Alright, today I hit the 1 month mark. Have not had any alcohol, no bread, no sugary drinks. Eating salads when I go out, or bringing snacks (Kind bars, pistachio’s, nut mix). So far I’d say I’ve been pretty disciplined (very disciplined for me haha)

Stepped on the scale today (weighing myself just once a week to avoid over thinking it every single day) and came in at 257lbs. So my 1st month, I have dropped 17lbs. I could have been better with exercise (this needs to NOT be a weekly theme here) but to lose that in a month feels great. My energy levels are good, I feel more alert and energetic. My speed chess rating has also went up about 200 points on chess.com, so I’m clearly getting smarter 🙂 I’ve been reasonably active with getting out, but not doing near as much as I could be. If I was just out playing disc golf for an hour a couple times a week, I would most likely have dropped a few more pounds. Still, 17 lbs in a month feels good and I am well on my way to making my goals.

I am enjoying this as a daily routine, and at no point have I felt like I’m “on a diet”. I’m eating plenty, I’m making sure to get plenty of greens, veggies and fruits in me. Drinking lots of water and I’m actually enjoying what I’m eating. I am having some sleep issues the past 2 weeks. I am a Cpap user and I’ve purchased 2 different masks recently and neither of them fit worth a damn. It’s quite irritating for a Cpap mask to leak air on me after just a few days use…Okay, yes I have kind of a big head haha…but it’s super frustrating to have a mask that leaks air. Once I get asleep, I sleep like a bear…But TRYING to get to sleep, and having the irritation of an unsealed mask, is completely distracting and can easily turn into an extra hour or two being awake. I can absolutely tell the difference between sleeping with no Cpap and a well working machine. I wouldn’t say I have insomnia, but I do have a night here and there when my mind just will NOT shut down. And with a day job, it’s a problem to not be getting good sleep. I ordered a different mask today, hopefully it will do the trick and I will start sleeping better. I’m pretty sure good sleep will help even more with weight loss.

My original goal when I decided to quit drinking for 5 weeks was to lose 25lbs. That might have been a little ambitious (especially since I was starting at near zero workout wise), but with 10 days left until the golf trip, 20lbs seems very achievable. Beyond just the weight loss though, my body feels way better. My knees and back are less sore and my arms feels stronger (doing light kettle bell exercises helps, just takes a few min’s out of the day, but makes a difference). I feel like I’m waking up thinner, like my body is actually reacting to eating better.

I don’t know if other people have stomach issues like I’ve had, but that has been a HUNDRED times better since going no alcohol and low carb. The first couple days of having green smoothies cleared me out pretty well, but after a few days, everything seemed to really settle, and I’m no longer having constant issues like I’ve had for the past several years. That’s enough for details haha, but it’s been WAY better in that department.

My food list has been relatively limited. I got some Keto pancake mix, a small waffle iron and enjoy making those. Once in awhile I’ll do just eggs and sausage, but typically I’m adding at least some fruit to my breakfasts. I picked up some monk fruit for sweetener. I use that for a powdered sugar feeling on my waffles along with fruit (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry mix as those are low carb fruits but still delicious). My smoothies are spinach leaves, the same fruit mix and I throw in chia seeds and some organic greens powder mix along with water. The fruit makes it sweet enough for me, the chia seeds add good fiber and the organic greens say they have 39 superfoods in them. It’s simple, quick and feels super healthy. No idea what the calorie count is for those, but I’m guessing super low. My go to dinner lately has been broccoli with cream cheese, tomatoes and jalapenos. For the meat, I’ve been using a breakfast sausage and will occasionally add bacon. It’s delicious and filling and low carb. I should be branching out and trying some new recipes, but so far I’m happy with how and what I’m eating…the cream cheese almost feels like cheating, even though the dish is super low in carbs overall. I got the recipe for this dish from Low Carb Love on YouTube. She’s great, has tons of recipes and I really like her delivery and style. Not to mention how open and honest she is with everything she has done and gone through on her journey. Check her out here and subscribe. I think you will really like what her channel offers as much as I do.

I’ve got 10 days before the golf trip, need to focus and make it a priority to get more exercise in. But overall I feel like I’m doing well. The no alcohol has not been nearly as difficult as my mind kept telling me it would be. And at 50 years old, I’ll take 17lbs weight loss in a month 🙂