Wine

karajhol

I do most things very well, better than most. But wine is my Achilles heel and it appears to be the reason I'm having trouble with my weight. I'm 5'6" 155 lbs., would prefer to be at 145 lbs. i do not want to cut my alcohol calories.
I make a ton of money. I am a 4.0 doctoral student. I am a hell of a mom and wife. I just cannot, and do not want to, kick the nightly wine habit. I was raised this way, as was my mother and her mother before that.

Anybody else going through this?

gabesmom04

I'm 5'6 and started at 161 and am down to 135 in about 3 months. I have a glass of red wine almost nightly, so don't give up what you love just add it into to your calories!

Asher_Ethan

Wino here! I drink on most nights, I find if I lose weight slowly, I can drink more and not be as hungry.
Cheers!

Ruffianxx

Ooh I'm a huge wine addict, and it's a bit of a problem. I'm a small person and can easily down a bottle a night. I reduce the consequences of this by being very diligenent in my excercise and diet. I also try and buy only quality wine, as the sugar loaded cheap stuff slows my running performance a lot the next day.

Also, no dessert for me. It's wine or dessert, I don't get both.

kkress92

Having a glass as I type this! You don't have to give up your wine, just make it fit your calorie budget. You can either just fit it into your current budget, or add ~100 calories on and accept a slightly slower rate of loss. Cheers!

jaedwa1

I love wine and used to have a glass (or more accurately a bottle!) a night. Calorically I can still fit in one nightly glass but I found herbal teas are just as relaxing during these cold months. Now I save wine for specials nights when I can plan my calories around multiple glasses of the good stuff!!

ccsernica

Don't want to cut out wine? Then don't. (And why should you?) Calories are calories. It doesn't much matter where they come from. If you get that extra 125 calories or so every night, just cut them somewhere else.

MelanieCN77

I drink probably 600 cals in alcohol any given day and my cals are set at 1470. I adjust my meals to suit and I have exercise cals. I'm not giving up my beer or my bourbon. I think I still eat fairly well.

janejellyroll

I drank wine just about daily when I was losing weight. As long as I logged the calories and stayed in a deficit, I lost weight.

The only thing to look out for is if it is crowding out other things that you need -- if your calorie goal is low, it can sometimes be a challenge to meet your nutritional goals and drink regularly.

deluxmary2000

By "nightly wine habit", are you talkimg about a glass, or a bottle? If the latter, can you just cut back?

esjones12

deluxmary2000 wrote: »

By "nightly wine habit", are you talkimg about a glass, or a bottle? If the latter, can you just cut back?

This. One glass of red wine most nights really shouldn't be impairing your weight loss unless you are going over your calories with it.

WinoGelato

janejellyroll wrote: »

I drank wine just about daily when I was losing weight. As long as I logged the calories and stayed in a deficit, I lost weight.

The only thing to look out for is if it is crowding out other things that you need -- if your calorie goal is low, it can sometimes be a challenge to meet your nutritional goals and drink regularly.

Exactly this.

I had a glass of wine pretty much every night while losing. It's ~125 cals for a 5 oz pour. Not too hard to work in especially if one isn't aiming for minimum calorie levels. Now that I'm in maintenance I can usually fit in 2 glasses, sometimes more.

As a busy working mom like you OP, I changed my habit from having a glass while cooking, a glass with dinner, and a glass or two after dinner like I did before starting to lose weight with MFP. I started waiting till after I got the kids into bed and finally sat down for the night, which really only affords me time for one or two glasses before I need to hit the hay anyway.

MagBird1103

I've lost the first 40 pounds still drinking average of 2 glasses of red wine a day. I switched from white to red, mostly because I drink it slower. It hasn't halted my weight loss at all, as long as I don't go over on calories. Do a little extra cardio every day and you can easily burn off those wine cals.

kschwab0203

I can drink most men under the table so it's no big thing for me to finish off a bottle of wine in one night. If I know I will be drinking I will make room for it in my calories for that day. Large dinner or small dinner and wine? Kinda like a "pick your poison" deal.

WinoGelato

Jakep2323 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

I drank wine just about daily when I was losing weight. As long as I logged the calories and stayed in a deficit, I lost weight.

The only thing to look out for is if it is crowding out other things that you need -- if your calorie goal is low, it can sometimes be a challenge to meet your nutritional goals and drink regularly.

Exactly this.

I had a glass of wine pretty much every night while losing. It's ~125 cals for a 5 oz pour. Not too hard to work in especially if one isn't aiming for minimum calorie levels. Now that I'm in maintenance I can usually fit in 2 glasses, sometimes more.

As a busy working mom like you OP, I changed my habit from having a glass while cooking, a glass with dinner, and a glass or two after dinner like I did before starting to lose weight with MFP. I started waiting till after I got the kids into bed and finally sat down for the night, which really only affords me time for one or two glasses before I need to hit the hay anyway.

I don't think she was advocating drinking a bottle of wine daily? I don't know many people who would advise that

Not what I said at all. Simply sharing that before I started tracking here, I consumed more because for me, I felt like after a long day of working and being a busy mom I should have a glass after work to unwind, then a glass while I was eating dinner, then a glass to relax before going to bed. I changed my habits after starting to track here so that I could still enjoy a glass of wine after I complete all my daily responsibilities, without derailing my progress.

zyxst

Jakep2323 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

I drank wine just about daily when I was losing weight. As long as I logged the calories and stayed in a deficit, I lost weight.

The only thing to look out for is if it is crowding out other things that you need -- if your calorie goal is low, it can sometimes be a challenge to meet your nutritional goals and drink regularly.

Exactly this.

I had a glass of wine pretty much every night while losing. It's ~125 cals for a 5 oz pour. Not too hard to work in especially if one isn't aiming for minimum calorie levels. Now that I'm in maintenance I can usually fit in 2 glasses, sometimes more.

As a busy working mom like you OP, I changed my habit from having a glass while cooking, a glass with dinner, and a glass or two after dinner like I did before starting to lose weight with MFP. I started waiting till after I got the kids into bed and finally sat down for the night, which really only affords me time for one or two glasses before I need to hit the hay anyway.

I don't think she was advocating drinking a bottle of wine daily? I don't know many people who would advise that

WTF? Where are you seeing either PP talking about drinking a bottle of wine?

peaceout_aly

If you love it, just pre-log it daily and integrate it into your calories.

donjtomasco

I think one of the best things I ever did was stop drinking all together. It was a choice, but I really had no other choice.......talk about less calories and saving money. Karajhol, if how much money you make is a big deal (it is to some people), put a pencil to how much you are spending on your booze. I could not believe how much my drinking added up to. What I do miss is drinking before bed since it was sure easier to get to sleep and not have that urge and itch to come down to get that midnight snack.

Calimama123

What does you thinking you do things better than most people and making "a ton of money" have to do with you drinking wine? Just wondering. Anyways, if you want to lose weight, eat less calories than you burn. Wine has calories. Figure out how to make them fit if you want to keep drinking, and lose weight.

janejellyroll

Calimama123 wrote: »

What does you thinking you do things better than most people and making "a ton of money" have to do with you drinking wine? Just wondering. Anyways, if you want to lose weight, eat less calories than you burn. Wine has calories. Figure out how to make them fit if you want to keep drinking, and lose weight.

Sometimes when people feel defensive about how much they drink or if they want to justify it, they will cite their accomplishments or ability to get everything else done. I think it has a lot to do with stereotypes about alcoholics and problem drinkers -- that they are unable to hold jobs or handle details of daily life. The reality, of course, is that alcoholics and problem drinkers come in all types and some of them are able to accomplish a great deal, make a lot of money, and remain on top of daily responsibilities.

Not saying that is going on with the OP or that the OP has a drinking problem, it's just something that I've noticed. You can be on top of everything and still need to get a handle on your drinking, but it can be comforting for some to think that alcoholics look or act a certain way and that is nothing like them.

donjtomasco

Jane, great point(s)!!! Those would be 'High Functioning Drinkers' (or alcoholics). I was one of those until I was not one of those, which is when I had to stop drinking.