Abstaining from alcohol.

Options
Sunlight2011
Sunlight2011 Posts: 75 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm back on the weight loss fitness bus again after a brief detour and wondered if anyone has stopped drinking as part of their weight loss goal. If so has it helped or hindered and was it easy to do?

Thanks in advance.
«1

Replies

  • Contrary03
    Contrary03 Posts: 289 Member
    Options
    HI!~ I was a pretty heavy drinker, LOVE spiced rum & coke (and not the diet kind) LOL I gave it up completely 12 days ago. Been grouchy a couple of times (so i'm told by my family) but other than that, no problem. It was easy to give up the soda cuz i don't want it if it don't have rum in it! I've been trying to lose the last 10lbs and am hoping this works. Good luck:drinker:
  • poledancing_ninja
    poledancing_ninja Posts: 271
    Options
    I gave it up. Every now and again I forget why, drink tons of vodka, eat a kebab and some cookies, am too hungover the next day to work out and too tired to go food shopping which means making really bad fast food choices for the rest of the week. And I'm poorer for it!

    Now I go out and drink diet coke, remember all the fun I have and can get up in the morning to exercise :)
  • larkiedeek
    larkiedeek Posts: 203 Member
    Options
    I stopped. I have been off it for 88 days now, not that I'm counting.

    I would say my weight loss is all down to stopping. It also means I do things like excersise at night rather than drink. I eat healthy rather than have chocolate and crisps with drink. It has been the catalyst for change.

    I also drink loads of water which has helped.

    Planning on doing 100 days of no alcohol/chocolate/soda.
  • hunter624
    hunter624 Posts: 252
    Options
    A tot whisky every night , keeps the blood flowing, and the occasional pint of bitter, it works for me!
  • katysmelly
    katysmelly Posts: 380 Member
    Options
    I'm back on the weight loss fitness bus again after a brief detour and wondered if anyone has stopped drinking as part of their weight loss goal. If so has it helped or hindered and was it easy to do?

    Thanks in advance.

    I haven't been drinking since counting calories. I have not sworn off alcohol - I just haven't had a drink. I'd rather use the calories some other way.

    It hasn't been hard for me. If I want a drink, I will have one.
  • celticmuse
    celticmuse Posts: 492 Member
    Options
    I enjoy wine, but my approach to alcohol has been to try to limit it to weekends only. Then it is a treat, so I enjoy it. I will also drink when I go out, but that is usually on the weekends. Weeknight events are a problem, but they are occasional. Using this approach, I have lost 34 lbs.
  • ball858
    ball858 Posts: 395 Member
    Options
    I have not drank alcohol now for 4 months and found it quite easy - there are alot of calories in alcohol!

    I buy non-alcoholic wine if I am going to a friends etc... to be sociable

    I think it has helped with my weight loss
  • hayjk
    hayjk Posts: 1
    Options
    I stopped drinking about 18 months ago (had a double ear infection and the antibiotics made everything taste really bad). In the first 12 months I lost about 40 lbs without changing anything but the alcohol intake. I have been using MFP for about a month now (after not being able to loose any additional weight). Now I down almost 6 more lbs. I still have a drink every now and then, but the volume and frequency have decreased dramatically.
  • jobster
    jobster Posts: 11 Member
    Options
    I haven`t abstained at all and am partial to a red wine or two!. I am doing this for life not to lose weight quickly, so as I don`t want to be tee total for the rest of my life, I don`t want to cut it from my lifestyle now. I guess it depends what you want from life.....a quick diet, then yes quitting drinking helps, or do you want a lifestyle plan for long term healthy living. Plus my husbands heart surgeon told him to have a glass of alcohol a day........not neccessarily red wine, just anything he fancies, so if that`s the advice from an eminent surgeon, who are we to argue :)
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
    Options
    I only drink occasionally now so of course I have become a cheap drunk! LOL
    All I need is one or two drinks to be feeling good and I don't have to worry about a hangover. :drinker:
  • jstein_77
    jstein_77 Posts: 13
    Options
    I stopped drinking years ago, not because of any chronic problem with it, but because of the extra calories and the accompanying lack of judgment that comes with it. Personally I did not find it to be difficult, and I hardly give it a second thought these days. Good luck to you in whatever you choose to do, but I would say that to give it up temporarily to attain a goal only to pick it back up again could make it difficult to maintain your target weight.
  • formersec
    formersec Posts: 233 Member
    Options
    When I drank, I wanted to eat the legs off the dining room table. Alcohol made me want to eat like a pig.

    Health issues and resulting medications forced me to give up alcohol. I don't miss it.
  • bexblonde
    bexblonde Posts: 80
    Options
    I love my wine so wouldn't want to give it up - for me I'd rather have a glass of wine as a treat than any food ;) I've now limited it to weekends though, and it has definitely helped me keep the calories down, and my belly is flatter than it was.
  • duetwithjosh
    duetwithjosh Posts: 121
    Options
    I've limited my alcohol to one or two nights per week. Before I was having a beer or glass of wine almost every night, and the calorie trade-off was just too high for me!
  • JoolieW68
    JoolieW68 Posts: 1,879 Member
    Options
    Before I started getting back into shape I was having 2-3 rum and diet Pepsi's a night (hey, at least it was diet, right :ohwell: )

    After I started I rarely drank, and still do only have a few drinks per month. However, camping season is coming up and I will probably have few more drinks sitting around the campfire.
  • yaddayaddayadda
    yaddayaddayadda Posts: 430 Member
    Options
    I have always enjoyed a drink or two with dinner... until recently. I have not given it up completely, but I don't enjoy happy hour like I used to. I have trouble sleeping, even after just one or two, and I just don't feel 100% the next day. I don't know if it is age (I'm 51), or hormonal changes, but for whatever reason, its just not as fun as it used to be. :ohwell:

    Sometimes I just decide that I want a drink and I will suffer the consequences, but lately, I'm deciding not to have the drink.

    Drinking or not drinking does make a difference in my weight. I am on maintenence, and I when I have a drink every night, I find my weight creeping up. When I don't drink for a week, I always lose a pound or two.
  • Iceylyons
    Iceylyons Posts: 86 Member
    Options
    So glad someone posted this! I have also stopped drinking so far because of all the empty calories. Surprisingly, I haven't felt the need to drink since I've been working out. Maybe it was depression that fed my drinking. I don't go out much, I have kids and am always working.

    Although, if I were to go out, I would probably have a drink or two socially, especially as a reward. I like my alcohol, just haven't felt the need to have it lately =)
  • plarcade
    plarcade Posts: 125 Member
    Options
    I've cut back (would rather eat those calories!) but I wouldn't want to give up completely :) Generally keep the wine for weekends and am quite strict as to how much I drink.
  • theresabrenner
    theresabrenner Posts: 16
    Options
    I find that I will have a few drinks on the weekend. I like wine but if I'm drinking beer I stick to Mich Ultra (95 cal) or Bud Select (55 cal). I'm in this to lose weight of course, but I also want to enjoy life! Unless you have a drinking problem, I don't think an occasional drink here and there will hurt :drinker:
  • androde
    androde Posts: 96 Member
    Options
    I decided to give up alcohol for 20 weeks, 75 days so far another 65 to go

Categories