LESS Alcohol ~ MARCH 2025 ~ One Day at A Time

March:

AF: 8

A: 17

Jersey trip was almost half AF/half A (3/4). I did manage to really control myself at the wedding - only four glasses of wine mixed with sips of water over the 5 hour event. The wedding was loads of fun and the venue was beautiful (a repurposed mill in Media, PA called Kings Mills).

Got home yesterday and spent the afternoon doing laundry, etc. Today I had to get my BIL's tax stuff put together for his accountant 😖

All that business that got under my skin has left me thinking way too much, but I've managed to keep my head all day. I'm having one beer as I wind down - LA. Easy enough to keep it that way, the only hard stuff in the house is the Chartreuse that's deliberately been stashed away and one other beer that's not cold.

-m

March Madness! Goal 50% AF (AF=16 A=15)
Monthly Stats - Target Missed

AF = 5
A = 22

Current Streak - AF = 1
Longest Streak - AF = 8

Finally an AF night even though the day was stressful. Been sleeping like crap with stuff racing through my mind. Hoping for a peaceful night.

Successful in tracking 3 planned AF days before my flight this am. I woke up extra early and arrived at the airport extra early. Had breakfast in the Amex lounge and had eggs and coffee. Saw the bar in the distance and skipped the complimentary Prosecco! Two years ago, I wouldn’t have ever passed that up. Feels like I just won something. Have a good weekend!

March:

AF: 10

A: 18

@Michieb125 skipping the complimentary booze of any kind is always a huge win - Congrats!

April will be my 8th planned consecutive AF month. Strangely, the spring-like weather, warm sun, and increased outdoor exercise along with dieting is - hate to say this - made me want a cold glass of white wine yesterday. Make that 3 glasses. Dealt with that by not driving out to the supermarket and instead cooking dinner and it went away after a minute or two.

What the heck? It could be my head has it confused with thirst. My blood sugar could be low. I didn't have enough protein maybe.

I have to plan to drink water or club soda every 2 hours and see if it goes away. I really, really want to be AF for April and make it AF at least till Sept. 1st to hit the one year mark.

Yesterday was pretty good, I think…by some standard, anyway. I pulled two gallons of mead out to rack them off the lees and put them on oak, they've been in there for four months. I sampled them to see how they're coming along, maybe an ounce of each. Even through the young mead funk, they're showing promise. One's a bochet, which is basically mead made with caramelized honey, and it almost reminds me of a quad or barleywine. The other is a straight wildflower mead, and the floral notes are amazing - it was made with some random bottle of Turkish honey I found at an Asian grocery. Anyway, mead under a year old isn't worth drinking, other than periodic samples to check its progress.

End of the night, fumbling around in a dark kitchen, I pulled out what should have been a Topo Chico and when I poured it, it turned out to be an ancient Mike's Hard Lemon from god knows when and who knows why it was in the back of the cabinet in a Topo Chico box. I drank enough of it to wash down my pm supplements but I never liked those bad flavored malt beverage jobs, not my bag.

So….okay, we'll call it LA even though personally, I don't think it counts. :D

Today was actually racking the mead and inoculating the grow bag with Tidal Wave spores (the reason I was in the closet in the first place, to dig up the iodophor sanitizer), and I did pour a small amount of the Chartreuse while I was in there. I'm disappointed in myself for that, I didn't need it, I WANTED it. So A. Not even LA. :(

I really want to do better.

I can and will give myself credit where credit is due: I'm not sitting here alone in the dark and getting hammered every night. I haven't been hammered in quite a few nights, actually, and that's a nice feeling. I'm doing better than I was, and that means something. Small progress is still progress. But I want more, I want to do better still.

-m

Final Stats for March: Let's call It Sober-ish.

March 1 A
March 2-28 AF
March 29 A
March 30-31 AF

See you on the April thread. XO

Popping in for a quick final update for March.

My personal goal was to continue my mindful drinking journey and cut back on wine and increase health benefits. I’m continuing to be successful with this.

I planned for 14 AF days in March but hit 13/31 days due to a wonderful weekend with lifelong friends and outstanding meals….and long talks with a glass or few of wine. Now time to fly home and renew my targets.

See you in April!

March, signing off…

AF = 6
A = 25

Current Streak - AF = 1
Longest Streak - AF = 8

Only Friday night was a bit much. We went out for date night. Had wine at dinner, a cocktail afterwards and two glasses of wine at the concert. Even that was an accomplishment as it's usually two glasses at dinner and not a moment during the concert without a glass in my hand!

Well, not AF by any means but still so much better than last March!

@mfowler883 ~ Don't think you are not doing well, you are!! You said it best…Small Progress is still PROGRESS.

@globalhiker ~ 8th month!!!! That's awesome! Very interesting the triggers, but you made it past them~ Great job!

@SunnyDays930 ~ You had an amazing streak and accomplished a LOT. Do not let 1 day get the best of you…continue on. After 5 more days, you won't even remember it! :)

@Michieb125 ~ Skipping a free glass of Prosecco! You have arrived!! You were very mindful this month and you have achieved your goals!

@margim5 ~ A very successful March!

@Everyone ~ stay the course on your personal journey and I'll see you in the April threads. If I can find my way :) Hang in there @MissMay ~

I'm finishing March in the toilet where I've been since the cruise.

SO's company sold, so I'm out of a job and delivering groceries for Walmart. I could definitely exceed my previous salary if I do it 7 days a week which I will do most weeks and let some money accrue to cover my vacations (ie: cruises) because I have many already planned. It was nice to be on salary for SO's company because as long as I had all the affairs in order before I left, things went smooth, and I still got paid. I'm still trying to figure out a good schedule that will allow me to make adequate money and get my workouts in without getting up at 4 in the morning which I could actually do if I went to bed at night 😂. Right now, it's a struggle.

I'm going to shoot for a mostly AF April…possibly completely AF but I'll take it one day at a time. I don't want the mentality that if I do have a wine night that the whole month needs to go in the trash and start over in May 😂

I see all the good LA things you're all doing and I hope to see you in the April thread where I will be more active!

JAN AF 31

FEB AF 28

MARCH AF 15 A 16

APRIL…..HERE'S HOPING