Change_Agent Member

Good for you for starting this! I know for the $, one of the cheapest and healthiest things I make is lentil soup. One bag of lentils here (US) costs about $1.50 and it will make two large pots of soup--enough for 8 big bowls a pot or so. I fry up an onion, garlic and a few chopped carrots, put in half a bag of lentils…

Hey there, Great idea for a group. I am just over 5'7 and 167 as of this morning. I have been fluctuating from mid to high 160s for probably a year. I want to be in low 150s by Thanksgiving (ambitious maybe?) and eventually at 140ish. Maybe less - I'll see how I feel when I get there. I am 49 years old. My biggest problem…

Hey all - I'm with you all too. Mostly though things are going pretty well as long as I -- well, you all probably know the drill (exercise, vitamins, etc.). seamaiden -- I would love to hear your gender/age appropriate food tips and what you do to meditate? I don't have much luck with sitting meditation (either fall asleep…

Hey there - Welcome to you both! Good for you - not drinking. It does help with sleep I find. I am cheering for you! Martha (Change_Agent)

Good luck with this goal. I think it's great. I cannot seem to settle on one method or another (which may speak to abstinence being the easier in my case). I have regained some of the weight I lost earlier this spring and I am sure it is due to resumed drinking of wine. Sigh.....

Hey there! Glad to see you here. I am struggling mightily. I started the group last winter but seem to be the slow poke in terms of real change. I just posted on my home page tonight re once again drinking red wine tonight for no reason at all and while not completely eating back all my exercise calories, dipping too…

Hi there. I think if it worked for you the first time (setting a date, etc.) then try it again now. It is really easy to fall back into it just like you have never left. I know from several go-rounds of personal experience in the last couple of months alone! You can do it!! Martha

Hi all, HelenofTroy - Wow!! Good for you! I am so impressed by your change of tastebuds/interest and total 180 in terms of habits. The idea of resetting my taste buds/tolerance level makes the thought of 40 days of abstinence worth it. Opal - And good for you too! With all the stress of having to move suddenly, it's…

Hey there. Welcome to the group! I think so far the things that have worked best for me are drinking a glass of water and just trying to remind myself how crappy I will feel ultimately if I slide down that slippery slope. But it's hard - no question. I'm thinking maybe getting up and walking around a bit after the first…

Opal24: Sheer bloody-mindedness is a great thing. I think I need a bit more myself. Who is trying moderation here instead of abstinence and how is it going for you? I know I keep SAYING I am going to give it up entirely but I haven't yet so now I'm thinking a more effective strategy for me would be a mindful moderation but…

Hi all - I am back from Florida and assorted other wanderings (and my birthday) and back to logging and checking in. While away, I was not abstinent and 2x had way too much but in general not so bad. I just turned 49 yesterday and am going to make it a reason for extra good health. Preparing for 50: that's my theme song. I…

HoT - I'm so impressed you were able to hang tough! The figuring it out is tough. I have an incredibly somber and earnest nephew who told me when he was 7 that he was writing a really important play - a masterwork! - called FINDING OUT. I think he pretty much summed it up right there. Alas, though, I have yet to see the…

Hey all, It sounds like everyone is doing so well - congratulations to you all!! Let them wonder, I say. I wish I had been forcing more people to wonder about me lately. (Instead, I was blending right in....) While my sister was in town to get married I indulged (tho mostly did not overindulge) at several wine-filled…

Hey all, Great to see that everyone is making such progress! I totally agree, Vacherin, your friend is mostly scared of losing you/jealous of what you are doing. Jenniegeo - I'm reading (slowly and in fits and starts) this great book by Martha Beck called something like "Finding your way in the Wild World" and it is really…

Hey Jenniegeo and all, TOTALLY know where you are coming from with the "reasons" to buy bottle of wine (or whatever) on way home from work. I was doing that for years. A few months ago the grocery store nearest my house (nice wine selection) moved a few miles away and as soon as I heard the news my thought was not, "Oh no,…

Hey there Helenoftroy - congrats to you! And definitely, any of those choices is better than a bottle of wine. For one thing, you don't get the headache!

Hey there - Thanks for the support. I decided today to just quit harassing myself. I am a bit stressed lately - but mostly by a surfeit of happy things -- and have decided that the good news is that even under stress I am drinking much (MUCH MUCH even) less than I was a month ago. The key with me is not to keep it in the…

Hey Vacherin, Good to see you here! I have found this group really really helpful - and am in fact feeling the need for that help a bit more often these last few days! I just posted a few days ago saying I wasn't going to have any more wine for two weeks and have already broken that promise 2x. I think for now - given the…

Hey all! Back on track after a weird week where I found myself saying "Oh but just this time..." 3 different nights! This is after weeks of barely having anything (like 2-3 glasses over the course of the whole time) and in most of those weeks having no alcohol at all and loving that feeling. What gives? I don't know. As I…

Hey all, That's interesting to hear about middle class drinking starting to become a problem - though less visible because kept at home (and kept so classy indeed). My teenaged daughter often notices (and decries) all the Wino Paraphenalia to be had for the middle class home: the little kitchen towels with the funny…

dbanks - way to go! That IS hard - to skip it on holidays, etc. and good advice - if it's any help to know, 5 days seemed almost impossible to me a couple of months ago and then, after a few days, it just quit being so hard. I think in my case very intense exercise really helped. I think it just made me more relaxed…

Hi Opal- Glad to hear your night out went well! Yes, it is weird how many issues not drinking brings up for people - even the people not not drinking. I'm glad it was a fun evening. Sounds like next time won't be as tough. Hang in there! Martha

Hi there, Good to have you on board! I have found this group amazingly effective for helping with my cravings/indulgences - which sound a lot like yours. I found that just by quitting altogether for awhile (2 weeks?), it helped kill many of the daily cravings. At that time, I was also not eating any sugar (just by…

Fingers crossed indeed! It sounds like maybe she wants to have a conversation with you? Maybe she drinks more than she appears to - or, more to the point, more than she is comfortable with? Could be an interesting night. Good luck trying to help her over her anxieties. I'll be curious to hear how it goes. I am meeting a…

Thank you both for the support. I thought about it and realized I am a little stressed and definitely more tired. Got a couple of solid night's sleep and voila - craving back to gone. It is amazing to me how holistic a thing good health really is on such a daily basis - too little sleep and your body starts to crave…

You look great! Congratulations on achieving such a transformation! I am 48, about 5'8" (maybe 1/2 inch shy?) and at 162 now which has me between a size 10 and a size 12. Fifteen years ago (ouch) I was about 152 - thought I was much too heavy which now seems ridiculous of course as I am fighting like a cat in a sack to get…

Absolutely agreed with first post. In fact, I don't really care as much about the lbs as the level of fitness and the way clothes fit. At my fittest point ever I only weighed about 6 pounds less than I do now but I was easily a full size smaller and heading towards 2 sizes smaller.

Hey again - just checking in to report that it DID go fine! thanks for the words of encouragement. Once again, I found I just really didn't want it. I think this must be some very weird perimenopausal hormones thing. It does not taste the same any more. But - yes - it's when I'm wiped out that I want it the most. Going to…

That's fantastic, opal24! I am about to go out to dinner and have been contemplating drinking some wine mostly because i am really, really tired (weird connection perhaps) and I want to relax. My back is aching (pms, arthritis) and I really want to down something. But! Your post has inspired me to watch myself. Indeed, I…

Hi there, Opal24 -- that's great that you started a blog! I am going to read it. For first day in many, I really had to wrestle with wanting a glass of wine. I am feeling just a bit worn down and work was "jangly" for lack of a better word - nothing major just constant interruptions and low key stress and chatter and…