Hiatus from alcohol

I think that giving it all up is not a bad idea. I think that once you get over the not drinking social all the time and you are in control of the drinking. Then once in a while you could allow yourself a drink here and their, but you will always have to be on the look out for it taking the reins again. I know some people can do alchohol in moderation and that works for them, but other people can not. If stopping drinking is something that is important to you, then I think that giving it up for a while is not a bad thing and then reevaluate your self after that said amount of time and see if things are better in your life.

That is just my two sense and I know that a lot of people might say this is a lifestyle change and everything in moderation is fine, those people obvisouly do not have the addiction to alchocol that some of us have, and their is nothing wrong with that, we just need to be aware of our tendencies toward alchohol.

I'm a twenty something who spends alot of time partying. I'd drink four nights of the week, most of the time, racking in up to 4,000 calories on beer alone.
I think my drinking was synonymous with my weight gain.

Once I realized how excessively I was consuming, I quit pretty much cold-turkey.

I've had a couple glasses of wine, and vodka and waters but, for the most part I've been dry.
And it feels great!

I like to think of my weight gain in two parts:

Starting at 18 I started drinking... then heavily drinking. +20
20 : Pregnancy + 50

I gained 20 lbs in about a year - year in a half from binge drinking. (Which was also accompained my late night eating of garbage) I quit for a couple months before I got pregnant and lost 10-15 lbs(not sure exact) without exercise or a diet change.
It's rare that I drink now just because I will be hungover in the morning even after a couple beers. But especially now that I'm dieting, I'd rather save the extra calories for food.

You could always just try for a week not drinking. See how good it feels.

After my last baby (and 20 pounds over weight) I did not go back to drinking alcohol until I reached my goal weight, which took about 6 months. The biggest thing I can say about not drinking alcohol is that it is very empowering. I loved that I could go out with friends and family and have a great time without overeating or drinking empty calories. I felt very much in control and proud of how I was losing weight.

Now that I have a new goal to lose an additional 10 pounds...you've got me thinking about the alcohol I do drink now. Hmmmm?

I found that for myself, if I was trying to avoid something in a social situation, I would make my goals known and it was much easier to stick with it. As an example, last Thursday I was at happy hour for work and I ordered a water. Someone commented about me not drinking, and I simply said "I'm trying to be healthier, so I avoid drinking during the week." After that, not only was it not a big deal that I wasn't drinking, but I knew that everyone knew my goal so breaking down and having a beer wasn't an option.

I am sure that if you told your sister that you were trying to cut back, she might give you some support! Even if your goal is to have a glass of water between drinks, or to make one day of the long weekend an alcohol free day, I am sure if she knows that you are trying to cut back she'll make it easier for you.

I'm holding out to drink for special occasions. I too have drank so much that my husband thought I had a problem. Maybe I did. It was only 1-3 glasses a night:laugh: . But if I didn't have alcohol in the house I would Freak Out:sad: So that's gotta tell you something. I feel so good now. I just stopped cold turkey. I may have to stop my pain meds for my back. Really:flowerforyou:

I think alot of my weight issues have been from drinking then you need something salty with the drink then something sweet from the salty. etc etc. hahahhaha.

Good Luck Girl:laugh: Just

I completely understand about friends/sister looking at you like you have 5 heads when you say no to a drink!! When I was pregnant, I can't tell you how many people said to me, "O looks like I lost my favorite drinking buddy!" I never realized how many people considered me their "drinking buddy" but it just didn't seem like a good thing to be to so many different people!! But I still hung out, and drank water and had lots of fun! I'll admit it was tough in the beginning, but it gets easier as you stick to it.

As for drinking with your bosses, I say you should probably still go to the happy hours, you don't want to offend, plus it will probably help you professionally to get to know them on a personal level. Just nurse your drink for as long as you can, or just see if you can sneakily get a diet coke and add a lime or something so they'll think you are drinking but you really aren't!! I used to drink sprite with lime when I was preggers just so I could feel like I was participating with everyone, I know it's weird but it worked for me and made me feel like I was in on the fun drinking!:drinker:

I was just thinking, if I'm not sure whether I should quit drinking alcohol all together, or just watch my intake and make sure it's in moderation (see my other thread titled "alcohol"), maybe I should just try not drinking anything at all for like a month, and see if this helps me, both fitness-wide and mood-wise etc.

Has anyone else done this? What were the results?

I posted this on another board recently after becoming frustrated and searching for some information. I decided to give 'no alcohol' a go and see if it changes anything. Today is day #8 without a single sip of wine.... not noticing any differences yet other than the healthy notion that I haven't had anything to drink. Everyone is different.... give it a try and see what works for you - good luck!

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I really like wine. A lot.
It seemed obvious why anyone would tell you to cut out alcohol when you're trying to lose weight (all those extra calories, sugar content, etc) so knowing that, I still felt ok having a glass of wine in the evening as long as I had the calories to spend according to MFP.

After a quick search I found the quote below. I'm not happy about it, but it probably explains - at least in part - why the fat is not coming off as quickly as I would have hoped/expected given the weeks of high intensity exercise and calorie watch. I'm going to try cutting it out completely for the next month and see if it makes the difference. I thought I'd share for any of you who may not be aware, or who are struggling with a plateau or the last 10-15lbs and can't think of anything else to do 'right'.

"Daily alcohol consumption will slow or stop your results. The drawbacks are probably going to far outweigh any health benefits. Your liver can't metabolize alcohol and fat at the same time. It will always get rid of the toxic substance (alcohol) first. That means that as long as there's alcohol in your system you won't be burning any body fat. If you have one or two drinks, you might stall your fat loss for a few hours. If you have quite a few drinks, it might be as long as four days before you're metabolizing fat again.

Drinking also dehydrates you, raises cortisol levels (goodbye muscles), raises estrogen levels (hello hips), lowers inhibitions (pizza anyone?). Combine that with the fact that alcohol promotes abdominal fat storage (of all places!) and it's really not worth it, not even on free day, not if you're serious about making a major transformation.

I personally don't drink alcohol at all. I'm way too freaky about my definition and nothing will wreck your abs faster. I know several women who have a few drinks once a week and they've still achieved their goals. I know other women who if they have even one drink a week can't lose that puffy lower belly or see any definition in their abs. Just how negative the impact is probably depends on your goals, age, activity level, metabolism, and a zillion other things.

If wine with dinner is part of your lifestyle, and you're not in any particular hurry to have abs like a cheese grater, you might experiment a little. See if you can have a glass of wine a few times a week and still be making progress. If it's really slow going, keep cutting back the number of drinks until you're satisfied with the level of your results. Of course, if you're wanting to radically transform yourself for a Body for Life challenge, or a tropical vacation, or a big date with a little black dress, forget the alcohol. It's the enemy. "

Bye, bye wine

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
There are so many more reasons for not drinking than there are for drinking.

Alcohol is all empty calories.

If you can't go without alcohol in order to improve your health, that might be a serious red flag that you have a problem with alcohol. And if you have a problem with alcohol than you shouldn't be drinking it.

Try it for a week and see what happens.
:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

I totally understand the alcohol thing! I am in my 40's and my life is crazy and I like to relax with a beer or wine a couple - 3 days a week. I did stop drinking for lent and felt 100% better but I didn't lose weight, but I also have thyroid problems (another excuse?) As far as your boss' - co-workers maybe you can tell them you will go but cant drink due to medication. good luck

i gave it up! starting last week...doin ok so far!

i hate to say it...but i love having my drunken nights every so often.....i'm thinking of just stopping until i get to my goal weight and then learn how to drink so that i can maintain my goal (mind u i only drink about 2-3 times a month) but the munchies come after my drinking episode :laugh: