LESS Alcohol ~ APRIL 2023 ~ One Day at A Time
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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.
Sunday April 09 - AF - Working long hours to get the garden started is a real trigger for me, which I need to avoid since there is like a month and a half of it to go until everything can be planted. Potatoes are in, pea garden has begun. Rain is forecasted for the next couple of days, so I wanted to get stuff planted on non-work days so as not to limit myself for time.
Monday April 10 - Drinks. Zero willpower was the reason. Day 6, Day 10, and Day 16 are always my mini AF goals throughout the month. Going to hit the 6 Tuesday.
Tuesday April 11 - AF - Planned AF for Wednesday. 6AF days achieved, next up 10AF days to get to.
Rolling total: 6AF days out of 11 days.3 -
Popping in for accountability
AF since my "stress Jim Beam shot" last Thursday night.
I did plenty of reading and researching over the weekend. Revisiting my knowledgeable sites and books. How quickly my years of knowing how to beat the bulge became erased from my memory.
I need to seriously shape up for our dream trip of a lifetime in August. 4 months away....I got this. Number one culprit blocking my fitness goals is SUGAR. It is all again so clear to me after hitting the books on this subject.
So here is my plan, not to completely ban any foods or drinks with trace sugar. I wil be doing a LESS added sugar routine. So many unknowing foods and drinks have sugar already that we would never think. I will not be adding sweet stuff to anything I eat or drink.
Here have been some of my sabotaging items. Vanilla almond milk in my daily coffees, my treats at night. Sweet BBQ sauce (sigh). Simple carbs. I know I am smarter than these continued food choices. And of course alcohol which is another sugar hoarder.
I have already purchased my amazing wardrobe to take on our tropical vacation and I want to look good flaunting them off for my husband.
Day three L.S. (less sugar)
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Today marks seventeen days without alcohol.
While I hadn't really planned to be alcohol free, that's where I am, at least for now. I simply feel better and need to acknowledge that and continue to press into that to see where it leads.
Today, I read this:
At 3 weeks of not drinking, most drinkers have successfully reduced their risk of heart disease, including stroke, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Their kidney health and even their vision may improve.
For dependent drinkers, blood pressure may reduce to normal levels by the 3rd or 4th week.
https://drinksurely.com/a/blog/what-happens-when-you-stop-drinking
I personally have seen much improvement in blood pressure, especially when compared to the beginning of the year when my blood pressure was averaging 145/90. For the first time in at least seven years, this week I saw my blood pressure cuff produce a reading better than 120/80.
Today, I also learned of the phrase "sober curious:"
Unlike sobriety, which is often a lifestyle chosen as a result of alcoholism or alcohol use disorder, sober curiosity is often defined as having the option to choose, to question, or to change your drinking habits for health-focused reasons (mental and/or physical). The sober curious movement has encouraged individuals to recognize the often-unhealthy habits that are associated with alcohol.
https://verywellmind.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-sober-curious-4774971
Tomorrow night I'm taking my wife, stepdaughter, daughter, and daughter's boyfriend to the local dinner theater. It will be a "free day" on my plan. Even so, I think I'm going to keep staying alcohol free for a while.8 -
I try to check in each day for continued motivation and support from this great thread with likeminded wonderful people seeking LA - you!
I check my calendar to track my AF / A days. Something that has been working so far is to choose my 2 wine days out of 7 days each week. This simple calc allows me to achieve my personal goal of 20-22 days AF with slight wiggle room towards the end of the month. Feeling so good since I am making better choices.
AF - 8
A - 3
Goal: Limit 2 glasses per day (5-6 oz. portion)7 -
@MissMay I will join you with LS - (less sugar) or at least I will be more mindful of such! I previously mentioned I have been noticing my sugar cravings going up since I started LA. I recently found Lankanto hot cocoa made with monk fruit and although not quite a good as regular, it satisfied last night. My daily vanilla almond milk has too much sugar too. A tropical vacation is a great motivator!
@globalhiker way to go on the weight loss and AF days!
@GaryM_25 your fitness and weight loss goals are admirable. Ease into them to prevent any injury! Thank you for sharing such great links to info! I will definitely read. And, your stats for AF are incredible.
@RockinRobyn672 I see you have new goals for April! I think that is the beauty of life, our goals can change and flex according to our personal needs and desires.
Yesterday was beautiful on the coast again….just windier than I would like lol. I am not complaining. I walked am and pm and easily logged 16k steps, close to 8 miles given the long boardwalks and trails dotted along the ocean bluffs. Will aim for more walking and fresh air again today! We are here until Friday morning so I decided that I will have my wine tonight instead of tomorrow so I can enjoy it vs. when I’ll be packing up the RV to return home.7 -
Here’s a glimpse of the area.
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4/1 - A
4/2- AF
4/3 - AF
4/4 - AF
4/5 - AF
4/6 - 4/7 - 4/8 - A
4/9 - AF
4/10 - AF
4/11 - A
4/12 - AF7 -
Recap for 4/11/2023
I spent time regrouping yesterday. Just like eating, it so easy to continue those drinking days once they've started. I had more alcohol on Easter than I have had in quite a while. Monday it was easy to come home and pour that glass of wine. I was content with getting back on track yesterday but just had a horrible day.
I really want to meet my weight loss goals for this year and in order to do so I've got to get a handle on both eating and drinking. Now I say this while coming off of vacation and the holiday so I feel like I'm really out of control, but if I look back, I'm not. I took half the cheesecake to work, we ate 1/4 of it on Easter and 1/4 is still in the refrigerator! Hopefully my husband will make it go away.
Sooner or later, I'm going to find something I can consistently work with. I am doing a combination of things. The Mayo Clinic diet focuses on servings of food groups, basically making sure that you are balanced within a certain calorie range. The problem is I swap things on the menu which is legal, but I think my swapping upsets the food balance. I think I will continue to use some of the recipes that they provide and plug them into MFP to make sure my I am within my range of calories and carbs. I am going to alter my daily calories, ZigZag or Calorie cycling they call it so that I don't consume the same amount of calories everyday. I will average about 1400 calories but not all days will be the same. And finally, I had some success with IF last year so I'm going to add that process to the mix as well.
It will be almost impossible for me to include wine on my low calorie days, so that's another motivator to help me with this plan.
The Month recap to stay accountable4/1My 2023 Stats...
My plan starts/restarts tomorrow.... Mayo Clinic "diet" . Today wasn't so bad. Had 6 ounce filet and asparagus and two glasses of wine for dinner. I have only one bottle of wine left in my house and I don't plan to buy any more this month.....
4/2/2023
Well.... the day was actually going well. I had a couple of breakfast sausage for breakfast (not the best choice but I haven't been shopping yet). For lunch, cobb salad and for dinner Chicken with a southwest salad. All meals accompanied by water! I made it until 8:30pm when my husband came home from work. He cracked open a beer and started recapping his negative day... so two glasses appeared .... bottle is almost empty🙂
4/3/2023
I skipped breakfast, considering IF again. if only to kick start some action. Good for lunch (leftover Chicken and Salad) and dinner was an airfried pork chop and broccoli. Husband turned on the NCAA championship game and make Pomegranate Sours. I had one and a half (about 6 ounces).
4/4/2023
[Noted yesterday]I'm already claiming today as AF. Gotta get started and ignore the triggers.
Yeah! That worked....:) AF! Mental mind games. It's funny. Once you put your mind to it, it's fairly easy. When your mind isn't committed, is easy to waiver. I came home and immediately poured my substitute wine (Ocean Spray 5 calorie juice) and proceeded to cook dinner. My husband came in and out of nowhere said, lets have a shot of Maker's Mark. I said no thank you, but go right ahead. He didn't. Then later on in the evening we were watching Jeopardy and the final Jeopardy question comes on and he says...if I get this right, you have to take a shot. It was like the devil incarnate! I said no!
4/5/2023
Weird day....as far as alcohol was concerned. I've been going to a place to get my nails done for over 15 years. My nail tech use to tell me to relax as my hands would be quite rigid while we would attempt to do my manicure. I use to tease that they should sell wine, that would relax me. Yesterday I went to get my eye brows waxed, nails and pedicure done. While getting my eye brows done, the tech says, would you like a glass of wine? I looked at her like she had two heads. She said, we have cabernet or moscato.... I politely declined. She continued that I could sip while getting my pedicure done. I declined again. Then when getting my pedicure done, my regular guy asked again. I just chuckled and said no thanks. I had received message late Monday from my friends son that she was in the hospital (she's 84). I tried calling Tuesday day and evening and left a message. I missed his call again but he didn't leave a message. When I got home, I tried again and got the message that his voice mail box was full. So that left me a bit concerned and put me in a solemn mood. I poured my substitute wine and air fried some catfish for dinner. It just wasn't doing it, so I finished that bottle of wine (not quite two glasses). Now here comes the weekend as I'm off tomorrow for Good Friday.
When all is said and done and I get annoyed for not staying AF, I have to give myself credit that I am continuing to limit alcohol and not drinking nearly as much. And I can see the difference with the reduction. Glad I found this group.
4/6/2023
Thursday was my "Friday" as I'm off today!
Guilty - went shopping for weekend meals including Easter dinner and did buy wine. Did drink wine. I think my next AF target day will be Monday, 4/10...I want to have mimosas on Easter Sunday morning. The rest of the weekend is unplanned.
I learned that today (4/7) is National No Housework Day.... I must observe!🙂
4/7
4/8 -
4/9 - Easter - Had my desired Mimosa's and had wine with dinner
4/10 -AF = 1
A = 10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January
AF = 53%
A = 47%
February
AF = 29%
A = 71%
March
AF = 0%
A = 100%
April
AF = 8%
A = 92%@itladyee Hope your friend is ok and you connect soon.
@GaryM_25
Excellent weight loss being AF. Your plan is rock solid. I wish you the best!!
@MissMay ~ I added sugar tracking to my MFP profile. I think I'm ok with my sugar consumption but it will be interesting to see where I land. Good Luck with your plan!5 -
hello everyone!
Wow I have missed so much and am trying to play catch up on all your posts
@MissMay That was so scary! I am sorry that happened to you last week. That was the same day I started our road trip.
@Michieb125 I love your pictures I may try to download one and use for my 'model' to paint
Our trip has been.....well I will have lots of stories to tell! Including just outside of Amarillo they are not fans of yours if you speed...got off with a warning LOL. AND If you want to really set your hair on fire. Drive 'million dollar hwy' in CO this time of year. The pictures on line look nothing like the snow we encountered. 25 miles of steep steep steep steep hairpin turn hwy. top speed 25, avg speed 10. no guard rails and signs saying no stopping or standing.................. ya know that white line on your right as your drive?????? its gone and it is just a shear drop off down a very steep cliff. The other lane shear wall of rock/snow. As we watched snow and rocks roll.
Ok this is our first real day of easy driving....right now we are 2 hrs from dear friends house and we will stay there for a few days then visit 2 of my girls this weekend before hitting the road to house hunt...
Alcohol and NA days are about even... so doing fine.
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@lmlmrn I can't believe you went from northern Utah to Amarillo, TX that fast. I hope you discover the beauty and pleasure of your journey!
Today I was not AF, we had an A/C event in our house (yes my AC is dying!!! stressful when the AC starts to go and you know it's 25 years old and it's high 90s outside)...anyways....today was not a good day.
But..I do wish to commend those of us who are on a major roll...please keep that momentum up because when you have it...that's a major motivator for the rest of us to ride that momentum.
I love the positivity of this group.
And...zero hot flashes today!!!5 -
@GaryM_ I damaged my toe joint from excessive exercise in running shoes that were the not supportive enough. I was training for a 15 mile trail run and had worked up weekly 1 mile increments and I had worked up to 13 miles and felt strong. But I bought new running shoes and that is when the problem began. When the pain set in, I consulted with a podiatrist who is a marathon runner and also with my DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) - did 3 months of PT, and now I am fine if I wear the right shoes, take days off in-between, do the foot exercises the PT told me to do. X-ray showed the damaged joint and doctor told me I was good for a bit but in a couple of years I will need surgery as the joint will begin to fall apart (I saw the floating bone fragments on Xray) . That all started from me running in new shoes that were way too cushioney (great reviews, expensive, name brand, etc.) and yet not the right shoes form my foot shape and body mechanics and age. So bad choice on my part.
I just need to get smarter at adapting to my aging self and learning how I can continue to push my limits without breaking I also know and believe that physical therapy is a wonderful thing. Fixed my husband's plantar fasciitis. And it helped me run again. Plan is to stay positive and keep running.
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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
4/2-4/12: AF
I’ve remained AF. Somehow, alcohol free has snuck onto my Instagram feed (I know, social media bad) and I’m not mad. There was an ad on there the other day for a shirt that said “AFAF.” (Alcohol free as *kitten*) and another post about being “sober curious.” I had to read about what sober curious was and it’s just basically a younger generation’s way of exploring LA. Although the concept is nothing new, I am glad to know this might be leaking on to a younger generation’s social media. There was no social media when I was younger and my friends and I binge drank on the weekends-every weekend-and I know we thought there were no consequences.
As far as cutting out coffee, wine and chocolate for hot flashes, the coffee will be pried out of my cold, dead hands.
I hope everyone has a lovely day! 🌞6 -
@itladyee Chin up! You can do this! Losing weight is incredibly hard for certain people of a certain age and has so many factors, which it sounds like you are taking into account. I am working very hard on weight loss too and some days….man. I’m glad you had a lovely vacation, everyone deserves that.
@lmlmrn I love hearing about your adventures! So fun!
@Michieb125 Your pictures are breathtaking. I’m so jealous. I live about 2 hours from Lake Michigan, which is a huge lake but it’s really only enjoyable in the summer. I live in an apartment across the street from a lake but it is a busy lake and I’ve heard not great things about the cleanliness of the water 🤢4 -
@joans1976 Ha! I laughed out loud about "coffee being pried from your cold dead hands"! I'm with you on that, along with a piece of chocolate and an occasional glass of red wine. Some pleasures are simply worth the consequences.4
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@globalhiker Oh how I I feel for you and relate on your toe! I'm glad you're doing better there. On "being smarter and adapting to my aging self and learning how I can continue to push my limits without breaking", well said! I'm in the same boat. I've been a runner and cyclist most of my life and it's hard to accept that things are changing. I'm hoping to run again after my foot surgery. It's been almost three months. I'm grateful that it hasn't stopped me from cycling.3
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@globalhiker I hope you get the A/C issues worked out quickly and congrats on some relief from hot flashes!3
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Hi All! Since joining this group Nov '22 I no longer drink on a daily basis. I'm drinking less for weight loss and overall health.
NA beers last night. I had a Brew Dog Hazy (20 cals) with dinner, and then a Clausthaler Dry Hopped (89 cals) after. If this were alcoholic beer, it would have been a TON of calories. I need/want to make it a habit to have only one, A or NA, when drinking beer.
Yesterday was day three of sticking to my weekday IF plan and tracking my meals (but not calories) outside of MFP. I lost weight after the first couple of days. I was a little disappointed this morning because my weight was the same as yesterday, although yesterday included a 30-minute Pilates workout and good food choices. My body must be protesting (ha!). Today I plan to get in a spin, but food intake will be a challenge since it's date night. I will be looking for salad w/protein choices on the menu.
Rolling Total: 7 AF Days out of 124 -
3.5 hrs cycling today including 4400ft of climbing and 88 hrs AF with 1.2 kg weight loss. The healthy food choices and exercise is not a problem for me - getting through the weekend without going to the pub is the big challenge 😊5
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@globalhiker Thanks for sharing your story. I've been in the same running shoe since 2006 and just ordered another pair. What you said about aging caught my attention about equipment.
I used to knock out a 1,000 miles a year running. Then, I tore an ACL, went through a tough divorce, and most recently have been dealing with severe plantar fasciitis most of the last two years. (Alcohol layered in on top of those...) Right now is the first good attempt I've been able to make at good cardio through running in a number of years. Last week, between walking and running, I was able to put more than 20 miles on my feet. My right plantar is doing perfectly. My left plantar has mild, intermittent pain. I don't know if lifting, and specifically calf raises is also aggravating it. I'm paying close attention to that left plantar.
Today, I ache, good ache, everywhere right now. (Except for a muscle in my right hand that I strained somehow on leg day yesterday!)
I'm continuing ahead alcohol free for now. I simply feel so much better. It feels good to awaken much more rested.
After three weeks on this intense challenge, I'm now down 13 lbs. I started out at 208 lbs and I'm down to 195 lbs. I know a lot of this initial rapid loss was due dropping alcohol Goal is to drop just another 12 lbs. at around a pound a week and be at 183 lbs by beginning of July.
Today is cardio intervals. The white-bearded 55 year-old will be hitting max heart rate at the gym.6 -
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 ❌
Apr 8 - SAT: 3 drinks ✅
Apr 9 - SUN: AF ✅
Apr 10 - MON: AF ✅
Apr 11 - TUES: AF ✅
Apr 12 - WED: AF ✅ Considering staying AF Friday this week as well... I have to work on Saturday & I'm finding I have alot more energy during the day if I didn't drink the night before.10
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