Less Alcohol ~ AUGUST 2021 ~ One Day At A Time

Thursday already? Still AF here but hosting a birthday party on Saturday and the "wine devil" in my head is back and asking me to start stocking up on liquors now. I thought I killed him off, but apparently not

Friday I will go in search of the Kevita no-cal lemonade. On my list!

The one thing working in my favor this week is the rainy weather. It's keeping me in the house focused on work and no desire to go out driving to pick up wine.

Changing up the Beck Diet Solution reminder post from today ... for drinking instead of eating.

Thursday Think Tip: If you think, "This drink tastes really good. Even though I've had enough, it's okay to drink more," remind yourself, "It's not okay because drinking more will mean strengthening my giving-in muscle AND taking in extra calories. Besides, at the end of the day, my mouth won't remember if I had xx number more drinks, but my body definitely will."


Original from Beck - "Thursday Think Tip: If you think, "This food tastes really good. Even though I've had enough, it's okay to eat more," remind yourself, "It's not okay because eating more will mean strengthening my giving-in muscle AND taking in extra calories. Besides, at the end of the day, my mouth won't remember if I had 10 more bites, but my body definitely will."

Hello to everyone, bit late hoping on tonight
AF last night, tonight will be 2 glasses planned wine...well not planned but I wanted something cool and crisp. The temp outside is near 100+ and inside our home (thank you infrared thermometer) my room is only 97.3. So with a fan on my feet and cool glass of chard I am going to try and cool down.

Tomorrow we are taking off to go north for the weekend where the temps will be a good 15 degrees cooler day and night. We will slip back home on Sunday.

Back later for personal comments xx

A quick cool-down tip for anyone (and it works good for hot flashes too): keep gel cold packs (the flexible kind) in the freezer - I put on on my head or back of neck and another on my back for a minute and I feel chilled ASAP. And here since our cold water run warm in the summer, I fill up a plastic bucket with water and ice and stick my feet and ankles in it, also works immediately and makes my legs stop aching too.

Reading my "Daily Skimm" news email this morning. There was an article about "How to Hang Out IRL Again (Without Overdoing it)" and within that article one section spoke about alcohol. I thought it was interesting and thought you too might want to read it. If you want the whole drinking article with all the links to the studies then click on this link:
https://theskimm.com/well/socializing-irl-fomo-drinking-pandemic-35bFzzr3krvwVIAQYGbsPZ?utm_source=newsletter_ds&utm_medium=email


Should we drink to that?
You can. Responsibly. Giving it to you straight: Alcohol abuse has been a major issue in the pandemic, with about one in four adults reporting this year that they drank more to manage stress. And the problem has particularly impacted women, who increased their drinking routine more than men did. Not to mention that “drinking too much” was the pandemic habit that hundreds of Skimm’rs said they wanted to kick in a survey theSkimm conducted about life since COVID-19 (which we talked about on our Skimm This podcast). Not to be a buzzkill, but it turns out consuming alcohol may increase the risk of getting more cancers than previously thought. So if you return to cheers-ing in person, take stock of your current relationship with alcohol. It’s worth noting that The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines binge drinking for women as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion, at least once a month. And having a BAC (short for blood alcohol concentration) of above 0.08 (which you could hit — depending on your gender, weight and drink — with about 2-4 drinks in one hour) makes it illegal for you to drive a car. But if done safely, drinking isn’t all bad. Moderate consumption can enhance your creativity and make you more open to new people and ideas.



The entire article ends with this statement: "But don’t feel pressured to pick up where you left off. Instead, find your new rhythm. That might require saying no sometimes, so you can feel good about going all in when you say yes."

Oh ... for those that are wondering IRL = In Real Life

So many things going on this week.... I landed a huge presentation/interview for a job I REALLY want, mostly because it will get me back across the country to my friends, in two weeks. Current job is pretty stressful and not at all what was advertised. My mom just went into alcohol inpatient treatment, after an ultimatum from her husband with my support. Blew a .35 on intake.

Stress makes me want to drink. Needing a clear head to get this job, and the clear example of what can go wrong makes me not want to drink at all.

Today is day 7 AF. Day 7 always seems to be the hardest for me. Don't I DESERVE a break and a few drinks? But I try to do a longer period AF every year and now seems like a better time than most. Wish me luck.

Aug 1: A
Aug 2-5: AF
Aug 6: A
Aug 7-12: AF
Aug 13: AF?

Just checking in on this room. Been a lurker for a little while.

After almost 3 years of the "try to quit/pick up a drink/drive my life into a ditch/try to quit" cycle, I've now got 9 years, 7 months, 12 days, 9 hours of sobriety.

Life's never been better. Gone from 237 lbs to 159 lbs over those years as well. You hear it all the time, but comparing my life now to where I was back then, it's like I'm remembering a completely different person.

One day at a time, people. One day at a time.

Fit_Happens_2021 wrote: »

Hi all, do you drink because you are anxious? I think I do. It hasn't been going so well for me this week, but I've been reading through a few of your posts and I find inspiration and comfort in seeing others doing well.
My anxiety has been really high, like that type of anxiety where you feel that something terrible is happening to someone you love and any moment a call could come with news. A feeling of dread that I keep pushing down and it is worst at night as if my stomach is rising up into my chest and I can't get enough breath. So I have a glass of wine and it calms down, but I have heard alcohol makes anxiety worse.
I'm still trying, still logging.
Thank you for being here, and for reading.

I know what you mean, @Fit_Happens_2021. Although I don't tend to have anxiety, some in my family do, and I have experienced the feeling you describe. I do know this, though: drinking alcohol is what GIVES me that "something terrible is happening" feeling. Not when I'm all numbed up under the influence, but the next day when I guess my neurotransmitters are trying to sort themselves out. It took me a long time to notice the connection (or else it became more pronounced as I aged?). Maybe I used to drink more frequently so I had it all the time, and when I drank less frequently I was able to notice the effect. In any event, I noticed a couple times after a big drink [ETA: a night of drinking a lot, not a single large beverage] I might feel anxious to the point of feeling paranoid, but then I noticed a more subtle version when I consumed less, too. The people in my family who have more experience with anxiety notice a huge improvement when they stop alcohol and caffeine. They might have alcohol or coffee on occasion, so no one is tee totaling, but knowing how bad it makes you feel can make it easier to decide to abstain ahead of time, before the drinking occasion unfolds.

Another factor is exercise. I definitely notice I start feeling angsty if for some reason I cannot go outside and get a few miles in. It is super noticeable to me. Even when I think I'm not "in the mood" for exercise, I know I need it for my head more than for my body.

Here is one last factor for consideration. Many years ago, DH was really short with the kids when they were tweens. It seemed like he was always mad. He started meditating 20 minutes in the morning 3x/wk. Wow. It was an amazing difference. He may not have noticed it himself as much as I did. It was like he became a human with the full range of emotions again vs. just having a single on-off switch for anger. Then he added exercise the alternating mornings and he was a whole new person.

Anyhoo, I'm just gonna affirm that anxiety is no joke. I really hope you can experiment with a few things and find some relief. If after giving it a good honest try you are still feeling the tightness rising in your chest and can't get a breath, talk with your doc. Long story, but my doc proscribed the lowest dose Xanax for those times I had chest pain. I found 5mg was too much (made me feel sleepy) so I cut them in half. During the whole pandemic, I think I had maybe 1 or 1.5 of them. Just knowing I have them and having the self awareness are usually enough to get through an episode.

Let us know how you are doing with it, ok?

A great thread! So much of my Covid weight came from nightly drinking. I've cut down significantly, but I'm ready to cut a little more and hopefully by doing so, to lose some weight!