WINE

QueenZeeIsm

I just posted a introduce yourself post.

Really need some support to give up the bottle. I binge drink a few times a week and it is becoming a problem. I use to have abs but now I have this floppy sloppy tummy.

I thought I could have the best of both worlds but clearly I have no self control. If you were me some time ago, how did you give up alcohol?

ChrisM8971

I didn't give it up, nor would I want to because it goes so well with cheese.

What I did do however was cut down and took control of what I drank, even to the point where I measure 250 mls out into a jug then top a smaller glass up from the jug so I know exactly how much I have had

tobeslimmer

I measure wine by the bottle not the glass,lol. But i have cut down to just drinking at the weekends although somedays i could easily come home and pour myself a glass. Is so easy to drink it every day but does me no favours in my weight loss. I dont think we should cut it out as then you crave it more

annietud

I find I like to have a social drink too. Its easy to have a bottle most nights and cheese & crisps!
I only buy 2 bottles on fridays,that's for 2 nights and share with him indoors. The same for the giant bag of crisps.
Another thing is I don't have pasta meals as wine goes great with it.
Try making a rule no beers on school night and see how you go.

Unknown

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fwhittaker

Yeah I had a major habit - regular with dinner, not binging necessarily. But I craved a glass of wine to wind down in the evening.

I did a liver cleanse (7 day soup diet) which made the cravings go, and made me feel awesome. Now I make sure I don't have anything in the house. Totally worked and it's awesome to be 'free' of it.

I now enjoy a glass or two when I socialise, and a small amount totally goes to my head. I'm a cheap date!

Good luck :-)

QueenZeeIsm

Thank you everyone. I think the best will be to not have it in the house and just drink socially. It would also save me money. I would have about 4 bottles of wine a week by myself. I think my husband would be happy too.

mockchoc

4 bottles a week is dangerous to your health and will make it harder on your weight loss. Look up safe drinking guidlines and you'll see it's too much. I know I'm similar. Love my wine but it's not ok.

sticky130

4 bottles a week is dangerous to your health and will make it harder on your weight loss. Look up safe drinking guidlines and you'll see it's too much. I know I'm similar. Love my wine but it's not ok.

There's about 8 units of alcohol (depending on ABV) in a bottle of wine and they say safe units for a woman is no more than 14 a week.

Saying that I now deal with life insurance, and they don't consider there to be any significant risk unless its over 35 units on a regular basis.

Not for one second I'm suggesting that you should make this your goal!!!

This, to me, says that whilst I think it's safer to be closer to 14 a week, insurance companies will look for all sorts of ways to increase premiums to make more money and they don't see it's any greater risk otherwise they would charge you more.

Personally I try to keep it just for weekends but mainly for the calories. :drinker:

Myhaloslipped

It sounds like you should just not have it around the house if you have to binge it. Have it when you go out to dinner with friends.

Agreed. If you are denied such easy access to it and forced to pay more for it, it will be easier for you to cut down on it.

SarahNicoleW94

I've started drinking vodka & diet lemonade through the week & saving the wine for weekends! I don't drink every night because I don't always feel like it, but replacing vodka for wine when I do has really helped me x

Twitchyjim

It is easy to say but not so easy to do BUT self control is the ONLY answer.

My wife and I were a bottle a night, three over the weekend, wine drinkers. Now down to two bottles a week for no other reason than fitness.

There is always plenty of wine and spirits in the house but the wine only comes out on Friday and Saturday evenings as a general rule. However if either one of us really fancies 1 glass then that is no problem so long as it is only 1 glass.

You need two things to succeed, the desire to do it, not just the words and the support of your partner.

Best of luck.

fwhittaker

So how often does that GIANT glass of beer come into play? :-)

pineapple_jojo

First off I'm sorry that you have a problem controlling your alcohol intake, if it is really an issue for you then please seek professional help.

I'm reading the replies to your plight with some level of discomfort. People's attitude to alcohol is so blase and drinking too much and misusing alcohol is seen as a funny thing. It isn't. It can have serious consequences for your health and family life. I'm speaking as someone who has had two alcoholic partners.

If there is any drug you can't possibly give up then you are addicted to it and you have an addiction. Seek help.

orangesmarties

If I were you, I would seek some help and support before it gets bad. I used to binge eat horribly and my big thing was sugar. The hardest part was being "found out" and telling my family. I just completely cut out the processed stuff for a couple months, got it out of the house, wouldn't be anywhere near it. I was so motivated by how much weight I lost so fast that I started to manage carbs too. Now I know that it my "kryptonite" then I know to stay away,and can even indulge occasionally too. I've never drunk significantly, so I'm aware that this approach may not be helpful to you - but I really would urge you to talk to someone, even if it is a family member and not a professional to start with.

KatJ_NZ

I like wine (and various other non-nutritious treats).

I just fit them into my calories/macros, remembering that treats should generally be no more than 10-20% of my calories in a well-rounded diet. Don't give up food calories for alcohol though - if you find yourself doing this regularly, you should consider seeking professional help :flowerforyou:

QueenZeeIsm

Thank you to everyone for the replies. The one thing that stood out was to not replace wine for calories. I would not eat dinner just to fit my bottle of Merlot in there. It obviously is wrong! Urgh I know I need help but let me see if I can do this on my own. My husband just walked in with some Vodka Cider drinks. I refuse to fall back everytime I am around alcohol. I am going to try my best to just not have any. For me, I cant just have 1 so I rather not have any.

rachelesmfp

I am in a very similar circumstance and trying to rectify things. Up until recently I would happily drink two bottles of wine a few nights a week. Like you I wouldn't/couldn't just have one glass... if the bottle is there I would drink it, I would even walk down and get another (the bottle shop is 100m from my house ).
I don't consider myself as needing professional help... or a structured program like AA. There are plenty of nights when I didn't feel like drinking so I didn't.

I am just taking it a day at a time. I fill my spare time with my kids and exercise or a mix of both. I remind myself why I am doing this. I also have been setting limitations to when and how I drink. For example, only when I am out for dinner or a special occasion. Neither of those I do very much anyway.

You need to find what fits for you until you can find your new kind of normal and address why you are binge drinking. For me it was not dealing with multiples of deaths in my family that happened one after the other rather quickly... one of them my father who was a huge part of my life and meant a lot to me

You will find your mojo and set yourself a time frame.... and re-evaluate. If you feel your not finding it, I would go and speak to your doc.

Best of luck.

_SantaClause

So are you wanting to quit because you think you're an alcoholic, or quit because of the calories?

Because I get two different feelings from your post.

ETA:

If you think you have a problem, odds are that you probably do. There are many of us who have struggled (and are winnning!!) the struggle.

Let me know, I am here to help.

QueenZeeIsm

well I mainly I think its because I think I have a problem with alcohol. the calories thing is just because I have been logging my wine on here and it shocked the crap out of me so I just don't eat.

I hate the feeling the day after drinking and always promise myself I wont again. two days later I find myself with a glass of wine.

this time I am going to have to be strong. its doing me more harm than good

MoveitlikeManda

I also measure by the bottle not the glass lol

i was drinking several nights a week but since starting to us MFP (35thday today) i have only drank on 2 occasions, granted i got totally wasted lol but I also stayed in my calories, a bottle of my fave wine is less than 600cals, so i tend to have a smaller dinner if drinking which means i can have more wine lol

But i think the important thing is iv cut dow the number of times i drink a week.

so far i drank on 22nd august and the 6th september, I would normally have had 2-3 bottles plus a few spitrits, but i just had the bottle of wine and spirits

RachelaT90

wine i miss you!

I have switched to vodka when i'm out now.

x

_SantaClause

well I mainly I think its because I think I have a problem with alcohol. the calories thing is just because I have been logging my wine on here and it shocked the crap out of me so I just don't eat.

I hate the feeling the day after drinking and always promise myself I wont again. two days later I find myself with a glass of wine.

this time I am going to have to be strong. its doing me more harm than good

Have you tried looking up AA meetings in your area???

throoper

I will go through phases where I drink about that much too (~4 bottles per week). I have found that logging all those calories really helped me... when you're cutting out meals so that you can have some drinks and stay under your calorie goal, you realize that's kind of pathetic. I agree with previous posters that not having it in the house is the most effective way to cut down. And if you live with a significant other, see if you can get them on board too - my motivation is shot if my husband brings home something to drink! We've cut out alcohol for two weeks (on day #3 now, lol) and having a partner in the effort really helps. Good luck

I_Will_End_You

I didn't give it up, but I did cut down. I generally drink once a week now, as opposed to a few glasses a night AND going all out on the weekends.

GhostriderMav

I made a section in my diary for my drink or drinks at night. I log them all and that is included in my daily calorie intake

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

I had a problem "giving up" wine while losing weight too. In fact, it was the only thing I missed.

What I've done is stopped drinking during the week, and allow myself a glass of wine with dinner on Sunday nights, which is my long run day when I burn around 1,200 calories. Then I know I have room in my day for a big fat juicy steak and a glass or two of wine, with no guilt. :drinker:

tremroy1

Started MFP 183 days ago.......have not had a drink since that time. I felt it would be easier to lose the 30 lbs. I wanted to and I would rather eat than drink. Has not been easy. During the summer on hot days, miss having a beer or two after golf. Also I was doing wine before dinner and with dinner. I must say I dont really miss it. I am not quite at my goal, but I am seriously thinking of quitting completly. Not for everyone.....good luck whatever you do.

meltedsno

I have my wine and enjoy it every night...but here is what I do: I fill a very tall glass with watermelon balls and then pour my measured wine over the watermelon... let it sit for a few minutes so the wine soaks into the watermelon.... then fill the glass with diet sierra mist... absolute heaven.... have done this with other fruits (namely berries) as well, but the watermelon is by far the best...

lemurcat12

Really need some support to give up the bottle. I binge drink a few times a week and it is becoming a problem. I use to have abs but now I have this floppy sloppy tummy.

I thought I could have the best of both worlds but clearly I have no self control. If you were me some time ago, how did you give up alcohol?

I eventually became convinced that I could never drink normally (I actually knew it long before I became officially convinced of it), but I just stopped drinking. At first just for Lent (years ago, not this Lent--it was just a good excuse/explanation, as dieting also can be), as I wasn't convinced it would be a lifetime thing (and I'm not assuming it has to be for you unless that's how you feel). For a while it was really tough because I was used to drinking it every night before bed, and because pretty much everything I did in the evening was something I associated with drinking--weird to surf on the internet or cook dinner or eat dinner or watch TV or socialize or talk on the phone or read or listen to music, etc., without also drinking. So I just made iced tea and didn't and learned that I could be happy in the evening without it, could unwind without it.

I think this is the first thing to try--just see how it is not to drink for a while.

You may find that it's really tough and you need support, and if so you might want to consider the obvious support groups (I have mixed feelings about them, but more positive than not).

You may find that for you getting out of the habit for a while you can drink socially with no ill effects (such as the desire to do so to excess or more often coming back or binging). You may be able to go back to a glass or two with dinner a few nights a week. Or, like me, you may decide that you can't or it's not worth it to you. One experiment I've heard of is just imagine drinking one glass every night and see if that would be satisfying or pleasant. For me, I wish it was, but no way.

_SantaClause

I think a lot of you missed what the OP said.

She's not looking for ways to cut calories, she's looking for help, from alcohol addiction