I did the same thing this year and my husband joined me. Both of us have LOVED our cocktails for decades and I grew up in bars so drinking big cultural issues for me. With menopause I have found drinking just makes me feel so much more inflamed but also didn’t want rules around it. Anyway, short story is that his blood pressure dropped just by stopping drinking for a month and now we enjoy mostly NA beers and cocktails.
I can’t believe how much we have in common. For the past year I have thought about blogging to share and perhaps to help others, let them know they are not alone. It’s no fun feeling alone. I have completed dry February 22&23. Didn’t really feel any different and I didn’t lose weight, my always in the back of my mind hope. This year damp Feb. my goal is to have a drink to savor and enjoy. Not drink to be drinking. I love food pairings so limiting it helps me to create a better environment of food and drink. Make it special or a treat.
Love this MB! And yes... savoring the drink and pairing yummy food with it is a nice strategy. Always love your positive shiny spirit. Thank you for reading and sharing.
I've extended my Dry January -- my last alcohol was Dec. 31, and I've decided to keep going dry. However, I'm leaving the door open to drinking when we're out or on vacation. For me, it helps to have a rule of not drinking at home now -- to just take that off the table as an option. I was spending way too much time debating and struggling to control my alcohol consumption at home, limiting to one or two drinks and abstaining at least once/week. It always felt like a struggle, because I always wanted to revert to my old heavy-drinking habit of one beer + two glasses of wine nightly (which is definitely too much). I find it easier not to drink at home at all, and thankfully I've lost the craving, the way you describe not wanting to smoke anymore. But I don't want it off limits forever. I think it's great you enjoyed a celebratory beer when you went out. I think I will too when we travel later this month. Anyhow, thank you for sharing all this! I'll try the tart cherry juice. Kombucha is my favorite substitute now.
I love this! From someone with an ED brain too, I totally get this! And, I am so glad that you speak so freely of your ED brain - ED is so frequent (especially in runners) yet there is not enough talk about it!
I did the same thing this year and my husband joined me. Both of us have LOVED our cocktails for decades and I grew up in bars so drinking big cultural issues for me. With menopause I have found drinking just makes me feel so much more inflamed but also didn’t want rules around it. Anyway, short story is that his blood pressure dropped just by stopping drinking for a month and now we enjoy mostly NA beers and cocktails.
Yes! I'm still going strong as well.... And while there are no rules... it just feels right for now.
I can’t believe how much we have in common. For the past year I have thought about blogging to share and perhaps to help others, let them know they are not alone. It’s no fun feeling alone. I have completed dry February 22&23. Didn’t really feel any different and I didn’t lose weight, my always in the back of my mind hope. This year damp Feb. my goal is to have a drink to savor and enjoy. Not drink to be drinking. I love food pairings so limiting it helps me to create a better environment of food and drink. Make it special or a treat.
Love this MB! And yes... savoring the drink and pairing yummy food with it is a nice strategy. Always love your positive shiny spirit. Thank you for reading and sharing.
I've extended my Dry January -- my last alcohol was Dec. 31, and I've decided to keep going dry. However, I'm leaving the door open to drinking when we're out or on vacation. For me, it helps to have a rule of not drinking at home now -- to just take that off the table as an option. I was spending way too much time debating and struggling to control my alcohol consumption at home, limiting to one or two drinks and abstaining at least once/week. It always felt like a struggle, because I always wanted to revert to my old heavy-drinking habit of one beer + two glasses of wine nightly (which is definitely too much). I find it easier not to drink at home at all, and thankfully I've lost the craving, the way you describe not wanting to smoke anymore. But I don't want it off limits forever. I think it's great you enjoyed a celebratory beer when you went out. I think I will too when we travel later this month. Anyhow, thank you for sharing all this! I'll try the tart cherry juice. Kombucha is my favorite substitute now.
Yes! Kombucha is a good one too! It gets pricy so I make my own! Very easy.... give it a try!
As I said, your narrative skills are superb. I am looking forward to more of your rich writing.
Thank you! You are so kind <3 Sorry for the delayed response, but somehow I am not getting alerted that you are commenting!
I love this! From someone with an ED brain too, I totally get this! And, I am so glad that you speak so freely of your ED brain - ED is so frequent (especially in runners) yet there is not enough talk about it!
Thank you for reading Cindy! And yes.... more talk... about all the hard things <3