooth talking and influencing skills.

Tesha231 · June 2020

I had my first moscow mule yesterday at lunch with my daughter. Cute little mule mug. SO refreshing. Got no buzz, at all. Oddly enough, it tasted almost EXACTLY like the ginger beer I pour in my stemmed glass at home. The only difference was that cute mug. So...guess what i bought?

FeelinFooFoo · June 2020

MissMay wrote: »

FeelinFooFoo wrote: »

Hey just checking in. I have 5 AF days so far in June, 1 drinking day, yesterday. I had wine & beer. I binged as I usually do but no guilt involved as I was allowing myself 2 drinking days this month. After the way work has been (very busy and non stop due to staffing levels as quite a few people are out of office shielding themselves) I have been feeling very frazzled and tired. I figure I just wanted to totally let my hair down. (And take advantage of my drinking days).

The down side is I ate a lot of fatty unhealthy foods. I was sick. I have now spent my time in bed. But, I'm still not feeling too bad cos I just wanted to clock off anyway. My 2 books arrived yesterday (Alan Carr quit alcohol and Craig beck alcohol lied to me) so I will read them soon. Be fantastic to deal with work stress in a different way.

One more drinking day left this month....it will be a challenege to see if I do manage just 2 drinking days. I will be very proud if I do so here goes......

@FeelinFooFoo I think your doing a remarkable job of limiting your alcohol. You have a plan, many people that are not on here do not have any sort of strategy. Hope your new books have some techniques you can apply.

Thanks @MissMay I have definetly seen a fall in the amount of drinking days. Something I'm coming more and more to terms with is that whenever I do drink, be it once a month or twice, it quickly turns into a binge drinking session. Then I'm left for several days feeling the negative effects and it is tiring. Sometimes I think I enjoy alcohol and other times I just want to be completely free of it. It's holding me back.

Alan Carr book suggests a 'Final drink ritual' so I may do that soon. Never tried anything like that before. Craig beck book seems to have hypnotized me into viewing alcohol as attractively packaged poison, for the first time ever I felt repulsed by alcohol (more specifically, wine, what I usually drink) today while watching a cookery show ! I couldn't quite believe it I was like Uuugh I can't believe they are gona drink that !! 😆 shocked is not the word lol. I'm intrested to see where this can go...

dawnbgethealthy · June 2020

I am Dawn. Turning 60 in September.
I live in SE BC, Canada.
I started on this thread November 28.18 - at that time I was having drinks every day. That first AF day was very hard! I vowed to have 1AF day per week to start, then progressed to 2AF days per week etc.
My goal now (that is working for me) is 16-20 AF days per month. I have been keeping within that since last October. I am comfortable and happy with that goal.
I have never ever been able to exceed 3 drinks or I throw up. There is moderation for you : - P

I log in here every day with a running calendar/journal of the month at a glance. It helps me.

Monday June 01.20 - AF
Tuesday June 02.20 - AF - Very long, very stupid day, my first back working for a company that I loathe. This is why i always designated Tuesdays as my drinks days in the past. However, I am coming toward the end of a 100 day weight challenge thread, and that is my motivation to stay "dry" for at least the next 5 days. In the previous round of it I lost 1.7 pounds in 100 days. Hoping to lose 2 pounds this time. (I know, painfully slow, but better than gaining, and it really does get more difficult to lose weight with aging.)
Wednesday June 03.20 - AF - Really wanted drinks after working hard in my yard. Didn't.
Thursday June 04.20 - AF - Ditto to yesterday, really really wanted a couple of drinks. I hate being back to work, and thought a couple of drinks tonight would relax me. Hanging tough to hopefully lose another 0.02 pounds over the next few days.
Friday June 05.20 - Having a couple of drinks. My last half hour digging and planting seeds was raining. I decided there and then that I would have a few drinks tonight. My weight was up 2 pounds today for no reason, so sacrificing having drinks really didn't appeal to me today. I have had my half a drink from my freezer lol, and have just poured a second. It is nice for me. Watching "Caribbean Life" on HGTV where they are always having yummy looking cocktails, and I am happy to not be white knuckling it resisting having some drinks today. All good : - )
Saturday June 06.20 - Hadn't planned on a drinks day, started out at a friend's place (who is a wine drinker) with water, and then caved. First time to have 2 drinks days in a row since the beginning of the pandemic. I will get back on track.

4AF day out of 6 days so far.

dawnbgethealthy · June 2020

Glad that we are keeping Unity going here on this thread. Divisive tactics help nobody. Better together. One Love.

Doxmum · June 2020

Correction to yesterday's AF count: 13/17 on Take a Break. I made it through last night AF - whew! Checking in here & being able to wite about how I'm feeling in the moment helps immensely. Each morning I wake up with the intention not to drink and when I look at the numbers I've been mostly successful (76%). Agree with @dawnbgethealthy,

Better together. One Love.

anglilacs · June 2020

Been catching up with all the posts!

@dawnbgethealthy, thanks for sharing your beginning story with drinking less! I have been a part of the thread for a while but did not know those details.

@mainelylisa, I am also a shorty and 10 pounds is a very big deal. Nice job!

@doxmum, You’ve inspired me to keep going with the Take a Break podcast. I’ve only listened to a couple episodes and have really enjoyed them.

To everyone else, thank you for posting. Whether it’s good, bad, or ugly, it’s always helpful for me to read through and be here for accountability.

For the first time in 6 weeks or so, I had 2 drinks last night. I didn’t finish the second glass and I can’t say I really enjoyed the first. I’m sticking with my taking a break for now with occasional indulgences.

forestdweller1 · June 2020

Children are born pure and loving. Hate is something they are taught. I'm a child of the segregated South...integration in schools was the new law, but blithely ignored until after I graduated. When I was 5, and just starting 1st grade, I made the mistake of asking my mother why the "colored" girls a half mile down the road took a different bus, and didn't go to my school. I had never met them, I just knew they were there. My mother's answer was to grab my chin and scream into my face " You WANT to go to school with N****** ??" My mother tended to scream a lot, so my automatic reply was "No, of course not!!" Until I got a job at 17, I had never had occasion to interact with a person of another race. Imagine my surprise when I found out that most of them were just like me, except, as my new boss said, "WE just got baked a little longer..." It took years for me to wean myself away from what I learned at my mother's knee, but I'm glad I did it. My daughters grew up without prejudice because they didn't hear it at home, no matter how I personally felt at the time.

I'm wondering, are all the current cries for, and promises of, "change" going to amount to anything more than just another "Our hearts and prayers are with you" moment ?? Easily said, quickly forgotten...again. I hope not.

Meanwhile, I'm drinking again. Not much. No half bottle a night stuff. Funny thing, wine doesn't taste as good as it used to. Maybe I just got a bad year.

forestdweller1 · June 2020

@MissMay ...I've never had a corn dog. Need to revise my bucket list...Coors Edge & a corn dog. Which way to the street fair ??

dawnbgethealthy · June 2020

I am Dawn. Turning 60 in September.
I live in SE BC, Canada.
I started on this thread November 28.18 - at that time I was having drinks every day. That first AF day was very hard! I vowed to have 1AF day per week to start, then progressed to 2AF days per week etc.
My goal now (that is working for me) is 16-20 AF days per month. I have been keeping within that since last October. I am comfortable and happy with that goal.
I have never ever been able to exceed 3 drinks or I throw up. There is moderation for you : - P

I log in here every day with a running calendar/journal of the month at a glance. It helps me.

Monday June 01.20 - AF
Tuesday June 02.20 - AF - Very long, very stupid day, my first back working for a company that I loathe. This is why i always designated Tuesdays as my drinks days in the past. However, I am coming toward the end of a 100 day weight challenge thread, and that is my motivation to stay "dry" for at least the next 5 days. In the previous round of it I lost 1.7 pounds in 100 days. Hoping to lose 2 pounds this time. (I know, painfully slow, but better than gaining, and it really does get more difficult to lose weight with aging.)
Wednesday June 03.20 - AF - Really wanted drinks after working hard in my yard. Didn't.
Thursday June 04.20 - AF - Ditto to yesterday, really really wanted a couple of drinks. I hate being back to work, and thought a couple of drinks tonight would relax me. Hanging tough to hopefully lose another 0.02 pounds over the next few days.
Friday June 05.20 - Having a couple of drinks. My last half hour digging and planting seeds was raining. I decided there and then that I would have a few drinks tonight. My weight was up 2 pounds today for no reason, so sacrificing having drinks really didn't appeal to me today. I have had my half a drink from my freezer lol, and have just poured a second. It is nice for me. Watching "Caribbean Life" on HGTV where they are always having yummy looking cocktails, and I am happy to not be white knuckling it resisting having some drinks today. All good : - )
Saturday June 06.20 - Hadn't planned on a drinks day, started out at a friend's place (who is a wine drinker) with water, and then caved. First time to have 2 drinks days in a row since the beginning of the pandemic. I will get back on track.
Sunday June 07.20 - AF - Feeling back on track, I think that I just wanted to be self-indulgent for a couple of days. Next planned drinks day is Wednesday.

5AF day out of 7 days so far.

dawnbgethealthy · June 2020

forestdweller1 wrote: »

I'm wondering, are all the current cries for, and promises of, "change" going to amount to anything more than just another "Our hearts and prayers are with you" moment ?? Easily said, quickly forgotten...again. I hope not.

I think that a lot of progress and positive change had been made on social issues until the current potus, which threw everything back 70 years - resurgence of racism, misogyny, division, protectionism, upheaval, disintegration, etc. Repair will take some time to undo this.
Tear-gassing to get a photo op?? Argh.

Police brutality has been uncovered and must be addressed. No police training includes kneeling on someone's throat. These officers are not the majority of the police force, but there have to be ways/watchdogs to get the "bad" ones out.

Hated seeing on the news that man at the peaceful protest in Whitefish Montana. Pure ignorance. So sad. He was there to incite violence, happy that the police took him out of the situation.

Glad that other countries around the world are holding peaceful protests in support against racism and police brutality. People around the globe care.

You are so right about conditioning. It has to start at home with the children. Glad that you raised your children to realize that people are all a part of the same human species.

We all have lots of reasons to drink!! Of course we know that this solves nothing, and only muddles our brains. So we continue to try to drink less.

Doxmum · June 2020

June 4/7 & Take a Break 13/18. I caved this evening. @anglilacs: Glad you're finding the TAB podcasts useful. I fell asleep listening to them last night to keep me from drinking. Didn't work tonight. That said, I will still listen. Not feeling any guilt/shame for drinking as I'm definitely not binging. Just feeling RAGE. The trigger this evening was watching the first half of a PBS Frontline special on the Obama administration (God I miss civil discourse and respect for science/professionalism). It addressed his presidency, pros & cons; the divisions that began in the country aided & abetted by Breitbart News, talk radio and Fox; and how it all lead to the election of the scary-orange-clown. The next half will be on the Cheeto-head himself. I don't think I'll be able to watch it. Or I may start day-drinking, for reals.
@forestdweller1: Wow! You have done an amazing amount of personal growth and development to be where you are considering your family of origin. The memory and behavior tracks that are formed in our brains when we are children are almost impossible to overcome. And not raising your children that way? All I can say is, "I'm totally not worthy."
@dawnbgethealthy: What you said above!!!

BTW, in my 25 years in the operating room doing anesthesia, and 10 years before that in an ICU. All of us bleed the same. I didn't have to learn different anatomy & physiology for different races.

Better & Stronger Together. One Love.
(Now back to my wine)

MissMay · June 2020

Good morning.

Recorded two drinks last night in mysrinkaware, first day in June for "A". Pabst Blue Ribbon coffee drink. Full of caffine and 5% alcohol. Like a chocolate Yahoo drink. Enjoyed and stayed to my no more than 2 drknks for a day limit.

Dawn l really get the last sentence of your post. Very profound.

Have a fantastic Monday goup.

globalhiker · June 2020

4 drinks/7days. That creative wine devil presented me with Ruffino Orvieto 2018 white wine and I could not say no.

Quite good for a blend of two different grapes. Better than Italian Pinot Grigos I thought. On the plus side, I spaced it out with 2 at lunch, one before dinner and the last with dinner. Then I dumped what was remaining so I'd minimize hangover today. I woke up feeling fine, no stuffiness. I drank along with my husband and not as a reaction to any specific emotion or situation.

If I drink more than two in a row, I do start to get queasy so I guess that stopped me. Suppose it's my body's way of telling me to stop.

On the downside, I did not follow my rule to drink only at celebrations. Oh well. Today is a new day and there are no planned drinks for the foreseeable future. Bye bye wine devil....

lilann1961 · June 2020

Happy Monday!

2/7 days alcohol free

This weekend felt a little more in control after my 10lb+ realization last week. Even if I had a drink, I only had one on those other 5 days. Counter-acting with the Soda Stream really does help.

I started "30 days of yoga with Adrien" on Saturday, so just simply starting something new has been interesting to say the least (I have never done yoga before). I have limited my alcohol this past week, logged dutifully, drank at least 3lts of water daily and am down 2lbs of what I believe to be water weight...but water weight is 100% ok with me. The scale didn't go up!

Today I walked with the kids and dogs and will complete Day 3 of yoga in a few minutes. I turn the big 4-0 tomorrow and am not having the greatest time accepting it. My grandmother did say (at age 83) that her 40s were her most favorite age decade. I am very much hoping she is right.

Goals for this week:
- continue 12 glasses of water a day
- continue to limit alcohol (aiming for AF more than not this week, even on my birthday!)
- do something physical every day (walk, yoga, jog)

Less Alcohol - JUNE 2020 - One Day at a Time

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