need encouragement to cut down the alcohol

Wow, a toughie. I totally feel for you. I recently(last Wednesday) decided to cut cigarettes and booze out of my life. I feel like a lunatic now because of this, but I am optimistic that things will get easier. They were bringing me down so much. So much to the point where I felt like crap not just because of the hangover, but because I didn't have the self-control to say no. I have been a smoking while drinking smoker for so long now after officially quiting for a year. I started cheating by smoking when I drink and it felt like a stake in the heart to me the days after I would cheat. We support you and just know others are going through similar situations and feel for you.

HUGS!!!

I can sympathise, I've made the decision to cut back on alcohol, basically to save my calories for food lol. But I'm not going to cut it out completely, I've already done that with enough other things (crisps, chocolate, cakes, bread) and I think I'll be setting myself up for failure if I decree that alcohol is out the window as well!

So to start, I am allowing myself alcohol friday night through to sunday evening. This is still much better than what I was doing, which is drinking every night, usually more than one glass as well!

Good luck with your goal, I know I'm going to need a lot of willpower to keep to mine!

I've got the same problem. I've definitely cut back and only have wine Saturday night with my hubby while we relax together. BUT I would love to be able to take it down to 2 drinks instead of 4 or whatever. I hope that with time, and weight loss, I won't need more than 2. Want to be friends since we have the same dilemma? You can add me if you like!

Oh, I'm with you! I've gone for long stretches without drinking, so I've learned how to handle the friend issue (club soda with lime). The real problem is ME! After a stressful day, I really want a glass of wine, but that almost always turns into more. I'm working on weekends only, and limiting the quantity. I know it's wrecking havoc on my weight loss efforts.

I had a similar issue... One of my hobbies (im not going to call it is sport) is pool... of course that means im playing in bars.

As of the start of this session, I stopped drinking on my monday night pool team. The difference in my game is insane. I am never going back to drinking during league games again.
I went from being a "good for my handicap player" to having people seriously think I was sandbagging. Just to put it in perspective in every match I have had for the last 5 weeks, I have managed atleast one zero inning game.

That means that either I broke, or he broke and missed making something...... and then I ran in every ball on the table without giving him a single shot. Two weeks ago I played one of the best players in the country, that happens to live here and play in my leauge. He only got to shoot twice in 3 games.. and both shots were in the same game where I intentionally left him hung.

I know this is supposed to be about alcohol and not pool, but I have to say, if you find YOUR reason to not drink when you're out.. its MUCH easier to stick to. By not drinking on leauge nights, im saving money, saving calories... feeling better about my choices the next day.. i dont get the late night munchies and I am winning....

When I first started doing the "different lifestyle/dieting" thing, I avoided situations that would put me in an uncomfortable situation where I would have to choose whether to be good and stay on target or whether I would cheat and eat whatever I want... Now that I've been at this for a while, I'm able to be in those situations and be able to control my cravings. If you are serious about wanting to cut it back while you get healthy you might want to consider that... find a different setting to hang out with your friends in that doesn't involve alcohol. But thats just my opinion. :-)

I shared this information in another post. I used to listen to Jillian Michaels' radio show, and she had mentioned that two alcoholic drinks affects your fat burning ability by 73%. I didn't know the reasons or any more info than that, but it was enough to stop me from drinking when I go out. On a rare occasion I'll have a margarita on the rocks, or a Guinness. I do the DD thing, too, because I know I'll get myself in trouble if I don't. I was a daily drinker in my 20s, and that's where a great deal of my weight came from. Anyway, this was posted by someone else, explaining the 73% deal, plus more.

"Well, according to research carried in the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition, alcohol puts the brakes on fat
metabolism (your body’s ability to burn fat as energy) in
more ways than one. In the study, eight people were given
two vodka drinks separated by 30 minutes.

Fat metabolism was checked both before and after each drink.
It turns out that even hours after drinking both drinks, fat
metabolism dropped by an incredible 73%. What is happening?

When you drink alcohol, your liver converts it into a
substance called acetate. (The acetate levels in the
subject’s bodies were 2.5 times higher than normal). And it
is the acetates in your body that make losing blubber almost
impossible.

Your body prefers burning acetate to all other sources of
fuel (fat being one of them), and basically shuts down its
normal process of burning off any other source of energy.

In other research, alcohol has been shown to increase
appetite. When you combine alcohol with meals, studies have
shown you tend to eat more. And since the alcohol is going
to serve as your body’s primary source of fuel, all the
calories go directly to your waistline.

And finally, alcohol increases your cortisol levels and
decreases your testosterone levels for about 24 hours after
you imbibe. And this definitely is not good for trimming
down or adding muscle!"

I have the SAME EXACT issue! I play in a band, and we get tons of gigs in bars. There is no end in sight. As soon as I walk into the club, everyone around me is drinking. There are advertisements for alcohol everywhere, and some people even shower the band with free drinks!

I always feel like I look "weird" when I am the only one not drinking. My biggest concern is probably the calories. I try to do lots of dancing to help burn calories. I also try to be really good during the week. I work out on the weekends, too.

I am still not quite sure what the right beverage is... I think if I drink something more filling like a huge draft Michelob Ultra or something, I am getting the filling feeling and slight buzz but less calories and carbs than if I were to have a heavier beer, hard liquor, or wine. Plus, it's cheaper.

raxmox, thank you! That is very informative.

I'm glad I came across this topic today because I just joined this site last week and this past weekend was the first weekend of "keeping track." I knew I went overboard on Saturdays (called it my cheat day) but until I decided to be honest with myself and log EVERY single thing I put in my mouth.............I had no idea that I was actually consuming over twice the amount of calories! I won't even get into the fat/carb breakdown. YIKES!

when I weighed myself on Friday I was back at my normal weight after gaining a few pounds on vacation. By the time Monday rolled around I was 3 pounds heavier! I've been losing and gaining the same three pounds for months. I work hard all week then flush it down the toilet during the weekend with beer and bad food and justify it as "hey, I worked hard all week so I deserve it."

I really do need to find a way to curb this and there are alot of good ideas on this thread so thanks everyone! I'll do some serious thinking the next three days so by the time the weekend rolls around I'll have a plan in place.