Yesterday was rough. The “witching hour” and the call of the cocktail!

I’m not gonna lie. I REALLY wanted a cocktail yesterday during what I call our “witching hour”: 5:00 – 6:00pm. My kids are cranky. They still need to do some school work online and are fighting about it. Blood sugar is low for everyone. I was trying to put together a more complex dinner. I had a sparkling water while trying to juggle it all but I was sort of cranky about it.

I KNOW this abstaining is good. I KNOW that. I just miss it.

Any recommendations for that tricky stretch of the day?

In this together!

~Annie

I’m with you, Annie. It’s tough; that G&T and wine call loudly. Here’s what I’ve been doing this week and it seems to be working (for now, anyway) and it really seems to satisfy the cocktail craving. I’ve been putting seltzer on the rocks and then adding a few dashes of bitters. Toss in a lime wedge and it “feels” like a cocktail. The bitters give it a strong enough kick to make it taste (kind of) like a cocktail. For me, I think that the process of making a drink rather than pouring some sparkling water out of a can makes it seem more like a cocktail, too. A couple of days into P20 and this has worked for me. Hopefully it will work for you….. I also tried the non-alcohol gin hoping that would work and I can’t understand how it gets such good reviews on Amazon (yuck). I wouldn’t go there.

Hi Annie, Thank you for your honesty – we are here to help and trust me, this is one of the hardest parts of week one. The witching hour with cranky kids, a new recipe and no cocktail in hand can feel daunting. Julie had some good suggestions and tomorrow’s P20 email will address this topic to help prepare you for the weekend. Here is a recipe that might be fun to try too if you like kombucha:

Kombucha Cocktail
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
12 ounces original Health-Aide or GT’s kombucha, chilled
2 orange twists
Splash of seltzer
Combine, pour over a fine mesh sieve (to pull out ginger bits) into glasses filled with ice. Stir well for 30 seconds.
Garnish with orange twist.

I am 28-weeks pregnant so have been just been mixing kombucha and seltzer in a wine glass. It does the trick for me so feel free to give that a try as well!

And you are so right, abstaining from alcohol is so good for your body – you will sleep more soundly AND wake more rested. Next week will get easier, we promise! 🙂

Let us know if this helps!

Julie, and Christina, THANK YOU.

The solidarity of this community is exactly what I need. If I were doing this by myself I would’ve boozed yesterday, for sure.

I’ll try the mocktail ideas tomorrow! My husband is a big Manhattan guy so I bet we have bitters around somewhere…

Grateful for you both. Thanks again for this support!

~Annie

You bet, Annie! How are you feeling today?! The first week is truly the hardest to navigate as we create so many new habits. Let us know how the drinks swaps work! Enjoy your weekend 🙂 xx

This is great! I’ve been doing kombucha but I’ll be mixing in the bitters and trying the above so that I can feel a little more excited about my evening cocktail. Thanks for sharing!

Hi friends!

I’m feeling great. Thanks again for the support and encouragement. I made a simple mint + lime + sparkling water mocktail over the weekend and it was a delight. My husband, who is happily eating all the PN foods but is NOT abstaining from alcohol, enjoyed a mocktail with me on Saturday and I had him almost convinced that it was just as good as the boozy alternative. 🙂

Here we go, week 2!

Tracy: Kombucha is one of my go-to mocktail beverages as well – love ending the day with something a little sweet and sparkling. A sparkling rose was my former love…not it has been replaced with kombucha and a splash of seltzer. So good!

Anne: Thrilled to hear that you are feeling great! Your simple mint + lime + sparkling water mocktail sounds so refreshing. Happy to hear that your hubby has been enjoying the food and even gave the mocktail a try! Huge win. Keep up the great work!

Cheers to week 2, ladies! xx

Here we go, week 2!