Who has had to completely give up alcohol for weight loss?
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Have any of you had to stop drinking alcohol completely to reach your fitness goal? If so, how did that change your social life - if at all?
Originally I only drank over the weekends. Then I reduced it to one night only. Now I see I can not have it at all. The wine its self is an issue (its so calorically dense) but the other issue is the food choices I make afterwards. Ill find my self snacking on everything in the cupboard/fridge making pretty gross combinations of things or buying ice cream/cheesecake, ect on the way home. Basically I engage binge behavior. It takes all week for my body to look and feel the way it did before I had my night out - and then it is time to go out again. It feels like being on a hamster wheel!
Interestingly enough, I don't actually like the feeling of being intoxicated that much and yet I am still drinking in social situations.
I am curious how everyone else has gotten around this.
I tried and failed. I incorporate moderate amounts of alcohol.
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Never! Don't drink because it's a certain time of day or day of the week. Have a drink when you feel like you really need one.
I disagree. Drink when you want one, not when you NEED one. Drinking when you need it sets you up for bad coping habits.
With that said, I have wine every night with dinner. Dinner isn't dinner without wine.
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Have any of you had to stop drinking alcohol completely to reach your fitness goal? If so, how did that change your social life - if at all?
Originally I only drank over the weekends. Then I reduced it to one night only. Now I see I can not have it at all. The wine its self is an issue (its so calorically dense) but the other issue is the food choices I make afterwards. Ill find my self snacking on everything in the cupboard/fridge making pretty gross combinations of things or buying ice cream/cheesecake, ect on the way home. Basically I engage binge behavior. It takes all week for my body to look and feel the way it did before I had my night out - and then it is time to go out again. It feels like being on a hamster wheel!
Interestingly enough, I don't actually like the feeling of being intoxicated that much and yet I am still drinking in social situations.
I am curious how everyone else has gotten around this.
i stopped completely and it really hasn't helped me at all. i thought i would lose alot of weight, but i haven't. i am very strict with my diet and exercise, but i am pretty much where i was a month ago when i quit drinking.
my husband and i used to have a drinking night where we would have snacks and mixed drinks and watch our favorite shows. we will start doing that again soon because i see no benefit of stopping!
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I have stopped putting wine into tomato sauce, and make coq au vin or my sichuan sauce with dry sherry very seldom. Maybe it will change once I get into maintenance. I don't believe in total deprivation, because we're human and need some treats once in a while:) But right now, I just never can fit alcohol into my kcal budget.0
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I also make terrible food choices when I drink... the last weekend I decided to indulge, I ate honey from a teaspoon (and friends, that was just a couple glasses of white wine, not an alcoholic stupor!). I've curtailed my drinking severely because I know it's a big part of how I got to be 30 pounds over my ideal weight... I'm just too careless and lazy to be able to handle it very often. I used to have a couple glasses of wine every night; within two years I was up 30 pounds and not very happy about it. Now I like a little saki (which goes TERRIBLE with honey!) on a Saturday night now and then while streaming a movie... that's about it.0
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I definitely don't drink as often as I used to and - honestly - I feel much better. I will have a cocktail with friends, or an occasional glass of wine with dinner, but alcohol in general is so bad for my body and counter-productive to the goals I'm trying to reach. I drank plenty for years and now I'm getting healthy. Life is about moderation, right? Enjoy when appropriate but moderate your intake. So much research links excessive drinking with obesity and many other health issues so why take that into your body all the time anyway? I work out daily and my workouts are never as good the day after. Just not worth it.
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Another side note is that if you really want a glass of wine with dinner - or it's a special occasion with friends, have one! Life should be enjoyed. Just maybe trade out another treat. In other words, don't have the chocolate cake and 2 glasses of wine and coffee with cream and sugar. {That triple threat used to be my favorite when I would go out to dinner!}
My friends know what I'm trying to accomplish and thankfully are all supportive. They don't "pressure" me to drink because we are adults and they care about me. On the other hand, I don't want to constantly annoy everybody by talking about it. If you aren't drinking, don't drink, but don't draw attention to it either. Have some sparkling water with lime or lemon. Enjoy and have fun and reach your goals all at the same time!
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SamanthaKersul wrote: »I definitely don't drink as often as I used to and - honestly - I feel much better. I will have a cocktail with friends, or an occasional glass of wine with dinner, but alcohol in general is so bad for my body and counter-productive to the goals I'm trying to reach. I drank plenty for years and now I'm getting healthy. Life is about moderation, right? Enjoy when appropriate but moderate your intake. So much research links excessive drinking with obesity and many other health issues so why take that into your body all the time anyway? I work out daily and my workouts are never as good the day after. Just not worth it.
A glass a day keeps the doctor away!
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I recently gave up drinking for a month. It wasn't hard but I also noticed it wasn't really worth it. I didn't see too much of a difference in my weight loss, and I def saw a difference in my mood because I had to either put my social life on pause or be the sober person surrounded by drunks...ugh. I plan to break my sober streak this weekend.0
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I had to give up beer and any alcohol that has wheat, rye,barley, malt or malt flavoring in it( just to name a few) because I have Celiac Disease. I will drink but it is very rare for me to do so because it is not easy to find something tasty and gluten free to drink. Not drinking has not effected my weight loss either way,but it has opened up my calories for real food instead of liquid food.
Giving up drinking has not made an impact on my social life other than I get free tanks of gas for being the DD.0 -
I drink...kind of a lot. At least 4-5 times a month. I'm just very diligent about logging my calories. Beer is usually the problem because it's pretty dense in calories, but if I'm going out with friends I will drink Kamikazes because they're pretty low in calories and i'll even ask them to add club soda to make the drink last longer...around 100-150 depending. It's just vodka, triple sec & sweetened lime juice. One thing I do notice is that I definitely retain water after drinking binges and will plateau, even up to a week sometimes. HOWEVER, this last time I drank almost an entire bottle of smirnoff to myself and did not retain water or even have a hangover! This is because I made to sure fit it in my calories for the day, eat right before AND most importantly....drank LOTS water the entire day. :]0
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I will give up my wine and beer when someone pries it out of my cold, dead hands.
Bahaha, SAME. Beer is my greatest struggle. It's takes SO MUCH self control for me to not eat after a night out drinking. And a night out drinking is usually about 5 drinks. I usually get down to my post-night out weight in about 3 days, but clearly it's really putting a damper on my progress.
However, if I don't eat after I get home from drinking and I manage not to eat fatty foods the next day from a hangover, I feel that it doesn't really have much of an effect on my weight. So, for me that's the key..... drink if I want to, but don't eat after and keep within my calorie range the next day!0 -
I also have to say how frustrating it is that I have so many skinny friends who drink a lot, both guys and girls. It does seem like they don't eat nearly as much as I do so once again, I think it's about the food calories much more so than the alcohol calories.0
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I quit drinking for a month so I could really focus on my fitness and weight loss and managed to lose a significant amount of weight. Unfortunately I work in events and social drinking goes with the territory, or I would have kept it up.
Intry to limit it to work events or special occasions but it definitely can affect short term weight loss goals. Your blood sugar is up and down which leads to binge eating for me. I try to have healthy snacks around like veggies, seaweed snacks or edamame for salt cravings around next day. Or I try to work out a bit harder if I know I am going out that night.0 -
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I was never a huge drinker, and even when I did drink I was the ultimate lightweight. The medication I'm on doesn't allow alcohol.
It doesn't mean I don't go out, I do. And I order a diet drink. And I get them to put it in the same glass they put the rye and coke etc. in. That way I can nurse it and not feel like I'm on display. I also get to laugh at the silly drunks.
My family has a lot of alcoholics and that always made me leery of "needing" a drink. Nobody NEEDS a drink. (No, I'm not saying you're all alcoholics ) 0 -
I gave up booze years ago but I will never quit my herbal indulgence. My challenge is the munchies!0
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I did my full body building prep while still drinking occasionally.
The day before was the best. Had to cut water weight. No food, just scotch. I wish I was a lightweight but no matter how infrequently I drink, I still need a fair bit to get a buzz. Maybe it's an Aussie thing
I now just have a glass or 2 of wine with dinner. Yes there are possible health benefits but mainly I just like the taste and it helps me sleep well.0 -
The problem with weight and alcohol for me is not the alcohol, but the choices I make that go a long with it for example, pizza at 1 am, or greasy hang over food the next day.
I don't think I can quit drinking cold turkey just yet, but I have cut back how often I drink and the amount I drink. This seems to help if you can not give up alcohol all together.0 -
Looks like a lot of people feel the same way. I dont have a problem fitting alcohol into my calories, its just that alcohol influences my choices in a negative way afterwards plus it takes too long to recover. At this point I'm too close to goal to want to mess round with being side tracked by drinks. I don't want to take 6 months to lose my last few pounds.0
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I lost the majority of my weight so far drinking, and fairly heavily. I haven't had a drink in just over a month now (my husband got quite ill and has been advised to give up the booze etc for the short term and I'm being supportive) and I have lost a lot of weight in that time eating a hell of a lot more than I was.
Not saying I won't drink again, I surely will, but man, I can't deny that there aren't advantages to giving it up...0 -
I've given up alcohol. I'd prefer to eat my calories than drink them. And it decreases my will power in resisting food. I'm surprised by how little I miss it.1
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i only drink once every 3-6 months.. partly due to calories and partly due to not wanting to drink... when i do drink i dont worry about calories, figure one day out of 3-6 months isn't going to change much0
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yes i find it very hard. I set aside enough calories for a glass wine then have a whole bottle and eat everything in the house. probably best to give it up.0
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I don't drink at all anymore and haven't done for a year and a half... I just drink on special occasions really. But I feel bad doing it because I know the next day I will be looking around for hangover food
and because of this reason I can't lose weight and drink unfortunately. Everyone is different though! 0 -
Yes, drinking may directly effect to your weight also apart from health issues, it is scientifically proven that those who drink will be more healthier then those who are not.
If you are giving up for reducing weight then it sounds good but do take some advice through health specialist.0 -
What has worked for me is walking six to eight miles a day. I used to get just four. It was the health app on my iPhone that spurred me! Gotta get those 10,000 steps, and then some… I drink all the wine I want. Nearly skinny. A good friend didn't recognize me from a distance today. It's the exercise. Hard to make the time, I know. I quit watching the news. It's all bad anyway.1
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I haven't given up drinking and don't plan to unless directed by my doctor to do so for medical reasons. Not drinking would completely alter my life.
I don't drink till I'm drunk and drinking doesn't cause me to eat junk food or binge eatt, but every gathering of friends or family involves alcohol. Dinner is usually with a glass or two of wine. Ball games wouldn't be the same without beer.
This is how I feel. I enjoy wine with friends, and dinner. I enjoy beer with sports on a hot afternoon.0 -
Wine is not calorie dense. Why do people keep saying this?0
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I haven't had a drink since the beginning of the year. I would rather use the calories for something I can chew. I thought I would miss it, but I really don't.0
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