When I first starting working out I was 19 and I was down to a size 4. I thought I was too thin at that size, but am happy at a 6 or 8. When I turned 21, I started gaining weight back due to drinking. I am now 29 and a size 10 or 12 depending on brand.
I'm not an alcoholic, according to Dave Attell, "If you only drink wine, you are not an alcoholic." lol. I have had my worries about it before, but even my doctor says I'm not drinking to the point of excess. I just wanted to get that out of the way first.
So every Saturday night, I drink a bottle of wine, or 4 glasses. My husband puts on on music and I dance around the house, sometimes to the point of a workout. I get hyper and happy when I drink. Sometimes we have our friends over, but I'm almost always drinking my bottle of wine whether we do or don't.
I know that drinking wine is causing me not to lose weight. I don't gain, but I don't lose. I know alcohol has 7 calories per gram. I love it though, and am often annoyed at other people that are drinking if I am not.
Last weekend, I only drank 2 glasses and I didn't eat dinner, just some cheese and crackers. I had a good time. I had at least done better than usual. The next night, we went over to DH's parents and they are drinkers. They had White Wine Sangria and I was going to have seltzer water and say no but I didn't. It is hard to be around them sober my inlaws are a bit strange and are almost always drunk. I only had 2 glasses.
However, I felt defeated because I still had drank just as much just on two different nights. How does one engage in moderate drinking and still lose weight? I only drink on the weekends and yes I know a glass of Red wine is good with dinner but I mainly just drink on the weekends. Any suggestions on how to cut back?
I do understand... I use to drink wine on a daily basis (and liquor on occasion) but I had to give it up. I realized that my weight and health was more important. When I reach my goal weight, I will have a glass of wine every now and then. But for now, I know I couldn't stop at one glass.
It maybe not what you are drinking but maybe what you are eating when you are drinking....cheese has a LOT of calories however full of protein. Crackers add up also.
Some idiot says "If you only drink wine ,you are not an alcoholic", Many a wino would disagree with that. I don't know you so will not comment other than to say , "What is more important ? Your health or drinking wine ? In my case I decided I would rather be healthy and at an optimum weight. So I find other things to drink that don't cause me not to lose,and I have a good time, anyway.
Hm. Not trying to sound harsh, but I don't know why drinking wine v. something else would make a person not an alcoholic. I believe that if a person has to have a thing to function then that person has an addiction, no matter what that substance is. Four glasses of wine a week definitely isn't drinking to excess, but if you have to have the wine to enjoy your Saturday night or tolerate your inlaws that might signal a bigger problem.
Now that I've said that, let me say I was married to an alcoholic for a long time so the "I'm not an alcoholic because.." comments are a hot button for me. You may be perfectly in control of your situation, and if so I apologize for overstepping.
On to the eating question -
You are likely eating more than you think while you are drinking. I've never heard the 7 calories per gram thing, I know that most red wines are around 100 calories for 4-5 ounces. Whites can go a little higher I think because of the sugar. Don't know what you are drinking, but I think that the wine I have at home has six servings per bottle, so about 650 calories for the bottle. When you add that to whatever else you are eating, you could be over 1000 for that evening. I get snacky when I drink wine, so cheese and crackers wouldn't help me, I would still eat too many. Alcohol also typically causes some fluid retention as well.
You have to decide what is more important to you, the wine or the weight. Try dancing around the house without the wine for a few Saturdays and see how you feel. You might like it, and you will likely see a weight change that you might also like.
I used to have 1-2 glasses of wine several nights a week. I hit a plateau and decided to cut out the wine for a while. I lost another 5 lbs over 2 weeks without any additional changes. I'm back to having wine now that I'm mostly maintaining my weight, just not as much as I used to. I think if you cut down to 1 or 2 glasses during the week you'll see a big difference.
I like wine too. But the bummer is that, even if calories are within loss levels, it definitely stops my loss. so, very limited amts when I want to see scale movement.
I am just going to be blunt. It sounds like maybe it is becoming more of an issue for you because it is making you bring it up with your doc. I am 29 as well and once I cut out alcohol, I was finally able to lose weight for the first time in my life. I was never able to lose it for the ten years that I drank. I never drank alone, only socially, but I did have a problem. Once I found out I was pregnant, I, of course, quit drinking all together and have never gone back to it. I thank God I got knocked up, because now every day is a hangover-free day (which is not to say that I don't drink, but I do maybe five times a year, and to excess maybe once or twice a year). Even if I do have a couple drinks, which is every great once in a while, I have a hangover.
Before, I was never able to stick to any of the low-carb programs because of the no alcohol rule for two weeks. I would maybe lose eight pounds and that's it every time I tried. After I had my son, I started WW and lost 68 pounds in a year, and it was pretty dang easy to tell the truth!
Maybe making wine a treat instead of a staple will inspire you to stay true to your plan. If you don't want to cut it out completely, maybe try making a glass of wine at night your treat. Maybe just a weekend treat even. I always had problems with alcohol and losing weight, I think, mainly because of dehydration. By the time I would get rehydrated and eat a big meal, all the pounds that I had shed the night before piled back on and then some.
Okay, let me get this straight...You have 4 glasses of wine and some munchies on Saturday night and every other day of the week, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, you are totally 100% on plan, and you don't lose a pound? How many calories a day are you eating the other 6 days a week?
Four glasses (8 oz cups) of wine a week does not necessarily an alcoholic make...but I don't think it's those 4 glasses (approx. 32 oz. per pottle) that is stalling your weight, something else is up.
I have read that whatever you eat when drinking alcohol will be stored as fat since your body and liver needs to work to digest the alcohol first before the actual food. I heard it can also mess with your hormones.
Since you said you started gaining when you started drinking, maybe you do have to cut down. Just like anything else with weight loss- some people have to give up carbs, fast food... we are usually sacrificing something for the sake of our health and to fit nto smaller clothes.
I realized it is probably I am eating more than I realize as well. I haven't really been on any plan to be honest. I'm just starting to eat better now. To be honest, I guess I started eating more when I met my DH. The reason being I am a semi-vegetarian and he hates veggies. I only eat fish and very rarely chicken, so cheese and pasta were the only things that we could agree on for a long time. I now have switched to whole grain pasta and he is fine picking out the vegetables so we are getting better.
I must admit I do love cheese. I have started to cut down on it. We actually bought a pound of sliced cheese and 2 weeks ago and there is still at least half of it left and that is between me and DH. Perhaps cheese is more the problem than the wine? I guess I just blamed the wine.
Right now I have a bottle of Pinot Noir from New Zealand, which is a bit pricier than the cheap wines I used to drink. We bought 2 bottles last week and DH wanted to go onto the 2nd one. I told him no, I would rather save it for Saturday and split it with him. So we are saving it for Saturday. I have had nothing to drink at all this week except for Water and Tea. I had one Coca Cola on Sunday morning.
I guess I have been eating like I'm in my early twenties still and haven't changed anything. At least I haven't gained weight in the past year, not that I've stepped on a scale but I'm not too fat to fit into my clothes I bought over a year ago. When I was 21, I was more into binge drinking, now I'm a bit more moderate. I guess it has to be the food too. It's really so hard when your DH eats everything he wants and refuses to eat healthy!
Anyone else have that problem?
He likes whole grain pasta (quinoa and brown rice) and he is cool picking out the mushrooms and other veggies, so I guess he is getting better. I want to be a size 8 for my big 3-0 birthday. I'm so upset about leaving my 20's.
I like to drink wine occasionally but I limit myself to 3 or 4 glasses...now mind you I drink the wine out of a champagne flute and the one I have is thin and small.
I calorie count every day and I write down what I am eating and drinking. This way I can plan for a few flutes of wine a couple times a month. I make sure that I drink plenty of water before and after drinking the wine to combat water retention from the alcohol. I like the idea above to add some seltzer water to the wine, make a spritzer with white wine or a blush...not sure this would work with my preferred red wine but I might try it and see.
I like the idea above to add some seltzer water to the wine, make a spritzer with white wine or a blush...not sure this would work with my preferred red wine but I might try it and see.
I love wine and it keeps me from losing weight
