Remember my ode to all things happy and alcoholic-y? Operation: Julie Gets Her Act Together? Well, somewhere along the way, I blinked and I'm well into Week Five of my no booze experiment.
That's right. FIVE WEEKS. NO BOOZE. And no, I haven't died yet.
... and truth be told, my liver keeps giving me high fives every single morning. I fully intend on exchanging participation ribbons with said liver once this challenge is complete.
My friends have decided I'm pregnant and I'm not-so-subtly using this experiment as a cover up. I assure you (yes, YOU), that is not the case. Believe me.
So how have I done it?
- Sugar. I've replaced the booze with sugar, sadly. It wasn't my intent, but let's just say I've made nice with dark chocolate Ghiradelli brownies. I made myself sick on them last week. But at least I'm aware of my need for a vice.
- La Croix water. My new best friend. Well, not-so-new best friend. I discovered them a few months ago when I decided to give up diet cokes (more on that another day). They've been a lifesaver. I really need the bubbles. This stuff has helped me out tremendously.
- True Lemon. Clean lemonade FTW. A clean eating girl's dream. No fake garbage. Tons of taste. Plus it keeps me hydrated. It isn't the easiest thing to find, sadly. I haven't had any luck at Target or Whole Foods. But my local Tom Thumb has it -- lemonade and raspberry lemonade. Yum.
- Constant affirmations. There's an odd sense of accomplishment knowing that I can hang out with friends and not feel obligated to drink. It's hard to explain. But waking up on Monday morning and realizing I (easily) made it through another weekend is borderline exhilarating. No joke.
What have I learned about myself?
- I have stress issues. In fact, I had to go get a massage at work this morning to deal with a knot that decided to live beneath my shoulder blade. It was so bad that I had a hard time sleeping last night.... oh, and I couldn't raise my arm up to type at work. Considering I essentially type for a living... yeah. Julie got to meet the company's masseuse today.
- I need an outlet. If it's not happy hour, then it's sugar. That's bad. I've been told repeatedly that I need to give yoga a try. I'm not against it... but I still haven't given it a shot. And yes, I go to the gym regularly, so working out isn't enough of an outlet after all.
- I'm kind of awesome. Let's be honest. I've wanted to cave on more than one occasion. I've almost talked myself into tossing this goal out the window once or twice. But you know what? Setting a goal that's truly challenging and being able to work through the temptation is a big deal. I feel great knowing that I've been able to manage it so far.
... only 12 days to go. I got this.
