Day 2 - excited, committed but need a buddy! Paricularly to stay off alcohol

[WizzardyBlizz]

HI all,

I just started (May 30th) and was pleasantly surprised yesterday at finding it easy enough  and not feeling hungry. But - with three small children, I have got into very bad habits with having a few drinks pretty much every night and have done so for years. I would love to buddy up with someone who is also going to find this a very challenging - but important - aspect of the program!

 

For me, the whole30 it is all about setting some boundaries, I have to redefine the way I eat (and drink!) - as I'm constantly in the kitchen preparing kids food, feeding them and finishing it off, I know I have been drinking way too much - often having a gin and ting (we live in Jamaica and Ting is a grapefruit soda here) by about 5 or 6 pm to 'get me through' the kids bath time etc, then beer or wine with supper. Need to replace that extremely damaging pick me up, with some new energy boosting idea - I don't even think it has to be a drink or snack, I'm going to try getting out for an early evening walk wiht the kids every day at 5.30, for fresh air and distraction!

 

Anyway, hoping to hear from anyone else with littlies taking a break from the booze!

 

Thanks

Lizzie

 

[MaureenC]

Stick with it!  That's my big advice.  I was a wine drinker every evening after work.  Yeah, I missed it, but my mindset was like yours in the beginning--I knew it was a bad habit.   Habits take time to break.  Today is my official last day.  I had to restart because I ate non-compliant food 2 weeks into the first run, so really, I have been on this plan since April 11.  No alcohol.  No grains. no legumes. no bad fats. no sugar.  You will gain awareness of your eating and drinking habits very quickly.  I think the first week to ten days you will be weaned.   Now, I don't even think about it at the store.  You will feel too great.  The only thing I will reintroduce for a while is sugar in my coffee!

[MaureenC]

Additionally, you will be in a better frame of mind for your children.  I am more aware with my teenaged son. 

[madness]

I was nightly wine drinker before starting the Whole30. I would frequently stop drinking for a few weeks but as soon as I started again, it went straight to "too much". I'm hoping when it's reintroduced this time, it will be different. The rest of my family still enjoys plenty of wine and beer and I thought between seeing them do it at every family dinner, and simply wanting some to unwind,  it would be the thing that caused me to not make my 30 days. I thought it was going to be exceedingly hard. Well, it's day 57 for me (I extended to work on a few extra things) and I still have the same bottle of wine in my cabinet from the day I started! 

 

Here are some things that helped me in the beginning (and sometimes I still fall back on):

 

I used to open the bottle while I was cooking dinner (usually to use some in cooking, but of course also to have a glass). When I feel in that mood, I make myself a fun drink - flavored club soda, etc. so that I have something to sip on while cooking.

 

After the kids are in bed, during the unwind time when I would have a drink (and then make bad snack choices too...), I simply need to do something active. I used to love reading a book or something like that, but now I do housework. Crazy! I never thought I would exchange wine for housework. But then during the day, I can sit and enjoy my book in a cleaner house since I got the work done the night before. Just find something active to do during 'unwind'.

 

If you used to drink in social gatherings, make sure your friends/family are supportive of this decision. I've been to several larger parties and just took a thermos with me and sipped on water so that no one would even bother asking if I wanted something to drink. At close friends and family gatherings, every one is supportive and doesn't offer. Last night, a friend we hadn't seen in a while offered me a glass a wine and I told her I was "off the juice" for awhile. She was excited and asked how I was surviving and asked for tips on how to do it! Those are the sorts of people you should hang around with when there's tempting alcohol present.

 

Good luck! I think you will find it easier than you expect. I certainly did!

[Beth D.]

I could be your buddy!  I started today so am a day behind you.  I've put a can of seltzer water in the fridge to have at dinner. I drink regular water all day.  My husband drinks a glass of wine (I did, too) every night at dinner when we do our Crossword Puzzle-he's retired.  Anyway-let's encourage each other!

[WizzardyBlizz]

Thanks everybody! I contacted a few friends today to let them know my intentions and ask them for their support and everyone was great, really positive - I will just have to stay away from them on Friday nights for a bit! And Beth D. - good to know you've just started too - let's buddy up! I'm in Jamaica and no one here has ever heard of this plan, though the few I have mentioned it too think its a good idea. I'm also going to really miss the beans and peas! Still find it hard to believe they are bad - we cook alot of pulses here normally; kidney beans, black beans, butter beans, pintos, chickpeas, lentils etc, because there's not a great selection of meat or fish available! Anyway, I'm resigned to giving it a go!

[Jamidub]

Hi Lizzie and others,

 

Although I need to lose a lot of weight and have dieted successfully in the past (and gained it back plus some friends), I'm doing Whole30 (starting tomorrow) to force myself to quit drinking (started that today).  I typically only drink light beer, but the quantity of it and the extra food I eat because of it is a big deal.  So I'd like to join you (no littles here, though) because I'm sure it would help to know others are in a similar boat.  I think I'm ready food-wise, but need to read more on the oils and fats you're supposed to have with each meal.  And I was surprised to see all of the sugars and preservatives added to packaged items.

 

Jami

[science_n_salsa]

I'm starting my first W30 on June 1st and a big challenge for me will be skipping my nightly ritual of red wine after my daughter goes to bed. I've done "cleanses" or "detoxes" before and successfully given up drinking during that time but I want to change the habit long term. One thing I'm going to try, by suggestion, is replacing my wine with kombucha. I think my habit is as much about the ritual as it is the beverage being consumed. So, perhaps if I replace it with something truly beneficial, i will ease my transition. Best of luck to you! I hope you are successful. We can be buddies if you like! Strength in numbers!!!

[sva]

Lizzie, I'm with you on this one. I do very well with black and white thinking, so now, at Day 16, I'm feeling very good about the whole Whole 30 thing, even the not-drinking. But those first days were hard---not because I was about to cave in, but it felt almost physically painful to not have that wine at five. 

 

A couple of things helped. My partner isn't a big drinker, so I asked him to put all the booze in the cellar. I realized it only made me want it if I saw the bottles in the house. Like you, I also made a plan to do something else at the witching hour---take a walk, work in the garden, read some fiction. It helped to read somewhere that cravings usually last under five minutes; if you can get through those five minutes, you're okay.

 

I took to drinking seltzer with a lot of lime squeezed in. By now, this feels normal, and tastes delicious.

 

I also have it easy as right now we're up in the country and not around the people I usually drink with. I've made it a point to avoid drinking situations until the Whole 30 is done--again, not because I'm afraid that I'll see my own hand reaching uncontrollably toward the wine glass, but because it's painful to not drink when I want to. 

 

It has gotten much easier in the past week. Hang in.

[slesca]

I could have written a lot of your original post! Three kids, habitually drink while cooking, enjoy another drink to "unwind." Ugh. It's just becoming an every day thing rather than something special. Having had three kids, I've gone a year at a time during my pregnancies/post-partum period without a single drink and I feel like I'm now making up for it. I never missed drinking while I was pregnant and I remember actually loving that I always felt great in the mornings even after a big event. Anyway, now I'm in my mid-30's and my weight is creeping up slowly and my habits are becoming more and more entrenched. I really want to put a stick in the spokes and radically change all the ruts I'm in, not just this one! We can do this- I once heard someone say the drinks don't jump out of the grass and into your mouth, you get to decide whether or not to have them. Lol, so true! 

 

The thing about habit changing is that it can seem really overwhelming to look ahead 30 days, but in the moment all you need to do is make a different choice at that very second. That's my plan. 

[Earoti]

Today is my day 1 and staying away from alcohol will be the hardest part for me too, I definitely need accountability. I'm a young professional and newlywed and my husnand and i enjoy wine and beer and going out to happy hour and parties with friends and it's been years of drinking almost every night. Need to break the habbit!

[Beth D.]

It is so great seeing so many people to support each other!  

[Jamidub]

How is everyone doing so far???  I've been surprised that I'm more concerned with what to eat when dining out than having alcohol, so my initial reason for doing this has so far been a nonissue.  I guess I just needed something else to focus on, rather than what crappy food I was going to have with my beer. 

 

I had some headaches and was really tired a lot during my first few days, but I think that stage is over.  There are times that I don't think I"m getting the oil stuff right, but I try to eat salads a lot and use the Tessemae's dressings.  They have been a lifesaver.  I also bought the ketchup (good for the occasional fried potato) and the bbq sauce---tangy, but a nice flavor for grilled meats.  I have this silly thing called a Big Boss Oil-Less Fryer that actually has been helpful with the heat we've been having (not to worry, we're in for rain tomorrow, in Seattle fashion).  

 

I'd love to know how the rest of you have been doing on your journeys!!

[sva]

Hi Jamidub,

 

I'm just four days from the end, and have only had one really bad desire for wine, about three days ago, after a stressful day on which I felt very angry, and frustrated with a situation in which I'm powerless (yes, the IRS is involved). I was steaming mad, which I rarely get, and at the end of the day, I felt, deep in my veins, the need for a nice, big glass of wine. Or two! 

 

Instead of doing that, I simply noticed, and then found it kind of fascinating, that this is when I most want to drink---when I'm angry and frustrated and feel powerless. I really just wanted to lift myself out and away from that feeling, to blunt it. 

 

So, that passed, and now I'm back to not really caring. I'm looking forward to that first glass of wine sometime after Day 30, but I'm not going to rush it, and I'm not going to waste it on some crappy wine at a reception. I leave on Day 32 for a ten-day work thing at a hotel, where there will be plenty of bad wine for me to snobbilly not drink; pre-Whole 30, I would have been keeping vigil by the drinks table. 

 

I'm keeping in mind what I read in the book or here about re-introduction and having an attitude of "oh, huh, do I really want that?" and then deciding, one thing at a time.