Hey everyone, welcome back and thank you for following me on this journey! In today’s post I will review last weeks progress with reducing alcohol, the methods I used, and what I’ve learned. This is been so eye opening and has really helped me to better understand myself and work on self control.
Weekly Review
This past week was so-so. I did not have my first drink until Thursday night, which was awesome! I didn’t even really think about drinking during the beginning of the week. I really was focused on my health and crushing it in the gym and I felt almost guilty about even the thought of alcohol. Thursday night I ended up having a glass of wine because, well, I wanted it. I know myself well enough to know that if I restrict myself too much I will rebel and go overboard. Friday I had 2 drinks at home, which I will go into later in this post, and I hit a huge accomplishment on Saturday. Saturday was the first time in…well… I can’t remember how long that I DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DRINK. I didn’t want to drink, I wasn’t even actively holding myself back from having alcohol, the desire just wasn’t there. Sunday is a different story though. The weather was crappy, it was a Holiday, and I just wanted to hang out. I’m not exactly happy with how Sunday went, but it is what it is!
Methods Used
This week I continued to use some of the methods from last week. I still drank my tea, and I still had support from others. I did try some new things though that helped a lot!
Active Nights: I really pushed my husband to go on walks after work. To change the habit of sitting on the couch into a more “health-focused” use of our time. I enjoyed the walks because we were able to actually talk instead of just sitting in each other’s company which watching Netflix.
Macro Tracking: This was the game changer. I recently started tracking my macros. I entered my food for days in advance so I knew what I would have left for carb, protein, and fat calories at the end of the night. Planning really held me accountable. I didn’t want to go over my daily amounts, and alcohol didn’t fit into the picture! Tracking was the biggest eye-opener. I didn’t want to see those negative numbers on my app, I wanted to succeed.
Coaching: I also recently hired an online trainer! (Yes, trainers need a trainer too.) This has helped me with accountability because I have another person that I don’t want to let down. I don’t want to show my weaknesses and failures, so I’m not sure I don’t have them as often as I usually do!
Cooking: I touched on this a little last week, but eating in every night has cut out unnecessary calories and also the pressure of ordering an alcoholic beverage. I also found that cooking is my biggest stress relief! I love it! The thought that I can put so much work into something that my loved ones get to enjoy is very rewarding.
Biggest Takeaways
This week showed me that I have more support than I thought. I am continuously in shock of how many people reached out and shared their support and their own journey away from alcohol! It is awesome to create so many new relationships from something so positive and helpful.
I’ve learned a lot this week, here are some of the biggest takeaways I’ve found:
My mood: If I had successfully had a night without drinking, I was so proud of myself. It really boosted my confidence to know that I CAN do this! I also found that when I did drink, the next day I was unproductive. My work wasn’t at my best and that brought my mood down even more. Drinking in bulk during a night really just put me in a downward spiral.
My workouts: Let me tell you. My workouts this week have been my best ever! Without alcohol my muscles have been able to heal properly and I’ve had the energy to lift more weight than ever before! I had multiple PR’s this week, and now that I’ve had a taste of success, I want more.
My triggers: Last week I touched on this. I found that my biggest trigger is sadness. This is so true. I got into a mood on Friday, which lead to me having a couple drinks. The thing that made me mad is that before I was in this mood I had no intention of drinking that night. Sadness really is my biggest trigger.
My body: I’ve come to love the feeling of waking up refreshed and ready to go. When I drink the night before I usually wake up with your classic headache and stomach issues, but I am falling in love with the feeling of being completely ready to tackle the day in the morning! I’ve also seen huge improvements in my weight from this experiment! I’m finally losing some of the body fat I’ve been working on shredding and starting to see more muscle definition. The changes overall in my body have been crazy and I want more of that!
Thank you everyone for your support and the honesty in your messages you’ve sent me. Knowing I’m not the only one out there that has found a dependence on alcohol really helps! Although my experiment is over, this has become a way of life now. I hope to never go back to how I was, and I will continue to use my methods I’ve found along with new ones!
I’d love to hear your feedback, comment below or shoot me a message: emburnfitness@gmail.com