LESS Alcohol ~ JULY 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 18AF days in May.
I do this diary style:
Friday July 14 - AF - Planning drinks after my 2 jobs back to back on Saturday. Sunday completely off! I will get out and give my garden some love very early in the morning before it is 37c
Rolling total: 9AF days out of 14 days.3 -
I must go on a walk in a few minutes to grab some fresh morning air and sunshine. It is going to hit 100 degrees here around 2 p.m. Did gardening yesterday morning and watered everything real well in anticipation of the heat today. I am seeing tons of green tomatoes everywhere and they are looking forward to more sun, lol. But, I feel spoiled in a way as I know there are others who deal with much higher temps.
We went to a dinner party at a good friends house yesterday. Her husband loves to cook and they are very hospitable. I decided to have wine with all the culinary treats. I had over three glasses in a period of 6 hours so that means I will skip my Sunday A tomorrow. Something I also did was drink quite a bit of water and iced tea in between.
July goal: 21-22 AF days
AF - 9
A - 55 -
@globalhiker thinking of you this weekend as you seek to re-center and good job on the AF with DH. Sundays are my typical day I consciously focus on goals for the week. It does help!
@dawnbgethealthy enjoy your upcoming and well deserved day off. Your garden is awaiting some love on Sunday! I agree, weeding is pure work, but harvesting and eating your own crop will be such an accomplishment.
Have a good weekend all - sending positive thoughts your way.3 -
6 A and 9 AF- and it's hot as heck where I am- hope everyone is surviving the heat!4
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Appreciate your guys' uplifting comments for real. I just wanted to just relax today. But my husband decided to re-adjust the A/C in the attic on a day it was 110 degrees and needless to say half the house was full of attic insulation material and the way thru the attic was in the master closet so most of that insulation crap landed on our clothes, on the bed and everywhere else. My asthma was not happy. Of course the air was not balanced because after all, he is not an A/C technician. And it is hot in here because the laundry has been running all day. So I spend the afternoon doing laundry and vacuuming with a mask on.
It's 7 hours later and husband put himself in "time out" outside. I think I will check into a spa for a weekend and they must be cheap here this time of year. Seriously, sometimes when I just don't have peace at home, I think I need to just run away. My head is saying I should go for a wine run but trying not to....!9 -
@globalhiker. So much for relaxing and re- centering! Ugh what a mess with the insulation stuff. I hope you get a chance to do so today! It is hard when you’re an active person. I wonder if something like knitting would be considered “active test”- something to focus on so you don’t feel bored staring at the four walls trying in vain to “relax”.
@MissMay I am so happy to hear you got scooped up for the hotel job! Sounds like it will be a MUCH better fit. What will you do there? Is it part or full time?
For the big tennis tournament, I am happy with how I played, but we lost our match. Our team did not advance to the finals today, but given the strength of the other teams, that’s fine, and makes perfect sense. It was such a good experience for us all, but holy cow was it HOT! Gotta love tennis in
July.
Now I need to catch up on cleaning the house and getting back to my workout routine. Everything was put on hold this week in an effort to prevent injury and coordinate what I needed to for the tourney. Back to reality! Especially with eating and drinking. Lots of celebratory extra wine this weekend!
Hope everyone has a happy Sunday and a great start to the week.4 -
@globalhiker the insulation situation sounds completely awful and frustrating. I hope you were able to sleep and can find a way to recenter today. Maybe an early walk or drive to a park, or visit your fav craft store. You might just need to get out of the house for awhile to look up. Then, verbalize to people around you what you need, I.e., “I am feeling really spent and need some time alone for the next 4 hours.”
@Womona sounds like you had a great time at your tournament! I like your positive attitude that it’s not always about the win but how you play. Isn’t that true in life too?
Super hot yesterday but got a walk in early before spending some time with DIL and her side of the family. We went to an open house up on a hill with 3 acres of horse property, then over to our local nursery to look for fall veggie packs before visiting a little longer here. Had iced cold water after getting in from the heat and chatted it up. My old self would have opened a bottle of wine and then you know what happens next. Lol.
Will hit the grocery store soon and pick up some cold beverages for this week - Stella NA 0.0, club soda, cherry or Pom juice, low cal lemonade. Trying to figure out simple dinners during this heat wave too. AF today.
July goal: 21-22 AF days
AF - 10
A - 5
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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 18AF days in May.
I do this diary style:
Friday July 14 - AF - Planning drinks after my 2 jobs back to back on Saturday. Sunday completely off! I will get out and give my garden some love very early in the morning before it is 37c
Saturday July 15 - 2 drinks. I quite enjoyed knowing that I didn't have any jobs for Sunday. I just relaxed and watched HGTV. Very hot here, about 99f in the afternoons. I'm sure that all of the lakes are packed it being a weekend. Not sure what I will get up to. Planning AF for Sunday and Monday, planning prosecco after my bank appointment Tuesday after work to sign papers for my consolidation which is going to take all sorts of pressure off of me.
Rolling total: 9AF days out of 15 days.4 -
6 A and 10 AF3
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Hi peeps! Thanks for such an inspiring thread for those of us who are aspiring to be AF or LA. I don’t drink more than once a week typically and it’s socially. I even go weeks without alcohol sometimes, even though there is a lot of addiction in my family. My reason for eating to be LA is that even 3 drinks once a week is destroying my calorie goal of 1300 per day and I don’t feel great the next day after drinking.
What are some possible ways to drink without calories. Vodka bothers my stomach the least bit I don’t like tonic. I tend to have wine, cocktails or vodka in sprite. If it’s a BBQ then I can make my own vodka with Sprite Zero but if I am out it’s hard. Vodka soda isn’t that palatable to me. I need some drink ideas that don’t have that many calorie for the social occasions where I want to have some drinks.
My goal is to stick to one drink a week for now- two tops. Any suggestions on how to make it less damaging to my diet?3 -
nicolewhittier wrote: »Hi peeps! Thanks for such an inspiring thread for those of us who are aspiring to be AF or LA. I don’t drink more than once a week typically and it’s socially. I even go weeks without alcohol sometimes, even though there is a lot of addiction in my family. My reason for eating to be LA is that even 3 drinks once a week is destroying my calorie goal of 1300 per day and I don’t feel great the next day after drinking.
What are some possible ways to drink without calories. Vodka bothers my stomach the least bit I don’t like tonic. I tend to have wine, cocktails or vodka in sprite. If it’s a BBQ then I can make my own vodka with Sprite Zero but if I am out it’s hard. Vodka soda isn’t that palatable to me. I need some drink ideas that don’t have that many calorie for the social occasions where I want to have some drinks.
My goal is to stick to one drink a week for now- two tops. Any suggestions on how to make it less damaging to my diet?
Welcome @nicolewhittier we are so glad to have you joining in our LESS Alcohol thread. A bit of a trick some of us have caught onto is putting what ever NA or LA drink into a fancy glass. It really works! There is less(ha, pardon the play on words) chance anyone will question why you are not drinking an alcohol drink. More than likely they will be curious and say WOW that looks good what is it? I depending on how well I know them, either say it is mymown special secret request or just tell them it is NA.
Other low calorie mixers are ICE which come in a huge variety of flavors, mango is my favorite. You can also cut your drink in half by having a half shot instead of the 1.5 ounce in your drink. I actually like the NA Heinekin00, Bud Zero. To which I still order them with a wine glass to drink them out of. Also sweet iced tea, with mint crushed ice and ginger ale is a great mock mint julep.
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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 18AF days in May.
I do this diary style:
Sunday July 16 - AF - A full day off. I really liked it : - ) Just caught up with some laundry and weeding and stuff. My Mint has been ready for quite some time, but no Mojitos just yet. I would have had one, but I have 2 jobs on Monday, so stayed AF. Yay to hitting 10
Rolling total: 10AF days out of 16 days.5 -
My first Belle pepper popped : - )
Jalapenos popped a few weeks ago.
These are my pepper/onion beds:
Sunflowers come out and the deer eat them pretty quickly.
Black Hollyhocks look like they are about to flower:
Some here enjoy seeing my weird Egyptian Walking onions doing their thing:
A close up of the tops:
They will tip over and replant themselves, essentially "walking".
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@dawnbgethealthy yay to hitting 10 AF days and congrats on your consolidation loan going through. Your garden(s) are looking fantastic!
@MissMay always appreciate your wise perspective on Less Alcohol and the helpful suggestions you have.
@nicolewhittier welcome to this thread! Your question is “ Any suggestions on how to make alcohol less damaging to my diet?” If you think you want two glasses of white wine, have one or both as a spritzer (so 1/2 the calories). I now like Stella NA 00 - a very acceptable look in a drinking establishment for 59 calories and more people are gravitating toward NA for many reasons. A lot of people in our lives could probably drink way more than us, and more than they really should. My advice is do what YOU are comfortable with.
Sunday was 100 degrees again so stayed in for the most part and caught up on house stuff. I would not call it re-centering but definitely more organized and ready for the week. Also packed up clothes to donate so a little purging never hurts. Racking up some more AF days with zero lemonade, and splash of Pom with sparkling water.
July goal: 21-22 AF days
AF - 11
A - 5
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Goals for July *in force after vacation 7/13/2023Self-care and positive vibes ~ One day at a time
Zig-zag calorie count - Daily Average 1400
Success = No more than two glasses of wine per night.
Current Streak - AF = 0~
Great Vacation. Lots of sun, heat, food and drink. Normally I would see a 5 to 7 lb gain for vacation but not this time. I while I drank most days (I think all) I was still very mindful of food and drink. I continued to fast for the first few days then gave in. I averaged two meals a day, lots of drinks, lots of water and I exercised everyday except travel days. When I got home on Thursday, I jumped on the scale after eating dinner (I was just curious) and it was 2lbs higher than when I left!! I was shocked. My next (regular weight time) showed me a 1lb gain!!! #Winner# Now it's time to get back on track with eating and drinking. Three months until the next vacation!!
Success Days #
Bonus Days #
AF = 0
A = 16
The Month recap to stay accountable
7/1 ~A
7/2 ~A
7/3 ~A Husband made a red, white and blue drink for the 4th. It was good but too sweet at the bottom (grenadine)
7/4 ~A Pre vacation celebration - went out to dinner to keep from dirtying the kitchen
7/5 ~A Travel Day and went to the Diamonds baseball game. Had a little encounter while entering the game which put me in the funk and in the mood to drink! Long story short. I have a small purse that I take to the games with me. They decided it was too big and I had to store it in a locker for $10.00. I bought this purse in Italy as a souvenir and loved it, otherwise I would have just tossed it to avoid the inconvenience. What made me so mad though was once I was in the park - I saw ladies with bags larger than what i had. That set me off....
7/6 ~A
7/7 ~A Currently on vacation and just enjoying myself. I am continuing (for the most part) to fast and then being mindful of eat and drink, but not saying no!!
7/8 ~ 7/14 ~A Vacation
7/15 ~A
7/16 ~A
My 2023 Stats...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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%
June
AF = 27%
A = 73%
July
AF = 0
A = 1005 -
nicolewhittier wrote: »Hi peeps! Thanks for such an inspiring thread for those of us who are aspiring to be AF or LA. I don’t drink more than once a week typically and it’s socially. I even go weeks without alcohol sometimes, even though there is a lot of addiction in my family. My reason for eating to be LA is that even 3 drinks once a week is destroying my calorie goal of 1300 per day and I don’t feel great the next day after drinking.
What are some possible ways to drink without calories. Vodka bothers my stomach the least bit I don’t like tonic. I tend to have wine, cocktails or vodka in sprite. If it’s a BBQ then I can make my own vodka with Sprite Zero but if I am out it’s hard. Vodka soda isn’t that palatable to me. I need some drink ideas that don’t have that many calorie for the social occasions where I want to have some drinks.
My goal is to stick to one drink a week for now- two tops. Any suggestions on how to make it less damaging to my diet?
Hi and welcome! There are so many good Vodka drinks out now. I’m a fan of High Noons- only 100 calories. Stateside , Kiki’s the new White Claws and other vodka drinks are similar. A glass of wine is 125 calories, so that’s usually my go to. Once I start with the real mixed drinks, not only do the calories go way up, but it’s like 2-3 drinks with all the shots of whatever. Too much alcohol (and calories) for me!2 -
6 A and 11 AF so far - Enjoying Three Spirits N/A Nightcap tonight. Love it but it's a little pricy so I can't buy it too often.4
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Busy day at work, and I’ve been looking forward to some delicious leftovers. Yum! One glass of wine tonight but I have tons of calories left over!
Now that the spring tennis season is over, I feel like I have my life back. I started my day with yoga. Hoo boy, I have a Long way to go before regain my flexibility! Between the yoga and getting back into doing weights, I’m calling it “Operation Muscle Mass”. Sure is more motivating than “Operation Fat *kitten*”.5 -
@dawnbgethealthy ..." jalapenos popped "....I see what you did there...Your garden is awesome !! Since most of your plantings seem to be for winter sustanance, I was wondering about the black hollyhocks ?? Are the flowers for stuffing, or do they yield seeds for seasoning ?? Never heard of black hollyhocks, so maybe just for " pretty " ??
Happy that your loan came through, and you won't be working 3 jobs forever !!
So, deer like sunflowers...another item I won't be planting again, like azaleas or exotic day lilies. Not that I begrudge deer their little snackies, I would just like to enjoy my magenta-golden-striped-day-lilies for more than 6 hours before they are munched. Here today, gone for lunch...My personal doe visits every day to snatch up low hanging ivy and any fallen apples. Today she started in on the mulberry tree...It's a "code red" day [don't breathe the air] so I didn't follow up on my plan to spread a bedsheet on the ground & shake the tree ...Doe-Doe don't need no stinkin' bedsheet...just chew off the leaves & berries. Then levitate over the fence and tip toe off home.
Between her and SIL #2 I can't seem to catch a break. He has appropriated my riding lawn mower [I'm too old and frail to use it on my hills, he says]. I DO appreciate the "lawn sevice" , up to the point when he "trims" the herb beds with a weed eater as if they are hedges.
ME..wailing "STOP!!" as he takes off 8 inches of Greek and Mexican oregano...SIL..."Wha ??" ME..."That's FOOD !!"
Last year I cured him of chopping down my tea peppermint...transplanted from my childhood home in Maryland to Da'Burgh via several house moves. Now growing happily in Maine and Louisiana.
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Leave it to @MissMay to have the best options for AF beverages. After the Lemon & Lime varieties, ICE Orange/Mango is one of my favorites, which I thought I ordered on my last Amazon run. I like to order a half dozen different 12 packs at once to minimize deliveries. In my haste, I clicked on "Peach/Nectarine". It was "orange colored". Oh, my, it is SO good, I almost thought I needed to chew it. LOL. YMMV
@nicolewhittier ...half shots is a great option. When I was trying to help my bar patrons pretend to their "friends" that they were drinking [NOT] I would float a skim of booze on their beverage so it would seem to their buddys that they were part of the club. "Smelled like Jack & Coke, right ??" And the wife wouldn't have a cow when they came home [sober].
If your alcohol consumption this summer is at BBQs or Crab Boils, NA beer is low calorie, tasty, and easy to disguise as the "real thing".
It does not seem that you are committed to drinking for the taste-buzz-need, just to be part of the crowd at that
event. A half-shot [or not] with ice and a low cal mixer should do you. And maybe just " I don't want any alcohol this
weekend" would be enough for your friends to say, "Oh, okay, we got some spiced cranberry yadda-yadda-stuff that you might like...
Welcome aboard...Bring ..Your ..Own ..Bravery.
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