LESS Alcohol ~ SEPTEMBER 2024 ~ One Day at A Time

AF = 7
A = 3

Canning chicken stock tonight. Have 7 quarts in the pressure canner now. And it looks like 4 more to go.



Work and life are very busy right now, and I just don’t feel like I’m getting a break. Tomorrow, I have to take my car to the shop because the check engine light is on. After work, I need to make a cheesecake, potato salad, and grill some hamburgers for a party this weekend at a my bestie’s house (they don’t have a grill). Thursday, my son has his 2-hour annual oncology follow up appointment and hubby and I are taking a retirement prep class together. And Friday we head to bestie’s for the weekend.

Maybe next week I’ll get a break?

Tip for consideration and I say this from experience (only been on here for about 6 years+), work on Confidence first. I was that person that every day at 5pm kept saying "I can't". I had zero confidence in my strength to do this. I freakin wasted a year saying "I can't". @MissMay gave me the confidence boost and told me I could do it. That was the turning point.

Plan:

1-Pick any 24 hour window. Say it's 6pm to 6pm next day for example.
2-Buy yourself a treat in advance for that day. It can be an NA drink, juice, smoothie, frozen yogurt, chocolate. Whatever can give your brain a short boost of "happy".
3-Distract yourself that day, keeping busy. Post during the difficult time of day if you need to, writing down that you will do this because you can and it's possible.
4-Tell someone in your household this is what you will do.
5-Succeed. You just didn't drink for a 24 hour period.

Repeat this again a day or two later, Succeed.

If you can do any 24 hour period, you can do a day. Now you've developed confidence you CAN do it. Pick a whole regular day and be AF. Discard all doubt (that's the alcohol talking nonsense). You can absolutely do this.

Soon you'll have the confidence to say you'll try 2 days in a row or whatever and you will be more likely to succeed because you Can and because you've developed Confidence and because you have a Plan.

If at this point, it's not working out, consider speaking to a professional maybe even online, if you need that extra support, why not. Life is too important to do all possible.

Still going AF. 10 days done. My challenge today is going without any "goodies" since my husband is AF along with me but he did a nice job of finishing my delicious black raspberry Yasso frozen yogurt bars.

Current:
AF days - 3
A days - 5
LA - 2 (under 8 oz. wine)

SurferGirl1982 wrote: »

Well, I'm about to give up. Every day I plan on being AF. But then I change my mind.

I can't give up though. I need to quit drinking for my health, fitness and my weight. And I don't want to become physically dependent again.

So I'll still be checking this thread daily. But until I have 1 to 3 days AF, I may not post my monthly tally.

AF - 1
A - 8 (disgusting!)

Take care everyone!

I know I'm posting kind of late on this, but please don't give up! You had a great streak last month and I know you can do it again. There have been a lot of good suggestions here, and I hope at least one of them helps you get through this rough patch.

I just want to say, not just to you but to everyone in this forum, I'm so appreciative of the sharing that goes on here. We all have struggles, we all have down days, and we all especially have those WOW days, or even moments when we're so happy with what we've accomplished, not just AF-wise, but in every area of our lives. Those WOW moments are the ones we should be focused on, not the yuck times we sometimes feel.

8 AF
3 A

@SparkSpringtime69 Thanks...I'm not giving up! I just need a little break.

Four weeks ago, we took our cat to the vet for just a regular checkup. She had lost some weight and the vet was a bit concerned. So we had them do blood and urine tests. You're probably wondering how they collect the urine? Well, they gave her a little cup and sent her to the bathroom. How else? Silly! 😀

Anyways, she has hyperthyroidism and some problem with her kidney function. Which is normal for older cats. Tinker is almost 17. But she still looks like a kid!

I'll try to keep it short. But she hasn't been a fan of any of the medicine. We started with a compounded transdermal cream. Then tablets, coated tablets, back to transdermal cream and now a new oral solution (which we had to add to food). We thought the pills would work because she used to be a sucker for pill pockets. But I guess she could smell the uncoated tablet and wouldn't touch it. Then she got wise to us!

And the special diet food...Nope! So the vet prescribed another food that we know she loves. It's not specifically a kidney diet. But the vet is OK with it. She says the main thing she wants is for her to eat. Now, I'm waiting for Chewy to deliver it.

It's been a bit stressful. But we've done a pretty good job with her meds. She's supposed to take them twice a day. And in three weeks, we've only missed two doses.

I'll be posting positive news really soon!

Take care to everyone!

@forestdweller1 That was very cute 🙂

Give Catpuccino a paws up for me 😺

@NonnieDorion holy cow you mean serious business with canning all that soup! Yowza! Hope your days get much less hectic very soon.

@SparkSpringtime69 its amazing what we say to ourselves. I wonder why it’s so common to beat ourselves up so hard instead of giving ourselves grace ???? I’ve struggled with that in the past, and totally understand.

@globalhiker, great ideas for a workable action plan!

I was AF today in about six weeks! I didn’t even want alcohol tonight. Absolutely no cravings. Last two nights I only had one glass of wine. It feels really great to meet and even exceed my goals.

@RubyRed427 alcohol absolutely kills my sleep. Guaranteed wake up at 4am with anxiety attacks. I've not measured my heart rate but I just know it goes up.

Yesterday, I decided to go back and try the Kendall Jackson low calorie/low alcohol Chardonnay wine…was better than I remembered. Planning on AF today and will likely have the rest on Saturday or Sunday.

Current:
AF days - 4
A days - 5
LA - 3 (under 8 oz. wine)