LESS Alcohol ~ APRIL 2023 ~ One Day at A Time

Grateful for each new day that is a new beginning to make better choices, reset, get back on track, learn, plan good food choices, and enjoy all the benefits of LA!

Getting ready for our coastal getaway tomorrow afternoon and to see my favorite people in the whole world later today, my adult kids and grandchildren. The older I get it is the simple pleasures that bring so much joy. Will plan for some champagne or a red this week while on vacay but mindful of my goals for the week/month.

April accountability: total of 20-22 days AF this month
AF - 5
A - 2
Goal: Limit 2 glasses per day (5-6 oz. portion)

Happy Easter for those who are celebrating!

Goal: AF - Sunday-Thursday.
Less than 3 drinks per day on Friday & Saturday.

Apr 3 - MON: AF ✅
Apr 4 - TUES: AF ✅
Apr 5 - WED: AF ✅
Apr 6 - THUR: AF ✅ 🎉
Apr 7 - FRI: 5 Drinks ❌ Had 2 extra drinks & am regretting it today! Slightly hungover and have less energy today.

GaryM_25 wrote: »

itladyee wrote: »

@GaryM_25
I found the Phyllo pastry and rose water comes today via Amazon....but I forgot to get the Greek Yogurt, so back to the store today😞 I am excited to make this. I sure hope it comes out ok.

Awesome!

I think it'll be fun to make. I got my Amazon delivery and picked up everything else today. I also picked up some stuffed grape leaves and crackers and hummus for hors d'oeuvres for people as I wrap up cooking.

@GaryM_25 ~ Well, I'm delayed... was going to make it tonight but I put the phyllo pastry in the freezer when I got home yesterday. I just took it out and it says it needs 5 hours to defrost....So... it's defrosting, I will then put in the refrigerator. I will make it first thing in the morning and still have time for it to chill before serving.....

MissMay wrote: »

Thursday at work, close to closing things got scarey with a big drugged up dude hanging around and not leaving. I was so shook up I could not cash out and had to call for help to make sure I could get to my car without being confronted by this dude.

@Missmay ~ Thank you for the Dinosaurs post.. It made me LOL.... And oh boy for your end of day closing. I'm glad you had someone escort you out to your car, very smart thinking, glad everything turned out ok and your ONE drink.

Hello LA community! I am Amanda, I’m from Michigan and excited for Spring to get here! This thread is my favorite bunch of people! I have been practicing LA since June ‘22.

My April goals are to be 99-100% AF,
continue healing from my cancer diagnosis and all the baggage from that and to work on my weight.

4/1: 1A
4/2-4/4: AF
4/5: AF
4/6: AF
4/7: AF
So I didn’t make it to the Reiki massage. I got caught in crazy traffic even though I left early. I was super bummed! I’m going to see if I can reschedule.
Yesterday I went to a surgical consult for an incisional hernia I have from my hysterectomy in 2018. It is quite large and is sometimes painful. They said it’s not a matter of if but when it turns into an emergency. (I wonder if they are just trying to push expensive procedures on patients though.) Here’s the kicker: the surgeon told me I need to lose 50 pounds before she’ll do the surgery. She initially suggested a 4 month time frame for that! I laughed in her face (I know, rude but I was so incredulous.) I know I am very obese, it just really sucks when someone points it out to you. So I sat with that feeling last night. I am determined to lose this weight but at my own pace!

4/8: AF
I’ve lost a couple of pounds so today is starting off well. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and weather cooperates. Please take pictures of the tiramisu cheesecake so I can live vicariously through MFP with what I could be eating! 🐰

I am Dawn, I live in South Eastern British Columbia.
I joined this thread in November of 2018, a daily drinker at the time
My primary goal with drinking less is weight loss.

My usual goal is 16-20 AF days for the month,
I had 17AF days in March.

I do this diary style, I normally post the next morning.

Thursday April 06 - AF - Planned drinks on the weekend
Friday April 07 - Drinks including Prosecco in the afternoon. It has been far too windy here as of late even though it is sunny and blue. Still spooked from my blowing soil eye injury last summer. I really want to get out, get my potato garden uncovered, tilled, and planted. It normally takes me about a week shovel by shovel. Kind of inspired by @Womona getting out and doing hers. Maybe the wind will die down later today. Handling a 25'X12' cover to get up on the clothesline is difficult in the wind. My pea garden still has some thick ice on it, so hopefully that will be gone by next weekend. Normally it all begins the 3rd week of April, so I should try some patience lol.
Saturday April 08 - Drinks, the rest of the small bottle of prosecco and 2 more drinks later. I got 3 potato rows uncovered, turned over, tilled, dug, and planted : - )




Rolling total: 4AF days out of 7 days.

Overall, a positive week. Spent most of it on a vacation with kids/grandkids at Massanutten VA. We rented a beautiful large house, and just hung out, ate, and played lots of games. My goal was to not drink during this vacation and accomplished it. We do these vacations a lot and usually I drink daily during them and excessively. It felt nice to not drink on this vacation. I have not told my wife I am trying to cut down or quit, but she noticed I didn't order beers when we ate out at restaurants-pubs. She certainly prefers when I don't drink.

Spring is arriving this week finally in Maryland. Monday will be in the 60s, and then we bounce into the 70s for the rest of the week. I have three-day weekend coming up and will use it to weed/clean up my gardens, mulch, plant flowers, and do the first lawn cut. Again, the goal will be not to drink. I could easily drink 8-12 beers a day when all day gardening in the past. Bought a battery powered mower, and excited to not have to mess with a gas can/oil. All my gardening tools/chainsaw/clippers/weed whackers are all now battery and it makes things so much easier.

@GaryM_25
@joans1976

Well, I made the cheesecake....it's still chillin' in the fridge at this point.

Working with Phyllo was definitely an experience. I don't think it really needed 5 hours to defrost. At any rate, I got up this morning at 5:30 and took the phyllo and cream cheese out of the refrigerator. I napped for another 30 minutes then came down to the kitchen to start. I read the instructions again and realized I didn't have the dried rose petals so it won't be as pretty.

Made the filling.... all good....but almost forgot the yogurt!
Nut chopping - walnuts, easy, pistachios...not so much. Kept flying all over the kitchen . Then the dough... You were supposed to use 10 sheets.... 2 sheets, then butter, then nuts, then repeat. I lost count somewhere but I think I finished with 10.😉

I poured the filling and then put the entire pan on a thin cookie sheet and into the oven. The recipe said it would take 75 minutes...set the timer for 60 minutes to check. Finally at 75 minutes it was "done" and I proceeded to make the "syrup". I don't think I ever got the consistency that it described....

When I took it out of the oven, I realized I should have practiced with the spring pan. After about 5 tries, I got it out of the pan but broke the crust a bit. I also think I left too much of the phyllo on as it was difficult to cover it all.

But....here she is....report back on taste in a bit.

Before cooking.. I should have cut more off for the crust



After



It was fun making it~

Wow, that looks super-delicious!

Over here, I did did not make dessert but we BBQ'd and it was awesome. I had no carbs but the kiddos brought wine and I had what they all left behind (planned holiday). I still counted points and now my points are all gone, so if I get hungry soon, so sad, too bad for me. I have to live by my life rules or I am just cheating myself.

I do need to get real with myself and stop cheating myself. Every day I declined an opportunity to eat right or exercise or not drink or drink much less, I cheated myself.

Today I did run 40 min and I did skip the carbs so hope that helps me somewhat. Exercise makes me feel so wonderful and balanced. I know it's what my body needs and craves. If I don't feed it good outdoor exercise, it wants "the bad stuff".

@itladyee Awesome. You're right that recipe was a bit of an adventure. I didn't even bother counting phyllo dough sheets. A lot of my sheets had broken so I arranged based upon desired thickness. It was my first time ever to make cheesecake.

I did 150% of the recipe for filling a 9-inch spring pan and for having some left to make a gluten-free version in a ramekin for my daughter. For that one, rather than phyllo dough I used GF graham cracker crust as well as GF flour for thickening the cheesecake itself.

Everyone liked the whole meal and especially the cheesecake. Personally, I had about two days' worth of calories today. Back to the grind tomorrow...