Sober October
Throughout October I undertook a Stoptober Challenge. There were several people could choose from - quit smoking, eat unprocessed food, eliminate alcohol.
I chose to eliminate alcohol - well I don't smoke [except when I'm fuming/!], I certainly don't eat any processed food, except when I am faced with food choices at meetings, workshops etc. Then I choose the least, in my opinion, harmful options and just enough to keep energy levels stable.
So my choice for October's challenge was to not drink any alcohol for the whole month. The campaign in the media stated it was a 28 day challenge - on day 29 I was faced with a marathon day of a 4 am start, train to London for Anglesey Day at Westminster and the prospect of a tiring train journey home so the offer of a glass of wine from my friend and fellow Soroptimist Rhiannon was - well, somewhat attractive. No, I remained stoic, stalwart and stubborn - I said I would do this challenge for the whole month, the whole month is what I did and even when 'im indoors, aka the better half, aka my lovely husband, treated me to a meal on Friday evening to avoid handing sugar out to the already hyper-kids in the neighbourhood [I know I am a real meanie!] my choice of drink was a large soda spiked with lime and including lots of ice.
Bearing in mind the proposal that the drink drive laws may be amended to allow zero alcohol in the system 'im indoors feels it's a good idea to change attitudes towards this unwritten rule that socialising = alcohol.
Anyway, back to the challenge - I DID IT! And it was no hardship, and my bank balance is certainly feeling a helluva lot healthier - the price of wine has been creeping up and up over the past few months, and the customary 2 or 3 bottles added to the trolley each week over a month has been costing me around a hefty £70. Now I don't know about you lot, but I can do an awful lot of things with that £70 that will last a lot longer than the wine in my body.
So what will you do to change one thing at a time for each month? Roll on November!
I chose to eliminate alcohol - well I don't smoke [except when I'm fuming/!], I certainly don't eat any processed food, except when I am faced with food choices at meetings, workshops etc. Then I choose the least, in my opinion, harmful options and just enough to keep energy levels stable.
So my choice for October's challenge was to not drink any alcohol for the whole month. The campaign in the media stated it was a 28 day challenge - on day 29 I was faced with a marathon day of a 4 am start, train to London for Anglesey Day at Westminster and the prospect of a tiring train journey home so the offer of a glass of wine from my friend and fellow Soroptimist Rhiannon was - well, somewhat attractive. No, I remained stoic, stalwart and stubborn - I said I would do this challenge for the whole month, the whole month is what I did and even when 'im indoors, aka the better half, aka my lovely husband, treated me to a meal on Friday evening to avoid handing sugar out to the already hyper-kids in the neighbourhood [I know I am a real meanie!] my choice of drink was a large soda spiked with lime and including lots of ice.
Bearing in mind the proposal that the drink drive laws may be amended to allow zero alcohol in the system 'im indoors feels it's a good idea to change attitudes towards this unwritten rule that socialising = alcohol.
Anyway, back to the challenge - I DID IT! And it was no hardship, and my bank balance is certainly feeling a helluva lot healthier - the price of wine has been creeping up and up over the past few months, and the customary 2 or 3 bottles added to the trolley each week over a month has been costing me around a hefty £70. Now I don't know about you lot, but I can do an awful lot of things with that £70 that will last a lot longer than the wine in my body.
So what will you do to change one thing at a time for each month? Roll on November!