LESS Alcohol ~ OCTOBER 2024 ~ One Day at A Time

Day 59 AF done and Day 60 AF is here. I really wish I could say this is easy, it's gotten "easier" but it's not easy for me. I would still absolutely LOVE to take off on a month-long European vacation and drink local wines every day, as much as I want, without a worry and without counting.

Instead each day I get to deal with daily life "irritations" and unpredictability and bosses and the drinking husband who drinks too much, all without my wine to make the problems magically shrink. Instead, I manage by watching funny stuff on youtube to distract me and I still follow a drinking ritual of drinking a soda or fizzy water or NA drink before dinner.

My rational self did become stronger with being AF in a stretch. But crap, today my wine devil is asking me at 5 a.m.: When is this going to end?

All I know is not today, dear wine devil. Alcohol is a class 1 carcinogen, in the same class as all the really bad stuff, go look it up. It damages DNA and shortens telemeres too. I want long telemeres= longer life, anti-aging. Do I really want to self medicate myself with a class 1 carcinogen at my age that can give me cancer and make me look older? Don't I have enough problems already?

Wine devil response is: well, everything will kill you, toxins are everywhere.
Me: exactly why I need to control the risks I can. I want to lower my cancer risk and avoid as many toxins as possible to have a good life.
The wine devil conversation in my head abruptly ended. Looks like I will continue AF past day 60. Here we go!!

@Michieb125 your doing great and its great your setting new goals.
@globalhiker its good your ignoring the wine devil, keep going you have got this.
@chicbuc - super work this month
@xbowhunter -inspiring
@tmbg1 - a good month, way better than me lol!

@globalhiker Thank you for your post that reminded me that alcohol is a carcinogen. It is so easy to glamorize wine; indeed advertising does that for us on a daily basis. I need to remember to be grateful for my health and protective of it. At 61 I have more yesterdays than tomorrows and I need to keep that in mind when it comes to what I eat and drink.

31 AF days in October

Current streak 39 days AF

I check this thread all the time and read every word. Thanks for your honesty and thoughtful posts. It helps me so much. Happy Halloween!

AF= 30 days
A= 0 days
60 AF days done, today is AF day 61! Thank you, Team! This is not a solo effort by any means.

See you all in November. I reflected back to the 5 or so months AF I did perhaps it was Nov - April and I couldn't believe how the wine secretly and slowly crept back into my life full swing by August. Be on guard!