Gave up alcohol, lost weight

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  • Debn99
    Debn99 Posts: 2 Member
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    Support Group?? I am in!

    I drink a bottle a night and have recently noticed that sometimes I will open the second one and try to convince myself it is not everyday but it seems to be getting there. I am in my mid 50's and both my husband and I start every week saying we are going to stop drinking and by the time he gets in from work we look at each other and the glasses come out. He is a vodka person. I think we are just lazy and it is easier to drink at night than to abstain. I grew up in a household where 5pm was cocktail hour and so the tradition continues. UGH. I don't want to give up all together but surely want to control my intake to maybe one day.

    I am also about 30-35 lbs over weight and always on some kind of diet. I exercise all the time even had a trainer for the first few months of the year and could not lose any weight.
    I just recently started the 90 day challenge with skinny fiber and became a distributor too. Now if I am going to sell and represent I need to get this habit broken and get back my healthy life.
  • beepermad
    beepermad Posts: 198
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    Oh hi. Since starting my weightloss journey, I've definitely made a consistent effort to cut back. For about three years straight, I never went a day without a drink. Like you, Deb, I was raised in a household where 5 pm is cocktail hour. But it increased from one or two beers a night to a bottle of wine or several cocktails. Now that I'm drinking less, I've definitely noticed the correlation between my initial weight gain and when I started consuming way more than I should. Within the past two weeks, I've limited my drinking to one night a week, and today I'm wearing a pair of jeans that I haven't been able to fit into in over a year.

    Alcohol. You is bad.
  • 110daystogo
    110daystogo Posts: 3
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    Support Group?? I am in!

    I drink a bottle a night and have recently noticed that sometimes I will open the second one and try to convince myself it is not everyday but it seems to be getting there. I am in my mid 50's and both my husband and I start every week saying we are going to stop drinking and by the time he gets in from work we look at each other and the glasses come out. He is a vodka person. I think we are just lazy and it is easier to drink at night than to abstain. I grew up in a household where 5pm was cocktail hour and so the tradition continues. UGH. I don't want to give up all together but surely want to control my intake to maybe one day.

    I am also about 30-35 lbs over weight and always on some kind of diet. I exercise all the time even had a trainer for the first few months of the year and could not lose any weight.
    I just recently started the 90 day challenge with skinny fiber and became a distributor too. Now if I am going to sell and represent I need to get this habit broken and get back my healthy life.
  • 110daystogo
    110daystogo Posts: 3
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    Hi Deb, I hear your pain! Reading your message is almost word for word what I'm going through.. Need to lose 30lb, but can't stay off the drink. Am consuming a bottle easily, starting to get into the second and regret it with hangovers and eating food all day! Everyone in my family drink too much every night, being Scottish, what more can I say! This is so hard to stop, but have to in order to reach any sort of weight loss. Are you with me to cut down/ give it up for a while?
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    Just for balance - I started at 230lbs (before MFP) am now 173 lbs - I have at least 4 pints every Friday. It has not hindered my weightloss, I just allow for it. I see this as a life change and I wont be giving up booze in the long run so why do it to lose weight?
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,496 Member
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    I'm starting to feel like some sort of freak of nature here. I gave up drinking for about two months. Didn't lose an ounce. Now I have two glasses of white wine every. single. night. and I've dropped 4 dress sizes in the last year. I just make it fit. :drinker:
  • Liasaw
    Liasaw Posts: 1 Member
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    I really need to do this. I know it works but I love my wine and vodka so much. Where is the support thread anyone? I can't find it :)
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Count the calories, live your life. No reason to give up drinking unless you're an alcoholic.
  • dg5656
    dg5656 Posts: 2
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    Well I am now up to 25 Lbs lost(35 since March) and just received my blood test back and my Triglycerides are down from 497 to 135 and Hdl from 28 to 42. Total cholesterol went from 225 to 175. I contribute much of it to reducing my daily intake of beer to 0 and a complete reduction of sugar intake. I started running 5k(I hate running btw) and it was an enormous help. Training by running 3-4 times a week for 45-60 minutes. I have found the running community is one of the most supportive group of people I have ever met. I still hate running, but it is very effective. The most important thing is to make sure it is sustainable. That is now my daily challenge.
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Well I am now up to 25 Lbs lost(35 since March) and just received my blood test back and my Triglycerides are down from 497 to 135 and Hdl from 28 to 42. Total cholesterol went from 225 to 175. I contribute much of it to reducing my daily intake of beer to 0 and a complete reduction of sugar intake. I started running 5k(I hate running btw) and it was an enormous help. Training by running 3-4 times a week for 45-60 minutes. I have found the running community is one of the most supportive group of people I have ever met. I still hate running, but it is very effective. The most important thing is to make sure it is sustainable. That is now my daily challenge.

    There are multiple factors involved and you are pointing at one thing of being the reason.

    Maybe you should find something else other than running? Weight training? bicycling? swimming?

    Only way that it can be sustainable is for you to enjoy it.
  • BrewerByNight
    BrewerByNight Posts: 12
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    I have been an avid home brewer for almost 10 years (going pro soon). I have anywhere from 25-50 gallons of kegged beer at home most of the year, so I understand the temptation and calorie issues caused by a frosty beverage once in a while. Most of it I give away to friends and neighbors now because I only have one liver. Part of the reason I started MFP and started rigid workouts is to get in shape for a brewing career which is very physical work compared to my current desk job. How's that for a goal?

    Anyway, beer calories are one thing, but I find that I MAKE HORRIBLE FOOD CHOICES once the post-beer munchies kick in. I have limited myself to a half-pint of beer every other day at most (and only if I earn it w/ exercise), and I always drink a glass of water in between beers on the odd occasion I have more than one beer.

    Drinking beer from a half pint glass (instead of a 22oz mug) has helped too. Same as the small plate tip for foods.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    What I had noticed is that even just in the week of not drinking, and thus not randomly eating, I dropped 2 pounds without exercise.

    Do you think however that is because you have lost the excess fluid you were continually re introducing into your system every night with your drinking and by stopping you just let that naturally dissipate? Given you probably held that excess fluid around your abdomen it's not surprising that your stomach flattened when you stopped.

    If drinking causes you to snack and over eat then yes, that is certainly an issue. Otherwise a drink or two every night within your calorie limits is not the end of the world.

    A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine...
  • lil_lizt
    lil_lizt Posts: 275 Member
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    I allow myself a few toffee apple ciders every 2 weeks or so, but I don't eat junk afterwards. I could never give them up completely lol
  • mtpage04
    mtpage04 Posts: 41 Member
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    So many of these posts resonate within me. I found I had to really limit my alcohol consumption. I have to have a 2 drink limit, otherwise I start making poor choices. If I drink, the next day I feel terrible and the craving for sugar as well as fat just overwhelms me. Heavy breakfasts like chicken fried steak, hashbrowns, eggs and toast. I also have about two extra days of water retention due to the dehydration of the drinking. Seems like I pay for several days after I over-indulge with drinking. I think for me, it would be much wiser to eliminate alcohol altogether.
  • sandrapbell
    sandrapbell Posts: 1
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    I want to lose 80lbs. I quit drinking my nightly glass/es of red wine, but changed nothing else (diet or exercise schedule), and lost 8 pounds in 10 days. I know everybody's system is different, but I believe quitting the wine is helping my waistline. My stomach is also flatter. Wish me luck!
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
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    I will never give up alcohol. I know I will always have a few love rolls to hold on to as long as I sip on vodka, but I am okay with that. Counting calories, making healthier choices, not drinking soda, not having that extra roll at dinner is all already a great sacrifice. You cannot take my vodka! I am 26 years old...I am not going to wish I would have had a few more late nights out with friends and hangovers the next day when I am 45 years old. I'm young and I want to act like it.

    As for the calories side of it ... I drink Vodka/Club Soda with a dash of lime juice. It depends on the vodka, but it is a little less than 200 calories for 2 drinks (1.5 oz in each). So on a Friday night on the couch with my boyfriend ... 200 calories is just 20 minutes on the elliptical. When I want to go have 6 drinks and go to a bar with friends ... It's an hour of cardio.

    That is how I look at it. Everything in moderation. There is no need to give up alcohol completely to lose weight. Going out 1 every 6 months and having 6 drinks in one night is not going to make you fat.
  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
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    I want to lose 80lbs. I quit drinking my nightly glass/es of red wine, but changed nothing else (diet or exercise schedule), and lost 8 pounds in 10 days. I know everybody's system is different, but I believe quitting the wine is helping my waistline. My stomach is also flatter. Wish me luck!

    Continued good luck and glad it's working for you! :drinker:

    Like mschicagocubs below you, drinking for me is an important social and cultural thing - I won't ever give it up entirely. However, there is little doubt that maintaining a lifestyle that involves drinking occasionally or frequently AND trying to maintain a caloric deficit AND trying to get enough nutritious food and hit key macros can be a considerable challenge. If drinking is not important to you and something you can comfortably just stop, especially if you are having a drink or two every day, cutting it out is an instant calorie cut that makes losing that much easier.
  • Just_Kim_
    Just_Kim_ Posts: 38 Member
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    I had to stop with the beer and wine-for the most part. I still enjoy the social drinking, but I try to limit it. It's been the hardest part of all this for me.
  • snappyapples
    snappyapples Posts: 76
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    I work in a bar, and as such I drink. I've switched to Miller 64s when drinking beer and Smirnoff Sorbet light with club soda when craving something else. Honestly, I don't think I could fully stop drinking, it's basically political where I work. We stay after, have a few, and talk shop. And trust me, if you stop doing that for too long, people get suspicious and stop trusting you.
  • zehava44
    zehava44 Posts: 1
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    I can't believe I just read your post. So thankful I did. This is my very first day joining this site, and my 2nd day of no alcohol. Like you, I was drinking a lot (for me it was 4 vodka drinks per night or a whole bottle of wine monday though sunday). Typing that out makes me sick. Anyway, I am starting yoga tomorrow night. I'm so excited to start this journey. I would love some feedback and what you feel yoga has done for you. THANKS!

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