Alcohol

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jessica22222
jessica22222 Posts: 375 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know alcohol is the reason for my lack of weight loss and the reason why I'm overweight. It seems my family and friends revolve everything around alcohol. Socially everyone's drinking no matter the occasion. I always have the intentions of just having 1-3, but end up going on to more with them.
Has anyone quit while having friends and family that like to indulge. Any tips. It's not that I have a "problem" I don't want or need AA. I find everyone pushes the alcohol on anyone who's not drinking for weight loss reasons.
Twist my arm ok...that Bellini looks good! I can't just stop seeing everyone. I just need some tips to lead me to success with avoiding alcohol as I've known for awhile that this is the #1 reason I am failing in my weight loss. This post is after the long weekend....total failure for the diet!
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Replies

  • sixxpoint
    sixxpoint Posts: 3,529 Member
    edited May 2015
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    You need to define your journey to success as a complete lifestyle change and that requires willpower and dedication.

    I am a homebrewer and a chef, so alcohol is always going to be that little devil on my shoulder when I am striving toward optimum health and fitness. If you cannot manage to eradicate it completely, then having the willpower to lessen that desire (maybe weekends only) will help you to overcome the daily urges. Babysteps...
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Alcohol is a key reason for a lot of people who try to lose weight and can't - even when they are eating carefully the rest of the time. Many alcohols are made from sugar, and all of them contain calories. I had to stop drinking because of medication and seizures, so that did make it easier for me (since it was dangerous!), but it really wasn't a big deal not drinking when everyone else was. If I wanted something that seemed like a drink when everyone else was imbibing, I'd have the bartender make me something with a diet soda and fruit juice. Tastes like a mixer. Looks like one too, so no one's asking why you aren't drinking. Or for even fewer calories, you can get a glass with the diet soda and put some Mio in it - comes in a lot of pretty good flavors.
  • Kimberly_Harper
    Kimberly_Harper Posts: 406 Member
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    I just make sure it fits in my calories...and I tend not to go for the higher calorie cocktails. I usually stick with something like a vodka soda (not tonic), a shot of tequila, a dry or dirty martini, or a glass of white wine.
  • JoRumbles
    JoRumbles Posts: 262 Member
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    I find it hard to cut out alcohol too and it is very calorific.

    I think limiting it to the weekends and special occasions is the best idea. And even when you do that still log the calories- try to do an extra workout to earn an extra glass of wine.

    I only drink wine, but if you are less fussy, try vodka with diet cola or similar
  • JessicaThompson12
    JessicaThompson12 Posts: 82 Member
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    I don't know if I'd try to avoid it as much as I would try to figure out low cal things that you enjoy and make sure you have them with you. I'm a fan of Mich Ultra. 95 calories per 12oz. Or my sister likes the RandaRita named after Miranda Lambert as her low cal drink. Sprite Zero, Crystal Light, and Bacardi.
  • kas1317
    kas1317 Posts: 67 Member
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    Not only does the alcohol have calories, but I find with just ONE drink, I totoally lose control and eat everything in sight. This especially happens at a party/social event with buffet or food stations. One drink (or more) and I don't care about counting my calories. Easier not to drink for me.
  • cblack8
    cblack8 Posts: 42 Member
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    I'm with mccindy, bartenders completely get it if you ask for water in the same glass as the alcoholic drinks. I've also been known to get one beer in a dark bottle and then refill the bottle with water. It's weird, I can fill my beer bottle with water right in front of my friends and they don't bug me about it, I think it's because it looks like I'm taking a break instead of not drinking. Sometimes when people say they're not drinking other people feel bad about drinking and then try to get that person to drink so they feel better but I've noticed things like "I'm just not feeling great" or "I'm being careful because I have to drive later" or "I'm taking a break" work really well.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    Alcohol is The 4th Macro, right?

    I like it so much that I brew my own beer, ferment my own wine, and produce my own for almost all my needs.

    It's not the alcohol, per se, but total net caloric consumption.

    Source: I've lost a total of 54 pounds and can't think of a day in the last 3 years that I didn't have at least one or two servings of alcohol.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I also have a family who likes to drink at any social event. I usually have to, "bank," most my calories a couple days before and then I do tequila and soda water when drinking. I've been losing and still getting wasted with my family so it works for me.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    nope I drink when I want.

    I choose lower calorie drinks. Vodka and club soda...black fly long island ice tea (100 calories each) or light beer 67 calories each...Molson Canadian sublime.
  • astralpictures
    astralpictures Posts: 218 Member
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    jessica22222 wrote: »
    Socially everyone's drinking no matter the occasion. I always have the intentions of just having 1-3, but end up going on to more with them.

    It seems like you're blaming them for your over-indulgence though. You only wanted a couple, but because of them, you ended up going way over. Only you are responsible for what you put in your mouth, and people will understand if you say no. If they don't understand, then maybe they are the ones with issues. I used to party quite hard in my 20s, but decided towards the end of that life decade that it was really unhealthy to be drinking so much. I did have friends who would try to peer pressure me into getting wasted with them. Do you know what I did? Refuse to hang out with them if they were drinking. If drinking was the most important aspect of our friendship, then I didn't want to be friends anymore. Now I only socially drink with 1-2 beers occasionally, or sometimes none at all when we go out, and none of my current friends feel the need to question or pressure my choices.

  • samhennings
    samhennings Posts: 441 Member
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    I find it easier to either drink like normal or not at all. So if I dont want to drink, I drive.

    "Want a pint Sam?"
    "Cant, Im driving"
    "Ok, want a coke or something?"

    No fuss or anything, nobody wants to get you to drink and drive!

    The only problem then is realising people arent as fun when they are drunk and you are not!
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    samhennings wrote: »
    I find it easier to either drink like normal or not at all. So if I dont want to drink, I drive.

    "Want a pint Sam?"
    "Cant, Im driving"
    "Ok, want a coke or something?"

    No fuss or anything, nobody wants to get you to drink and drive!

    The only problem then is realising people arent as fun when they are drunk and you are not!

    This is a good solution until you feel more comfortable and firm with saying no/no to more than the odd 1 or 2!
  • astralpictures
    astralpictures Posts: 218 Member
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    samhennings wrote: »

    The only problem then is realising people arent as fun when they are drunk and you are not!

    Isn't that the truth!? People who normally seem hilarious when you're all drinking sometimes become intolerably obnoxious when you're completely sober.
  • sherbear702
    sherbear702 Posts: 649 Member
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    I completely understand your struggle. I have a fun loving, alcohol consuming family as well and I can tell you from experience it takes time, practice and discipline to get your drinking under control. I've been at this for 6 months now and still have difficulty with not popping a beer after work.

    It really comes down to saying "I'm not drinking today" That's what I tell my family and they accept it. Sometimes just having a drink in your hand, like water or tea, is enough to curb the "want" for an alcoholic drink. Replace one habit with another. I also tell remind myself, when I'm close to breaking, how good I feel when I don't drink. I've discovered that I quite enjoy sobriety. I sleep better, the weight comes off easier, and I feel good in the mornings. It's amazing (duh) how much easier it is to lose when I don't drink. That right there is good motivation to not.
  • shinisize
    shinisize Posts: 105 Member
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    cblack8 wrote: »
    It's weird, I can fill my beer bottle with water right in front of my friends and they don't bug me about it

    I actually learned to do something like this when I was younger and my friends were much worse about putting on pressure to drink. I would sip a beer in a bottle or can until someone accused me of nursing it, then I would take a bathroom break, dump my beer while I peed, and then fill it with water to about the same level in the sink. It wouldn't take long for someone to hound me again, so I would just pound 2/3 of a bottle of water and could sip on another beer for close to an hour before someone would pester me again. If we were out camping where I couldn't just fill it with water I took lots of potty breaks and dumped some every time or channeled my klutzy side and knocked over/dropped a lot of half-full beers. Nobody could ever figure out how I wasn't a black-out drunk.

    Anywhere with a bar where you are having mixed drinks, you can ask the bartender to add more mixer part way through your drink, and they are happy to mix your drinks really weak and make you faux drinks between them. Also, when it hits the dregs just say that it's watery and get a fresh drink without drinking the last bit. Don't be shy about telling everyone you have to drink extra water because you didn't drink enough during the day and you'll be dying from your workout otherwise, once they get a few drinks in them they hardly notice that half of what you drink is water so you can just alternate drinks and water. If they are real 'keep pace with me' people, show up late enough that they are a few drinks in. They won't be as able, or interested, in keeping track, and it will be much easier to go talk to lots of different people while just sipping your first drink (and if it's a fake drink you'll be even further ahead), and to order drinks alone since you can time it where you're done on a different rotation than your party.
  • samhennings
    samhennings Posts: 441 Member
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    yesimpson wrote: »
    samhennings wrote: »
    I find it easier to either drink like normal or not at all. So if I dont want to drink, I drive.

    "Want a pint Sam?"
    "Cant, Im driving"
    "Ok, want a coke or something?"

    No fuss or anything, nobody wants to get you to drink and drive!

    The only problem then is realising people arent as fun when they are drunk and you are not!

    This is a good solution until you feel more comfortable and firm with saying no/no to more than the odd 1 or 2!

    I am very comfortable in saying no, but a lot of the time the other party isnt as comfortable accepting "no"!

    This I found to be a very easy way of avoiding that, people just wont argue.

    However, I do often end up playing Taxi at the end of the night...

    astralpictures wrote: »
    samhennings wrote: »

    The only problem then is realising people arent as fun when they are drunk and you are not!

    Isn't that the truth!? People who normally seem hilarious when you're all drinking sometimes become intolerably obnoxious when you're completely sober.

    Absolutely, its a very different experience. Can be quite funny in a different way though, watching the nonsense people say/do!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,982 Member
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    For me, the problem with drinking wasn't just the empty calories from alcohol, but my need to eat more to absorb the alcohol so I wouldn't get silly drunk, and then the next day, if I was hungover, craving and eating carbs and fatty foods. Drinking was just a vicious downward spiral of way too many calories.

    Thank goodness for logging food and bringing awareness to this.
  • astralpictures
    astralpictures Posts: 218 Member
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    shinisize wrote: »
    cblack8 wrote: »
    It's weird, I can fill my beer bottle with water right in front of my friends and they don't bug me about it

    I actually learned to do something like this when I was younger and my friends were much worse about putting on pressure to drink. I would sip a beer in a bottle or can until someone accused me of nursing it, then I would take a bathroom break, dump my beer while I peed, and then fill it with water to about the same level in the sink. It wouldn't take long for someone to hound me again, so I would just pound 2/3 of a bottle of water and could sip on another beer for close to an hour before someone would pester me again. If we were out camping where I couldn't just fill it with water I took lots of potty breaks and dumped some every time or channeled my klutzy side and knocked over/dropped a lot of half-full beers. Nobody could ever figure out how I wasn't a black-out drunk.

    Anywhere with a bar where you are having mixed drinks, you can ask the bartender to add more mixer part way through your drink, and they are happy to mix your drinks really weak and make you faux drinks between them. Also, when it hits the dregs just say that it's watery and get a fresh drink without drinking the last bit. Don't be shy about telling everyone you have to drink extra water because you didn't drink enough during the day and you'll be dying from your workout otherwise, once they get a few drinks in them they hardly notice that half of what you drink is water so you can just alternate drinks and water. If they are real 'keep pace with me' people, show up late enough that they are a few drinks in. They won't be as able, or interested, in keeping track, and it will be much easier to go talk to lots of different people while just sipping your first drink (and if it's a fake drink you'll be even further ahead), and to order drinks alone since you can time it where you're done on a different rotation than your party.

    That sounds like a crazy amount of work though. If you must fool people, I'd think just getting a diet soda and saying it's a captain and coke or something would be easier (I said diet because downing a whole bunch of regular soda would be almost as bad for calories as a night of drinking). But with the work required above, I'd just say screw it, I'm having a beer and that's that. If you don't like it, go to hell! I'm guessing friends would rag on you for a little bit, but would eventually accept that you don't want to drink until you black out.

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