To Drink Or To Lose... (What's Your Answer)

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  • ElikaCousland
    ElikaCousland Posts: 62 Member
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    I work alcohol into my weekly calorie goals, so I'm not "drinking my dinner" one day and missing out on nutrients. So if I know I'm going out on Saturday, I will say okay, I'm going to have 6 drinks - that's approximately 12oz of alcohol, 800ish calories if I mix it with diet soda. Spread that out over a few days and voila - a night of boozing without guilt, hampering my weight loss, or depriving myself of food. It's much easier on the body to cut out 200 cals/day in anticipation of a binge night than cut out 800 calories in one day and get sick from drinking on an empty stomach.

    The Skinny Girl drinks are crap. I'd rather budget the calories for a real drink than suffer through those. Same deal with light beer. Ugh.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
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    Ok... from reading the subject please try to refrain from judging me. I want HONEST answers from people who still have a love of wine (in my case) or alcohol. On my weight loss journey I found that I can quit cookies. I can quit cake. I can quit "Bad" Carbs. I can quit pop. I can quit all the "BAD" things out there.. besides my Love of Wine!! :drinker: I just want to know if anyone has been able to keep up with exercise and good eating habits and still enjoy the glass or 2 (or in my case bottle or 2) of wine a few times a month? PLEASE don't start judging me and calling me an "alcoholic" like I've seen on threads in the past. I don't "drink" every night. I might drink once, twice or 3 times a month, but when I do... It's a good time. :happy: I'm still faithful to my workouts (hungover or not) and my daily "diet". Like I said, I don't want the feed back that I'm a BAD bad person. I want feed back from people like me that had results. And if you didn't, I would like to hear that too. Is this something I should quit? Or can i make it work? And again... Honest yet non judgmental feedback would be nice. I'm the most judgmental person in my life... I don't need 100 more. I can't be the only one who wants answers for this. Input??

    :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: (okay that's supposed to be a wine glass). fellow wine lover here and i just fit it into my calories. i usually have a glass of red wine 2 to 3 times a week. that's a glass. i was having 2 glasses but did cut down. i will not give up my wine sorry no not gonna happen. on the weekends (not every weekend) sometimes i will over indulge but again it is not every weekend and i too am committed to my workouts. i have gone out running after a night of celebrating with a few bottles of wine (no i didn't drink them by myself - hubby helps) and do i feel like i want to vomit on the side of the road yes, did i do it to myself yes, did i have fun the night before yes, am i out running yes. however i did learn my lesson and in all honesty when i know i'm going for a nice run on the weekends i drink a glass or two but no more. this never would have happened years ago - i would have just skipped the run) also i do not drink the night before a race.

    this is not a diet to me. this is/was a lifestyle change. if it takes me a year to loose my last 15 pounds so be it. i'm not going to sacrifice anything this is a new me a new life nothing more.
  • eaglecrz
    eaglecrz Posts: 5 Member
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    My Doctor has been telling me for years that I could lose weight easier if I gave up wine. He likened it to having an ice cream sundae each day (calorie wise). Unlike you, I do drink every day. My husband and I normally share a botttle of wine each dinner and on the weekends I like a pre dinner martini...so I was not even sure I could QUIT! Since I seemed to be progressively gaining weight, I decided to take the plunge and eliminate alcohol all together. Guess what? I didn't even miss it! And I started losing weight again. I too enjoy wine, so after 3 weeks, I decided to reintroduce a half glass (no more than 5oz.) back into my diet. Limiting wine to weekends or special events and I'm still losing! As long as it is figured into your calorie intake you should be ok. Keep in mind that the liver is one of the organs that deals with fat and processing impurities in your system. If it's too busy with alcohol,(detoxifying) it puts the fat processing on the back burner and thus fat is stored rather than processed.
  • christinemac17
    christinemac17 Posts: 56 Member
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    "Go Sober October".... HA! Sounds intriguing... but NO! Its my Birthday and Halloween month... That would NEVER be do-able (or I have No balls. LOL) A week or 7.5 days is long enough... :noway: :drinker:

    I'm with ya sista!! I --- very briefly --- thought about "Go Sober October", but I know it's NOT doable for me. I totally agree with all who just count it in w/your calories. I lost a significant amount of whilst having a glass (or two) of red wine every night.

    My downfall has become BEER!! I cannot, do not, will not, drink 'light' beer, it's just not enjoyable at all to me. I've always been a bit of a drinker, usually wine or assorted cocktails, but rarely, if ever, beer -- then I was introduced to delicious, delightful, amazingly awesome hi-octane CRAFT BEER!

    Up until 8-9 mos ago, it posed no real problem for me as far as my weight. However, for myriad reasons, I kinda fell off the fitness wagon last fall, but kept right on drinking that damn beer! Before long, instead of exercising every evening, I was rushing home to a few cold ones... yep you guessed it... bam... 20lb weight gain!!! ugh ugh ugh

    Thankfully, I'm back up on that wagon, but it's slow going. I feel like if I cut out beer all together, I'd lose faster, but I just can't/won't/don't want to do that. But I have cut back to drinking on the weekends and the weight is starting to come down. All things in moderation (dammit), right?
  • ChristinaOrtiz23
    ChristinaOrtiz23 Posts: 1,546 Member
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    :drinker: well i lost (before) 15lbs WITH my wine, im restarting my journey, and i will not give up my wine, i have a 4 year old and a 30 year old (my boyfriend lol) . they drive me to drink lol
  • JerseyGirlinTN
    JerseyGirlinTN Posts: 144 Member
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    I'm with everyone - anything in moderation and if it fits in your calories (or macros, if that's your thing), have at it!

    I have a down and dirty love affair with coffee, so you know darned well that I make sure it fits in my daily calories. :bigsmile:
  • PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot
    PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot Posts: 596 Member
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    I'm a sucker for IPA craft beers. Of course, they're among the highest calorie brews out there. Not a boozer by any means, I go through a six pack a week. I've made them fit into the calorie counts previously, but have kind of plateaued. So I'm doing a no-booze October to see if cutting out the empty calories makes a difference. Will let you know how it goes.
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
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    I haven't read all the replies, but I love wine! My family loves wine. It's common for all of our family meals to have wine even if it's just me and my parents. Therefore, I was used to having wine with dinner as many as 4-5 nights a week. I am hoping to get pregnant and am cutting back to no more than 2 nights a week for wine (whether it's one glass or one bottle). And, in my family and with my friends, that's normal or below average consumption. Not that we would get drunk every day but wine is always included.

    I previously lost 100 pounds and never gave up wine - but I did make sure it fit into my calories and understood it is empty calories. You get no nutritional benefit. Though, of course, red wine has good antioxidants (which is always my fall back reason for having it :)).

    A HUGE problem with the drinking though, whether it's one or two glasses or bottles, is that your inhibitions are lowered and it throws your blood sugar out of whack. Watch the cravings. When I drink too much now it's important to have healthy delicious snacks on hand (laughing cow cheese and reduced fat crackers) instead of taco bell or grilled cheese!

    Don't ever stop drinking wine! :)
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    As with anything, make sure it fits into your calories and you'll be fine.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    DRINK!
    DRINK!
    DRINK!
    and more drink!
    drinkers,,,,, ADD ME!
  • ThatSoundsHard
    ThatSoundsHard Posts: 475 Member
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    Yes, I drink a bottle or two of red wine a month.
    I've lost around 25 pounds.
  • nainai0585
    nainai0585 Posts: 199 Member
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    I have 2-3 drinks Friday and Saturday night only. It's usually a rum and coke (not diet - yuck) or one of those Mike's Hard Lemonade Slushy things. I also snack more during these nights too (due to "herbal" remedies) and I've still been loosing consistantly.
  • stackhead
    stackhead Posts: 121 Member
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    DRINK!

    I drink heavily about once a fortnight. I allocate 2000 calories (as quick adds) and let that cover my drinks and inevitable chips and cheese afterwards.

    Then I move on and carry on logging as normal. If i miss a work out due to inability to move following a drinking session, then I miss it.

    My way of looking at this is there's no way i'm letting my desire to lose weight affect the life I want to live, there's more to life than what the scale says every week. IF I stopped loosing/started to gain because of it then maybe i'd re-evaluate BUT i'd still try and figure out a way to get it in.
  • linsdog
    linsdog Posts: 94 Member
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    This was primary reason for my weight gain in the first place...drinking beer every night. First thing I did was cut beer/alcohol out during the week.

    I generally allow myself the weekend (Friday & Saturday) to drink beer or lately have been switching to hard alcohol and low calorie mixer (makers mark and diet coke or the like).

    This has worked for me along with eating better and tracking to ensure I am under calories for the week.
  • pipcd34
    pipcd34 Posts: 16,526 Member
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    i don't like wine... i tend to drink booze, there's a baileys knock off that i love with non-fat milk n ice that i can drink like it's nobody's business, but once i measured it out and found out how many calories it was, i was bummed... i add and count even the booze that i have. i love whipped cream vodka w/pompagranite juice. now that i'm under my goal weight, it's easier to drink when i want to but i still count those calories
  • LuckyMunky
    LuckyMunky Posts: 200 Member
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    I have a glass of wine every night and it hasn't affected my weight loss.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
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    I figure that trying to completely cut out something I like is a quick path to failure. Log everything and move on. I have cut WAY down on beer because of the calories, but I've been delighted how easy it is to fit in some dry wine. If I want a "cold one" I make a very lightly mixed bourbon and sparkling water. I also like a shot of frozen vodka. Eat, drink and be merry!
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Drink and lose?

    I had three beers on Tuesday (and I mean real beers, so at least 180 calories each), and I'm going on a brewery tour tomorrow. I've been fairly consistently losing weight. Only time I have problems is when I'm way over on calories (aka, I give up on caring and just go over by 500-1000 every day). Just fit it in to your daily allowance and drink up.

    Also, don't fret about it if it isn't all the time. I pre-logged for tomorrow, and I have 54 calories left for dinner. Yeah, that's not going to happen, so I'll just be over. I'll try and make sure I keep it around maintenance, and if I gain, I realize it's likely sodium or water.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    I do fine if I have "a drink or two" every so often. I just log it and make room for the calories. However, on the rare occasion that I overindulge, that isn't good. It makes me not care what I'm eating at the time and then I have a hard time getting my eating back on track for a few days. Your body will crave certain things to compensate for the enzymes your body releases to deal with the excess alcohol.
  • j3nnal3igh13
    j3nnal3igh13 Posts: 134
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    Thanks for all the feedback everyone!! Nice to see I'm not the only one willing to give up my one true love. lol I will keep the wine in my life. No one likes a quitter anyway. :drinker: :happy:

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