Less Alcohol ~ JANUARY 2022 ~ One Day At A Time
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Posting for accountability. Day 20 AF. I have been keeping track on the I Am Sober app. It has a very active community and I like that it asks me to pledge each morning and then review at the end of the day
12/25 - 12/31 AF
1/1 - 1/13 AF
Last day with my grandbabies in New Mexico tomorrow and then headed back to Arizona. My husband went back to South Dakota for a few weeks so I will be alone for a bit. Hopefully boredom won't push me to have a drink and break my streak!
Happy upcoming weekend to you all!6 -
My goal has been to not drink on weeknights (Sun-Thur).
After having a couple drinks every few months quickly turned into having a few every single day became a thing, and lasted two years, my husband and I decided that we were going down a road that was very much not healthy.
We've been doing it, not one drink on a weeknight, and nothing too excessive on weekends. I notice HOW MUCH BETTER I AM SLEEPING at night. No middle of the night wake-ups where I lay there for hours. Feels amazing!
And then when the weekend comes and I have two beers before bed... AWFUL night's sleep. That alone makes even weekend drinks seem a lot less appealing.
ETA: Hubby notices no difference in sleep, but has lost 10 pounds since Jan. 1. No dieting, just a LOT fewer alcohol calories. (Of course, us experts will note that this is mostly water weight and what-not, but still wild!)8 -
ETA: Hubby notices no difference in sleep, but has lost 10 pounds since Jan. 1. No dieting, just a LOT fewer alcohol calories. (Of course, us experts will note that this is mostly water weight and what-not, but still wild!)
@crb426 - Sounds like you and your hubby are doing great on reducing alcohol! Wonderful that you are doing it together.
WILD! Yep sometimes guys have it so easy. My DH snacked on cookies all the time. Then he went into a kick of don't buy cookies for the house ... just animal crackers. And you know what ... he lost 15 lbs!
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10 AF / 13 days. I hope I have this right since I am losing track.
Every other meeting I've had this week with either clients, vendors or colleagues....at least HALF of them have active Covid, but they are OK enough to still work from home.
I feel like hell - joint and muscle aches and fatigue and no energy to exercise. My pharmacy doesn't have Covid test appointments for a week so if I did have Covid, by then it would be outside the optimal testing window. The places by me are out of stock of test kits too.
The positive is that if we're all going to get it, we are lucky to get the "less serious" strain. And maybe we'll get that herd immunity once and for all and be done with this saga. I'm so done with this.
Feel better @Womona !7 -
Day 15 here....and was very wobbly last night. I kept thinking...oh what the heck...why not. I didn't and glad for that. Woke up feeling rested.7
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10/13 AF days in January and dry since I started here on January 6th.
I had a sort of minor victory yesterday. My boss and I went out to lunch at a brewery and I was only minorly tempted to have a beer and burger. Instead, I told myself to order the Cobb salad and ice tea and If I still wanted a burger and beer when I was done, I would get. It. Well guess what!? I was perfectly content and Full with the salad and ice tea. Just had to tell my tantrum throwing inner child a story to get it to cooperate. I’m the end, my conscious brain knew that I wouldn’t need It.
This is a huge testament to the fear “ If I don’t drink, they won’t like me”. My boss always makes comments about how much he likes having lunch/beer with me. I secretly wondered how he would respond when I told him I wasn’t drinking a week ago. He said “oh man! now I’m gonna have to cut back!” Yesterday he told me he was down to 2 beers a day. He was drinking a 4 pack of high ABV daily pretty consistently. Victory is ours!
Also I’m down 12 lbs since the 1st so that’s cool.7 -
Woo hoo Friday, as if at my age Friday is any different than Monday LOL.
@Womona hoping you have a quick recovery and can get back to normal ASAP ❤
@lmlmrn how is the sock family doing? Thinking we could incorporate our painting into bottle covers?? Two beers is a small detail, and naps? Well I take naps without having ANY alcohol. The body knows better than the mind. So go with it.❤
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So I went back to making a workout/drinking calendar (hold up two fingers if I have already mentioned this)
I was diligent in all of 2018 & 2019, Jan & Feb 2020 with these, then of course covid hit and I stopped filling them out March 2020 - Dec 2021. Poor idea. I need the accountability of seeing my progress( good or bad).
Already I have more enthusiasm to fill in each day since Jan 1st 2022. I looked back at previous calendars and noticed not working out coincided with the A letter either that day or the next.
Husbands cleanse is over and he has noticed no improvements that were promised with THE MIRICAL PILLS he took. I have tried to tell him there are no mirical pills, stop wasting your money and stop reading those pamphlets trying to sell you head to toe mirical creams, lotions, powders,capsules, tablets....etc.
AF last night.
Yup going for the whole month DRY. 😉
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I hear you. When you have a day where you know you struggled not to drink, it's easy to feel weak or vulnerable or focus on how close you came to drinking and feel discouraged. But really, it's those days where you are SO CLOSE to drinking, but you don't, those are the days where you are really flexing your sobriety muscle and getting stronger. It doesn't feel like that when it happens, but if/when you get to a point where you feel you have total control over your drinking, you will look bad at those moments and know that THOSE are the moments, the hard decisions, where you stood your ground and changed your life.
For me, it was the first week sober, I think just a few days in, and I went to my sister in law's and then the next day to a party with a bunch of strangers. I so badly wanted to delay my start until after those two events. I was miserable at both, and left both early because I was so unhappy forcing myself not to drink. I really felt like a lost cause after those events, knowing I was so close to giving in and drinking that I did not feel string at all.
Yet, those two days now feel like the turning point. Whenever I scan back over the last two years of sobriety, I always land on those two events and remember that I came so close to drinking, but I didn't, and that's what showed me what I could do, even in the face of massive temptation. Even on the knife's edge of saying yes, I said no.
It didn't feel like strength at the time, but in retrospect, doing that proved that I could say no whenever I set my mind to it.
Remember, every time you drink when you planned not to, you have trained your brain to believe that you can't say no. So every time you do manage to say no when you feel like you really, really want to, that's a huge win in training your brain to realize that you CAN say no. The more of those you build up, the more you will believe in your own ability to decide when to drink and when not to drink, as opposed to feeling like giving into cravings is your only option.
The more you believe in yourself, the more you can trust yourself. So it may not feel like a big deal, but it really, really is.
Strength is not finding things easy, strength is finding them bloody hard and doing them anyway.6 -
Jan3-9th-1 Light beer
Jan 14th=2 glasses of wine
Me and alcohol/drugs....
There are signs that can help you understand what is going on and if the love you are feeling for someone is being reciprocated. Some people describe feeling as if they are getting "mixed signals" from a love interest only to find that it is, in fact, unrequited love.
https://www.verywellmind.com/unrequited-love-41753622 -
I hear you. When you have a day where you know you struggled not to drink, it's easy to feel weak or vulnerable or focus on how close you came to drinking and feel discouraged. But really, it's those days where you are SO CLOSE to drinking, but you don't, those are the days where you are really flexing your sobriety muscle and getting stronger. It doesn't feel like that when it happens, but if/when you get to a point where you feel you have total control over your drinking, you will look bad at those moments and know that THOSE are the moments, the hard decisions, where you stood your ground and changed your life.
For me, it was the first week sober, I think just a few days in, and I went to my sister in law's and then the next day to a party with a bunch of strangers. I so badly wanted to delay my start until after those two events. I was miserable at both, and left both early because I was so unhappy forcing myself not to drink. I really felt like a lost cause after those events, knowing I was so close to giving in and drinking that I did not feel string at all.
Yet, those two days now feel like the turning point. Whenever I scan back over the last two years of sobriety, I always land on those two events and remember that I came so close to drinking, but I didn't, and that's what showed me what I could do, even in the face of massive temptation. Even on the knife's edge of saying yes, I said no.
It didn't feel like strength at the time, but in retrospect, doing that proved that I could say no whenever I set my mind to it.
Remember, every time you drink when you planned not to, you have trained your brain to believe that you can't say no. So every time you do manage to say no when you feel like you really, really want to, that's a huge win in training your brain to realize that you CAN say no. The more of those you build up, the more you will believe in your own ability to decide when to drink and when not to drink, as opposed to feeling like giving into cravings is your only option.
The more you believe in yourself, the more you can trust yourself. So it may not feel like a big deal, but it really, really is.
Strength is not finding things easy, strength is finding them bloody hard and doing them anyway.
@Xellercin Thank you again for such excellent advice. Yes, each time I resist it makes me stronger.2 -
Posting for accountability. Day 21 AF.
12/25 - 12/31 AF
1/1 - 1/14 AF
I saw a comment from Annie Grace today that if you are a daily drinker and just do Dry January you will drink 8.5% less this year. I like thinking about it that way.
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@globalhiker sorry to hear you have been.so ill. Healing thoughts your way 🧘♀️4
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Mid JANUARY
I am feeling like it has flown by already. Went out yesterday for lunch before hitting the grocery store( always a good idea)
Ordered raspberry iced tea and jalapeño Poppers! Now if that wasn't an odd combo. Both were delicious and it helped keep the grocery shopping bill down.
Taking my time this blistering cold morning before going to work out. Because I have told myself I don't need to get my workouts done before 7:00am any more.
I am being kinder to myself in more way than one.
AF
14/14 January
21 day streak
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@globalhiker - Sending you healing vibes!
@cowgirlslikeus86 - You faced one of the hardest challenges ... doing what you planned instead of giving in to the people you are with and the surroundings! CONGRATS! And wonderful that you found out how you thought someone would react to you not drinking ... was only a fear but not a reality.
@sarah7591 - YEAH! You didn't give in to the old "Why Not"!
@crb426 - I agree. A lot of people think drinking helps them sleep better. But in reality that sleep deeply for an hour or two then the rest of the night is very restless sleep. Sleep is very important for our health! @dawnbgethealthy posted a wonderful chart on the benefits of sleep or really all the health issues due to lack of sleep on another thread. Very insightful4 -
@GiveHerGrace Congrats on your 3 weeks AF! I find a lot of things Annie says very inspiring.
One that I really liked this week was
"Take care of your incredible body it is the most amazing thing you own, and it is the only place you truly have to live."
@globalhiker Hope you are feeling better soon.
@Sarah7591 Good job and sticking with it, I had a night like yours last night. I was sorely tempted, so I made a bargain with myself that I would watch the next TAE video and do the journal, and if I still wanted one after that I would go ahead, but by the time I finished I was past the craving.
Day 15 AF - Half way point on the dry January that I didn't really set out to do, we shall see, still one day at a time.
67% of those who complete dry January report that they drink less during the rest of the year than they did the year before, and 8% stay AF.4 -
Hi, all, just checking in.
Running total including today:
8 normal drinking
1 much reduced drinking
6 AF
AF will continue for a couple of days since I'm working, so I can't count that as a win, since I wouldn't drink anyway when working nights. What will be a win, however, is if I get to Friday with only a couple of drink days and not go crazy next weekend!03
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