Personally I always go back to an everyday wine after these dry spells. Everything tastes good anyway, plus it sets the bar lower for the next bottles to come
Down 7 pounds month-to-date.
I miss having a Manhattan more than I miss wine right now. But in general, dry January hasnāt been hard. This is year five and I donāt think itās ever been hard.
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yep, not hard for me either. That said, I avoid situations (e.g. fine restaurants, concerts) where i would really like beer/wine. So, not sustainable in the long run.
A few thoughts:
This coming weekend is the hardest from my past experience. Youāve gone a good ways but the finish line isnāt in sight. Kinda like Mile 9 in a marathon.
Friday night (reward for dutiful, productive week) and weekend gatherings create all kind of triggers. As does cooking a special meal that you associate with a particular wine from your past.
Whatās with all those self satisfied āfriendsā who tell you Sober January is pointless exercise?
Weāre doing this too and, while I find weeknights to be pretty easy, the temptation for me is strongest on Friday early evening, as well as Saturday dinner preparation time. Sparkling water has been the substitute. I heard someone say, āWhy do a, 'dry January? Itās a 31-day month! Why not do a dry February?ā
Upcoming surgery at the end of this month is going to force a hiatus in ETOH consumption, so not dry yet! Iām looking at 3-4 weeks on crutches, which probably donāt mix with with alcohol.
IMO, Itās definitely decent in cocktails but not good enough to drink neat. I tried a little neat and although itās not terrible, it just doesnāt do much. I also picked up some Athletic Brewing IPAās and was really impressed with these. I tried one after a day of snowboarding and it was a perfect substitute to fill in for the real thing.
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Yep. Part of what makes it easier is dialing the social interactions back. Sadly, that hasnāt been hard this January or last January.
This could be my favorite part of this entire thread!
Ten down, twenty-one to go.
I agree that this weekend is the beginning of temptation. Iām not worried, though, because I have musical duties at church, which (almost) always precludes Saturday night drinking. I tested my desire for wine this afternoon by perusing the selection at my local Kroger. Nothing stood out. It helps that their selection is utterly horrible. Meiomi Pinot is on considered top shelf. Hard pass.
Tonightās musical selection is āThe Shrine / An Argumentā by Fleet Foxes, and indie-folk-hipster-facial-hair band that formed in 2006. You could lump them in with Mumford & Sons, but with less shouting. 
I discovered Fleet Foxes three different times before they took root. The first time was at The Plaid Apron, a farm to fork restaurant in Knoxville, TN. (I lived in Knoxville for two years while my wife was teaching at U-T.) Our house was 360 feet away from The Plaid Apron, and it become my second home office about three days a week. Fleet Foxes were usually part of the house music, but they didnāt really stand out from the other indie-folk-hipster-facial-hair bands I was also hearing. The second time was in an interview with Rush bassist Geddy Lee, where he listed Fleet Foxes as a favorite. I thought that was an odd choice and figured I should give them a go, then forgot about it. The third time was via this Berserker-worthy video. It is truly mesmerizing. Iām a fan.
Enjoy!
Runner-Up
āEvery Mumford and Sons Song Basicallyā - Dion Beary. Itās only 1:14 long and totally worth it!
Honorable Mention
āLittle Talksā - Of Monsters and Men. Another staple at The Plaid Apron.
It almost doesnāt matter as it all tastes so great! Maybe a nice Leflaive white Burgā¦
Life is working out. I canāt go a day, any day, without some form of exercise. I just really ramp it up for Jan/Feb as why not? Yesterday was a 10k on the treadmill, 30 minutes on the Peloton, and 1 hour upper body weights. Lets Goooooooooo!!!
Time not a problem, I moved my office into the gym, can work from there and no problem just doing Zoom with the camera offā¦
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Thatās awesome! Firing me up! Iām recovering from an ankle injury from soccer, but Iāve been on a stationary bike everyday. I miss running though, and obviously playing. Hoping this month without alcohol helps my body heal quicker!
253 hours down. 491 hours to go. Down 7.4 pounds.
Iām 6.4 pounds down. I know that there is a plateau in my future. Any tips on how to break through the inevitable plateau and keep dropping pounds? Or am I harboring false expectations?
You are harboring false expectations, sorry. In the first 1-2 weeks, you are largely dropping water weight. Your body retains a certain amount of water at all times, which fluctuates based on a number of factors, including carb/salt intake, and when you diet itās the first thing that goes. You canāt continue to lose water weight past a certain point unless you do something unhealthy. So you have to accept that thereās a big āfreebieā at the start of any diet, especially if youāre reducing carbs and sugar. Then the real work begins.
For the majority of a diet, itās only reasonable to lose ~1-2 lbs a week of actual stored fat (with the usual caveat that every body is different) - in fact more than that is not considered advisable for most people. So youāve only reached what would be considered a real plateau if you go a few weeks without losing anything to speak of.
I personally donāt consider calorie counting to be useful or effective, but for getting a general sense of things, remember that to lose a pound of fat, the rule of thumb is a calorie deficit of 3500, or 500 calories a day. To lose 2lbs in a week is a daily deficit of 1000, which is a lot. Again, itās not anything to obsess about, and calories in/calories out is a drastic oversimplification - your body is not a simple calculator! - but it does give a very rough notion of what reasonable expectations should be for weight loss.
If you go 2-3 weeks without any loss, I can give you tips for overcoming a plateau. But reaching the work phase of a diet, after the initial water weight loss, isnāt a stall. Itās the start of the slog. Be patient. Trust the process.
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I made it through 3 restaurant meals last weekend drinking only water. This week, my one mini challenge is a golf league mixer on Thursday followed by ācocktailsā and dinner (all outdoors). For the first time in a while, I am happy that my club has mediocre wine!
āTo mediocre wine!ā - raises water glass
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Squats, Interval training, and most importantly monitor body composition instead of weight. About 15 years ago I was a personal trainer. I was about 5lb heavier than I am now, except then I had roughly 5% body fat and now it is about 15%. I still play competitive soccer, or it would be well over 20%. Some gains and losses in body weight are not what they seem.
Squats work your biggest muscle groups, and due to that burn more calories. They also increase testosterone levels more so than most other exercises, essentially enhancing your capabilities with other exercises. I have seen people who refused to work out legs stuck at a plateau, then they are convinced to do squats, and their upper-body plateaus disappear in some of their biggest ever gaining periods. Now that is mainly for muscle gains, BUT your muscle mass is very much related to your basal metabolic rate. In other words, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn at rest sustaining those muscles. Males stop growing muscles naturally around 21 years old, and start to atrophy. That is one of the biggest causes of fat gain down the road, and this is all the main reason it is best to monitor body composition instead of weight. Many people lose muscle and fat during diets and gain back even more fat after it is over, because of the decreased metabolism due to muscle loss.
Interval training, whether lifting or aerobic, raises your heart rate above the āfat burning zone,ā so although you generally burn more calories overall, burn a lesser percent of those calories from fat. BUT interval training causes resting heart rate to remain higher and then slowly decline for up to 48 hours, so you burn more calories (and a much higher percentage from fat) at rest than you would from doing more steady exercise.
Hopefully this is helpful.
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