Wine habit! It’s thwarting my loss!

artistes2

Hi all, even tho I include calories for wine and stay under my calorie allotment I just don’t lose much at all unless I stop the wine. It’s a nice relaxing time at the end of the day and I have been so diligent I think I need a reward! What should I have instead?

cmriverside

Anything else?

How about a nice walk and some herbal tea?

If you're only having one glass you just work it into your calories like any other treat. It's not stopping your weight loss. If all you have is one glass and you're not losing weight, then you are eating too much.

If you're having a few glasses that requires a different solution.

I quit drinking and discovered I'm much more relaxed in general without it.

earlnabby

artistes2 wrote: »

Hi all, even tho I include calories for wine and stay under my calorie allotment I just don’t lose much at all unless I stop the wine. It’s a nice relaxing time at the end of the day and I have been so diligent I think I need a reward! What should I have instead?

How much are you drinking? I found that one glass a couple of days a week did not affect my weight,loss. One bottle several days a week did, even when I "fit it into my calories". Larger amounts of alcohol can make you retain water and also affect the liver function. It can also cause you to make poor choices both in what you eat and in remembering to log.

Right now, I limit myself to one drink (a beer or glass of wine) on special occasions. I do have a lite beer every Monday when I get together with others at a bar to play trivia and the occasional glass of wine when I visit with friends.

mountainmare

I LOVE wine--in the summer when its hot it isn't a problem but when it gets cold and dark I tend to overdo a nice red. My solution tends to be at both ends of the wine spectrum. I buy mini bottles for I would like wine with this dinner evenings...so I do limit the amount and can log. For special I buy very good (expensive) wine to share. I used to buy cheat formula (like brand names--drinkable but cheap) guzzle wine and probably underestimate calories.
For summer I have Perrier as a substitute for cooler hot cider.

laurabini

Wine is the best!
Are you having wine everyday? Try and make it even more special by only having a couple of glasses once or twice a week It works for me and I don't feel guilty as it's a nice and well deserved treat

brisadeldesierto

I used to do the same with food. I used to tell myself that because I have had a bad/busy day I deserved to eat this or eat that, and eventually I ended up sabotaging my weight loss, which just made everything worse. My therapist helped me a lot to change that mindset, to understand that the reward is being healthy and feeling better about myself. So when I have a bad day like that now, I remember of what I've learned and tell myself that since I had a bad day I deserve a healthy body, and so I should stay away of those extra calories.

Maybe it's not something that will work for everyone, but since it really helped me I thought about sharing it.

88olds

My experience sounds like yours. My modest consumption of a bottle per week would slow things down.

But this- a small loss is not a zero loss. Although I do not like the concept of a drink reward for staying within your number, I do understand wanting to have a satisfying life.

There is a constant tension between losing weight and living with it. If drinking wine is what keeps your program from turning into a rigid austerity plan, maybe you should just stay the course and be patient. Think twice before you mess with a working plan you can live with. Faster is not necessarily better.

dechowj

Are you actually measuring out your one glass of wine each night? I found that when i would tell myself "just one glass" I would grab the largest wine glass I owned and fill it to the brim. Then when I actually measured the ml it was 2.5 servings. So I had to do a reality check on what one glass of wine really meant for logging my calories.

But on days where I really just needed to drink that "huge glass of wine" I would measure out one glass of wine into the jumbo wine glass and fill the rest with seltzer. I found that very satisfying and filled my stomach so I didn't try to sneak another glass.

dsboohead

I have a black mark on my glass for 5oz of red at 125 cal. My bank cannot afford more so I made a conscious effort to stop all together cause 5oz would never be enough.
Its hard to not drink but its hard to be fat....pick your hard!

hesn92

Are you measuring it out? I don't like wine unless it's in the form of a sangria so I'm no help there.

kjurassic

When will someone invent calorie free wine? (Like 0 calorie soda) Now THAT would be a moneymaker!!!!

tri2become1

Log-in your wine at the beginning of the day, then work around it, calorically.

lorrpb

Water or chamomile tea

happytree923

I've had good luck cutting back on weekday beer consumption by having herbal tea at night instead. Celestial Seasonings is very cheap and makes a lot of fun seasonal flavors. Don't keep wine in the house all the time- I buy my six pack or bottle of wine for the weekend on Friday and once it's gone, it's gone until the next weekend. If I try to stock up I end up drinking more often than I intended just because it's there. It takes a while to build the new habit but my sleep is better, I'm saving money and I get to eat SO MUCH when I'm not trying to fit in alcohol every day.

HoneyBadger302

I enjoy a glass of wine at night, but you do need to measure as 5 oz is pretty easy to turn into 8, which turns into more.

Honestly, I don't care if it "slows" my loss a bit - it's something I enjoy and look forward to each day, just like my morning coffee with creamer, and it's not something I'm willing to give up long term right now - so, I work it into my day, and enjoy it, knowing in the back of my mind I can keep this up even after I reach my goal weight-wise.

SuzySunshine99

Switch to vodka...less calories.

twinsandmore694

The beer and wine thing has been difficult for me too. I am going to try herbal tea and flavored water during the week and the idea of a bottle of wine for the weekend and when it’s gone.its gone. I do believe tracking it is important too. We do have to find A way to enjoy in moderation.

Safari_Gal

brisadeldesierto wrote: »

I used to do the same with food. I used to tell myself that because I have had a bad/busy day I deserved to eat this or eat that, and eventually I ended up sabotaging my weight loss, which just made everything worse. My therapist helped me a lot to change that mindset, to understand that the reward is being healthy and feeling better about myself. So when I have a bad day like that now, I remember of what I've learned and tell myself that since I had a bad day I deserve a healthy body, and so I should stay away of those extra calories.

Maybe it's not something that will work for everyone, but since it really helped me I thought about sharing it.

Thank you for posting this! This too worked for me!

Safari_Gal

artistes2 wrote: »

Hi all, even tho I include calories for wine and stay under my calorie allotment I just don’t lose much at all unless I stop the wine. It’s a nice relaxing time at the end of the day and I have been so diligent I think I need a reward! What should I have instead?

Hi @artistes2
My weight loss also slowed when I was having a few glasses a week. I took it out of the equation until I reach my goal and my weight loss has been great. That being said —- I have always loved wine. So 1 glass is always 2 glasses for me - and that’s about 300 calories. I decided I could have 300 calories of better nutrition daily and just save it for special occasions. Do I miss the wine - yeah.... but I want to focus on my body instead.
How about a half and half to start? It’s a wine spritzer- 2.5 oz of wine- 2.5 oz of seltzer. You’ll immediately save half the calories and will get something to satisfy the wine craving in the mean time.