Less Alcohol - MARCH 2021

Womona wrote: »

Lilylady3k wrote: »

@dawnbgethealthy - I've not tried Rutabaga though I keep meaning to! What is your favorite way to use/cook it?
I like the idea of the bean sprouts instead of ramen noodles.

When they are in season, I like using yellow squash or zucchini to make “zoodles” using an inexpensive spiralizer.

I have not spiralized myself, but have bought spiralized squash and zucchini. I tried to make my own riced cauliflower, but it was way too messy when it can be bought already done fresh or frozen. I have definitely baked a spaghetti squash and used it for spaghetti and meatballs.
Kudos to you for spiralizing yourself!!

As for the Rutabaga, I usually just boil it and put butter on it. It has a strong flavour all on its own. It is however nice with Christmas dinner and gravy on it.
I have also done it like yam fries baked in the oven. Ditto for squash from my garden.

Today will be day 35 AF for me. Feeling balanced. I'm at a point where I no longer feel the need to drink non-alcoholic beers. When I started, I was drinking about 4 a day, trying to drown out anxieties from the wine withdrawal. Now it's down to one or none. Cravings for after dinner snacks are starting to dwindle too.

Yesterday I felt zero snack cravings after having a very simple dinner of a lean hamburger wrapped in romaine with tomato and onion. The whole thing was barely 200 calories. Why? I followed my rules. I did my weights watching the 5pm news, then ate within an hour later, mostly protein with a bit of fat. This provides satiety in the 4-5 hour range.

I'm allowing myself "unhealthy" carbs in moderate amounts only at lunchtime with the hopes I will burn those off during the day

Hello to all and thank for for continuing to share. My current goal is to be AF at home.

I have been AF at home (and elsewhere) since my last post. I am catching up with a couple of friends tomorrow after work, depending how I feel at the time it will be none or one glass of wine. Thursday night is pub choir, again a none or one glass of wine for me.

Coming up to a what may be a stresser or me. My mother passed in late year with advanced dementia. We are doing the final clean on her home and will be doing settlement of the sale of it. I will need to develop a few tactics between now than the next few days to make sure I don't end up at a bottle shop.

Only one glass tonight. Last night I had two (we had a small dinner party) but stopped while everyone else kept going. They actually noticed I stopped drinking, but I just explained I can’t do it any more. Beat decision I made all day!

Hallelujah! I finally slept through the night.

Hey guys, glad to see you all still here, having your successes. I got to start off March with a week of 11 hour days in the office for physical inventory - the kind of close-quarters, not-urgent activity we're not supposed to be doing during a pandemic while corporate still has WFH orders issued. I am still deeply confused about how it got approved, and I'm resentful that our company put us in that kind of unnecessary danger. There was definitely a raised-voice moment where I told the organizer I was ABSOLUTELY NOT attending any of the group meetings where 50 people were all crammed into one smallish area for information that could have easily been delivered over the PA. I'm back working from home again, hoping that I don't start feeling any symptoms in the next few days.

The organizers were considerate enough to assign me a data job at a computer instead of a physical job involving wrangling heavy boxes, but this was the first week since surgery that I've been unable to just go lie down when I start to feel tired, and sitting (for 11 hours!!!) is terrible for you anyway. I can honestly say I never remember being so worn out in my life. Between being sleep-deprived, physically run down, and incredibly anxious about the whole being-around-people situation, all my good practice on moderating alcohol went out the window. Lots of 3+ drink nights, and no AF ones. Yes, I realize the irony of doing something damaging to my health to ease concerns about my health...

Last night I finally got my head back in the game, logged my calories, stuck to 2 drinks, and made the decision that M-Th this week would be AF. I know just how very abnormal last week was, but it's still disheartening that I can get derailed so easily when my routine is broken up. I've been thinking a lot about how things will be in a few months - my husband, his family, my mom, and my closest friends have all gotten at least one vaccine shot, so we're not too far away from gatherings and parties and dinners out again. I have never been great at making a plan and sticking to it when it comes to going out to eat or celebrations, so how to deal with that is rolling around in my head. Maybe by the time those things start happening, I'll have lost a few more pounds and will have some momentum going to help me stay on track.

Goals for the rest of this month: 2 drinks max going forward, M-Th AF so I can get 15/31 days AF.

globalhiker wrote: »

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

Hello to all and thank for for continuing to share. My current goal is to be AF at home.

I have been AF at home (and elsewhere) since my last post. I am catching up with a couple of friends tomorrow after work, depending how I feel at the time it will be none or one glass of wine. Thursday night is pub choir, again a none or one glass of wine for me.

Coming up to a what may be a stresser or me. My mother passed in late year with advanced dementia. We are doing the final clean on her home and will be doing settlement of the sale of it. I will need to develop a few tactics between now than the next few days to make sure I don't end up at a bottle shop.

I'm not the expert here but what has saved me a few times while being AF is having "emergency" snacks and non-alcoholic drinks ready and allowing myself to indulge in those instead of alcohol. I know myself and my stress level in a situation as you would describe, for me it would be a highly stressful event so I would walk in there with a plan and toolkit of goodies. If you're there with another family member or friend who is on board with your game plan, that would help too.

Know you can do this. If your head tells you otherwise, talk back at it and say that yes, you can do this.

Thank you very much, this is most helpful and encouraging. I will chat to my sister and work on a plan.

On Saturday I started using the relax/two minute breathing session on my fitbit. So far, I have found it to be a bit of a circuit breaker for me. Just thought this may be useful for anyone else who is short on time for 'me time' or to act as a circuit breaker should cravings pop up.

Today is AF day 36. Husband hit 28 days AF yesterday and he tells me, "I think I am ready for a night off tonight and have some regular beers". I asked, "for what reason"? He said, well it's been an odd day, having had to get up super early, drive far for a Covid shot and all." I replied, "well getting a shot is not really a reason to drink, is it?" Plus, isn't it better to not drink in case it interferes with what the vaccine is doing? He said OK and drinking disaster averted. Because if he started drinking, I could possibly "justify" me drinking. Which is all just really nonsensical thinking anyways.

@chocolate_owl is prompting me to think about handling planned non-AF days. I think humans need planned indulgences occasionally and they are good for our soul. Just my opinion. For me, if I had an event I would likely eat little in the meal preceding and the meal following the event meal. I would not count calories or anything for the event meal, just enjoy it all but eat slow and stop when almost full and of course make half my plate vegetable-something. About the drink strategy, I am still working that out. Maybe agree with myself to drink something non-alcoholic for the first 1-2 hours, then drink. This way there is "less time" to drink too many.

If anyone asks, I would just say, "oh I'll definitely have a drink a bit later, better for my stomach if I eat first", etc. This way there is no social pressure. And it's the truth, it is better for the stomach anyways