Author Topic: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)  (Read 2473 times)

smoghat

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 258
A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« on: January 23, 2019, 08:18:40 AM »
Dry January has worked pretty well for me. I’m sleeping better (albeit less by choice since I’m less tired) have less anxiety and more energy in the evening. But I don’t want to quit drinking entirely and neither does my wife who has also enjoyed Dry January.

My therapist recommends the 28 day meditation challenge https://www.sharonsalzberg.com/28-day-meditation-challenge-2018/ and I’ll take her up on it.

I’d like to keep my level of consumption down, but I am not interested in suggestions that I stop drinking altogether. Wine is part of meals for us and you know what, dates without a bottle of wine shared between us are interesting, but a lot less fun. Good lord, if it wasn’t for alcohol we wouldn’t be married and we sure wouldn’t have kids!

So advice wanted: who has gone on after Dry January to cut down their drinking permanently? Again, I have no interest in hearing that it’s time to quit drinking entirely and I know some people can’t resist saying that, but please, it’s not helpful. And what other month long projects have you tried?

We might try harder projects like a week (month {gulp!}?) without refined sugar or meat (easier for a week, maybe not for a month…and that means our carnivoric kids would starve or learn to kill squirrels with their bare hands). Someone somewhere must have put together a year of things to try.

 


smoghat

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 258
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2019, 08:21:25 AM »
And, I found a list! https://greatist.com/eat/new-years-challenges

I’m going to do the plank challenge. That’s a good one. I may do it in February.

use2betrix

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2492
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2019, 08:26:54 AM »
I would be interested in a meditation challenge for February. If there was enough interest we could start a thread.

I’m actually looking for a good audiobook on meditation and have just started listening to Dan Harris’ podcasts about meditation.

lexde

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2791
  • Age: 34
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2019, 08:34:16 AM »
I’ve done several projects like this.

No-spend weeks (outside of gas and groceries); no dining out; various exercise programs; etc.

Meatless Monday is always a nice way to challenge yourself without going overboard or feeling particularly difficult. Plus, doing it for a year means 52 meatless days, which is much easier than doing 52 days in a row! Also helps cut down the grocery bill as well.

I’ve also done “eat from the freezer/pantry” challenges and eaten down to the bare bones of my stock, which helps me shop more mindfully (at least for a while!) based on what I actually eat versus what I shop for.

smoghat

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 258
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2019, 09:31:10 AM »
Nice! Good ideas there.

Serendip

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2210
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2019, 09:49:05 AM »
Last year we started a thread about meditation and doing the February challenge with Sharon Salzberg.
I'll be participating again this year and love month-long challenges :)

katscratch

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1055
  • Location: Minnesota
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2019, 09:58:01 AM »
I LOVE that Sharon Salzberg meditation challenge! She has a lot of great information on different ways of meditating. I learned about it from a thread here last year, so I'm sure there would be folks interested.

As far as turning limited alcohol into a long term habit -

My partner is cutting his alcohol consumption way way way down as a permanent change. The things that have worked for him for the last couple of months: He changed his daily meditation practice (usually ten minutes) to directly after work - and found almost immediately that his former impulse for a beer was gone. He's been sticking to a workout routine since fall - purposefully putting that into place before starting to cut back on vices. He focuses on eating well during the week as he's noticed that on weekends food choices tend to go hand in hand with alcohol desires.

He has noticed since eliminating alcohol during the week (just in the past week or so) he's substituted a bit - like consuming more caffeine and sugar, but expects that to easily return to his norm in the next week. He also has started reading before bed since dropping the weekday drink.

I've been super impressed with the changes he's made overall - he's done one thing at a time since October, fast enough to keep motivated, but slow enough to make habits stick. It's really fun to see.

use2betrix

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2492
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2019, 08:34:03 PM »
I just signed up for the 28 day meditation challenge with my wife and got her book. Gonna try and knock it out before the challenge starts.

Does someone want to start a thread about the challenge? I can do it, just seems like there’s some more experienced people here.

PoutineLover

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1570
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2019, 09:40:50 PM »
Im doing dry January and I'd like to reduce my drinking but not necessarily eliminate it either. I'm thinking some combination of not drinking on weekdays, limiting myself to x number of drinks a week, maybe 7 to start, and no more than x amount on a given day, maybe 3. And then if that goes well, potentially lower.

patrickza

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 555
  • Age: 45
    • I live on a boat
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #9 on: January 24, 2019, 02:50:42 AM »
How about a sugar free February? I imagine it'll have at least as many benefits to skipping drinking. Even more if you keep dry January going along with it.

NonprofitER

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 246
  • Location: Texas
  • Reaching FIRE w/ High Purpose (Low Pay) Nonprofit
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #10 on: January 24, 2019, 07:31:48 AM »
How about a sugar free February? I imagine it'll have at least as many benefits to skipping drinking. Even more if you keep dry January going along with it.

This was my suggestion too. We do sugar-free January every year as a family. Our child (currently age 8) is the one who finds this most challenging - so we sweeten the deal by allowing her to pick a restaurant for us to have "Dessert for Dinner" on Feb 1st. She spends a great deal of time researching the best desserts in town and choosing where we'll go.  She can basically order anything she wants.  The over indulgence on Feb 1 (and resulting nausea) also has a way of reinforcing moderation. :) 

Bracken_Joy

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Location: Oregon
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2019, 07:53:38 AM »
-Uber Frugal month
-Yoga challenge (like 30 days with Yoga with Adrienne on youtube)
-No sugar
-10k steps daily
-Vegetable challenge: a few takes on this. A certain # per day, or volume per day, or getting all your color categories each day, that sort of thing
-New recipe month. An entire month where you cook at least (2, 3, whatever) new recipes every single week.
-Old Friends month. Reach out to a friend you haven't talked to in a while every <day, week, whatever>

Serendip

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2210
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2019, 09:21:39 AM »
I just signed up for the 28 day meditation challenge with my wife and got her book. Gonna try and knock it out before the challenge starts.

Does someone want to start a thread about the challenge? I can do it, just seems like there’s some more experienced people here.

I started one @use2betrix , thanks for suggesting it :)

nnls

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1132
  • Location: Perth, AU
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2019, 09:39:10 PM »
In Australia we have a thing called FebFast which is to raise money for charity but they have some suggestions on their website on things you could give up for 28 days (besides alcohol)

* Sugar
* Meat
* Caffeine
* TV/ Video Games

Morning Glory

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4865
  • Location: The Garden Path
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2019, 04:37:16 AM »
Dry January worked well for me. I think the best part was that focusing on one thing let me give myself permission to slide in other areas, which reduced my overall stress. I plan to go back to drinking alcohol in moderation, but I would like to keep doing one small challenge per month.

I think for February I am going to cut down on smartphone/ internet use. This will be more difficult because I need to use it for some things, such as work, bill paying, etc. I think I will stop all games, social media, and news sites completely. I am going to limit my use of this forum to updating my journal and a couple of tracking threads that I am participating in, no more than once per week (no browsing). For a few blogs I like I will sign up for email alerts so that I won't be tempted to browse around and see if there are any new articles. 

lexde

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2791
  • Age: 34
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2019, 06:51:17 AM »
I think I’m going to do a whole 30 from Feb 4 to Mar 6 if anyone wants to join me!

Bracken_Joy

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Location: Oregon
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2019, 07:11:05 AM »
I think I’m going to do a whole 30 from Feb 4 to Mar 6 if anyone wants to join me!

Start a guantlet! I know @Orvell is doing one (though she might not be in for a thread, dunno) and I know I'm considering one too. So we should boot up a Feb w30 thread.

Orvell

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2863
  • Location: Wisconsin
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2019, 07:13:07 AM »
I think I’m going to do a whole 30 from Feb 4 to Mar 6 if anyone wants to join me!

Start a guantlet! I know @Orvell is doing one (though she might not be in for a thread, dunno) and I know I'm considering one too. So we should boot up a Feb w30 thread.
:) I'd do a gauntlet.
Being part of a team is awesome.

Sibley

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7428
  • Location: Northwest Indiana
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2019, 07:30:15 AM »
If you enjoyed dry January, perhaps consider that your body may be telling you something? If you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, ok, but just have 1 glass, not 3. Like a beer on the weekend? Sure, have 2 beers, not 6.

I am very aware that my body doesn't tolerate alcohol as well as it did 10 years ago, and I'm not that old.

FrugalToque

  • Global Moderator
  • Pencil Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 862
  • Location: Canada
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2019, 07:36:14 AM »
And, I found a list! https://greatist.com/eat/new-years-challenges

I’m going to do the plank challenge. That’s a good one. I may do it in February.

I'm not a big plank-er.  We did that because it was part of our martial arts training, but it's not a great way to achieve fitness.

It really depends on your goals.

Planking is a good way to work on your mental discipline.  This is great when I'm teaching children in a beginner's class.  The ramp-up from 10 seconds to - maybe - one minute or so is a huge step for a lot of them and it works to instill that "just try harder" work ethic.  After that, given the shortness of a class, I don't want to spend any more time on it.

But if the goal is physical fitness (cardio or strength), then sit-ups, crunchies, hanging leg-lifts etc. are far more productive.  Once you get past a minute of planking (at home, the Toque family did get all the way to five minutes before we decided it was a waste of time) you're really not increasing your physical fitness anymore.

Toque.

lexde

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2791
  • Age: 34
Re: A next project after Dry January (advice wanted!)
« Reply #20 on: January 29, 2019, 07:45:20 AM »
Whole30 Gauntlet for those interested!

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/whole30-february-2019/

Paging @Bracken_Joy and @Orvell and anyone else who is interested!