LESS Alcohol ~ MAY 2023 ~ One Day at A Time
Replies
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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 16AF days in April.
I do this diary style, I normally post the next morning.
Friday May 26 - Drinks. I may have drinks today, Saturday, also. The day will be a continuation of planting : - )
Saturday May 27 - Drinks. I had my first Gin cocktail of the season at 2:30, a singapore sling, during a break from the sun. I then continued on in the yard. I had 2 drinks later on. Really glad that I am not at the end of my month so far from my goal like in previous months where I was playing catch up. I plan to hit my 16 today.
Rolling total - 15AF day out of 27 days.7 -
Hi. I’ve been gone from MFP entirely for the past several weeks because my beloved father became very ill - uncontrollable pain and confusion - and was admitted to the hospital, then to hospice and then died over the course of just a few weeks. I suppose if I had still been drinking even a little bit I would have been tempted to drown my sorrows/stress during this period, (not saying this to discourage others, I just know this about myself) but since I don’t, I experienced every last moment of it. I can’t say it was remotely easy. Some of it was the most horrendous and horrifying stuff I have ever gone through - watching my father in pain - having to personally physically restrain him for tests that turned out unsuccessful anyway - and dealing with the tremendous agony of watching one of the most intellectually curious men I know spiral into the depths of dementia. But other parts were equally heartbreakingly, achingly beautiful. Being present with him early in the morning for some of the last words he would ever say, listening to him breathe when I slept in his room overnight. Whispering my own last goodbyes to him when he could no longer hear but could only sense my presence. I would not have had any of the clarity of these moments or the many others I’ve spent in the last several years of his life if I was coping with stress or pain or even celebrating by drinking. So I am grateful to have learned what worked best for me so that I could have the awesome power of these last days.12
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@Sinisterbarbie1 your power and strength is so admirable. I am very sorry for your loss and the whole experience of it all. It's mind-blowing.
Reminds me of how important it is to make the rest of our days meaningful - to ourselves and to others.7 -
@GaryM_25 ~ Congrats on making it through your challenging week. How's the Harley?
I ordered an endoscope and "pickle grabber" from Amazon and couldn't get the piece of plastic tubing fished out. I took the bike into the shop. They'll look at it this week.
On the more positive side, today marks two months of starting this program. I took measurements. I'm down 20 lbs. Body fat is down by 4% maybe 5%. Chest has gone up one inch. Waist is down two inches. Hips are down three inches.
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@dawnbgethealthy thanks for your uplifting comments....if I did have shiny hair it was likely a slather of pure coconut oil.
Today I ran 40 minutes straight, swam, and had one main meal (house BBQ event). Ribs and home-made macaroni salad and veggies. I consumed a half-wine bottle of Italian rose and it felt like too much. Hitting a wall and going to nap!4 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »I will hit 40 days AF tomorrow! Almost half way on my 90 day project...though at this point I could see this going much longer and into perpetuity, who knows. But right now, I'm crushing my nutrition, crushing it in the weight room, really enjoying all of my other outdoor recreation just being clear headed and present in the moment...and probably right now the biggest thing is just crushing it at the office. This time of year is a pressure cooker for me and I usually come out the other end of this pretty haggard and exhausted...looking for retirement options or another job, etc, but I'm slaying the deadlines and rocking the *kitten* out of this busy season. We're so far ahead of schedule right now that next month might just be a cake walk.
WOW! Sounds like being AF really gave you that boost and momentum. Feel free to share anything else that can get us jump-started!4 -
globalhiker wrote: »@Sinisterbarbie1 your power and strength is so admirable. I am very sorry for your loss and the whole experience of it all. It's mind-blowing.
Reminds me of how important it is to make the rest of our days meaningful - to ourselves and to others.
@globalhiker Thanks so much for your kindness. I am trying to find the proverbial silver lining. I am not feeling very strong or admirable at all. I have equally learned that grief can make you as stupid as alcohol does, and that i can sit staring blankly at my computer for hours when I think I am doing something productive. Or that I can wander around like a zombie performing all the tasks that need doing, i feel numb but I apparently seem perfectly normal to everyone else in the world.
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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 16AF days in April.
I do this diary style, I normally post the next morning.
Sunday May 28 - AF - Hit my 16 with days to spare. Glad to not be playing catch up as the end of the month nears. I plan to get more AF days before the month ends.
Rolling total - 16AF day out of 28 days.3 -
@Sinisterbarbie1 my sincere condolences on the sudden loss of your father. I don’t think we can ever plan ahead for these experiences and you walked through it with such Grace. I appreciate your comments on how you were fully present and not relying on alcohol to get you through. Such a huge accomplishment especially during an immensely difficult time.
@dawnbgethealthy way to go on hitting your AF goal. I will be one day short of mine for the first time as I did not account for the holiday weekend and vacation days. I’ve been watching my little garden grow and am sure yours is starting to take off.
Starting to think about June AF goals!
My intention for today: I greet this day with “ease.”
Stats for May:
A-10
AF - 18
May goal - 22-23 AF days5 -
@Sinisterbarbie1 My deepest condolences. I wish you peace.2
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Here is the link for next months thread. (All obsolete/no working references pages deleted)
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10891507/less-alcohol-june-2023-one-day-at-a-time/p1?new=1
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@Sinisterbarbie1 I’m so sorry to hear of the loss of your father. It’s so tough to watch them struggle like that. However, there is such immense beauty to have the privilege of spending those last precious moments together. I’m glad you were able to experience that beauty and closeness, as difficult as it is on the whole.4
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@Sinisterbarbie1 I am sorry to hear of the loss of your Father. Healing thoughts.2
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@cwolfman13 very inspiring! Love how the clarity of being AF means you’re feeling amazing and crushing your goals!
@joans1976 hope you got some nice rest and cat snuggles this weekend!
The wedding was wonderful, it was a great weekend. I got to spend the day with my family yesterday, which was delightful. Regrouping today in terms of eating and drinking! I bashed my pinkie toe the other night, so I’m taking a break from tennis today to let it heal a little more. Ouchie!3 -
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 16AF days in April.
I do this diary style, I normally post the next morning.
Sunday May 28 - AF - Hit my 16 with days to spare. Glad to not be playing catch up as the end of the month nears. I plan to get more AF days before the month ends.
Monday May 29 - 2 drinks, not planned, but I am okay with it. Planning AF for tonight.
Rolling total - 16AF day out of 29 days.2 -
Hello everyone
Yep still hanging around and still managing my A days. Right now it is usually a few days a week although this past 7 days it has been more like 2 beers while we eat out. We flew back to WA last Tuesday. We have been finishing packing up our home. and still have more to do. The dilemma is what to leave out to function in the home and what can you live without for a few weeks??
Anyway we started packing the U-Haul yesterday and made good progress but we will be here for another 9 days until sister and BIL fly out in a week and then hit the road.
So I am trying to be realistic for me and this huge change of life. I have come to accept until I can have some stable routine I will not get upset over the alcohol I consume, as long as I continue to moderate when I do choose to have a glass.
But on the upside I have my eye on a few treadmills and once we are settled I will make the purchase and start back to my regular workout routines along with being AF for much longer stretches of time.
waving at everyone
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@MissMay I know everyone sincerely appreciates you creating the next LA thread for us! Thanks so much.
Planning to stay AF until at least Friday this week. Am also resetting with fresher food choices after vacation last week. Need to do meal planning for the next few days. Scale stayed the same (victory) and I will weigh in on Friday again. Logged 5.5 miles yesterday by taking two separate good paced walks - one in the morning and one in the evening with DH.
Hope to see you all on the June thread!
Stats for May (will end the month with 21 AF days)
A-10
AF - 19
May goal - 22-23 AF days5 -
@Sinisterbarbie1 Deepest condolences. The experiences you share in your post, whilst truly heartbreaking, are of genuine courage. To read that you were fully there with your father, is beautiful.3
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Greetings! I have been partaking in this LA thread since June of ‘22 and it has made such a huge difference in my life. I have met some very kind and smart people on here and hope to continue to be 99% AF.
Thinking of May goals overwhelms me, there’s so much to do, so I’m just going to keep it simple:
99% AF
Weight loss of 4-5 pounds
Get moving
5/1-5/31- 100% AF
I guess I’m one of those people who can’t moderate (?) It’s very strange, I have been 95% AF since June of 22 (coming up on a year! Has it been a whole year?!?) and still don’t really have my alcohol style figured out. I’m grateful I am not an every day drinker like I once was but if I was on a beach I would definitely want something with A in my hand.
I lost 4.3 pounds this month but it was hard won. I’ll take it but I would like to speed up the rate of loss a bit.
I have a little bit of time off next week and the following (Narcissa is getting certified in acupuncture and going to Disney-oh joy) and I have my resume all polished up! Ready to hit send!
On to June!4 -
@Sinisterbarbie1 My deepest sympathies. I’m so proud of you and your dad. I admire you as a person. Sending virtual hugs!3
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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 16AF days in April.
I do this diary style, I normally post the next morning.
Sunday May 28 - AF - Hit my 16 with days to spare. Glad to not be playing catch up as the end of the month nears. I plan to get more AF days before the month ends.
Monday May 29 - 2 drinks, not planned, but I am okay with it. Planning AF for tonight.
Tuesday May 30 - AF - Planning for AF tonight also.
Rolling total - 17AF day out of 30 days.2 -
@joans1976 I hope you are feeling better these days and wow, over a 4 lb. loss! You met your goal! I feel you when you say hard won. I like what you say about finding your A style too.
May was harder than I anticipated to attain my monthly AF goals. I am reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work so well so I can manage better next month.
See you all on the June thread5 -
Hello to all and good bye to May. I did a poor job keeping up with the thread this month. Lots of travel. Not so much tracking.
Very sorry to hear sad news from @Sinisterbarbie1 and that some aren't feeling their best. @joans1976 hoping a little time off helps you feel better! @Lilylady3k Here's hoping your meds do their job and you can be medication free soon.
See you all in June!6 -
Goals for MaySelf-care and positive vibes!
Zig-zag calorie count - Daily Average 1400
Success = No more than two glasses of wine per night.
Current Streak - AF = 1 ~
I'm ready to wrap up May and move on to June.
@Sinisterbarbie1 ~ I am very sad to hear of the loss of your father. I am glad that you could be 100% present in the experience, even as painful as I'm sure it was. My condolences to you and your family. I understand the grief process having lost many close family members including my parents. I remember doing "normal" things and looking at people and in my head screaming... "Don't you realize my Mom just died". I won't say that it get's better over time, but it does get different. Thank you for sharing with us.
The Month recap to stay accountable5/1 AF ~ Yipee! 💚 - Finished April with 3 days straight AF! I changed a lot of things in the past couple of weeks - I'm not sure which one is working or if it's the combination. I lost 9lbs in April. I can't tell you the last time that happened.My 2023 Stats...
April 1 to April 15 - 3lbs, April 16 to April 30 - 6 lbs!!!
5/2 A ~ 🍷🍷🍷'eh. 1:1 for May but did string a few days in a row. I plan to be AF today and Thursday. Friday is Cinco de Mayo and my husband is already talking about Mexican so there might be a margarita or two.
5/3 AF ~ Yippee! 💚There's this window when I get home from work. About 30 minutes after my arrival for about an hour... If I get past that point, I'm usually ok. When there's nothing really stressing me, then it seems to be just habit for me.
5/4 AF ~ Yippee 💚 Today is Cinco De Mayo. Husband wants Mexican food and Margaritas. 😲😮🤭. I've already plugged planned food/drink into MFP and its going to be a tough one but I'm going to try to stay at my calorie budget. I have a salad planned for lunch which comes in at 300 calories. That leaves me plenty of room for a (one) margarita and a chicken taco meal. That leaves me with 45 calories to spare. Oops, forgot the chips and guacamole. 🤞🏽 I think I will go for an extra walk at lunch today!🙂
5/5 A ~🍸🍸🍸
5/6 A ~🍸🍸🍸
5/7 A ~ 🍷🍷
5/8 A ~🍷🍷 Need to get back on track today after a long, fun weekend full of drinks and food! Friday was Cinco de Mayo. Tried hard to make those calories fit within budget and have only 1 margarita #fail. Went to the Zoo on Saturday and walked around for 4 + hours with family (Grandson). It was a cool, wet and rainy day so the animals were VERY active. Usually they are just lying around asleep. After all that walking, we stopped at the Granite City Brewery. Had a burger to die for and a glass of wine. Came home to watch the Kentucky Derby and had a few cocktails. Sunday was back to a "normal" kind of day. Spent the morning cutting bushes and pulling weeds, then relaxed in the evening cooking on the grill (it was beautiful outside) and a couple glasses of wine. Today should be AF for sure and back on calorie budget! Update: Calories ok, but had wine.
5/9 A ~ 🍷🍷Long day yesterday. Husband had knee replacement surgery and I didn't plan very well for "me". Was hungry most of the day, only remedied by snacks. Couldn't bring outside food into the waiting room and they only had snacks and I didn't want to leave the area in case their were updates.
5/10 A ~🍷🍷 Another long day yesterday. The hospital is 1.5 hours away from home (he wanted a specific doctor) so another 3+ hours driving and they kept him another night. I did better with food choices but still over budget. The "all or none" in me is looking at a Sunday reset.
5/11 A ~🍷🍷🍷Yet another long day. So about 6 years ago, I use to commute to work 90 minutes each way, 5 days a week. After making a similar drive for three days in a row, I don't know how I managed. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do....
It was a stressful day. Husband was released🙂 but really not mobile at all. He "sort of" fell while getting into the car. I say "sort of" as the car broke his fall, he ended up sitting on the car floor. Someone eventually came out to help get him in the seat. We drove home. Took him over an hour to get from the car to inside the house. Once inside, he "thought" he was going to climb the 15 stairs to get to our bedroom. I said, nope, nadda, not going to happen. I said pick a couch or you can sleep in the recliner in the TV room and "maybe" we will try again tomorrow.
Then I cooked dinner and had wine!! Today I'm making him walk through the house every 60 to 90 minutes.
5/12 A ~🍷🍷🍷
5/13 A ~🍷🍷🍷
5/14 A ~🍷🍷🍷Mother's Day. I splurged with cheese and crackers and a chocolate flavored wine. Now it's time to get back on the plan - both for eating and drinking. I did make this instant pot pepper steak for dinner yesterday. It was actually pretty good and serving was under 350 calories, then add rice. I was going to serve over cauliflower rice, next time.
5/15 A ~ 🍷🍷🍷
5/16 AF ~ Yippee 💚
5/16 A ~ I thought the mind game prediction would help. It didn't. I'm going to start wearing ear buds when I get home. It's now been a full week since my husband's surgery. I don't discount that he has pain but the yelling is driving me nuts. Each time he yells, and he yells a lot, I panic and think that he's fallen or something. Somehow, I'm thinking, when I'm at work and he's alone, he's not screaming bloody murder. #andthistooshallpass. I am going to focus on being AF tonight, screams or no screams. I want to balance this month out.
5/17 AF ~ Yippee 💚 Success! Yesterday was good. Within calorie range, still a little short on water, but no alcohol! But, although a great day all around, the scale didn't show it and in fact, showed a gain. That was a little frustrating this morning ..... Gotta turn this ship around!!
So what did I do..went to Amazon and bought a new scale! (I did but not solely for that reason). I found one that tracks more metrics and I also bought a digital tape measure (I love gadgets). Keeping the focus!
5/18 AF ~ Yippee 💚 Happy with AF day but still frustrated with the scale. It was another good day. Got my water in (65oz), went for an additional 40 minute walk at lunch (16,653 steps for the day). Slightly over on calorie count but it was my low calorie day. Target 1050 - came in at 1326 (still good as far as I'm concerned). I am going to start tracking measurements so see if there's any changes elsewhere to help boost my morale!
5/19 AF ~ Yippee 💚 Three day streak -
5/20 ~ 🍷🍷🍷 Made it 3 AF 💚💚💚in a row, then planned to drink yesterday. No plans to drink today through Thursday (we shall see how it goes). Feeling pretty positive for the week on deck.
5/21 ~🍷🍷
5/22 ~🍷🍷
5/23 ~🍷🍷
5/24 ~🍷🍷
5/25 ~ 🍷🍷The scale kept playing the yo/yo game with me and left me frustrated. My thoughts were if I'm not going to see great progress and it's going to be "this" slow, I might as well factor in my wine. So i did. I didn't say my thoughts were rational. My goal is to get through this weekend without a gain and then regroup next week after the holiday. Target Tuesday AF again.
5/26 ~🍷🍷
5/27 ~🍷🍷
5/28 ~🍷🍷
5/29 ~🍷🍷
5/30 ~🍷🍷
5/31 AF ~ Yippee 💚 - Planned for today - ready to kick start JuneCurrent Month
AF = 7
A = 24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January
AF = 53%
A = 47%
February
AF = 29%
A = 71%
March
AF = 0%
A = 100%
April
AF = 14%
A = 86%
May
AF = 23%
A = 77%4 -
@Sinisterbarbie1 My sympathies to you for your loss I'm very proud of you for staying AF during all of these horrible times. 3
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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 16AF days in April.
I do this diary style, I normally post the next morning.
Sunday May 28 - AF - Hit my 16 with days to spare. Glad to not be playing catch up as the end of the month nears. I plan to get more AF days before the month ends.
Monday May 29 - 2 drinks, not planned, but I am okay with it. Planning AF for tonight.
Tuesday May 30 - AF - Planning for AF tonight also.
Wednesday May 31 - AF - 18 for the month, happy with that.
Rolling total - 18AF day out of 31 days.1
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