LESS Alcohol ~ JANUARY 2023 ~ One Day At A Time

tmbg1 · January 2023

Jan 1- AF
Jan 2 - AF
Jan 3 - AF
Jan 4 - AF
Jan 5 - 6- 7- A
Jan 8 - AF
Jan 9 - AF- been enjoying different "craft ginger ales" on my AF days. That seems to be a trend now and they all taste a little different.

RubyRed427 · January 2023

I was craving a drink on the way home. I had these thoughts of stopping at a little bar and having a quick one. Then, I said you are just having thoughts. These thoughts will fade. But your action is what matters. I did not act on my thought.

I came home and said do a 20 min. yoga and then if you still feel like having a drink, then do it. Now that I am done with yoga, I don't feel like drinking.

Womona · January 2023

RockinRobyn672 wrote: »

Robyn here. I have been a part of this group for a few months and have significantly reduced my alcohol intake. I'm drinking less to be more present, and for health and weight loss.

Goal: 16-20 AF days monthly. Last Month: 16 AF days. I post the next morning

1/1: Drinks (0.5)
1/2: AF
1/3: Drinks (1)
1/4: AF
1/5: Drinks (1)
1/6: AF
1/7: AF - We are car shopping (ugh!) because we sold/gave our beloved Honda Element to son 2. We're not sure what we want but are thinking hybrid. Yesterday we test-drove a Honda Accord hybrid and liked it a lot. Normally, we would dine out while being out like but we came home, cooked dinner and we each drank a couple of the NA Clausthalers. We estimated that we saved $50 by not having two drinks each while dining out on a Saturday night.

Rolling Total: 4 AF Days out of 7

I have a hybrid Lexus and I LOVE it. Gas mileage is so much better. If you can get a hybrid, I highly recommend them!

Womona · January 2023

zensome wrote: »

Hi, I found this thread way back in November and have been lurking ever since. I used to belong to a thread like this some years ago on Sparkpeople and was able to change habits for the good. For a number of reasons, I am finding myself needing to change habits again.

Everyone here is so friendly and supportive, I am glad to have found you!

Basic info: 53, female, single mother to teenage son (senior year), living in the PNW

I had not tried any NA beers since I was pregnant but was inspired by some posts here to try some. The 10 Barrell NA IPA is very good. It has a grapefruit, juicy flavor and satisfies my taste for the hoppy flavors of IPA. The Crux No Mo is also good, with a milder flavor. There are quite a few different NA beers at my local Safeway and I plan to try some more.

So far for Jan I have 4/7 AF days; plan to be AF today too

Welcome!!!!!! I love PNW by the way. Lived in WA for 3 years and miss it.

Womona · January 2023

Breathe57103 wrote: »

It is the 10 month anniversary of my husband's death today and I am feeling very depressed and anxious. Alcohol would have given me a short term boost, but a depressant when depressed isn't a great idea. Stayed AF.

1/1 - 1/ 5 AF
1/6 - 1/7 A
1/8 AF

Oh honey, big, big hug to you!!!!

Womona · January 2023

RubyRed427 wrote: »

I was craving a drink on the way home. I had these thoughts of stopping at a little bar and having a quick one. Then, I said you are just having thoughts. These thoughts will fade. But your action is what matters. I did not act on my thought.

I came home and said do a 20 min. yoga and then if you still feel like having a drink, then do it. Now that I am done with yoga, I don't feel like drinking.

OMG that’s awesome! Way to go! Very inspiring because we all have that same temptation at some point. So gratifying to know it can be overcome.

RockinRobyn672 · January 2023

@Stockholm_Andy It really helps me to count/plan the number of A days I allow myself weekly, which is 3, instead of the AF days. I learned that tip from @dawnbgethealthy.

@dawnbgethealthy I hope the steroid shot works for your ankle. I am having similar problems with a knee and am having foot surgery next week (yes, it has come to surgery).

Womona · January 2023

@mfowler883 welcome back to reality!

@lmlmrn did you ever sell the business building? Good luck packing up the house.

@Stockholm_Andy great job being AF! Nice to have your wife joining in.

Only 1 glass of wine on Saturday and Sunday night, and honestly it wasn’t as tasty as I hoped it would be. AF tonight. This weekend was a baked goods extravaganza. Between pasta two nights in a row, bagels and lox two days in a row, and delicious homemade bread, I was in delicious carby heaven. Until I stepped on the scale this morning! Egads! I reined it in pretty well today, have to get back to normal eating. The problem is the brand new Breadmaker we got for Christmas. Warm fresh bread is impossible to resist!

Lilylady3k · January 2023

January accountability: 4 days AF
Alcohol: 5 days (13 drinks)
Goal: Limit 2 glasses per day; 20-25 AF days this month.

1/9 - 2 glasses wine (Small pours since we got 6 glasses out of the 1 bottle!)

Dinner this evening ... wine, cheese, ham, crackers, and fruit board as we watched the football game.

zensome · January 2023

I usually like to have a beer or some wine while cooking but managed to skip it last night. Tonight will be leftovers so that temptation won't be there.

Today I am trying a Wellbeing Intentional IPA. It has more of a malty flavor than what I usually drink but it is really good and so far tastes the most like "real" beer than the other NA beers I have tried.

Including today, I have 6/9 days AF.

globalhiker · January 2023

AF so far for Jan. I felt like a drink today midday because I delayed lunch for too long and I had worked out hard this morning. I opened a Lagunitas IPNA while my lunch was in the microwave and seriously, after one-third of it, I forgot all about drinking.

Wow. This is such a mental thing.

I am done with the expensive faux-spirits. The rum one made me race to the bathroom. A lot.The gin one burned my tongue and the tequila was actually decent with a splash of cranberry but this is not sustainable at $40 a bottle.

Cravings for a taste is such a real thing. For several days I have been craving Diet Sunkist. Not kidding, it's my latest addiction. I drank a lot of it for a few days over the holidays (I am not a soda person), then I read the ingredient label and thought twice about buying more. Now my latest obsession is how to find a good tasting diet orange soda without all the artificial bad stuff.

GeeBee08505 · January 2023

Jan 1-9 AF

Cravings are a bit subsided in the evening. Honestly I haven’t really been “tested” here at home. It’ll be when we go out to our fav bar for burger night or our next fav for the Gorgonzola dip. That’s the real test - make food AND alcohol choices. Since I am looking to stay AF for January I am happy to avoid these situations altogether!

Have an awesome day. - Georgia

joans1976 · January 2023

Hello! It’s Amanda, I’m back. It’s a new month and a new year! I’ve been thinking about 2022 and 2023. I’ve got some goals for the year and staying 98% AF is one of them. I love this group, I love this thread, it really works.

1/1-1/7: 7 out of 7 AF

1/8: AF
1/9: AF

RubyRed427 · January 2023

Jan. 1 AF
Jan. 2 AF
Jan. 3 AF
Jan. 4 AF
Jan. 5 AF
Jan. 6 A
Jan. 7 AF
Jan. 8 A
Jan. 9 AF

SunnyDays930 · January 2023

Jan 10 3 days A, 7 days AF.
Not exactly "none" but better than if I was not trying to be accountable.

Womona · January 2023

@globakhiker The struggle is real when it comes to finding good alcohol alternatives! It seems that the beer drinkers have it on lock- lots of great NA beers out there. I’m a little jealous! For us wine or liquor drinkers? Eh, not so much! Good luck finding a diet orange soda substitute. That’s going to be even harder!

RockinRobyn672 · January 2023

Robyn here. I have been a part of this group for a few months and have significantly reduced my alcohol intake. I'm drinking less for health and weight loss.

Goal: 16-20 AF days monthly. Last Month: 16 AF days. I post the next morning"

1/9: AF - Hubby and I split 3 Heineken 0.0s with dinner yesterday. I have gained back some recent weight loss. I know why. I've been going over calorie goal for the past few days. I guess I'm making up the calories in food rather than drink. You'd think/hope that there would be a silver lining with the weight thing when cutting back on high-calorie beers. My plan is to do a better job sticking with the daily calories and to stay AF until the weekend.

Rolling Total: 6 AF Days out of 9

MissMay · January 2023

@Stockholm_Andy I am so glad you wrote this in your last post

"Starting to think about how I tackle the rest of 2023. Last time i did a month AF I then dived straight back into my old ways once I'd completed the challenge to myself."

The word challenge as you see is the key.

I moved the LESS Alcohol thread out of the challenges category on MFP as of Dec 2020 into the MOTIVATION AND SUPPORT category.

It was originally started in challenges back in 2017 and I noticed over years of participating that so many people took it as a short term fix and would do a crash course then be right back where they started or even worse.

Drinking LESS needs to be approached as a life style change for the long run. Challenges are fun and sometimes cliché (ex:ice bucket challenge LOL)

Thank you for sparking that thought in my head with your post.

Thank you for sparking that

tiptoethruthetulips · January 2023

My goal is to be AF at home. So far for January 10 days AF at home and seven days completely AF.

Today is 11 Jan (1.22am) and last night (10 Jan) I succumbed to buying a bottle of wine for home along with a small bag of twisties and chips, the twisties I ate, with at least half the chips ending up in the bin. The wine I drank it all. Not sure why I succumbed but obviously it was easier to give in than to not. Heading back to work tomorrow after Christmas break...a reason? Not sure it is...work isn't particularly stressful and I do enjoy it. I did promise myself that would be the last bottle of wine at home for January, I hope that sticks, we will see.

Positive note one: One bottle in 10 days is much better than the five or more I would have had by now.

Positive note two: I signed up back at the gym today. Aim to be go at least two times a week for the short term and increase to three times a week once I have a established a routine.

Next week, my two left feet and I have signed up for line dancing lessons.

tiptoethruthetulips · January 2023

MissMay wrote: »

I moved the LESS Alcohol thread out of the challenges category on MFP as of Dec 2020 into the MOTIVATION AND SUPPORT category.

It was originally started in challenges back in 2017 and I noticed over years of participating that so many people took it as a short term fix and would do a crash course then be right back where they started or even worse.

Drinking LESS needs to be approached as a life style change for the long run. Challenges are fun and sometimes cliché (ex:ice bucket challenge LOL)

Thanks for the much needed reminder!

LESS Alcohol ~ JANUARY 2023 ~ One Day At A Time

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