Less Alcohol ~ JULY 2022 ~ One Day At A Time

Greetings! I'm joining you here as I have readopted my "not on a school night" rule - no alcohol Sunday through Thursday. I am also contemplating at least one AF day on the weekend, simply because I'm sick of wasting days feeling hungover and my weekends having that "oops" feeling when they're over.

So far so goodISH, all last week went to plan and then I did have drinks this Sunday just gone and regretted it Monday. But I did well to not cave to the "I'll eat healthy when I'm not feeling seedy" feeling and stuck to my plan.

I don't even know why I really drink, I feel and sleep so much better without it. Honestly, if my husband didn't drink (or I didn't have one - this is NOT an option, I do like having him around), I'd honestly rarely drink, but on a weekend it's such a *thing* for us to wind down with beverages.

Contemplating an AF weekend this weekend. My parents are over the following weekend and there will be drinks then, but I might embark on a dry spell after that... we shall see.

Hi : - )
My name is Dawn.
My continuing goal is 16-20 AF days per month.
I had 19AF days in June.

Diary style:

Wednesday July 13 - Drinks. My willpower...has had better days. I did resist many times during my shade breaks. By the time I get off of work it is always very hot, but the garden won't take care of itself. Last night was the Garlic bed that I gave my attention to. My perpetual blue drink in the freezer, I took it out to thaw during my 4th break. At my 5th break I put it into the blender with another 1/2 shot of gin, 1/4 shot of blue curacao, squeeze of lemon. I almost put it back in the freezer after a couple of sips to move on to some other sort of drink, but decided to just drink it instead. I took Thursday off, so that contributed to me having drinks, knowing that it was not a school night.
Planned Mojitos on my porch with a friend on Friday after work.

I bought a bunch of zero calorie AF drinks. Tried some of this one during a sun break, it was actually pretty good.




Rolling total - 7AF days out of 13 days.

Hi All - My goal is no more than 3 A days per week (16 - 19 AF days per month) and no more than 3 on those days.
7/1 F - AF
7/2 S - 3
7/3 S - AF
7/4 M - 4
7/5 T- AF
7/6 W - AF
7/7 T - AF
7/8 F - 2
7/9 S- 4
7/10 S- 1
7/11 M- AF
7/12 T- 2
7/13 W - 1.5 - My plan to stay AF until Thursday has not worked out this week. I did fine until after dinner. I shared a beer with hubby, then had another one, and then I did some late night snacking, also not on my plan. UGH! I'm moving my remaining AF days this week to Thursday, Friday, Sunday. We're on a working vacation in Florida and (dang!) it's hard to stay on track.

Hi all. Very proud to say that I am 500 consecutive AF days today. It’s been life changing for me and surprisingly easy after the first few weeks. Every now and then I have the urge to have some wine but i don’t want to have to start the counter over.

I have a challenge tonight, EOFY party at my new job (been here less than 2 weeks). I can't not put in an appearance, but I really don't want to drink - I've been sleeping SO well this week and want to have a no-alarm decent sober sleep. BUT...

1. it's my first social night at a new job where my whole job centres around connecting with my workmates
2. It's free, really decent booze!
3. It's going to be hard going home on a Friday night to my husband and not having a drink because he will be, and he's also just come off 6 weeks of 7 days a week and I feel like we should celebrate a bit

so I kind of feel like this is me being a little bit toooo ambitious. I'm not looking to quit drinking, just keep it to a weekend, and this *is* a weekend. I will play it by ear.

RockinRobyn672 wrote: »

Lilylady3k wrote: »

On the mom front. My 85 year old mother is planning now to go on a 3 week driving trip over 2500 miles in total without a co-pilot. She wants to do a spin around Texas Arkansas and Louisiana to say hello goodbye to old friends. She says this is the last time ... hmmm not sure I believe her on that front.

Wow! What a cool, adventurous, mom you must have and what a cool mom you must be! I know you will worry. My mom was a lot like that - spunky and very stubborn. She lived to 95. She had to stop driving at 89, but she was a great until then. She would take off to Richmond, VA from NC to see her brother. She didn't know how to use Google maps, so did it on memory. It was worrisome then, but looking back I'm glad she could do it. It had such a negative impact on her quality of life when she could no longer drive.

My sister updated our Mom's iPhone to ensure that it will not lose a charge quickly (hers was old). We turned on share location and she is sharing both her Apple and Google location with us (she has a habit of accidentally turning off the location sharing hence setting up both). Also checked that she knew how to pull up her car insurance on her phone in case she is in an accident or gets pulled over. And her phone is now synced with her car for hands free talking.

The best news is that she decided not to visit one friend that was 2 hours out of her way ... reasoning ... the road is a twisty mountain road and she did not feel comfortable driving it like the larger highways.

She leaves tomorrow. At least she has a cell phone! In the old days she would take off and we had no clue where she was ... she left for both Florida and Alaska when I was in my 20s without telling anyone. @RockinRobyn672 THANK YOU for putting it in those terms "cool, adventurous mom". I've got to remember that and not worry so much!

Hi : - )
My name is Dawn.
My continuing goal is 16-20 AF days per month.
I had 19AF days in June.

Diary style:

Wednesday July 13 - Drinks. My willpower...has had better days. I did resist many times during my shade breaks. By the time I get off of work it is always very hot, but the garden won't take care of itself. Last night was the Garlic bed that I gave my attention to. My perpetual blue drink in the freezer, I took it out to thaw during my 4th break. At my 5th break I put it into the blender with another 1/2 shot of gin, 1/4 shot of blue curacao, squeeze of lemon. I almost put it back in the freezer after a couple of sips to move on to some other sort of drink, but decided to just drink it instead. I took Thursday off, so that contributed to me having drinks, knowing that it was not a school night.
Planned Mojitos on my porch with a friend on Friday after work.
Thursday July 14 - AF - It was so great to have a day off of work. I was in the garden very early in the morning and got so much done before it became smoking hot (when I normally am getting off of work). I wasn't even tempted to have drinks, mind you, I knew that Friday will be Mojito day.

Rolling total - 8AF days out of 14 days.

Ok got the microwave install today! but ......it is not direct current. So now I have to have an outlet installed. BUT running water in a kitchen is a lifesavor.

AF yesterday but this evening we grabbed a bite to eat and I had a bloody mary. I may not be AF but sheesh I am proud to be able to moderate. Not something I could have been truthful about a year ago.

hugs and kisses. everyone you are doing so awesome. On that note I am going to go mix a diet tonic water with some bitters. my drink of choice these days.

Hi All - My goal is no more than 3 A days per week (16 - 19 AF days per month) and no more than 3 on those days, even if it's a Saturday out on the boat or beach.
7/13 W - Drinks - My plan to stay AF until Thursday has not worked out this week. I did fine until after dinner. I shared a beer with hubby, then had another one, and then I did some late night snacking, also not on my plan. UGH! I'm moving my remaining AF days this week to Thursday, Friday, Sunday.
7/14 Th - AF - I thought last night would be hard because we went to a favorite bar to listen to great live music. I had a couple of sodas with a splash of cranberry juice and it was refreshing and delicious!!! Normally I would have ordered a couple of beers. Yay me!
7/15 F - AF - Made it through a Friday night AF while going out on the town. My drink of the night was soda with a splash of cranberry. If I can have something fun instead of water or tea, it makes a difference. @ImImrn - Agree with you that everyone is doing great! We may not stick exactly to goal but the challenge and the support of this group is awesome! I'm also going to try out your tonic and bitters idea. That sounds like a good mix.

Rolling Total = 8 AF out of 15 days

7/1-7/7: 3 AF out of 7
7/8-7/14: 4 AF out of 7
7/15: A 2
Rolling total: 7 out of 15 days AF

@tmbg1 Nice work!

I'm Robyn.
My goal is 16-19 AF days per month.
July is my first full month.

7/16 S - Drinks - Yesterday was a beach day. I got in an open water swim, and had lunch with a beer out on the beach. Later, across the street from the beach and live music, I had 2 mojitos and shared sloppy joe nachos with hubby. Needless to say, I went a bit over my calorie goal and it showed up today on the scale. It only made me resolve to do better today and going forward. Lesson Learned: When eating out, log food/drink BEFORE, not after, eating, and skip the alcohol on beach days. It also made me very tired in the middle of the day.

Rolling Total = 8 AF out of 16 days

July 1-2 A
July 3-4-5-6-7 AF
July 8-9 A
July 10-11-12- 13-14 AF
July 15 - 16 A weekend wine 🍷
July 17 AF

I have lurked here for a few months. Pop in and out at odd times. But thank you for being the encouraging group you are. I think about you all every night and have significantly cut my alcohol intake down per evening. (Went to truly lemonades from wine every night.). It’s easier to say no to a drink or even just another drink when I think of you all. Thanks for letting me lurk. It means a lot - love, a complete stranger