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| My alter ego - Even superheros have struggles. |
August 14, 2016 - Day 7: WEEK ONE COMPLETED!
This is an ongoing blog that covers my entire journey on my 30 Days No Alcohol Challenge. Check out Days 5 & 6 HERE if you are just tuning in. Enjoy!
2:34pm -- I am having a very strange day. I woke up in the early hours of the morning in hysterics, which is extremely rare. I was having a nightmare that I could not wake from. It was about a very long standing issue I have had with a particular set of people and it felt so real. I woke up absolutely balling. My energy has been off since then. I am trying to just stay mellow today. I want to go do something active in a couple hours but so far today I am simply doing some journaling and relaxing. Lazy Sundays are kind of my favorite thing lately. This one just feels like I am in a bit of a fog. I am sure it is normal but I actually feel lazy. I like to be lazy on Sundays...not feel lazy. It is also very cloudy and rainy today so I assume the barometric pressure has something to do with my strange mood. Is it a full moon? I will have to check on that. I'm watching Netflix and looking for something entertaining to do in hopes of lifting the mood meter a bit.
8pm - I decided to remain mellow and just go with the energy I had instead of forcing myself into a mood I was not in. I think it was the right choice because I feel much better. Happy even. I went to see Suicide Squad with my friend tonight and neither of us drank anything. Side note: HOLY MOLY, what a FANTASTIC MOVIE! I sat there like a little girl in amazement for most of the movie or I was laughing or crying. This has to be one of the best movies I have seen in over a year and that includes Jason Bourne, of which I am huge fan. Okay, I'm done.
So, mellow evening. We went to the early showing and had sushi night after. This is the kicker: I usually have a couple glasses of wine at the movies. We like to go to the Dine-In Theaters. You, know the ones with the recliners where they serve you your dinner and drinks while you watch? Love them! This is the first time I have gone to a movie and not had wine or beer in a long time. As I go through this challenge, I notice a pattern emerging more and more. I have gotten myself into the habit of connecting fun activities with drinking. It is so crazy because it felt so normal while doing it. I am consciously and purposefully choosing to not drink and only now do I see how much and how often I was actually drinking. It 's not like I was skipping my life to stay home and get smashed or hanging out in clubs getting obliterated. I lead a pretty fun and exciting life full of variety and recreation. This challenge is quite an awakening. I knew I was drinking more than I do when I am in the gym 6 days a week. I have been suffering a sciatic nerve and hip flexor injury so I haven't been able to be as active, which is really difficult to accept and deal with as an athlete. I suppose I blurred reality a bit. It is an easy thing to do. I am no superheroine despite what my friends think.I live in South Florida on the beaches and near the party scene. I am usually at home, golfing, boating or beaching with a book in hand. Compared to the scene around me, I am a snoozefest. Perspective is everything, however. You know how they say, "You can't see the forrest for the trees". It is very true. I was too close to the drinking scene, too near to really see that I was on a path most certain to cause me health problems down the road. That is just unacceptable. I am better than that. I don't think I have ever been more on a mission to fix a problem that I created. I own my mistakes. I am my toughest critic. This is going to be a colorful ride.
August 15, 2016 - Day 8 (WEEK 2 Day 1 )
9:32am - The most incredible part about not drinking this weekend, other than sticking to my goals and not waking up hungover, was how much money was saved! I was adding up the numbers in my head of how much we would be spending on beers and wine at the baseball game, the theater, on the boat or on the golf course. Holy cow! That is an awakening! $6 beers, and $9 wines multiplied by 4 drinks (low balling) for the two of us on Friday, Saturday and Sunday a hefty bill. Using the average of beer and wine prices, $7.50, that adds up to $180 not spent on alcohol. That is $720 a month. That is $8,640 a year. That is a third of a $26,000 salary. In 3 years you could have a $26,000 down payment on a nice house just by not drinking. This was calculated for two people, obviously, but a young couple going out on the weekend can get really expensive. Keep in mind, I only calculated the alcohol. I haven't even touched normal things like food, transportation, cover charges, ticket prices, golf fees, etc. This puts it into perspective for me. I can save money and not have to give up my favorite activities...and lose weight....and have better skin/hair... by simply not drinking alcohol. The positives of cutting alcohol out of my diet overwhelmingly outweight the negatives. There is a thing called moderation. I know I don't have to go to the opposite extreme and not drink at all. I am just building a list of pros and cons for the question: "Is drinking really necessary, at all?".
5pm - It has been an amazing week.I know it is only the beginning but getting through a weekend full of fun outings and events that we normally have a few drinks every single weekend is a pretty big deal. The act of not drinking alcohol, alone, is not really the challenge. I don't even miss it yet. The real challenge is rebuilding a new set of habits to be associated with the same outings and events. I think the game has become finding creative ways to trick the system. I have started by changing one major detail, which is the alcoholic beverage but staying as close to ritual as possible. For example: If I normally have a glass of wine I have been having iced water with fruit in a wine glass instead. If I have a beer normally, I will have sparkling water with fruit in a tall glass. I know there is controversy out there for people suffering from alcoholism to avoid anything that resembles drinking an alcoholic beverage so if you are suffering from alcoholism I would not recommend doing that as it may act as a trigger for you. This is personally what I am doing. I'm journaling the things I do that seem to be working as a method to fix bad habits in my life. I am not a doctor by any stretch of the imagination so I think I should say this: Consult a physician if you are addicted and are trying to quit drinking, please.
I have so much more focus today than I normally do after a weekend with drinks each night. I was still drowsy from being awake late watching the Olympics and Netflix with my Sleepytime Tea but that's a much better feeling than waking with my body fighting to get rid of toxins from the night before. I have to say, in all honesty, I prefer to feel the way I did this morning even with the nightmare than I do to waking up hungover. The drinks are not even worth it comparatively. So, I suppose I have a real life decision to make here pretty soon. Maybe it's me getting older. Maybe it's me getting wiser. Maybe both. I just feel tired after drinking these days. The point when I was younger was to go out and have fun. As I settled down it was to chill and relax. I'm not sure what the point is anymore other than a habit that I have created. If it serves no purpose then why do it, right? I'm still working out the answer to that one for myself. That's what this whole challenge is about for me. I find it intersting the places one can discover themselves. I'm very enthusiastic about what other discoveries I'm going to make about myself in the next 3 weeks. A friend of mine posted a photo that said, "Sometimes, you just need to reinvent yourself". That is most definitely an accurate statement. Maybe I simply needed to rediscover myself. Either way, great changes are happening and for that I am grateful. Until next time.....
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