Day 9

Productivity unleashed.  Went to do 30 minutes of strength training at the gym and ended up staying for a zumba class too, felt good to get in some cardio.  Hiit tomorrow and Friday.

Storms coming to my part of the UK tomorrow and Friday, sleet and hail.  Did my shopping already so not needing anything before Monday.

Once I get past the 6 day mark I start to see and feel tangible benefits.  I sleep so fully!  No more 3 and 4 AM wake-ups.  If I were to ever stop drinking permanently, it would probably be due to the sleep.

OH is on day 5 and still committed.  He's back on myfitnesspal to control his weight as well.  For him, sweets are the equivalent of alcohol, just no willpower.  He's already warned me that he's due a break Sunday evening as he has to work that day, so he plans to enjoy one on the train home.  Fair enough as he normally only goes 3 days at best, although he's a moderate drinker so he doesn't quite benefit from the long stretches of alcohol free days as the rest of us.  He's going to go in one week stretches so fair enough.

I'm a little disappointed, his sis and her OH dropped out on Jan 5 and have given up for the month.  That's one of the things that troubles me about dry January, that people make it an all or nothing.

I follow another forum where people set a target at the beginning of each month, be it 5, 12, 20, whatever number of AF days.  Then each month you set your target a little higher until it's 30/30.  From the forum postings, it helps a lot for people who are good planners or boredom drinkers.  Whatever it takes.

Day 7

Nothing much exciting to write about, except that I'm still on my dry January streak.  Overdid some furniture moving over the weekend on top of the 'welcome back to the new year' full-on week of gym sessions so ended up skipping the gym tonight and probably tomorrow, perhaps even the rest of the week.  Aack.

The cat has been up and down the past 2 months.  At age 19 suddenly developed kidney disease followed by a tumour.  So now we've moved to palliative care and she's on some intense kitty pain relievers that cause her to sleep for hours.  The remaining parts of her day involve eating copious amounts of freshly cooked chicken.

The boyfriend is on day 3 of his two dry weeks.  So proud of him to go to the pub on Saturday when everyone around him was drinking and he had a coke.



 

Dry January success stories

The Daily Mail here in the UK isn't necessarily the best source of journalism, but I love reading Dry January stories and how one small month of abstaining from alcohol makes such a big impact on one's health:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4082714/We-proof-Dry-January-really-worth-doing-5-drinkers-gave-alcohol-month-reveal-astonishing-results.html

Interesting how the ladies were more prolific drinkers than the gentlemen.

Over here, day 5 and counting...

Roll on January

I'm becoming much more of a blog reader rather than a poster.

My moderating December turned out better than expected due to the flu.  I ended up nailing my off days and gaining a few extra credits on my 'on days' as I felt so awful.  Extra brownie points earned due to driving on Christmas day.  It was originally planned to be a walk to the pub but I didn't have it in me, just so cold and sniffly.  So I drove and had a coffee, ha!  I did have some drinks later in the evening but the day ended up quieter and calmer than expected.

My 'dry Jan' officially starts Jan 3rd.  I need the routine of work/gym, days off are my downfall.  As I did dry October I thought it was time to kick it up a notch.  When I came back from holidays in November I mostly gave up caffeine, so thought I'd try a mostly clean eating month too.  So no frozen pizza or general garbage.  We're not quite veganuary, but going in that direction.

I have done dry January for over 10 years prior to meeting the boyfriend.  I'm a little surprised in the UK at the hoopla over not drinking in Jan as my Irish colleagues turned me on to it and it seems to be commonplace with them.  I've done it for years with no fanfare.

My OH and his sis both have birthdays in Jan so earlier years have been derailed by this, and that he doesn't get it.

This year is different, his sis and her OH are attempting dry Jan (again).  I challenged him to do two weeks/weekends, that I would buy him dinner on each week that he does a week.  So he committed to two full weekends.

To say I am pleased is an understatement.  Now I just need to keep up my end of the bargain and I can do it!

Still here, moderating

I'm still lurking in the background and reading all of the wonderful blogs that are of a similar topic to mine.

I remain undecided on the moderation topic, but am trying it out for now.  After my 31 days were up I had a few days of heavy drinking then a few days of non-drinking.  I was worried to go down the slippery slope back to my pre-31 days off so have been keeping an eye on things.  Now that I have tasted the sober life it's become easier not to default into a bottle of wine because I'm bored on a Saturday.

We went to Paris for part work/part long weekend away (wine and cheese, ooh la la) then it was a week away in Gran Canaria (wine and tapas, si).  I make it a strict rule not to drink at work events.  So even with 2 nights of extravagant dinners and plenty of French wine, I ended up being the only person out of 14 not drinking, while the rest of them hurried to get their fill on the company's expense. 

Gran Canaria was just for a week of hols.  It's interesting being in another culture that is not so over the top about drinking like the UK.  As I speak Spanish we ventured further afield and were often the only non-locals in a location.  When you ask for a glass of wine there, they give you the same sized glass of wine as the locals would get.  I estimate it at 1/3 of the size of a UK sized glass.  It puts it into good perspective as we whittled the days away drinking Spanish style in the shade of an umbrella under sunny days.

Coming back with the usual holiday weight and knowing that we're coming into the holiday season of parties and endless food, I've made the decision to enjoy party days (at a moderate level) and on the remaining days to make them no alcohol, mostly vegan and heavy on the exercise.  All three tie in together so nicely once they get rolling.  As I did much of those during my month off I decided to up the game and give up caffeine.

So far 2 party days have passed successfully, OH's family does a Chinese meal out and he had his big company party in central London.

OH admitted in advance that he was worried about the company party.  I told him that it was a 'work' event and fell under my 'work' category so he didn't need to worry.  Am so happy to report back that I made him proud!  At the pre-meetup of his department in a nearby pub, the others had 2-3 pints and I had one.  When we arrived it was dazzling, all the party dresses, all the drinks!  I had a glass of fizzy, then a second and then switched to their non-alcoholic mocktail. 

It was quite clever of them, they had an alcoholic version and a non-alcoholic version, they looked the same and were served in the same glasses.  However, they were laid out at opposite ends of the bar and the alcoholic ones had 2 cherries but the non version had a lime bit.  So if you wanted to ditch the lime, no one would know that you were not having what they were having.  Both were based on pomegranate juice.

Around this time all his younger colleagues were flitting around higher than kites.

The doors opened for dinner.  There were 10 of us at a table and 6 bottles of wine.  As I don't drink with dinner I wasn't really bothered.  I did have a glass of wine while others enjoyed the desert but then we went to go dancing.  A number of his colleagues were now a bit of their gourd as the meals were fancy but tiny.

As we needed to get the 11.30 pm train we picked up an open but almost full bottle of wine (i.e. it would have been thrown out) and sneaked it out of the venue and enjoyed a glass on our long train journey home. We ended up giving the remainder of it to others who had been at the party as they had an even longer train journey home.

So glad I cleared the 31 days as that set the foundation to have a moderate night.  I need to keep an eye on it, to keep the alcohol days in check and keep the non-alcoholic days just that.

As I was typing this, OH just called, he's braved town to shop for Christmas presents.  As I didn't drink last night and we need to go to his house tonight by car, he was checking if I still had not opened any fizzy and could he stop by the pub on the way home to have a drink with his sister?  In the old days he would not have bothered to check as the assumption would have been that I would be well into a bored Saturday afternoon and halfway through a fizzy bottle.  So proud of myself, that I could tell him to go ahead and stop.  As a substitute for my boring Saturday I had a nap instead and it was so much better than an afternoon of alcohol.

Non-alcoholic wine review

After a bit of googling, I was excited to try Tesco's non-alcoholic South African Chenin fizz due to the great reviews like this:

http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/09/tesco-is-selling-alcohol-free-fizz-they-say-is-the-closest-ever-to-the-real-thing-5634766/

Technically it is a 0.5% level so I waited until after my 30 days off to try it, purist that I am.  I went with the white one but they also had a pink one.

My thoughts on this as an alcohol-free substitute:

• I like fizzy things and will easily drink a litre of fizzy water on a Sunday dinner while others are drinking wine.  My personal favourite is Tesco's Ashbeck as I love a lot of fizz in my water.  When I opened this bottle it has a high amount of fizz.

• At £2.75 a bottle it's easy on the wallet.

• It's nice to have something different than water and a festive cork to pop.  It comes with a nifty resealable plastic cork. 

• I've never been a fan of South Africa white wine, it's a little too sweet for me.  This bottle was extremely sweet, I couldn't get beyond a glass of it.  If you are a fan of sweet wines, dessert wines, I think this would be worth a try.

If you are in general cutting back on alcohol, calories and cost, this one may be a nice substitute. I have friends who are absolute non-drinkers so even a less than 1% wine would not be acceptable to them.  However, for those looking to reduce alcohol consumption, this may be one to try, especially for sweet wine drinkers.

For now I'll stick with my non-alcoholic fizzy grape drinks.  Asda has discontinued my favourite but Co-op does an ok one, as long as I water it down a little more with fizzy water or ice.

Edit: I served it to my other half without commentary, but mentioned that it was a non-alcoholic wine.  He has quite a sweet tooth and could eat chocolate all day.  He had two glasses of it with dinner and thought it was quite nice as a non-alcoholic substitute to the usual offering of cola that most of our non-alcoholic friends endure.  As we always have a few friends who are minimizing alcohol due to driving later in the evening or to limit sugar/calories, he would buy this one again to have on offer at gatherings.

Non-alcoholic drinks

We did a bbq this summer and a number of non-drinkers were attending so I made a load of non-alcoholic drinks.  Most of these recipes came somewhere via the internet but at this point I no longer know the original sources, but I can tell you I am not the creator.  As people asked for the recipes after the bbq I had added my observations to the original recipes.  

Sangria Me Not!

Serves 8

2 cups boiling water
2 black tea bags (or 2 teaspoons loose-leaf tea in an infuser)
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups pomegranate juice
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 orange, sliced into thin rounds
1 lemon, sliced into thin rounds
1 lime, sliced into thin rounds
1 apple, cored and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3 cups carbonated water

Pour boiling water over tea bags and cinnamon sticks and steep for 5 minutes. Discard tea bags and stir in sugar to dissolve.

In a large jar or pitcher, combine tea, cinnamon sticks, pomegranate juice, orange juice, orange, lemon, lime, and apple. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and preferably overnight.

Just before serving, stir in carbonated water. Serve in glasses over ice.

On this one, I made it early in the morning to give it a few hours for the flavours to mingle.  

Cape Cod Strawberry Basil Soda

Makes about 6 (8-ounce) drinks

1 pound strawberries, trimmed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves
1 cup sugar
Carbonated water

Juice strawberries using a juicer or blender.
If using a juicer: Juice strawberries according to manufacturer's instructions. Discard pulp.
If using a blender: Place strawberries in a blender and pulse until smooth. Strain through a sieve, pushing juice through with a spatula. Discard solids.

Pour strawberry juice into a liquid measuring cup. Add water to reach 1 cup if needed. Pour into a small saucepan with lemon juice, basil, and sugar.

Heat mixture over medium heat until boiling. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain syrup through a sieve into a clean container and discard solids.

To serve, spoon 2 tablespoons of syrup into an 8-ounce glass, top with carbonated water, and stir. Taste and add more syrup, if desired.

Can refrigerate syrup up to 1 week.

This smells absolutely divine as its cooking!

Front Porch Sparkling Rosemary Limeade  Ended up not doing this one as I forgot the rosemary. 

makes eight 5-ounce servings — or more, depending on dilution

1 cup lime juice (from about 6 limes)
3/4 cup sugar
Peel of 2 limes
Two 4-inch sprigs fresh rosemary, plus more to serve
4 to 6 cups chilled sparkling water

Stir the lime juice with the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Lower the heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the lime peel and the rosemary sprigs. Simmer for another minute, then turn off the heat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Strain out the lime peel and rosemary and mix with the chilled sparkling water in a sealed jar or bottle. Taste and add more water if you want a lighter flavor.

Serve over ice with a small sprig of rosemary muddled into the drink.

Escape the Heat Wave Frozen Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate tastes just as good, if not better, when it's not hot at all. In a saucepan, mix together a half cup of unsweetened coca mix and ¾ cup of sugar. Create a paste by very slowly adding a quarter cup of milk to the cocoa/sugar blend and stirring. Add two cups of milk over low heat until all of the ingredients are blended well, and then pour the mixture into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. While you're at it, place some glasses in the freezer so they'll be nice and frosty tomorrow. Once the ice cubes are ready, place them into a blender along with two tablespoons of low-fat milk, and blend the ingredients. Pour the mix into the frozen glasses and serve immediately.

Cocoa is sold as a powder in the US.  Here we used Asda Extra Special 40% Cocoa Solids baking bar.  The squares are pre-marked at 5 gram weights, so we used 65 grams.  If doing again, I would increase that. We used the green cap milk, it probably would have tasted nicer with full fat as the base milk.

New Orleans Mockarita – Ended up skipping this one, but still want to make it! ‘Limeade’ in the States would be similar to Lime squash.

A mock margarita, or a "mockarita", has most of the same ingredients as a margarita - just skip the alcohol! For a perfect non-alcoholic frozen drink recipe, place six ounces of limeade concentrate into a blender along with a half cup of orange juice, and 2/3 cup of unsweetened grapefruit juice. Begin blending them together slowly, gradually adding about four cups of crushed ice to the mixture. The drink should have a slushy consistency by the time you're finished. Serve in a margarita glass. For the classic treatment, rub the rim of your glass with a lemon or lime wedge, and dip the rim into coarse salt or sugar granules. This drink is a real showstopper.

Taste of Carolina Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen (or fresh) strawberries (about 24 strawberries)
1/2 cup crushed ice (or smallest cubes possible)
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
3 packets of sugar substitute or 2 Tablespoons of sugar (or to taste)
3/4 cup water

(Optional)
1/4 lemon, sliced, for garnish
1 Tablespoon of ginger, fresh or dried (finely chopped)
A few mint leaves

Directions:

1. Allow frozen strawberries to thaw slightly.
2. Before placing ice cubes in blender, crush large chunks by sealing securely inside a plastic zip bag and rolling over the bag firmly with a rolling pin.
3. Combine lemon juice, strawberries, sugar substitute or sugar, crushed ice and water in blender jar. If blades get stuck, add more water.
4. Blend on high with lid tightly secured until smooth and thick.
5. Pour into glasses and serve immediately. Garnish with a slice of lemon & sugar the glass rim, if desired.

As it was so hot, we didn’t crush the ice here, figured it would melt too quickly if so.

Alaska White Sangria

Ingredients

For the Berry Grape Ice Cubes:

• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 2-4 cups white grape juice, preferably unsweetened

For Mixed Berry Sangria-By-The-Glass Mocktail, per glass:

• 4 Berry Grape Ice Cubes
• ¾ cup white grape juice
• 2-4 fresh whole basil leaves
• 2 large or 4 small fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• cold sparkling water

Freeze a few blueberries in grape juice in ice cube trays.

Add ‘berry ice cubes’ to glass.  Then the other ingredients.

We couldn’t find plain grape juice and were not sure how well the fizzy grape would freeze.  So we used just water in the blueberry cubes.  Instead of grape juice we found ASDA Extra Special Non-Alcoholic grape juice which was quite tasty in itself!   As that was already fizzy, we only did a slight dash of the sparkling water.  For mixed groups, to make an alcohol included version, substitute pinot or chardonnay for the white grape juice.

The last minute off- piste add to the menu:

·         Asda cranberry/blueberry juice

·         2 teaspoons of lemon squash

·         A few blueberries, raspberries, strawberries

·         Dash of fizzy water

·         Loads of ice

 

As these are all American recipes, they need to be converted to UK measures.  There is a degree of uncertainty among sites as to exact conversions, so take these loosely and don’t be afraid to adjust.

Volume

When measuring liquid, cooking measurements are quite straightforward:

Metric	Imperial	US cups
250ml	8 fl oz	1 cup
180ml	6 fl oz	3/4 cup
150ml	5 fl oz	2/3 cup
120ml	4 fl oz	1/2 cup
75ml	2 1/2 fl oz	1/3 cup
60ml	2 fl oz	1/4 cup
30ml	1 fl oz	1/8 cup
15ml	1/2 fl oz	1 tablespoon

Sugar (caster and granulated)

US cups	Metric	Imperial
1/8 cup	25g	1 oz
1/4 cup	50g	1 3/4 oz
1/3 cup	70g	2 1/4 oz
1/2 cup	100g	3 1/2 oz
2/3 cup	135g	4 3/4 oz
3/4 cup	150g	5 1/4 oz
1 cup	200g	7 oz