Less Alcohol - FEBRUARY 2021 - One Day At A Time
Replies
-
Whoa! @Womona & @dawnbgethealthy I did not know that. It explains a LOT. Thanks.4
-
Hi
I originally decided to drink less to lose weight.
I have been on this thread since Nov 28.18
Thank you to @MissMay for keeping us going.
I am going to post with my usual diary style to keep track of my AF days.
I will be keeping to my usual goal of 16-20 AF days per month. It is manageable for me and doesn't put too much pressure on me. So far I have been able to keep with it. One month I raised the goal and failed miserably, so I learned from that. I think this is my sweet spot.
Monday Feb 01 - AF - Had to at least start the month with an AF day to set the tone for myself.
Tuesday Feb 02 - Drinks. I used to always designate Tuesdays as my "drinks" day, because it is a very long work day paying very little. I worked to get away from that behaviour and was successful many times. My willpower didn't hold out tonight. I want to only have drinks NOT to relieve stress. I just stumbled a little.
Wednesday Feb 03 - AF - Planned AF
Thursday Feb 04 - AF - Because I needed 2 in a row. Planned drinks with my bubble friend tomorrow, but we'll see.
Friday Feb 04 - Drinks
Rolling total 3AF days out of 5 days6 -
February
2/1 - AF
2/2 - AF
2/3 - AF
2/4 - AF
2/5 - 3 wine
I would rather last night had only been 2 wines, but I'm glad it wasn't 4, I'll take it as a good week overall so far8 -
I found a decent de-alcoholized wine!!!!
Rondel Zero from Spain. It's a Cava and tastes quite like prosecco.
I picked it because it listed 2/3rd less sugar/carbs compared to the Fre brand I hated. It's got excellent effervescence and a pear flavor.
40 calories.
I'd say the sweetness is still a wee bit too much for me. I added a splash of Pellegrino to it for minerality and to reduce the sweetness a bit.
Found it at Total Wine in the U.S., about $10 but this will work for days like Superbowl, Valentine's, and the occasional weekend my grown kids come over and we have dinners.
7 -
globalhiker wrote: »I found a decent de-alcoholized wine!!!!
Rondel Zero from Spain. It's a Cava and tastes quite like prosecco.
I picked it because it listed 2/3rd less sugar/carbs compared to the Fre brand I hated. It's got excellent effervescence and a pear flavor.
40 calories.
I'd say the sweetness is still a wee bit too much for me. I added a splash of Pellegrino to it for minerality and to reduce the sweetness a bit.
Found it at Total Wine in the U.S., about $10 but this will work for days like Superbowl, Valentine's, and the occasional weekend my grown kids come over and we have dinners.
of course its in the states where i do not live!4 -
@Trish1c sounds like it's that wine devil that gave you the idea to buy a case of wine. I know his thinking all too well!! The important thing to have a plan for the day, of your choosing. No plan leaves us vulnerable to the wine devil.
You can do this and you are stronger than him too
7 -
Didn’t realize there we so many different types of bitters. SPECS downtown Houston.
7 -
I didn't know there were so many bitters either. Wow6
-
dawnbgethealthy wrote: »
I learned from a nutritionist that because alcohol is a toxin, our bodies deal with getting rid of the toxin first. Meanwhile the food, carbs, fat etc we eat are just stored because our bodies are too busy dealing with the alcohol.
Yes, it is not so much the calories from drinks (although they count), it is that the fat burning furnace turns off completely as soon as alcohol is introduced.
Those few sentences say volumes, your calorie intake may be under your plan but the alcohol just killed all the good you are doing5 -
Still AF for this month. Trying to find a place to eat out tonight that is not outdoors. I really don't want to sit outside in my nice dress freezing my rear off.9
-
Had wine last night, really had not planned to drink but we stopped and picked up dinner and DH really wanted some wine so we each picked up a bottle. My thought was this will let him have his drink and keep me out of it......Well then he (was really trying to be considerate) opened my bottle so I would not have to struggle to get the cork out (arthritis in my hands)...that was my undoing. I started good with just 2oz. then before I knew it the wine devil jumped on my shoulder and took over. <sigh>.
On the positive side (I am working on my positive self talk) I was AF 6 consecutive days and this is only the first one this month. I will take it.....baby baby steps10 -
Be Gone Wine DEVIL this is for those who need it. I don't drink wine, only prosecco.
9 -
CryingBlue wrote: »Still AF for this month. Trying to find a place to eat out tonight that is not outdoors. I really don't want to sit outside in my nice dress freezing my rear off.
Fingers crossed to find indoor dining. You have my curiosity up, now we are going to have to see your nice dress.4 -
[dawnbgethealthy wrote: »
I learned from a nutritionist that because alcohol is a toxin, our bodies deal with getting rid of the toxin first. Meanwhile the food, carbs, fat etc we eat are just stored because our bodies are too busy dealing with the alcohol.
Yes, it is not so much the calories from drinks (although they count), it is that the fat burning furnace turns off completely as soon as alcohol is introduced.
Really does explain a lot.4 -
@Lilylady3k that is an awesome picture. Very cool. And I never would have guessed there were that many varieties. Thanks for sharing.4
-
globalhiker wrote: »I found a decent de-alcoholized wine!!!!
Rondel Zero from Spain. It's a Cava and tastes quite like prosecco.
I picked it because it listed 2/3rd less sugar/carbs compared to the Fre brand I hated. It's got excellent effervescence and a pear flavor.
40 calories.
I'd say the sweetness is still a wee bit too much for me. I added a splash of Pellegrino to it for minerality and to reduce the sweetness a bit.
Found it at Total Wine in the U.S., about $10 but this will work for days like Superbowl, Valentine's, and the occasional weekend my grown kids come over and we have dinners.
Thanks for the tip. I LOVE prosecco. Will have to look for this.5 -
@mainelylisa those talks are never easy. But you had it, and you can both take it from there. It really does need to be on YOUR TERMS.
We are so grateful for you to. Keep your head up. ONE DRINK and stopping was a huge success.❤3 -
chocolate_owl wrote: »AF last night. I had to get behind the wheel of a car for 3 errands yesterday, and the last time involved sitting in traffic. Driving has always been a great way to flare my back up, and I guess I’m still healing (or surgery didn’t really work ). Anyway, had to take a painkiller, so no drinks for me.
2/1 - AF
2/2 - AF
2/3 - 2 Drinks
2/4 - 1 Drink
2/5 - AF
Husband made a super indulgent breakfast this morning, so I think I’m gonna be lucky to have calories left for dinner tonight, much less drinks...5 -
@lisamestiza2021 your a wolf Sister and a prosecco Sister? Could be dangerous if we met up 😨6
-
My big drink day is over. Went out to our "thing" this afternoon. There literally has been nothing to do, so a small group of us got together to do squares for the Superbowl game. Setting up the squares people have chosen with the picked numbers is a big deal. Never knew about this event until I married a huge sports fan.
Anyhoo, took a chance and ordered a Needham Martini. Might I just say, OMG was that lovely! I did sip it slowly. Had only one and that was more than enough. I have really lost my tolerence for drink after drink after drink. And that makes me very happy.
9 -
My big drink day is over. Went out to our "thing" this afternoon. There literally has been nothing to do, so a small group of us got together to do squares for the Superbowl game. Setting up the squares people have chosen with the picked numbers is a big deal. Never knew about this event until I married a huge sports fan.
Anyhoo, took a chance and ordered a Needham Martini. Might I just say, OMG was that lovely! I did sip it slowly. Had only one and that was more than enough. I have really lost my tolerence for drink after drink after drink. And that makes me very happy.
we are still in lock down up here - i haven't seen my friends for months. sounds like a fun time all the way around and one drink for you - you managed to enjoy it SIPPING!~6 -
My big drink day is over. Went out to our "thing" this afternoon. There literally has been nothing to do, so a small group of us got together to do squares for the Superbowl game. Setting up the squares people have chosen with the picked numbers is a big deal. Never knew about this event until I married a huge sports fan.
Anyhoo, took a chance and ordered a Needham Martini. Might I just say, OMG was that lovely! I did sip it slowly. Had only one and that was more than enough. I have really lost my tolerence for drink after drink after drink. And that makes me very happy.
My increasing tolerance to the amount of alcohol I was drinking was my first sign that I was drinking way too much particularly at home, I will be very happy when I lose that tolerance!
Great to be able to catch up with friends and do your together things, those connections are quite important.5 -
Five (or is four?) days now with no alcohol at home.
I had an event Friday and Saturday nights, my goals were no more than two drinks each night. Friday night did well with that and enjoyed two glasses of pinot gris, lamb popcorn and apple cider fries as well as some gelato. Saturday night I had two glasses and poured a third but didn't enjoy or finish the third, left about half of it. I also enjoyed a Korean taster plate and cheesecake on stick.
Today's plan for the last day of the Indulge event is one glass of wine, possibly more popcorn lamb and cheesecake on a stick.
6 -
@tiptoethruthetulips OH PLEASE describe what lamb popcorn is. You did very well sticking to goals. Kinda envious you can go to something that sounds like such a good time. Enjoy.4
-
Ok guys, scientific misinformation anywhere drives me bonkers, and I'm seeing a game of telephone happening in this thread where "Your body processes alcohol first" starting to warp into "If you drink alcohol your calorie deficit doesn't matter, your day is ruined." That's not how this works.
THIS IS SUPER OVERSIMPLIFIED: Let's say you have a hearty dinner that's 700 calories, about 33% of each macronutrient. The dietary fat will be split between meeting immediate fatty acid needs and being stored in fat cells to be used up later. The carbs are going to be used as immediate energy and will fill empty glycogen stores. Protein is going to get broken down to amino acids and redistributed where your body needs it, including synthesis for muscle growth. Over the next several hours, you'll burn 700 calories by existing, prioritizing using glucose in the bloodstream, then glycogen stores, then fat stores*.
Now let's say you take in 100 calories of alcohol and 600 calories of food. Your body immediately starts to metabolize alcohol. Dietary fat stills goes to be stored as fat. Carbs still go into glycogen storage, and if there are extras, they start to be stored as fat. Protein is trickier, because it's an inefficient process to store protein as fat. Also, digesting proteins is a slower process than breaking down carbs, and it starts much later in the digestive process. So if you keep your alcohol to moderate amounts, your body can deal with it quickly enough to do its normal thing with protein. And over the next several hours, you burn 700 calories by existing. Alcohol first, glycogen stores next, and then those fat stores*. 700 calories is still (approximately) 700 calories.
Also, it should be noted that alcohol has a very high thermic effect of food (TEF). Even though alcohol has 7.1 calories per gram, it only has 5.6 USABLE calories per gram. There have been studies where people at maintenance replaced X number of carb calories with X number of alcohol calories and began to LOSE weight because whereas they may have been absorbing 100 calories of carbs, they were only able to extract ~80 burnable calories of alcohol. The rest is waste.
That's not to say there aren't negative effects; alcohol messes with your hormone signaling and has very low satiety, which can trigger you to eat more than you were planning. It interferes with your ability to build muscle - it most definitely WILL negate some gains from a session of lifting if you then go out and do a bunch of shots with your buddies afterwards. Plus there's all the other things we talk about in here. But if you're eating an appropriate amount of calories for your goals, having a drink that fits in your calorie budget is not going to turn off the lights at the metabolism factory, it's just going to change the work order.
*Like I said, the above is really oversimplified, but I don't want to give the impression that you only burn your fat stores when there's nothing else to burn. Your body is going to pull from fat stores in varying ratios all the time. A lot less during more strenuous activity, more when it's doing normal "maintenance" for your body. Metabolism is really complex.7 -
chocolate_owl wrote: »AF last night. I had to get behind the wheel of a car for 3 errands yesterday, and the last time involved sitting in traffic. Driving has always been a great way to flare my back up, and I guess I’m still healing (or surgery didn’t really work ). Anyway, had to take a painkiller, so no drinks for me.
2/1 - AF
2/2 - AF
2/3 - 2 Drinks
2/4 - 1 Drink
2/5 - AF
Husband made a super indulgent breakfast this morning, so I think I’m gonna be lucky to have calories left for dinner tonight, much less drinks...
Thanks for checking in! Its been OK, there were no life-threatening complications or infection or anything dramatic. I was originally supposed to have two artificial discs put in, but when they got in there they discovered my spine was too small at the lower level, so I have a hybrid disc + fusion now. The recovery for fusion is longer, slower, and I have to be more careful about my movements. It seemed like a lot of the nerve pain was receding until yesterday, and I'm hoping that flare-up was just because I had done so much in one day and I'm still healing. Over the next 5 weeks it will become a lot clearer if the surgery fixed the problem or if I'll be in pain management mode forever. Just trying to do what the docs tell me right now7 -
lisamestiza2021 wrote: »-45 C here today and for the next few days. i'm so tempted to get my SO to pick something up *if the car starts* today. winter is brutal to get through... i will try to stick out this day. haven't had anything since Jan 21. cross fingers
Brrrr! That’s way too cold!2 -
globalhiker wrote: »I found a decent de-alcoholized wine!!!!
Rondel Zero from Spain. It's a Cava and tastes quite like prosecco.
I picked it because it listed 2/3rd less sugar/carbs compared to the Fre brand I hated. It's got excellent effervescence and a pear flavor.
40 calories.
I'd say the sweetness is still a wee bit too much for me. I added a splash of Pellegrino to it for minerality and to reduce the sweetness a bit.
Found it at Total Wine in the U.S., about $10 but this will work for days like Superbowl, Valentine's, and the occasional weekend my grown kids come over and we have dinners.
I’ll have to try this!!!3 -
CryingBlue wrote: »Still AF for this month. Trying to find a place to eat out tonight that is not outdoors. I really don't want to sit outside in my nice dress freezing my rear off.
I hear ya! It’s February for crying out loud! Indoors please! Brrr!2 -
chocolate_owl wrote: »Ok guys, scientific misinformation anywhere drives me bonkers, and I'm seeing a game of telephone happening in this thread where "Your body processes alcohol first" starting to warp into "If you drink alcohol your calorie deficit doesn't matter, your day is ruined." That's not how this works.
THIS IS SUPER OVERSIMPLIFIED: Let's say you have a hearty dinner that's 700 calories, about 33% of each macronutrient. The dietary fat will be split between meeting immediate fatty acid needs and being stored in fat cells to be used up later. The carbs are going to be used as immediate energy and will fill empty glycogen stores. Protein is going to get broken down to amino acids and redistributed where your body needs it, including synthesis for muscle growth. Over the next several hours, you'll burn 700 calories by existing, prioritizing using glucose in the bloodstream, then glycogen stores, then fat stores*.
Now let's say you take in 100 calories of alcohol and 600 calories of food. Your body immediately starts to metabolize alcohol. Dietary fat stills goes to be stored as fat. Carbs still go into glycogen storage, and if there are extras, they start to be stored as fat. Protein is trickier, because it's an inefficient process to store protein as fat. Also, digesting proteins is a slower process than breaking down carbs, and it starts much later in the digestive process. So if you keep your alcohol to moderate amounts, your body can deal with it quickly enough to do its normal thing with protein. And over the next several hours, you burn 700 calories by existing. Alcohol first, glycogen stores next, and then those fat stores*. 700 calories is still (approximately) 700 calories.
Also, it should be noted that alcohol has a very high thermic effect of food (TEF). Even though alcohol has 7.1 calories per gram, it only has 5.6 USABLE calories per gram. There have been studies where people at maintenance replaced X number of carb calories with X number of alcohol calories and began to LOSE weight because whereas they may have been absorbing 100 calories of carbs, they were only able to extract ~80 burnable calories of alcohol. The rest is waste.
That's not to say there aren't negative effects; alcohol messes with your hormone signaling and has very low satiety, which can trigger you to eat more than you were planning. It interferes with your ability to build muscle - it most definitely WILL negate some gains from a session of lifting if you then go out and do a bunch of shots with your buddies afterwards. Plus there's all the other things we talk about in here. But if you're eating an appropriate amount of calories for your goals, having a drink that fits in your calorie budget is not going to turn off the lights at the metabolism factory, it's just going to change the work order.
*Like I said, the above is really oversimplified, but I don't want to give the impression that you only burn your fat stores when there's nothing else to burn. Your body is going to pull from fat stores in varying ratios all the time. A lot less during more strenuous activity, more when it's doing normal "maintenance" for your body. Metabolism is really complex.
Thanks for this clarification. I knew my explanation was lacking , second hand info, etc. and I don’t want to mislead anyone.1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.2K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 421 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions