Alcohol is my downfall!

Hi everyone! I'm new to this site, but I love it already. My biggest problem with losing weight is drinking alone. Seems that if I'm by myself (which is most of the weekend) I'll tend to drink a few, then forget all about my diet and eat a ton. The next day I'm always determined to stop, but the process inevitably repeats. Anyone else have/had this problem? I'm so good with my meals, but I'm thinking that my drinking days might be over. Thanks!

Replies

  • hooperkay
    hooperkay Posts: 463 Member
    I don't go out to eat with people from work because they try to get me to eat stuff I shouldn't. I know if I started drinking and got a buzz I probably would eat too much too. Limit yourself to like one drink. Skinny girls are good. But if I couldn't have just one I wouldn't have any. I have trigger foods that I just say "NO".
  • Establishedn1986
    Establishedn1986 Posts: 306 Member
    :drinker: You can definitely still drink! You have to make it work for you. Meaning logging it so you are accountable for what you are doing. Just last night I had vodka and this morning no gain but rather a 1lb loss! Last weekend I had beer. Same thing. Now I dont drink often, and this isn't a problem for me but if you want to drink,drink! Just log whatever goes in!:drinker:
  • freezerburn2012
    freezerburn2012 Posts: 273 Member
    Try alternating alcoholic beverages with water. (1 drink, 1 water, repeat until...) You may find that you'll be a little less drunk and less likely to lose your inhibitions when it comes to food.

    This will also help with the hangover. :)
  • aserros21
    aserros21 Posts: 1 Member
    Hi Arathena720! I love wine or a cocktail - especially after a hard week. I have learned that doing something else i.e. jogging or running alone gives me such a BETTER feeling afterwards. I feel happier, proud of myself, and I am usually not hungry either. If you must have a drink -just have the one. Better yet...make promise to yourself to not drink alone. I hope this helps...you seem like you love activity so embrace that - you can do it! :smile:
  • KJWanzek
    KJWanzek Posts: 13 Member
    Oh Yes I can relate. I can get up at 5am go to the gym or if I don't make it then I go after work. I pass on treats all day at work and keep healthy choices in my desk. ( fiber one 90 calorie snacks ) But when I come home I want a class of wine or 3 ! During the summer we go out of town just about every weekend and sure enough eat good but then drink. The worst part is the word NO doesn't come out of my mouth for the late night snacking that comes after a night of drinking. Why do I do this! If we are alone lots on weekends. One thing I did when my husband was deployed for a year was had nothing bad in the house. This way it way not there for unhealthy snack attact. Even though I did eat 5 apples and peanut butter one night and yes I was sick as a dog the next day. Stay strong Do you only drinking on weekends? Do you have a drink of choice? Have you ever drank the Skinny girls cosmos only 100 calories and pretty good.
  • JessLLoser
    JessLLoser Posts: 235 Member
    I too love my red wine! Just make it fit into your calories. Make your one change this week to log everything, then you might not go over.
  • bdotshaw
    bdotshaw Posts: 90 Member
    I don't think it's the drinking that's the problem, but rather the gluttony that follows. I feel your pain! Counting calories seems sooo unimportant while tipsy. I've had to limit my sweet red wine to once per week (it used to be 2-3 times per week). It sucks, but we really need to accept the fact that our inhibitions are KILLED by alcohol. Is just isn't worth the guilt that inevitably follows the next day.
  • fakeplastictree
    fakeplastictree Posts: 836 Member
    yep. had that problem for awhile. You just have to buckle down and not do it. Thats really the only solution.
  • yea i know how you feel. i like my alcohol as well. Typically what i do, is i exercise and eat right all week long, and then once every 7 days, i allow myself a cheat day, to eat whatever i want, and have some alcohol drinks, and just enjoy myself, and then the next day i get right back on my diet. it hasn't hurt my diet yet. i don't think one cheat day a week will hurt any thing. but every one is different. try just limiting your drinking to maybe one night per week.
  • nerak50
    nerak50 Posts: 17 Member
    hello there. I have the same problem. Seems most are unwilling to mention that particular little problem. LOL I am a solitary beer drinker. Since i have started tracking my food/excercise here I have had the easiest time I have erer had putting away the beer. This is my 4th weekend 'dry'. i remind myself the clothes I want to wear are more important to me than the beer. With me is the problem of what to do with the time i used to devote to drinking. I try to keep busy-write in large letters on the calenda of another weekend without alcohol and it has been working. Gets easier after the first weekend.
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
    Hi everyone! I'm new to this site, but I love it already. My biggest problem with losing weight is drinking alone. Seems that if I'm by myself (which is most of the weekend) I'll tend to drink a few, then forget all about my diet and eat a ton. The next day I'm always determined to stop, but the process inevitably repeats. Anyone else have/had this problem? I'm so good with my meals, but I'm thinking that my drinking days might be over. Thanks!
    Yes, I can relate totally, and for me, it was also the people I ran with.
    Big eaters - heavy drinkers.
    This is actually a great problem, because the solution is so simple.
    QUIT! Just stop drinking altogether and sever your connections with friends that booze it up.
    And make up something like you got religion. Ask them... "Would you like to get together for lime water and to just love Jesus?"
    Poof!
    Problem solved. Those drunks will run for the hills fast, and you can make new connections with clean eating friends who drink and eat in moderation.
    Either that or control yourself.
    Maybe you can around other people partying like a rock-star; I could not.
    I had to break away from my eating and drinking friends.
  • adam1885282
    adam1885282 Posts: 135 Member
    How much do you drink? I quit drinking when I decided to lose weight because I tend to drink too much. Too many calories in beer and too many bad decisions while drinking. Sorry to be blunt, but if you can't control your behavior when you drink, perhaps you should quit drinking. Try it for a week or two and see how it goes. Trust me, you won't miss that one weekend you didn't drink.
  • Lisheeloo
    Lisheeloo Posts: 19
    I'm exactly the same. Ultimately if we are trying to lose weight we shouldn't really, but if I have a drink I try and make the drinks less calorific, ie. a large vodka and slimline tonic is 76 cals - and I'd make sure I'd log these in mfp diary. It made me be over my cals limit but not by too much. Post-drink hunger is always bad though and used to be my downfall, but now I just have water and a slice of toast (if only we loved eating a salad when we're drunk) :tongue:
  • clover5
    clover5 Posts: 1,640 Member
    Hi everyone! I'm new to this site, but I love it already. My biggest problem with losing weight is drinking alone. Seems that if I'm by myself (which is most of the weekend) I'll tend to drink a few, then forget all about my diet and eat a ton. The next day I'm always determined to stop, but the process inevitably repeats. Anyone else have/had this problem? I'm so good with my meals, but I'm thinking that my drinking days might be over. Thanks!

    Try 1 month without drinking any alcohol. See what happens. Then try to drink just 1 glass of wine and then stop drinking for the rest of that night. See what happens. Try it more than once. See what happens. You need to determine if you can control your drinking or not.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    This is the toughest battle for me. Junk food, fast food, fat, etc is EASY compared to the alcohol.

    I implemented a new rule. No drinking during the week. On the weekend, all bets are off (Friday and Saturday), but weeknights are off limits.

    Its really difficult to do. Really really hard. No one has any idea, and I can't really talk to anyone about it with people think I'm coming to them for help as an alcoholic, which I am not.

    With a lot of self-examination, I recently discovered why I do this, and it has helped me to stop. Admittedly, I only made it through one week, last week. That was a big deal for me. I have never gone a whole week without a single drop of alcohol.

    Here's my discovery...this may not be true for you, but it is for me...

    Drinking is the thing I'm doing. So, many evenings, after my workout and all that, I'm a little bored. So, I start to drink. The drinking becomes the thing I'm doing. I tell myself that I'm watching TV or playing my guitar or whatever, but that's not true. What I am doing is drinking. Anything else I am doing is supplementing the drinking. So, the actual activity is drinking. This was a huge discovery for me, and a slight bit depressing, to be honest.

    Last week, I decided not to drink all week. It was uncomfortable. I find that I sit there and bascially do nothing, because I'm used to drinking. I don't like most TV shows, and usually I'm a little tired from the day. So, not really boredom, but more like apathy starts setting in. I found that I need to get up and do stuff. Vacuum the house, throw some laundry in, go for a walk, do some grocery shopping, you know...things normal people do when they have a little free time. I don't ever do those things because I am busy drinking.

    I don't know if this helps. And, I really hate admitting this here, but I am doing it in case it helps you, or anyone else.

    I've come a long way in the past few years, so it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not how you start, but how you end that matters.

    Just so it's clear, I don't drink and get hammered. That's not what I'm talking about. But, I will put away anywhere from a half a bottle to a full bottle of wine every night. I know to some that sounds liek a lot. It's not, really. I can drink a bottle a day easy.
  • arathena720
    arathena720 Posts: 449 Member
    Thanks for all the advice! I think it comes down to no more drinking alone. When I go out, I only have a few because the people I go out with only have a few, so that part's easy. But at home, alone, no kid around? Yep, guess that needs to stop. Maybe my house will be a little cleaner, too! Thanks for the help!
  • chocolateandvodka
    chocolateandvodka Posts: 1,850 Member
    i never drink alone, and generally don't keep alcohol in the house.

    that being said, i drink. a LOT. but i stopped renting movies and buying alcohol because having those things in my house kept me lying on my couch watching movies all day while drunk in my pajamas. not sexy.

    in order to do either of those things, i now have to get up, get dressed, and GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. i've made so many new friends since this decision as a result also.
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
    I drink like a fish. I use to drink every night, but now I cut it back to twice a week because of work. I can finish three quarters of a bottle in one night of Fireball Whiskey.....about 1500 calories alone. Let's not get started on the beer....on a good night I stop at five, on a regular night I'll finish off ten or more....if the alcohol is there, you can be sure it'll be gone shortly.