Wine substitute

I used to often have a glass of wine in the evenings. I'm not a fan of any of the drinks you mention either! However, I've found that hot skimmed milk, low-cal instant hot chocolate or decaffienated tea/coffee give me something to sip instead. I still occasionally have wine, but not nearly so often as I used to. I didn't drink a lot of it, so it wasn't so much the wine that was the problem as the fact that it gave me an appetite! I find that the other drinks I mentioned don't make me feel peckish in the way that wine does.

I don't suppose those drinks would go so well with a meal though.

Good luck on cutting down!

If you can keep your consumption to one or even two glasses every couple of days, why not find a place in your diet to cut the calories? I can't see your diary to make suggestions on what you could cut, but if you're getting a substantial number of calories from carbs, cutting a piece of bread a day (presuming you get your fiber, and the nutrients you would get from the foods) would allow for the wine. Ditto a piece of cheese, or two small pieces of candy, or any number of things. And if you don't want to cut any of those things out, you can always slightly lower the portions. (take an ounce out of your meat portion, cut pasta by a half ounce dry measure.......)

Cutting back on something you love, rather than eliminating it, is just as important to success as cutting calories. You have to do something sustainable.

I'm a beer and wine and whisky drinker. I know I will always be a beer and wine and whisky drinker, so rather than making it my downfall, I've worked to incorporate it in moderation.

I enjoy my wine - however it is my downfall!
I know I will never lose weight untill I can drink much less.

I enjoy a glass or two with my evening meal most days.

My problem is I dont know what to replace it with, I find water to be totally boring and tasteless, I hate cola and other fizzy drinks, even one cal or zero options are just too sweet.

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can replace the wine in my diet with something more sensible and healthy.

Cheers!

I would try having one glass and cutting other things out of your diet for it. Or try a long drink like a spirit which has less calories. I love wine and beer and its the worse but I swapped to vodka and it cut the calories!

If you leave wine out, it will be one of the factors that sabotage your long term goals like most diets that deprive people of what they like. If possible enjoy a glass of wine, just understand there are limits to consumption just like everything else.

For the month of January 2013 I wanted to eliminate all adult beverages just to start off my weight loss attempt. I was easily drinking 3-4 glasses of wine a night, or the same in shots-and-beers. I was also just drinking out of boredom and we've never been into diet sodas.

I substituted 1-1/2 teaspoons of unfiltered apple cider vinegar in 8 oz of lemon-lime seltzer water and drank one before dinner and then another with dinner. After the first month I found that I didn't miss the alcohol as much as I thought and I have continued to use the vinegar drink as a pre-dinner cocktail. I also discovered that we had been drinking some pretty marginal wines (buying the sale bottles in quantity), so I've switched to more expensive labels and limit myself to one glass a night and only on days that I work out.

If you leave wine out, it will be one of the factors that sabotage your long term goals like most diets that deprive people of what they like. If possible enjoy a glass of wine, just understand there are limits to consumption just like everything else.

^^This. I enjoy a glass or 2 most days with dinner. I plan it in and it has very little affect.
Un giorno senza il vino è come un giorno senza il sole. - Italian Proverb

(A day without wine is like a day without sunshine.)

+1. I have wine with dinner most days. And did while I was losing weight. Just make sure it's 1-2, not a bottle. Decanting a specific amount helps.

Red wine is good for you :bigsmile:

I drink lower calorie versions of wine now for the most part.

Skinny Grape and Skinny Girl are both pretty good options. They are only 80-85 calories per serving. About 400 calories for the whole bottle.

How does it taste?

Have some kombucha! Pour it in a wine glass even, if you like. Kombucha gives me a little buzz like wine but doesn't have the alcohol and it's great for you!

I would find an exercise i enjoy doing, then prohibit my wine intake unless i burned sufficient calories prior to consumption. No need to cut it out if that's what you really enjoy and only want to lose weight then this is my advise.

If you want to get healthy as well then I would maybe cut back to a bottle a weekend (or a 250ml glass every other day depending on your preference) still making sure it fits in my daily calorie allowance

Kombucha is excellent as a wine substitute. Also hits the spot for a soda craving. I have read, and have been told by others, that kombucha actually helps someone who drinks more than they should (they think) or are acually alcoholic.

If it's red wine the only plausable combination is La Casera and make it into a Tinto Verano. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Casera. Otherwise add soda water to white or rose wine.
I'll never give up my wine, I count it in with my allowance.

If you leave wine out, it will be one of the factors that sabotage your long term goals like most diets that deprive people of what they like. If possible enjoy a glass of wine, just understand there are limits to consumption just like everything else.

I know why you're saying that, and I kind of agree, but .... personally, I've stuck much longer with this diet when I've cut the wine-drinking right down, compared to previous times when I've kept drinking a glass or two most days. I know for a fact that drinking wine increases my appetite, and I've talked to other people who've found the same thing (and I've read about a study which found the same thing!). It makes dieting harder, basically.

Some people might be absolutely fine just including alcohol in their daily calorie goal. But the OP has identified that it's a problem for him, as it was for me. I've found that now I've largely cut it out, I don't feel the "need" for it any more, and usually don't even think about it. It doesn't feel like I'm depriving myself any more, and I'm able to eat more of other things that I like.

Wine substitute? That is blaspheme in the highest form!!

I know what you mean though. My husband and I imbibe nightly however I typically make sure it fits into my calories. If I overindulge (like on the weekends) I don't really worry too much about it.

While it probably is counterproductive to my results I enjoy a glass or two a night and I'm not going to completely cut something out of my diet because then when I add it back in guess what? There goes the results that I worked on so if I can balance it in my menu then I do.