LESS Alcohol ~ FEBRUARY 2025 ~ One Day at A Time

I was supposed to meet up with my girlfriends last night but they both dipped on me. I was already near the casino so I went and had a few glasses of wine and played some slots. When I got home, I had some sauerkraut because all this talk made me buy some at the grocery store the other day :lol And...no heartburn this morning, so that's good, but back to AF today. Another thing I don't like about drinking is raises my heart rate. My resting is pretty high this morning, so I'm skipping my walk this morning which makes for a poop day. I'll have to try to get in some steps in between working today.

@margim5 I totally get that feeling. Hope you stuck to your guns!
@Womona First, glad your back is feeling better! Way to fight off the wine demon the other day and definitely still an LA WIN yesterday! And that bag is so cute!
@SunnyDays930 I love your mantra! No more excuses! And thanks for the sauerkraut suggestion
@Michieb125 It's nice that you have NA stuff to attend. What do use for Yoga at home? I was thinking I needed to start adding some beginner's Yoga to my routine, but I don't know where to start. I also work out at home.
@CamaroChick3717 Welcome to the group! I'm also a recovering bottle+ of wine per night every night for years kind of girl. Thanks to the support from and the accountability to this group and some determination and prayers of my own, I'm getting better. Hang out here and let us get to know you
@Surfergirl1982 Climb back on the wagon with me!
@NonnieDoiron You are off to a fabulous February!
@itladyee Hope you abstained and got your good night's sleep
@MissMay Congrats on 1/3 of a year! Amazing!

Congrats all you abstainers! Great job and keep going!



AF = 3
A = 2

Born2Run1958 wrote: »

Question, how many if any plan to imbibe on Super Bowl Sunday?

As of today, I don't plan to since we'll be at home and one of my big goals is not to drink at home. It quickly turns into a habit if I have wine in the house. I'll DoorDash more to get through the night if I don't have "enough." So, no...lol.

Thank you @Michieb125! Have a great week with your grands...they're the best!!

@itladyee I tried the 0.0 Stella that @Michieb125 suggested and it is really good!

Born2Run1958 wrote: »

Hope everyone has a great day. Question, how many if any plan to imbibe on Super Bowl Sunday?
Jan 31 AF 0 A
Feb 5 AF 0 A
Sharon

Probably won’t even bother to watch the game. I used to be a huge football fan, but my husband is really not into it. He’d rather watch movies all day. So since we’ve been married, I think I’ve only watched one Super Bowl, and he played on the computer in another room the whole time. I don’t watch football anymore.

All that to say, more than likely, I won’t drink. But, if I do, it’s not because of football. 😁

SurferGirl1982 wrote: »

Well, my husband had a doctor appointment in town today. And, he did what @NonnieDoiron's husband does...he bought me a pint of Jim Beam. It didn't magically appear on the counter though. He had it stashed. I had no idea it was here.

I was kind of bored, so I decided to go across the street to play the slots. I was thinking to myself, "I better not drink any beer because then I'll want to go to the liquor store". When I told him that I was going across the street, he said, "Well, I know you'll drink beer and then want to go to the liquor store. So I saved you a trip 🙂" I thought...well, I might as well have a couple of beers. And then to a add insult to injury, I lost!

February:
AF - 3
A - 3

In their efforts to be kind and loving husbands, they don’t often help us in the right way. It’s hard to be mad at them when we know they are just showing their love and thinking they are doing us a favor. And, then we are even less bothered by it when we’re drinking it thinking “so glad he got this!” It’s such a conundrum sometimes.

@NonnieDoiron Your house sound just like mine and I would also be interested in a good cleaning routine.
@SurferGirl1982 If I had slots across the street from me, I'd be broke and drunk all the time :hugs:

I just drank my sparkling water last night. I was going to have one of 0.0 Stellas, but I decided to save them for Super Bowl in case I get an urge to drink. Plus I didn't want to waste the calories on drink. Isn't if funny how I'll do that for a few glasses of wine and plan my whole day around it but won't drink 60 calories in an NA beer

AF = 4
A = 2

@NonnieDoiron my mother was right… do a little bit every day and it’s easy to keep clean. You never have to do the full, big , overwhelming cleaning. So, here is my schedule (based around my part time job):

Tuesdays: Bathrooms

Thursdays: dust (including baseboards). This is a good time to put things back where they belong is they’ve been out for a couple days.

Fridays: vacuum and wash the floors

Every day: make bed, run dishwasher at night, and clean counters after each meal.

As needed in between scheduled days: clean spills. Touch up bathrooms.

I find that my house gets a little shaggy after a week, and by two weeks it’s a real mess. If I don’t keep up with the above schedule, my house quickly turns into a disaster zone, and then I have the big project of deep cleaning it to start fresh.

As for decluttering, start very small. Clean out the junk drawer. Just one. Clean off just one small section of your kitchen countertop. And then move on to another small section. All in all, you can see a huge impact with just 10 minutes per day. I usually start with public areas. Paperwork and photos are last.

Need to donate something? Put it in your car for a once per week donation drop off. Just get it out of your house. Forget trying to sell stuff, I’ve found it’s a huge waste of time. The first axiom of declutterring is “nobody wants your old crap”. Just donate and take the write-off. Don’t be afraid of throwing things out. Stained ripped clothes? Broken toys? Nobody wants that, even at a thrift store. Throw it out.

If you have big bulky items, hire one of those junk removal services. I’ve found they are very reasonably priced and they deal lifting and getting rid of heavy stuff.

Here are some great books on the subject:

“A Slob comes clean” by Dana K. White

“Decluttering at the speed of life” by Dana K. White

“How to keep house while drowning” by KC Davis

“Unf*ck your habitat” by Rachel Hoffman

“The life-changing habit of tidying up-“ Marie Kondo

Ok as for others in your house…. Sometimes you just have to say to them all “put your *kitten* away”. They need to build the habit of putting things where they belong-even if it’s a ten minute pick-up before bed. If things don’t get have a place, find one. Once you start decluttering , you’ll have room in your storage areas for the stuff you want to keep that just doesn’t fit right now.

If your daughter can’t reach everyday items, move them to somewhere more accessible to increase the chance that she can easily put them back. Same with your MIL’s breakfast items. At least put them in a cute container on the counter if she’s really going to struggle.

Clearly this is something I am very passionate about. I grew up in a very cluttered, but clean house, and I’m kind of ruthless getting rid of stuff. I love a lived-in, inviting and comfortable home, but I know what you mean about feeling all the stuff encroaching on you. We all need some breathing room!

Hope this helps! It’s all common sense, but schedule it like you would schedule a meeting or a hair appointment.

My AF streak ended today....hard to not have a beer when sitting on a beach in Naples, FL.....80ish degrees, perfect weather, slight breeze....just have to start over after i get back to Texas....😀

Feb...
AF - 6
A - 1

AF streak - 37....

@Womona thanks for all the great tips! The schedule sounds great in theory, but I don’t know if I can manage that schedule.

Like I said, we’re lived in, not filthy. Kids participate. They are teenagers and have their chores. They empty and load the dishwasher every day, trash (daily), vacuum (weekly) and dust (weekly). My son makes his bed and keeps his room very straight. My daughter… welllllll… not so much. My MIL puts the dirty dishes in the dishwasher throughout the day. It’s my daughter’s responsibility to wipe down the counters and tables after dinner. My kitchen is always reset at night, but it only lasts as long as people are sleeping.

Since I work full time and my daily schedule is unpredictable, I find it hard to stay on top of a daily schedule. I try to clean alternating what I do on Saturdays, but my Saturdays keep getting eaten up with other plans (made by other people). And those plans either prohibit me from being home or being able to keep my schedule and I have to flex to cleaning on another day and whatever needs cleaned the most which throws me way off.

Decluttering and getting rid of *kitten* has NEVER been a problem for me. I find it very easy to trash stuff. I just don’t have a lot of time to do it. I like your tip a drawer at a time taking 10 minutes. I can probably do that.

I told my husband I want to declutter, and he said “ok” then walked away. He’s a “hang onto that because you never know when it’ll come in handy” kinda guy. When he says that to me, I tell him to hang onto it in the shop (his man cave). Then, it becomes his problem because I don’t go in the shop.

Anyway, I did clean bathrooms today. But, I skipped my walk to do it. Tomorrow, I will watch the live stream of my son’s competition. Then, I’m getting my nails done for the first time in over a year. Then, home to make chicken stock and bake cupcakes. Then, I need to go to Saturday evening Mass because I’m cooking and delivering lunch for the Youth Group on Sunday. See… way too much to do in a weekend. And, next weekend is my daughter’s birthday party. Hoping it’ll be easy… it’s at the skating rink.

Hubby remembered when he went shopping. No magically appearing bottles of wine. I think I’m a little disappointed, but it’s for the best.

AF - 7
A - 0