5000 calories a week on wine!
Replies
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After drinking wine most days for around 20 years, I found it easier and easier to get through a bottle without feeling the effects (Where did that wine go? Evaporation?). However, it was starting to effect my sleep -waking up hot at about 2am and taking ages to get back to sleep.
So after finding out a friend of mine was planning to to dry July, I suggested we do June instead because it is shorter.
Here is what I have found after 4 weeks of no drinking...
- My resting heart rate has gone from 65-67 to 55. It stays between 50 and 55 all night and I don't wake up hot.
- I have had to stop drinking so much tea and water in the evening (to avoid a hangover the next day). I'm not dehydrated any more.
- The first week was pretty hard. I have always looked forward to that glass (or 4) of wine while cooking dinner. Once I am drinking a glass of soda water with lime juice, I managed to forget about the wine.
- After dinner, I am ALWAYS glad that I haven't have had any wine.
- I am 4 kg down! It is so much easier to still to stick a calorie budget (around 1350 per day) without trying to squeeze in 2 or three glasses of wine.
- I don't get the majorly urgent hungry times. I still get hungry, but it seems to be a gently hunger that half an apple or carrot will deal with. Alcohol messes up blood sugars!
I thought I would do this for just a month, but now I am contemplating keeping it going until I get back to the healthy weight range - about 8kg away.
About 10 years ago I did successfully lose 10kg or so while having only 2 glasses of wine everyday, but I haven't seemed to be able to do that since then.
Good Luck!15 -
Thanks for your concern however I want to point out there is a difference between needing a drink and drinking. I suspect you’re friend was drinking a lot more than what they said if they were hallucinating. I never hallucinate or have a hangover so please don’t confuse me with someone that may have an alcohol problem. Drinking is part of my culture and it’s only the calories that bother me nothing else. If I woke up wanting to drink that’s a different matter but for me it’s all about the calories.
Yes, there’s a difference between feeling like needing a drink and drinking. It’s still the same amount of alcohol. My friend never actually said how much he was drinking, that amount is what I’ve come to understand it was. He wasn’t hallucinating either, until one day he was. That was the day he needed an ambulance and was sent to rehab. He also said the exact things you are saying now about never having a hangover, not having a problem and drinking being part of his culture and not a problem. I obviously don’t know you personally and I’m not your healthcare professional so I can’t diagnose problems, I’m just stating that the amount of alcohol you drink is very alarming and in general tends to cause health problems.
I get it, it’s hard to hear it and face the facts, especially if you don’t feel like it’s a problem. You know the numbers: 5000 calories per week, tripling over high risk limits, and 7+ bottles per week probably cost money too. Nobody but you can make this decision and if you don’t want to, it’s your life and your right to enjoy it as you see fit. I’m still going to suggest taking a break (like a week or two) from the wine and see how it makes you feel (and what it does to your weight loss goals and eating). I wish you all the best and hope you reach your goals, whether they include continuing with the wine or not.
Can I tell you that the experts say that a bottle of wine a day is not an issue?Does that surprise you? I’m sorry about your friend but you seem to be comparing me with him/her. As I said it’s all about calories so please don’t preach. I realise in myself that I want to lose 14lbs and it’s the wine stopping me. I’m going to cut down as I put alot of effort into training. Thanks again for your concern.
Aside from the weight loss and potential addiction issues, a volume of alcohol more than 1 to 2 drinks per day results in a much higher risk for breast cancer. Alcohol use increases risk of cancer in both genders but it is more pronounced in women. Cutting back overall is a very good idea.
This particular point is one very close to my heart as I lost my 35 year old daughter to breast cancer a little more than a year ago. I wouldn't say she had an alcohol addiction. But she ran in crowd of drinkers and worked in bars for years while building a career as a musician and recording artist. She was diagnosed just as her career was taking off and we lost her a month after the release of her 2nd album. She stopped drinking for the last year plus of her life and cut back drastically before that.
But, it was too late. The various factors that started the cancer were aggressive and they took her life less than 4 years after she was first diagnosed.
But don't take my word for it. Do the research. You'll see for yourself. I wouldn't want to see what happened to my daughter and my family happen to anyone.18 -
Can I also add that god forbid anyone asking about losing weight. Would you tell them to see a doctor if they were eating too much? Would you ask them to seek help if they were many stones/pounds overweight? Would you tell them they have an addictive person personality ? No you wouldn’t! But because Iv mentioned wine it gives you the right? I wish I said I ate 5000 calories of doughnuts as I would hav probably had more support!
I’ve been on the forums almost daily for a couple of months now. Empirically, the most frequent advice given here is
1. Use a food scale to log accurately
2. Stop worrying about daily fluctuations or expecting immediate results
3. See a doctor
So no, advising people to see a doctor is not exclusive to this thread. It’s very common because people seek help for all kinds of medical issues (consciously or not realizing there is an issue), and it would be irresponsible to play internet doctor for strangers instead of guiding them towards professional diagnosis, care and treatment.
Absolutely. The advice given on this thread seems very in keeping with the usual advice on the forum. Try replacing it with something else, try cutting down, if you find it hard to cut down you might want to cut it out entirely, if you can't manage to do it alone seek professional support. It's all out there on different threads. The advice you've been given is supportive.
I know this will just get the disagree button and you'll ignore it but growing up with an alcoholic dad I can't help it - I'd suggest that your reaction to people's advice is indicative of it being a problem. If you don't need to drink then try not drinking for a week and see how you feel. If you find that hard it might be worth having a long hard think.13 -
janetdebeer90 wrote: »After drinking wine most days for around 20 years, I found it easier and easier to get through a bottle without feeling the effects (Where did that wine go? Evaporation?). However, it was starting to effect my sleep -waking up hot at about 2am and taking ages to get back to sleep.
So after finding out a friend of mine was planning to to dry July, I suggested we do June instead because it is shorter.
Here is what I have found after 4 weeks of no drinking...
- My resting heart rate has gone from 65-67 to 55. It stays between 50 and 55 all night and I don't wake up hot.
- I have had to stop drinking so much tea and water in the evening (to avoid a hangover the next day). I'm not dehydrated any more.
- The first week was pretty hard. I have always looked forward to that glass (or 4) of wine while cooking dinner. Once I am drinking a glass of soda water with lime juice, I managed to forget about the wine.
- After dinner, I am ALWAYS glad that I haven't have had any wine.
- I am 4 kg down! It is so much easier to still to stick a calorie budget (around 1350 per day) without trying to squeeze in 2 or three glasses of wine.
- I don't get the majorly urgent hungry times. I still get hungry, but it seems to be a gently hunger that half an apple or carrot will deal with. Alcohol messes up blood sugars!
I thought I would do this for just a month, but now I am contemplating keeping it going until I get back to the healthy weight range - about 8kg away.
About 10 years ago I did successfully lose 10kg or so while having only 2 glasses of wine everyday, but I haven't seemed to be able to do that since then.
Good Luck!
Dont forget the amount of money you saved from not buying wine that you now have for new clothes!5 -
To answer your original question, could you switch to non-alcoholic wine? Perhaps start by drinking that on alternate days and then maybe increase it to Monday-Friday as an example. Experiment with different grape varieties as there are mixed reviews (just like any other product you can buy).
I don't know which country you're in, but a quick search for what's available in the UK returns multiple results of no-alcohol or low-alcohol wines that are around 15 -30 cals per 100ml. A bottle would work out to be under 250 cals which is vastly different to the 5,000 you're currently consuming.5 -
fairy_daisy wrote: »I agree with a lot of what's been written above by @hipari, @Shortgirlrunning and others. And it sounds like you're starting to address the role alcohol has in your life and think about cutting down. It'd be great if you can manage this using some of the many sources of non-professional support/inspiration out there, but if not, I'd strongly encourage you to have a chat with your doctor. I doubt you want more scare stories, but the calories are a relatively very minor part of the long term burden you're putting on your body with that level of intake. Sending you loads of virtual hugs and good wishes.
OK. Let's say it's just about calories. It's getting in the way of your achieving the weight loss you want to achieve. You say that you're planning your eating around leaving room for 5000 calories a week for wine, which is probably between half and a third of your calories, which means you're prioritizing alcohol over nutrition.
Why don't you cut back? Why do you find that so hard when you know it's important for your goals?5 -
Can I also add that god forbid anyone asking about losing weight. Would you tell them to see a doctor if they were eating too much? Would you ask them to seek help if they were many stones/pounds overweight? Would you tell them they have an addictive person personality ? No you wouldn’t! But because Iv mentioned wine it gives you the right? I wish I said I ate 5000 calories of doughnuts as I would hav probably had more support!
Yes, people are told to see a doctor all the time on these forum if they describe eating behaviors or ways of thinking about food that sound like could ED-related.6 -
There have been a few posts that have suggested quitting entirely or switching to nonalcoholic drinks. This is another reason for you to see a doctor, to get informed medical advice about the dangers of quitting cold turkey when you have been drinking so much, as alcohol withdrawal can cause fatal complications, and to help you reduce or stop drinking in a safe way.7
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My ex used to like a drink. By the end of our relationship, he was drinking a bottle a day too (at least).
He thought it was part of his culture too (by which, I mean he still thought he was a uni student with a younger, more tolerant liver) and his friends agreed. No one took me seriously when I begged them to stop enabling him. No one else lived with him and saw what the alcohol did. He was fairly high-functioning, but the alcohol still trashed our relationship.
I got him professional help, but it came at a cost. I think it was easier for him to cut me out of his life and pretend he hadn't ever been in a situation where his drinking was out of control, but it was. I was too closely linked to all that. It was hard for other people to see because it happened so insidiously - a glass with dinner turned into a bottle on his own - and then some beer on top - and it was a horrific experience for me to live through. I used to cry when he was out and I'd find another stash of hidden wine bottles under the bed.
You don't sound ready to acknowledge drinking 9 units or more a day is a problem. If you are so sure that you don't have a problem, my challenge to you is to see your doctor, tell your doctor honestly how much you're drinking, and ask the doctor to confirm that you don't have a problem. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, please reflect on why. You don't have to post here, you don't owe any of us anything, but for your own sake, please, please think about what you're doing.
I recognise so much of what you're saying, and it chills me to the bone.
Binge drinking is more than 6 units in a sitting if you're a women, 8 if you're a man. It's more than 14 units a week. One bottle of a 12.5% wine a day is 65.8 units a week.
https://alcoholchange.org.uk/alcohol-facts/fact-sheets/am-i-drinking-too-much
You may think I'm being patronising, but I'm just someone who has lived through someone else's alcoholism and who feels forever changed for the worse by that experience. Believe me, I write this out of concern for a fellow human being and nothing else.
Cutting down on calories isn't just about getting thinner, it's about getting healthier too. The wine is problematic because of the calories, but it's also problematic for many other reasons. I really hope you listen to one of the people on this thread urging you to see a doctor, but I'm not sure you're ready yet.16 -
It’s clear you’re not willing to listen to others opinions on addiction etc which is fair, however, this is an open forum and a bottle of wine a day is a lot of alcohol for the average person so you can see where the concern lies. Your reaction is also concerning, but you are allowed to feel how you feel. Please realise that this is coming from a caring place. Members see someone who may be out of control of their alcohol intake and are offering advice. Whether you want it or not you did open yourself up to this advice. If you don’t need it say thank you and move on. Arguing with everyone offering advice isn’t helping anyone. If you don’t have an issue with alcohol then what does it matter, and if you do then this is awesome advice. Cut down slowly though. Don’t shock your body because whether you’re mentally dependent or not you may physically be at that consistent amount and you don’t want to shock your system. Best of luck with your health journey.8
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[/quote] Cutting down on calories isn't just about getting thinner, it's about getting healthier too. The wine is problematic because of the calories, but it's also problematic for many other reasons. I really hope you listen to one of the people on this thread urging you to see a doctor, but I'm not sure you're ready yet.[/quote]
Words to live by - thank you!! And thanks for sharing your story.3 -
A bottle of wine is 6-9 standard units, depending on the alcohol percentage. What experts recommend that?? Here in Australia, where we LOVE a good drinking session, 1unit for women and 2 units for men is the maximum recommended level. An entire bottle and more is clear binge drinking. And I say this as someone who loves wine, and can happily do a bottle to myself, but I only drink once a week as I know it's excessive. It's a calculated choice to over indulge. Every day....dude. I would have a good long think about your relationship with alcohol.6 -
It's pretty damn hard to lose weight while drinking alcohol regularly. It's pretty damn hard to cut back on drinking too, and I highly, severely doubt that substituting various non-alcoholic beverages for wine, such as flavored water, will cut it. You may as well pull the band aid off if you want to lose the weight and just put the kibosh on the drinking for your next 14 pounds.
My wife and I were drinkers. The quantity you're talking about is pretty much where we were at. We tried to diet and it failed miserably, due 100 % due to the drinking. It was the drinking, period, end of story. It's why we gained the weight, and then why we couldn't lose the weight. And it was the source of many other issues in our life, although we refused to recognize that at the time, but now it's so obvious to me.
As soon as we binned all our remaining bottles and stopped buying new ones, we were in a position to do it right, and have lost a combined 134 pounds over the past year. She has not had one single drink since the day we started dieting; I have maybe one drink twice a month when I'm out socially.
Anyway, time for the bottom line:
YOU WILL NOT LOSE WEIGHT IF YOU CONTINUE DRINKING REGULARLY.
Internalize that, process it, let it seep in, really grok it at a fundamental, molecular level, and then deal with it as you see fit. You have to make a choice. It's A or B. One or the other. It's very binary. Health and weight loss, or regular/daily wine drinking. Not both.
Additional note on the health aspect of all this, putting the weight loss aside:
Nobody wakes up and says to themselves, "Gee, I'd like to become an alcoholic." And nobody becomes an alcoholic in one day. It sneaks up on you. There's a long, long, loooooong period of semi-denial in which one goes through a "I can just give this up anytime..." or "I'm not like one of those street people with a brown paper bag of vodka" phase. Those brown bag street people didn't start there either. It probably took them 20+ years to get to that point. Everyone starts with a bottle of wine over dinner or in the evening. It's truly insidious. The best thing you can do is cut this habit's head off with a samurai sword and be done with it. All you have to do to get on with your life, lose the weight, and start getting healthy is ... not drink. It ain't that hard. You just do it.10 -
Can I also add that god forbid anyone asking about losing weight. Would you tell them to see a doctor if they were eating too much? Would you ask them to seek help if they were many stones/pounds overweight? Would you tell them they have an addictive person personality ? No you wouldn’t! But because Iv mentioned wine it gives you the right? I wish I said I ate 5000 calories of doughnuts as I would hav probably had more support!
I've personally seen at least a few hundred people told to go talk to a doctor for disordered eating habits on MFP. Far more people than were told to go talk to a doctor for drinking alcohol. Addictive behavior, no matter what the addiction or overindulgence, is sometimes at a level in which bringing in a professional is advantageous.
Eating 5,000 calories per week of donuts, wine, or any other unhealthy, non-nutritious substance is definitely in the ballpark for discussion with a medical professional of some sort. That's 74 pounds per year gained on empty calories, totally putting aside the alcohol issue. That is "intervention" level. Those who have given you that advice in this thread have had your best interests in mind.7 -
I appreciate everyone’s concern but I have stopped drinking in the past or cut down without any withdrawal symptoms as I don’t have a dependency. So going back to my original post about how many calories I’m drinking is shocking and because of that I will be drinking a lot less and to start me off I’m going to do the 30 day experiment.13
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I appreciate everyone’s concern but I have stopped drinking in the past or cut down without any withdrawal symptoms as I don’t have a dependency. So going back to my original post about how many calories I’m drinking is shocking and because of that I will be drinking a lot less and to start me off I’m going to do the 30 day experiment.
That’s excellent. Can you let us know how you get on. I feel this thread maybe helpful for others in similar position. I managed to cut right back from a similar level as you. I didn’t have withdrawal symptoms. But it was hard as wine was relaxation for me.2 -
I appreciate everyone’s concern but I have stopped drinking in the past or cut down without any withdrawal symptoms as I don’t have a dependency. So going back to my original post about how many calories I’m drinking is shocking and because of that I will be drinking a lot less and to start me off I’m going to do the 30 day experiment.
Sounds like a good plan. In case you missed it in all the concern about your health, see my comment above re non-alcoholic wine and the calorie comparison for the two. Opening a wine-like bottle and pouring it in to a wine-like glass is part of the pleasure. You just may need to try a few different ones, to find one you like.0 -
Strudders67 wrote: »I appreciate everyone’s concern but I have stopped drinking in the past or cut down without any withdrawal symptoms as I don’t have a dependency. So going back to my original post about how many calories I’m drinking is shocking and because of that I will be drinking a lot less and to start me off I’m going to do the 30 day experiment.
Sounds like a good plan. In case you missed it in all the concern about your health, see my comment above re non-alcoholic wine and the calorie comparison for the two. Opening a wine-like bottle and pouring it in to a wine-like glass is part of the pleasure. You just may need to try a few different ones, to find one you like.
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Can I also add that god forbid anyone asking about losing weight. Would you tell them to see a doctor if they were eating too much? Would you ask them to seek help if they were many stones/pounds overweight? Would you tell them they have an addictive person personality ? No you wouldn’t! But because Iv mentioned wine it gives you the right? I wish I said I ate 5000 calories of doughnuts as I would hav probably had more support!
I've personally seen at least a few hundred people told to go talk to a doctor for disordered eating habits on MFP. Far more people than were told to go talk to a doctor for drinking alcohol. Addictive behavior, no matter what the addiction or overindulgence, is sometimes at a level in which bringing in a professional is advantageous.
Eating 5,000 calories per week of donuts, wine, or any other unhealthy, non-nutritious substance is definitely in the ballpark for discussion with a medical professional of some sort. That's 74 pounds per year gained on empty calories, totally putting aside the alcohol issue. That is "intervention" level. Those who have given you that advice in this thread have had your best interests in mind.
you can lead a horse to water bubba......0 -
psychod787 wrote: »Can I also add that god forbid anyone asking about losing weight. Would you tell them to see a doctor if they were eating too much? Would you ask them to seek help if they were many stones/pounds overweight? Would you tell them they have an addictive person personality ? No you wouldn’t! But because Iv mentioned wine it gives you the right? I wish I said I ate 5000 calories of doughnuts as I would hav probably had more support!
I've personally seen at least a few hundred people told to go talk to a doctor for disordered eating habits on MFP. Far more people than were told to go talk to a doctor for drinking alcohol. Addictive behavior, no matter what the addiction or overindulgence, is sometimes at a level in which bringing in a professional is advantageous.
Eating 5,000 calories per week of donuts, wine, or any other unhealthy, non-nutritious substance is definitely in the ballpark for discussion with a medical professional of some sort. That's 74 pounds per year gained on empty calories, totally putting aside the alcohol issue. That is "intervention" level. Those who have given you that advice in this thread have had your best interests in mind.
you can lead a horse to water bubba......
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