I'm sure this topic has been brought up before but I couldn't find anything through searching.
Just wondering how people have incorporated alcohol with their diets? I know I will be cutting back on alcohol but by how much? This will be the hardest thing for me to do on weekends for sure.
How has anyone else dealt with it?
P.S. Almost done Day 1 of fast forward....feeling fairly bloated honestly...hopefully that will pass after day 2 and I will see some loss to start me off!
Hi Kristin,
I have always still drank some while on LAWL, even when I was strict. I love a good lemon drop, which is lemon juice, a shot of vodka (1 starch) and some sweetener like stevia or splenda over ice. Also, a LAWL friendly Mojito, lime juice, 1 shot of rum (1 starch) and some crushed fresh mint in a glass with ice, top the glass off with Sprite Zero. A wine spritzer, 3 oz wine (1 fruit)topped off with sprite zero. Cosmo: No sugar added cranberry juice (30 calories for 8 oz, I don't count it as anything), a good squeeze of lime, one shot of vodka (1 starch). I also count Mikes Hard Lemonade Lite as one starch, but I don't think they are all that good.
The to drinking on LAWL is to drink a lot of water that day and the next and only do it once or twice a week.
Kristin, I think the limit is 3 per week, and there might be a restriction of none while on the express plan for the first month. You count 3 ounces of wine as one fruit and one light beer as 1 starch. A regular beer is a hefty two starches. Most mixed drinks are 1 starch plus whatever you mix it with, so Katie's suggestions are all good choices. Another good choice is a wine spritzer, as generally that only uses one 1 fruit exchange for a whole drink. So if you have saved up 2 fruits for a dinner date you can have 2 of these drinks and not feel like that wet blanket of the evening having only one drink. If you alternate drinking club soda and wine spritzers you can have a drink in your hand all night... or at least that is how I've done it at major cocktail parties where everyone else is drinking and you'd get big comments if you didn't have anything. The club soda you can always have unlimited of by the way.... Put a twist of lime or lemon in and you almost feel like you are indulging in something.. but you're not really.
I can't say that I've never gone over the 3 drinks a week in the last 2+ years, so I don't see it as something set in stone, but as a general guideline of a normal week, I think it is a good rule to keep your weight down.
I found that it became easy to abuse the wine = fruit thing, but I know my body was very happy that I gave up beer almost entirely..
Now, when I have a beer, one or two completely satisfies me as its more of a treat than a routine. Plus, beer is now so filling that anymore than that just fills me up and makes me sleepy.
I still really enjoy a good glass of wine, but like Liz, I prefer something sweeter like pino grigios and reislings, so that has to be moderated more than the drier stuff I would imagine.
I think I can easily cut down the alcohol to maybe one night every 2 weeks, but planning on trying to go totally without for awhile. I can't drink hard liquor anyway...need to give up the beer for sure...but I love wine...and pretty much any wine! haha so I will go for the occasional wine I think
Kristin - I used to drink 1-2 wine cooler or smirnoff every night when I got home! I was just so stressed in life and the kids would only add to it, it was my way of "taking the edge off". It wasn't hard for me to quit when I started LAWL, but when we would go out for the weekends I would try really hard to stay within plan, I even found a sugar free margarita mix that tastes pretty good! I started drinking wine, and an occasional mixed drink... my problem now is that I am a total lightweight and am having to re-learn my limit!
Ok, this was my major problem. HA! One of the first questions I had. So I didn't drink for 40 days when I started LA. I was soo proud of my self. I think it helped slowly incoporate the alcohol back in with out going hog wild. HA! So now I mean I drink whatever I want. Mostly wine. During my Weightloss phase I tried to drink either wine or like a bacardi diet. But Katie's options all sounded great. Obviously you don't want to drink every day but every once in awhile is ok. Also try drinking a glass of water along with your drink or in between that always helps me! Good luck Kristin I know you can do it~!
Alcohol
