For those who stopped drinking...
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Lots of calories in booze and the loss of inhibitions lead to bad choices and bad eating.
For the most part, booze doesn't fit in to my macros and its effects don't fit in to my lifestyle.
I'll have a drink when I feel like it, but that's no more than a few times a year.
In direct answer to your question. Yes, it will help you lose weight to stop drinking and help in many other ways as well.0 -
I am so glad you posted this topic. I am wondering this same very thing as I have become consciously aware, since tracking on MFP, how many calories I consume drinking wine. I LOVE WINE...........................
I had to make a decision to cut down/stop for all the right reasons. Mostly because I started to find myself go into a downward spiral (this is meant for another board). I have engaged MFP more than ever because of this because I am learning more about foods and what is good, what isn't and the power of exercise. I can't achieve any results if I don't make the right choices and limit, possibly exclude alcohol from my life.
I can easily drink 750ml of wine a night, more on weekends. I used to watch my calories and then "go over" at the end of the night because 3 glasses of wine put me over the edge. What was the point of that? I could have eaten those "empty" calories in a more nutritional way.
I am 5 days sober and while I can't promise I'll never drink again (that probably won't happen), I am more interested in doing better things for myself. I'm not hungover and can actually wake up early and get some yoga in, or go to the gym when I can.
I haven't lost any weight but I don't feel as bloated and my clothes actually feel less tight. I am also finding a new hobby to distract me from wanting to drink. I am enrolling in a 10 week Body Blend course for two nights a week that starts in March. I'm also taking a food/nutritional class and walking my first 5K at the end of March.
I couldn't have started all this at a better time. I'm going through a ton of personal strife right now and am finding positive solace in how I can handle this stress by taking care of myself. I am not good to anyone else if I can't be healthy. I have met such wonderful people along the way here!0 -
Hm...I disagree. I exercise rigorously 7 days a week and drink 2-3 glasses of dry red wine a night. Since I've been doing MFB (about 7 weeks), I've lost exactly a pound a week (my goal) while still having my drinks and staying under my calorie allowance. To each his/her own, I guess!0
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I'm glad to see this question and the responses. I too, love a glass of wine near the end of the night and was wondering if it affects my weight loss. I plan to not have any during week and save that wine for weekends. Even then, limit myself to one or two glasses. I'll let you know, if I see a difference in couple of weeks.:drinker:0
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I don't want to have to log the extra calories. I used to have a glass or two of wine or a beer a few nights a week, and then more on weekends. Now I rarely drink during the week. Occasionally I will have a glass or two on the weekend, but usually only if I'm out somewhere. I rarely have the urge to pour a glass at home anymore. Plus since I get up early to work out, I go to bed earlier and don't have the time.
ETA - I think I gained 10 lbs over the summer just from drinking more than usual. My diet isn't that much different, just way less alcohol.0 -
I stopped drinking almost two years ago (it'll be two on Feb. 8th) and I definitely lost weight without trying. I was drinking about 3 liters of wine everyday so that cut out a significant number of calories.
Happy almost anniversary, I have just over a year myself. I was at about 2 liters a day so I lost weight as well.0 -
Hm...I disagree. I exercise rigorously 7 days a week and drink 2-3 glasses of dry red wine a night. Since I've been doing MFB (about 7 weeks), I've lost exactly a pound a week (my goal) while still having my drinks and staying under my calorie allowance. To each his/her own, I guess!
No question that you can do this. It's just a matter of how you want to spend your calories.0 -
I haven't had a drink since I started on myfitnesspal. I am too obsessed with the calories right now and hate to waste them on alcohol. I will, of course, make an exception for the Super Bowl.
This is my plan too! I joined MFP on Jan 7th and have not had a drink since. I made a goal to not drink ANY alcohol until superbowl. I have lost 6.4 lbs in 3 weeks....slow and stready. I truly believe I would still be at the same start weight if i had been drinking on weekends. Lose during the week, gain back at weekends. Not to mention the cravings that come with a hangover (grease and carbs!!). Now i debating whether to even bother with having any during the superbowl!!!0 -
Hey there! I gave up drinking this past for health and BUDGET reasons. I saved so much money, felt healthier, and did notice less bloating in my body and did lose a couple of pounds. I am working out and eating a clean diet so that helps too.
I will say that after no-alcohol january for me I dont find the desire to drink a ton and I have a way low tolerance!!! I gave myself one cheat day for when I went to NYC and it was deadly. so, when you do go back to drinking remember your tolerance is NOT THE SAME.
Good luck!
Maybe use the $$ you will save on alcohol in a jar and buy yourself something HOT to wear with that weight loss on your bday! 0 -
Hm...I disagree. I exercise rigorously 7 days a week and drink 2-3 glasses of dry red wine a night. Since I've been doing MFB (about 7 weeks), I've lost exactly a pound a week (my goal) while still having my drinks and staying under my calorie allowance. To each his/her own, I guess!
Finally a post i was glad to read i have given up drink in the week but i can drink about 10 to 12 vodkas and diet cokes on a Friday night and then again on a Saturday :drinker: i do love a drink and look forward to the weekend so i can put my feet up so i am hoping it wont affect me from losing weight i have only been trying to lose weight for about 3 week :happy:0 -
Hm...I disagree. I exercise rigorously 7 days a week and drink 2-3 glasses of dry red wine a night. Since I've been doing MFB (about 7 weeks), I've lost exactly a pound a week (my goal) while still having my drinks and staying under my calorie allowance. To each his/her own, I guess!
Finally a post i was glad to read i have given up drink in the week but i can drink about 10 to 12 vodkas and diet cokes on a Friday night and then again on a Saturday :drinker: i do love a drink and look forward to the weekend so i can put my feet up so i am hoping it wont affect me from losing weight i have only been trying to lose weight for about 3 week :happy:
Each vodka and diet coke will be somewhere around 70-120 calories, depending on if it's a 1oz shot or a jigger being used. If it's a free pour then good luck losing much weight with that much alcohol flowing! Drinking a roughly 1000 calories of alcohol twice a week would've destroyed almost every diet I've ever been on, as that's about 2/3 of a day's worth of calories just in alcohol (for me).0 -
Hey there! I gave up drinking this past for health and BUDGET reasons. I saved so much money, felt healthier, and did notice less bloating in my body and did lose a couple of pounds. I am working out and eating a clean diet so that helps too.
I will say that after no-alcohol january for me I dont find the desire to drink a ton and I have a way low tolerance!!! I gave myself one cheat day for when I went to NYC and it was deadly. so, when you do go back to drinking remember your tolerance is NOT THE SAME.
Good luck!
Maybe use the $$ you will save on alcohol in a jar and buy yourself something HOT to wear with that weight loss on your bday!
Great reason as I had a 600.00 a month habit and I just quit gradually because I wanted to (didn't do a 12 step program)...but as has been said, to each his own.0 -
Hm...I disagree. I exercise rigorously 7 days a week and drink 2-3 glasses of dry red wine a night. Since I've been doing MFB (about 7 weeks), I've lost exactly a pound a week (my goal) while still having my drinks and staying under my calorie allowance. To each his/her own, I guess!
Finally a post i was glad to read i have given up drink in the week but i can drink about 10 to 12 vodkas and diet cokes on a Friday night and then again on a Saturday :drinker: i do love a drink and look forward to the weekend so i can put my feet up so i am hoping it wont affect me from losing weight i have only been trying to lose weight for about 3 week :happy:
Each vodka and diet coke will be somewhere around 70-120 calories, depending on if it's a 1oz shot or a jigger being used. If it's a free pour then good luck losing much weight with that much alcohol flowing! Drinking a roughly 1000 calories of alcohol twice a week would've destroyed almost every diet I've ever been on, as that's about 2/3 of a day's worth of calories just in alcohol (for me).
I have actually lost 3lb before i started this on MFP and all i did was cut down the drink in the week and saved it for the weekend but if it does stop me from losing any more weight then i will cut it down a size....0 -
I generally drink on the weekends but even that has slowed down considerably. I feel SO much better now that I'm not drinking 6 cocktails two nights a week.
When I do drink though I make sure I order my drink in a pint glass. It is still a single but it lasts much longer and I'm not going up to the bar for refills nearly as much. My drink of choice is either a Skinny ***** aka Vodka Diet coke (pint glass of course) or a Vodka soda with a splash of cranberry. The vodka soda splash of cran drink I've found makes me feel less bloated the next day. Probably because I'm not consuming all that sodium from the diet coke.
Plus drink less means less headaches! Always a 'YAY!' in my book!
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Wine has been my downfall. I'm confident that I would have had better results if I'd given it up sooner. I started out just cutting back, and honestly don't think it helped any. I've been tracking exactly how much I've had for the last 90 days - way too many calories from the alcohol alone, not to mention the pizza and nacho debacles.
One risk with alcohol consumption while dieting, and red wine in particular, is that it lowers your blood sugar. So if you're restricting calories to start, and saving some of those for alcohol, then overconsuming, well lets just say your blood sugar can drop low enough to be really bad. That 3rd or 4th glass that was easily tolerated before can become the one that puts you under.
Personally I came to the conclusion that I'd be better off without. I'm only a few days in, but already I sleep better, my digestion is better, my head is clear when I wake up, and overall I just have more motivation. And I will say for me, it's much easier to just say I don't drink wine than it was to have just one.0 -
oh yes...i miss beer nights, but ive noticed huge difference already!0
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I certainly cut down on alcohol, but never cut it out. A girl's gotta live.. :drinker:
Having the odd drink in a week did not make any difference to my weight loss so long as it remained within my calorie allowance.0 -
For people that have the ability to drink responsibly and can fit it into their calorie/macro goals there's no problem. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to alcohol -- I break out in handcuffs :laugh:Hm...I disagree. I exercise rigorously 7 days a week and drink 2-3 glasses of dry red wine a night. Since I've been doing MFB (about 7 weeks), I've lost exactly a pound a week (my goal) while still having my drinks and staying under my calorie allowance. To each his/her own, I guess!0 -
I'm 34, for the last couple of years I've tended to have 3-7 craft beers 3-5 nights a week (never gettting wasted) (used to drink 9-10 one night a week). In the beginnings I would get slightly buzzed off 3 Sam Adams. Now I drink 7 and barely feel a thing. I've also noticed a dependence for the first time in my life. I'd get aggitated when I'm not sipping on the beer at night. The skin on my hands was constantly dry and itchy as well, and I had a more negative outlook on life. Didn't sleep well either.
I took a reprieve 9 days ago. Jumped back on the P90x, and started counting calories. Skin has cleared up, I feel a lot more positive, and am crushing my workouts. I'm not done drinking beer, but it will no longer be a staple in my house.
I would recommend setting the beer aside until you reach your target weight, and then add it in extreme moderation. I quit dipping 10 years ago, and the addictive effects of alcohol are not near as extreme as that of tobacco, but there is definitely something there, so you have to be careful. It creeps up on you.0 -
I hear you guys on the eating part. When I'd drink I'd somehow devour an entire plate of nachos with melted cheese on top and then not really realize it until the next day when I saw the remains of it in the trashcan!:noway: Then I'd feel guilty and say eff it and my weekend would be blown. I mean I already had a plate of nachos and a bottle of wine so why bother right? Ugh.
Glad to say goodbye to that pattern!0 -
People talk about the having a drink or 2 once a week being no big deal. I don't drink 1 or 2. I drink 6-9 Sam Adams before I feel anything. If I'm going to drink 1 or 2, I might as well drink water. Honestly can't wait for my tolerance to go back down. We're talking like 1,200 to 1,500 calories. There is no budgeting for that.0
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People talk about the having a drink or 2 once a week being no big deal. I don't drink 1 or 2. I drink 6-9 Sam Adams before I feel anything. If I'm going to drink 1 or 2, I might as well drink water. Honestly can't wait for my tolerance to go back down. We're talking like 1,200 to 1,500 calories. There is no budgeting for that.
Exxxxxxactly! I hear you on that!0 -
Absolutely!! I used to go for drinks once or twice a week, not too much (light weight haha maybe 3 drinks) but I've been too busy at the gym to go and boy i have noticed the bloating is gone and the weight comes off much easier0
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Yes it made a huge difference for me. For the me the drinking also made me eat more. I only have a drink one day a week (typically Saturdays) and the weight is coming off and I am gaining muscle. I wish I would have done this years ago.
These are my thoughts almost exactly!!! Once I stopped drinking, the weight fell off. If I do drink, which is rare these days, it does make me want to eat more. The weight does come off when you replace booze with water or tea or something healthier.0 -
Definitely made all the difference for me. I was a very heavy daily wine drinker and at the beginning of last year I swore off for a year (which also meant I cut out all the chips that went with the wine!). I lost consistently for that whole time and I know I wouldn't have achieved what I did without cutting out the wine. And I know that because come 1 January I started up again - and for the two weeks I did drink I saw my weight loss stall completely and then start to reverse. I've now given up completely and strangely enough I don't miss it at all, and in fact feel quite liberated by being able to simply say, no, I don't drink! Never thought I'd get to that point, but I'm happy with it!0
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I used to drink probably 5-6 bottles of wine a week. Stopped for 1 month and no loss. I had some twice since then. Im hoping im just going to have a delayed reaction..0
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Yes, not at first but I lost 20 lbs just from stopping drinking, then the other 20 when I added exercise and a balanced diet to the mix.
Best thing I ever did. If you find that you are having a hard time with giving it up, give me a holler. I will be happy to talk to you about that.
Believe it or not, there is a great life out there with out alcohol.0
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