LESS Alcohol ~ APRIL 2023 ~ One Day at A Time

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.

Friday April 14 - 2 drinks. Still pounding the pavement looking for a second job. I know that I haven't been motivated to be LA lately. Realistically aiming for Sunday to be an AF day. I have a job interview late Monday afternoon, a job that I don't really want, but I need $$ : - )


Rolling total: 6AF days out of 14 days.

@globalhiker I am itching for a good hike and missing the mountains. Have fun on your hike!

@dawnbgethealthy Hoping the new job turns out better than expected or at least works out for the short term until you find the right one.

Greetings from NYC! I am here on a work trip earlier in the week and then stayed on to see some friends from when I used to live here. My husband is home taking care of the kitties — one of whom needs to take a new medicine (she doesn’t like it and it involves a lot of trickery to get her to take it). I’ve been totally AF for more than a year (was 3+ years with one break) just bc I find it easier than counting and recording yet another thing in my life, not because I feel I *MUST* abstain. Though I should and do also for health reasons. So occasionally I find myself thinking things like “its a beautiful evening, and they don’t have anything good that is AF on the menu, what if I just had a glass of wine?” But I always talk myself out of it just as quickly, because I think that it would just begin a slippery slope where I could readily find a good reason to have a glass of wine every day before I knew what had happened. I mention it because I had several such episodes of casual thinking/talking myself out of the thought immediately on this trip, and I think it might be worth knowing that even when you are totally happy with where you are in your less/no alcohol choices, you still have to deal with the random triggers. It is what you choose to do with them that matters. Not whether or not you have them. Everyone here is doing great just by being here.

I also had many amazing AF drink finds so it is good to see that the less alcohol lifestyle is easy to sustain while going out. The hotel I stayed at has appetizers and drinks every night and offers an AF Amalfi spritz from Lyres as one option, so that is what I had every evening - in a lovely glass of course. Another night I went out to hear a jazz set and had my choice of drinks on their menu mixed either with real gin or fake gin - and they were all served in beautiful glasses, garnished amazingly etc. (also cost as much, but so does the product and the bartender’s effort so I don’t mind).

@itladyee @ahoy_m8 Following up on questions on Easter stuff …..
Thanks for the nice comments!! Not sure how I dreamt up lobster pot pie and spanakopita - but I made it using a puff pastry crust, and once I was thinking about crusts they somehow led me to other flaky pastries I could make with them (and no this is not diet food!)
As for the recipes, I surveyed a variety of recipes and sort of cobbled together my own interpretation so there isn’t one I can refer you to directly, but it is all very simple. I used a mix of pre cooked lobster tail & knuckle meat as well as raw shrimp, frozen pearl onions, sweet corn from the cob (can use frozen or fresh), and asparagus, and a few small sliced fingerling potatos I pre steamed. For aromatics start by sauteeing 3-4 chopped shallots in 3 Tbs butter, with tarragon and fennel pollen if you can find it. Otherwise something like dill or thyme is good. Add 1/4 c of flour and stir and cook until it turns a dark blonde color, stir in a tablespoon of concentrated tomato paste , a splash of dry sherry or vermouth (if you wish ) and cook off the alcohol fumes, then slowly add milk or cream (or combo) to make a thick bechamel like gravy stirring constantly (at least 2 C). Thin with fish stock or more milk if needed to get your desired consistency. Stir in vegetables and thawed seafood to sauce and transfer to a pan, cover with puff pastry or pie crust, cut vents in crust to let out steam, cook in oven at appropriate temp for pie crust (for puff pastry 30 min at 400F) . No need to pre cook shrimp or veggies due to the cooking at high temps since they cook quickly. Lobster is already pre cooked. This works really well in individual ramekins - I find that cooking the pie as a whole pie can make the gravy a bit looser than desired when you serve onto a plate because the veggies and seafood release juice while cooking. Make sure you crimp the edges down well to the containers and brush the tops with an egg wash so it looks pretty. With puff pastry be sure not to underbake or it will puff up and still be wet in the center,and collapse. Follow package instructions and bake longer than you think.

@Fursian We all have been there and done that. I think you're doing great. You have had a bunch of AF days this month. The support of this group and checking in on a daily basis has made the difference for me. I still go overboard sometimes, but I'm doing so much better than before. Hang in there you've got this!

Happy Sunday!

@globalhiker I love your positive post about calling it out loud with DH about feeling so good! It is so great you have that together. I must agree, abstaining from A is easier for me when I am getting plenty of exercise and activity.

@RockinRobyn672 love the pictures of the beach! Warmer days are coming. I like Stella 0.0 as well. Surprisingly, it tastes like the real thing.

I was a daily drinker of wine, with most days 2-3 glasses until recently-Feb. 2023 and I had been lurking here for at least a few months. I didn’t realize that I could choose LA until I started reading about it. I could see how LA has made a big difference to this group. After 2 separate and serious sinus infections (Oct. ‘22 and Feb. ‘23) I decided to jump in and give it a try. Checking in daily and making A less of a priority is a habit I want to continue. My motivation is having greater energy, and achieving my weight loss and fitness goals.

Here is an interesting fact…..My DH stopped drinking 10 years ago this summer and we never really talked about why, he just said he was done one day just like that. He never asked me to consider stopping nor minded me having wine in front of him. Always said it was zero temptation for him. Fast forward, he has noticed no more daily drinking on my part and sees me with more energy and honestly I know I am much less crabby. Also means only one bottle a week in the recycle bin!

Okay, time for me to finish painting the boards for the roof of the green house today and then get out later for a 3 mile walk. Hope to pop over to my favorite nursery for gardening inspiration as well.

AF - 10
A - 5
Goals - Limit to no more than 2 glasses 6 oz. each

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.

Friday April 14 - 2 drinks. Still pounding the pavement looking for a second job. I know that I haven't been motivated to be LA lately. Realistically aiming for Sunday to be an AF day. I have a job interview late Monday afternoon, a job that I don't really want, but I need $$ : - )
Saturday April 15 - Drinks. I had one while taking a break from digging, then 2 later after I finished. Pea garden is complete and planted : - ) As I write this Sunday morning I am very sore from all of that digging, squatting, lunging, pushing and pulling. It is overcast here this morning in this normally sunny town. It would be so great if it rained to settle those peas in and begin the germination process. As I was pulling stuff there were peas from last year tangled in there - normally I let a bunch get really big and dry them for planting the next year. It was a bonus that I missed some, those got shelled and planted too. 35 rows of 6 in each row. I love me some sugar snap peas!
I will put some netting or something over the top once they begin to pop up in a few weeks, the birds think that they are worms (also I don't want the birds to eat my worms!) Planned AF tonight.


Rolling total: 6AF days out of 15 days.

GaryM_25 wrote: »

Now just over two weeks into this twelve-week challenge, I think I've gotten the immediate first few weeks' benefit of the reduction of alcohol. So far, I've lost eleven pounds.

While the program is structured as a twelve-week program, I had almost fourteen weeks between the Monday I decided to start and the day when my wife and I leave on a nice trip. I've got just over eleven weeks to go. If I can lose another fourteen pounds over those eleven weeks, I'd be more than happy. That would be twenty five pounds lost. Right now, I think that's realistic.

Here's what my plan is:

1. Alcohol free at least six days a week. The program has a "free day" a week. This week, it'll be Thursday as my wife and I are taking her daughter, my daughter, and my daughter's boyfriend to see a production of Cats at the local dinner theater. So far, I've gone fifteen days alcohol free but I'm not necessarily committed to completely dry.

2. Six mini-meals a day with calorie counting on MFP. Including the "free days." My base calorie intake is about 1,600 calories a day to which exercise gives me opportunity for more.

3. Strength training 3x a week. I'm thankful the Y is only three blocks away. The program alternates between upper body and lower body workouts. This, I'm doing with my wife. We're working as partners with the same muscle groups in order and same number of sets usually on the same equipment. My program is pretty intense, as in I can't lift the bar up another time as I make ugly faces. She's just at different weights and reps. She's delighted to be doing this. She's at the year-and-a-half mark after a successful gastric sleeve surgery and is triggered us both to start when we did. She's motivated by quality of life and maintenance. It's me who needs the weight loss.

4. Cardio interval training 2x a week. The interval training is likewise intense. It's four cycles of intervals. In the final cycle, I hit a perceived exertion level of "10" that gets to max heart rate. If I can keep my plantar fasciitis managed, it'll really help me.

5. Cardio hour's walk 5x a week. I remote work and have a nice walking treadmill I keep under my office desk. Every workday, I find a least busy hour of the day, such as a meeting that I mostly need to listen to, that I can walk on the treadmill.

6. Additional 1x a week lifestyle cardio. Such as a hike with family. Last week, for instance, I put in over twenty miles between the running and walking.

This is really only the second time in my life to do something like this. The prior time was about two decades ago and worked out really well. I ended up staying on such an intense regimen for about two years from which I transitioned to being a "runner," As a runner, I had the speed to place among the top three in my age bracket in local 5K races. This is while the plantar fasciitis is so debilitating for me.

Thankfully, I am not starting from a dead stop. Over the ski season between walking and skiing, I was able to attain some sort of basic level of fitness. It was alcohol, food choices, and lack of true intensity in the workouts causing me to retain a layer of fat around a moderately in-shape heart, lungs, and core.

With this experience, I know well that it's a long journey and lifestyle, and that there are really no quick solutions. However, true habit change can result from periods of true focus. That's what I'm hoping to do.

Each of us have different stories, journeys, and needs for support. I appreciate the support this group provides as reduction of alcohol is centrally key to my hope.

I really love this. You have such an incredible mindset as well. Your program is not some outrageous fad thing, it’s what “people who exercise” do. Great job!

Goal: AF - Sunday-Thursday.
Max of 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 ✅
Apr 13 - THUR: AF ✅
Apr 14 - FRI: 1 Drink ✅
Apr 15 - SAT: 3 Drinks ✅
Apr 16 - SUN: AF ✅

dawnbgethealthy wrote: »

Job interview Monday eve. Now to hit my next mini goal of 10AF days

Wishing you everything that will make success possible.