Reducing alcohol and takeaways

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emmajulie98765
emmajulie98765 Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I drink probably around 3 times per week and when I get going I get going! Thursday onwards is the worst time for me as when I walk out of work it signifies the beginning of the weekend. My job as a teacher is really emotionally charged so I’m always feeling heightened emotions ( happiness, pressure, worry ect) and so I then kind of feel that it’s my right to have a drink ! It’s what working women with families do. It sounds classy in my head, winding down with a wine. It ends up anything but classy! I also love a bit of junk food. I have an extremely healthy diet most of the time but drinking leads me to order takeaways and this then continues because of the hangover. We spend a fortune it’s embarrassing . DH is pretty much the same as me . I don’t want to cut these things out completely I believe I can be strong enough to do them in moderation and not spiral. Well that’s the goal and if moderation doesn’t work for me I am going to obviously quit drinking altogether. I’m not going to have a drink now until the 21st July and takeaways are going to be just once per week. I gym about 3 or 4 times a week and want to continue with this .Please join the thread if you want to chat!

Replies

  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
    edited July 2022
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    There is a monthly thread about drinking less (whatever that means for you) over on Motivation and Support. Feel free to join over there.

    ETA: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10868202/less-alcohol-july-2022-one-day-at-a-time
  • pootlermse
    pootlermse Posts: 13 Member
    edited July 2022
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    We're big fans of the fakeaway in our house, and there are plenty of recipes on the internet. You can prepare or make lots of them ahead of time and either finish them off or ping them so that they're not quite as easy as dialing the kebab shop but nearly!

    I also have my calorie goals set up so that I have lots of extra calories on days when I'll need it, like Saturday. This means I can build in two pints and a pizza at the local micropub.

    I love beer, and I drink to relax too, so I switched my weekday tipple to whiskey and gin to reduce the calories.

    This strategy helps stop the 'last supper' mentality for me. Your milage may vary, but I my brain seems to be okay with eating a few more salads and stir fries through the week to leave room for beer and pizza at the weekend.
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,259 Member
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    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    There is a monthly thread about drinking less (whatever that means for you) over on Motivation and Support. Feel free to join over there.

    ETA: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10868202/less-alcohol-july-2022-one-day-at-a-time

    This link is great. It's a really supportive group of people, all in their own space, and happy to include others with goals :)
  • therealbluenote
    therealbluenote Posts: 1,299 Member
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    I’m a teacher also and I totally understand the drink to de-stress from the ever challenging job we have. I try to limit my drinking to two nights a week, Friday and Saturday. And like pootlermse mentioned, I also plan ahead for these days by being very strict Sunday-Thursday. I also plan before going out or having a drink at home on Friday and Saturday by knowing what I’m going to drink/eat ahead of time and drinking a full glass of water with every adult beverage. The water fills me up faster and I’m less tempted to overeat!
  • Seasonal_One
    Seasonal_One Posts: 49 Member
    edited July 2022
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    When I'm on vacation, I like to drink beer around a campfire or sitting on a pier or edge of lake. I don't drink to the point of hangover or even getting drunk but I like beer. I've been drinking Bud 55 or Miller 64. I'm not a beer snob and grew up around the saying, my favorite beer, free beer. Even if you had a dozen Bud 55s, not a diet buster. Most years, I don't drink anything from the end of October until May and my total consumption in a year is two 30 packs.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    emmajulie98765 wrote: »
    Hi everyone! I drink probably around 3 times per week and when I get going I get going! Thursday onwards is the worst time for me as when I walk out of work it signifies the beginning of the weekend. My job as a teacher is really emotionally charged so I’m always feeling heightened emotions ( happiness, pressure, worry ect) and so I then kind of feel that it’s my right to have a drink ! It’s what working women with families do. It sounds classy in my head, winding down with a wine. It ends up anything but classy! I also love a bit of junk food. I have an extremely healthy diet most of the time but drinking leads me to order takeaways and this then continues because of the hangover. We spend a fortune it’s embarrassing . DH is pretty much the same as me . I don’t want to cut these things out completely I believe I can be strong enough to do them in moderation and not spiral. Well that’s the goal and if moderation doesn’t work for me I am going to obviously quit drinking altogether. I’m not going to have a drink now until the 21st July and takeaways are going to be just once per week. I gym about 3 or 4 times a week and want to continue with this .Please join the thread if you want to chat!

    Have you ever tried not drinking for a period of time?

    I ask because it's well established that alcohol doesn't actually help with stress, it worsens it.

    The more you drink in response to stress, the more your brain actually lowers your ability to tolerate stress and raises the sensation of stress as a trigger to get you to drink.

    I deal with enormous stress (like, WAY more than being a teacher, like I was told at one point that I had 80% chance of having cancer and that wasn't even close to the most stressful crap on my plate at the time) and it's been shocking how since I quit drinking, the stress is infinitely more manageable. I just don't feel constantly overwhelmed by it anymore. That "OMG I need a drink to handle this" feeling is just gone.

    Wine was systematically lowering my ability to cope with my life, not helping. Being sober now feels like a stress management super power.

    Also, just a bit of perspective. I never drank all that heavily because I had the "strength" to moderate. But now the way I see it is that if it takes strength and discipline for me to moderate, then that in and of itself is an issue.

    We're all different, and I'm not trying to tell you what to do. For you, moderating might be the best way to go. I have no idea, I'm not you.

    I'm just sharing my personal experience and perspectives I wish I had heard years before I quit. They may be useful for you, they may not.
  • xrj22
    xrj22 Posts: 197 Member
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    I am trying to only drink because I feel good. I.e. celebrations, social events,etc. When I drink because I feel bad, it doesnt make anything better. If I feel bad, it usually means that i need to sleep, or i need to get active. One of those is usually the real answer to the problem.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    I used to do a lot of drinking on the weekends, too. I second what a person said earlier about drinking not really helping to reduce stress. In fact, I have found that I sleep better and certainly wake up feeling better when I don't drink as much. That said, it can be hard to just stop and the socializing around drinking can make that even more difficult.

    My first suggestion would be to find the drink with the least amount of calories you can see yourself drinking. How about a spritzer instead of straight wine? Then, plan to alternate a spritzer with a non-alcoholic drink. Have a spritzer, then a glass of club soda/water/diet cola, then a spritzer, and so on. You'll drink much. much less and be more hydrated so less likely to be hung over in the morning. You'll also drink about 1/4 the calories and be less likely to make bad food choices.

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