Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

[ToMyHealth]

Since dh asked me to put coffee on the grocery list, may we have a discussion about such? What is your favorite? We buy Folgers, but sometimes I wish we got something a little stronger. Kicker is that is "I", dh not so much. And since he pretty much makes the coffee....another thing to be grateful for!

Yes, NS, it was great to not have regrets on yet another Sunday. Got asked tonight how I felt this was all going. I said I don't like the 5-7p range. Why? Feel bored, like there is not something to look forward to. Would be different if we could go for walk or bike ride, but it's almost always raining or at least threatening such. (this will change in a couple months). Later I gave dh the positives. Feel fine after we have dinner. Love, love fact that I always wash my face and floss and brush. Asked if it were possible to have an earlier dinner. At first it was WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE 5:00 EARLYBIRDS! Then with a smile, he said sure, and we agreed on 6:00. Am so glad, think it is going to make a big difference. It's all in the little things.

[NoSugar]

All the best for week 2, TMH! As for the 5-7 window, your mind/body is used to getting that first drink then - you are very conditioned. Just like I love coffee in the morning but don't want it all at other times of day, I loved wine beginning at 4-5 pm and was turned off by it until then. Part of that for me was that wine was my "relief" from low blood sugar. I stupidly wouldn't eat for hours because that increased the reward of that first drink (This wasn't deliberate -- I only figured it out after my head was clear enough to look back and see what I had been doing to myself). So, in the early days of quitting, a snack at around 4 pm did wonders to reduce the craving. Your idea to eat dinner earlier also sounds great! If we let it, food can help us heal.

It probably will help a lot when your weather improves and you can walk or bike during that time of day. Until then, could that be when you swim or go to the gym? Or really make a change like taking a class or committing to a volunteer activity? When my body no longer alerted me that it was around 4 pm, I found that I lost track of time and ended up working much later into the day than I used to. We actually ended up eating later because I didn't get dinner started as I began to drink. And... I found my desire to cook nice meals really went down - I realized I didn't really like to cook as much as I liked to drink and drinking while cooking a nice meal seemed such a civilized and sophisticated thing to do. Too bad I have no memory of eating many of those meals but remember clearly the shame of checking the leftovers in the refrigerator the next morning to find out what I had made.

I have to admit that while I would drink the cheapest, grossest wine on the planet (in private - I drank good stuff when there were witnesses ), I am a big coffee snob. I'm not loyal to a particular brand but buy whatever free-trade organic beans appeal to me when I shop. Nothing beats freshly ground, French-pressed coffee to start off the day :smile:.

[SKendall]

Holy cow NS, you could be writing about me regarding the low blood sugar drinking! And I cannot imagine a morning without the French press. Currently using Starbucks or Peet's.

[abcowboy]

You bring up a couple of interesting points TMH. As far as the “witching hour” goes, if I try to remember back when my drinking started to get out of control I’d have to say it was between 7 and midnight. Sit down after supper and enjoy a few beers before bedtime. Of course that only lasted so long. Then it started to get earlier and earlier. Because I’m self-employed and usually work alone, I could and would drink during any of the waking hours, 7 days a week. I’m glad that the sneaking, hiding, and lying is all behind me now!

Coffee, well I’m a hard-core coffee drinker, always have been and probably always will be. The only difference being that since I quit drinking, I rarely drink coffee in the evenings anymore. Just like NS, we like fresh ground coffee and our bean of choice is Kirkland Columbian or Espresso. In the mornings we usually have Keurig, the coffee brewing is for my work thermos. But we don’t use the Keurig cups, too much plastic for the landfill. We use the Kienna “tea bag” style. More environmentally friendly and lots of different flavours if you choose. I like mine dark, black, and strong! No sugar, cream, or flavours for me.

[ToMyHealth]

Cannot believe tomorrow I will be in double digits.

NS, good ideas. To be hungry at 6, I don't think a snack at 4:00 is a good idea. I practice Fast 5 so I eat my lunch between 1-2 and close my window by 7. Haven't been terribly strict this past week concentrating on the AF aspect. Maybe a piece of fruit would work. All pools are outdoors so no swimming, however possible to use TM or stationery bike. Last 2 nites I have gone for walk after dinner to get my 10k steps.

Cowboy, for the most part I was opposite. I liked to drink b4 dinner, not so much after. Did get into trouble when night after dinner turned into well, let's have a glass of wine on lanai which turned into 2, etc.

This ol' Minnesotan doesn't know what French Press is. Assume it is grind your own. Enjoyed Keurig coffee (Tim Hortons) in Canada. Dh said inventor is sorry he ever came up with it because of the waste. I'll have to look into whether we have that tea bag style.

Well, you just reminded me of good reason to be AF. Enjoyment of a.m. coffee! It was actually a pretty good day. Ran, lifted weights, biked. Got tired of my limp, hanging hair so cut it shorter, a little stacked in back. Will look better under golf visor or cap.lady said to me one day after golf, my, you really have straight hair. Well, ya, tell me something I don't know. Is what it is.

Watching track and field. Love it.

[abcowboy]

Congrats on your double digits TMH! Onward and upward as they say!

[NoSugar]

Hey, TMH. Way to go on 10 days. I promise you, it just keeps getting better.

The French press is just the coffee "maker". I like it because it is so simple (manual, no electricity, no paper filters) and makes great coffee. I still remember to be grateful each morning to be enjoying (savoring!!) that first cup of coffee with no cream, sugar, flavors, or GUILT!!!

I like the track and field, also, but this year I really enjoyed the swimming. Tonight should be fun - women's gymnastics floor program.

We woke up to a flooded (fortunately unfinished) basement this morning thanks to rain and a sump pump failure. Back in the day, that kind of thing seemed like an unmanageable crisis. Today it was just a hassle. And I'm happy about the rain water fresh and clean floor :smile:!

[ToMyHealth]

Good attitude, NS. A flooded basement makes for a clean floor.

Boy, have you seen the news about fires in CA? Such devastation. 80K homes evacuated. Awful.

Have a strange new symptom. Ringing ears. Have not taken the Unisom for 2 or 3 nights. Can't imagine what is causing it. The good news is the clicking jaw is much better, almost 100%. Might be related. Not a big deal.

[abcowboy]

TMH, I have the ringing in my ears as well, Doc diagnosed it as tinnitus, he figures that it's part noise-related damage and getting up there in years. He suggested I go get my hearing tested, I might need hearing aids and that would lessen the tinnitus. I know I need hearing aids, but too stubborn to go get tested lol. Some days the ringing is barely there, other days it is very annoying, sooner or later it will be off the the hearing clinic for me.

[Pavati]

Hi, All:

My coffee choice is Peet's. MMMmmm. Can't be bothered with the French press as I like to set the timer and have a hot cup greet me in the am. With cream, thanks.

TMS - I have bad sinus stuff that comes with itchy ears and a clicking jaw. I think it is all inter-related. Might be with you?? Think - that haircut was free, basically, based on the 10 days worth of alcohol you didn't consume.

I drank to relieve my stress which was caused by and aggravated by drinking. Terrible cycle. I did replace alcohol with whatever food I wanted - I basically eat pretty healthy means, but I would splurge on the ice cream when I wanted.

Pav

[ToMyHealth]

Experienced with tinnitus. Had it when taking anti depressants years ago. This isn't as bad.
Annoying though. One thing I thought of during middle of night is that after running out of my Vit B Complex I started taking a supplement to support your adrenals. Going to lay off and see if it might go away.

Pav, you sweetheart, never thought of it that way (free haircut due to not drinking). That really, really put a smile on my face. Since dh has joined me (making it double money saved) I will remind him of that when we pay Comcast making a house call on Friday.

Woman at Bible Study was saying how if you go out walking at 6:00a it is nice & cool. It is 6:20 and man, it is pitch black out there. Too many critters out incl alligators. This lady is waiting for sunrise.

Have a great day, all!

[abcowboy]

Okay gloamers, we all know the phrase "drive a person to drinking", has anyone upgraded to the newest version of Windows 10? If there ever was a good reason to drink...!!!

[ToMyHealth]

How's it going, Cowboy? I hate upgrades, don't do them and then get in trouble when I want to download an app, find it's not supported.

WARNING: Superficial and know it

At just short of 2 weeks AF, I have reached a dilemma. Many of you won't relate, or think how silly, but it is a real concern to me. Am gaining weight. High enough to work my way out of my wardrobe. Instead of hundreds of calories/day of alcohol I sometimes have a mini ice cream treat (200 cal), i have consistently met my step goal, in fact, yesterday increased it to 12K and was just short of 13k. I drank tea b4 bed and was up 3x as a result. Not complaining, was looking forward to weighing this a.m. Gained another lb. WTHeck?

Admit thought it would be exact opposite, and I would think being AF is fantastic!

Will cut out the treat, drink more water, stay with the program. Maybe it's my body adjusting. But pretty soon I will be forced to be na na (gds' term for naked).

[NoSugar]

What bothers you about Windows 10, Cowboy? I upgraded from 7 to 10 and when I just don't pull up those tiles (or talk to Cortana!!), everything pretty much looks and acts the same.

TMH, if something bothers you, it isn't silly, especially if it affects how you feel about not drinking. I can relate to the negative feelings that come from clothes that don't fit right (or at all). It really can affect our self-esteem. But, there is no way you actually gained a pound of "body" overnight.

If you aren't sleeping well and cortisol is high, that could be what is causing or contributing to your weight gain. There are so many hormonal inputs that are much more important than what is a very imprecise calorie count (The values on packages can be off by up to 25%!). Further, what you eat, and what hormones that food triggers, can play a much bigger role than the actual number of calories.

I hope you can give yourself a break and realize you won't gain tons of weight and that as your body adjusts, things will settle down.

Have a nice weekend, NS

[paulywogg]

Another thing is that alcohol is dehydrating so when we drink we're being sucked dry,you're probably just getting proper hydration now,I really never normalized until about 2 months in