Down 2lbs and no wine

flippy1234

Hey all, I posted a few things early in the week, i.e.: "What not to eat" and "My family makes me eat", lol. Anyway, I had mentioned that I stopped drinking wine, for now anyway. As of this am, Friday, I am down 2 lbs. Yes, I have been eating a bit less and logging all of my food but I do think eliminating wine has helped a great deal. I hate to admit it. Unfortunately, I'm not just a 1 glass girl. I wish I could say it makes no difference, but I do think alcohol does. At least for me.
Anyway, a few of you had snarky comments but most of you have been great and very helpful with your thoughts.
I'll give it a while and then think about adding my wine back in, once I have a little better handle on things. lol

WinoGelato

It's good that you are seeing results already.

Eliminating/restricting anything that puts you over your calories, or that you have trouble moderating, is usually a good idea.

That said, as people mentioned in your other threads, what people need to restrict or give up is largely individual preference. Additionally, it isn't your family/spouse making you overeat, it is up to you to set those parameters for yourself and adhere to the plan that is going to help you achieve your goal.

I'm sorry you found some of the advice snarky but at the end of the day, those two pieces of advice that came out of your other threads are the most important things to take away, regardless of whether you liked the delivery.

It sounds like you have taken that advice on board and are starting to see results. That said, I think sustainability is one of the most important factors in any program. I too really enjoy wine (as my username suggests) and found it helpful to find ways to work it in, albeit cutting back to a glass a night while losing. Alcohol is one of those things though that many people find important to restrict since it can beget other bad food choices, again, largely up to the individual to find what works for them.

Good luck and hope you have continued success.

lulalacroix

I quit drinking wine for now as well. I learned that when I drank, I was always chasing energy. Meaning that I always felt extra hungry and low in energy when I drank and the next day. Now that I'm not drinking, I have so much more energy and find myself actually less hungry.

I was probably one of the people who made a snarky comment. It wasn't for the point of being snarky. I just wanted you to think about owning your decisions and accepting that it was your choice whether to eat something and not something someone else "made" you do. Hope that makes sense and see that we are really here to help when we can.

Congrats on the 2 pounds!

Chef_Barbell

Hmmm ok.

lemurcat12

Eliminating wine makes a difference if you cut calories as a result. I think it's probably an easy thing to cut down on if you drink it regularly and are happy drinking it only once a week or not at all, but there's nothing special about cutting down on wine vs. other things. (NOT discouraging you from doing so, at all. I don't currently drink at all and find that that makes it easier for me in some ways, as I am not tempted to spend calories on drinks. On the other hand, I rarely have trouble finding other things to spend them on.)

I've lost significant weight twice in my life (kept it off over 5 years in-between), and the first time I did I was pretty much a problem drinker (I decided that the dietary guidelines -- which I was using as a plan to improve my diet -- was nuts in the # of servings of grains it recommended, so decided it was totally sensible to sub wine for grains, yeah, great choice), but I easily lost 2 lb/week, since I was eating and exercising in a way that allows for that. I also gained weight when I stopped drinking, since I started eating more. Lots of people eat the same amount whether they drink or not, though, since we tend not to recognize liquid calories as much when it comes to satiety or just drink for hedonistic reasons, with hunger irrelevant.

lady_ghost

Try having one glass a week when you start back again. After a while of not having something you tend to not be so obsessed with it. I use ro drink ginger ale 5 cans a day. I haven't had it in months I had a cup of it on christmas and now I'm back to water no problem. I know alcohol is different but you get the idea.

callsitlikeiseeit

whether you reduced the calories through the wine, or elsewhere, the weight would still be down.

its not the WINE, its the number of calories CONSUMED.

lorrpb

Wine causes water retention for me, which increases the number on the scale. But if doesn't bother me because I know its water weight rather than fat and dissipates in a few days.

Unknown

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MelanieCN77

If I didn't drink the calories I'd eat them. I enjoy a beer/bourbon at the end of the day and fit it in. If you can give it up like that then you definitely freed up some calories to help with any hunger you might have but the calories are the calories if you eat them instead.

successgal1

There are 2 ways alcohol can mess up my weight loss/healthy weight loss. Water retention and lack of nutrition/recovery food.

In general I drink Lite beer, 96 calories. I'm on a 1200 calorie day if completely sedentary. If I have that Lite instead of food I deprive my body of important nutrition, which is hard enough to get on 1200 calories. If I have 2 beers I'm out 200 calories of actual food.

Now, if I have significant exercise, thats when I can fit in a beer or two, BUT because of my low allowed calories and since I don't want to eat back ALL exercise calories to increase my deficit and maybe have a calorie cushion for a food treat....I still run the risk of not properly supporting my body with what it needs to recover. This can lead to even more water retention.

In addition to the alcohol retaining water in me, its basically empty calories. If I have proper recovery food on a day I workout, I'm less tired and I bounce back better the next day. If I replace food with alcohol, I'm more tired and less recovered the next day, leading me to want MORE recovery food.

SusanMFindlay

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

whether you reduced the calories through the wine, or elsewhere, the weight would still be down.

its not the WINE, its the number of calories CONSUMED.

True, but liquid calories are usually the easiest to give up because they tend not to have been satiating so you aren't triggered to go looking for 'replacement calories' the way you can be if you reduce food calories.

Which is to say that giving up wine (or sugared soda or Starbucks drinks or sugar in tea/coffee) is a great way to gently cut calories and lose weight.

Which does not mean that one must give any of those things up to lose weight. Just that it's one easy (for some) way to do it.