I have a question for all you ladies. I am a newbie for sure just sarted 10/31/07. I am still within my first 4 weeks. So for the first 4 weeks I am trying not to drink. However when that is up I am definately thinking about going out and celebrating how good I have been and having a few drinks. He he. Any suggestions for my night out. Of course I am planning on staying POP. So any suggestions for what would be best to drink. And is it bad to save all my starches and fruits for drinking? Thanks for any advice I appreciate it!

As for the alcohol, how about a White Wine Spritzer? A little white wine in a tall glass of ice, fill with club soda & add a squeeze of lime. It's about as low cal & low carb as you'll get. Just remember though that your body will burn the alcohol for energy and save the calories from your food as fat. So you'll want to do a little extra exercise to burn off the excess calories from the alcohol.

Cecil, I'm not on the same diet plan you are, but I'm in the same boat. When I go out I usually bring those Crystal Light packets with me. They are delicious mixed with vodka. And, since vodka comes in so many flavors it doesn't get boring.

Cecil, I have definitely saved fruits and starches for a few drinks. I think they say 3 per week max to be considered POP, and mostly I try to stay in that limit, but I suppose I've gone a bit over a time or two, especially when I was on vacation. 1 light beer is just one starch. I don't know if the new plans have that 3 per week limit, but I do think it is a good way to moderate yourself.

The plan allows for you to exchange one fruit for a glass of wine and two starches for a beer... (If I recall correctly)...

However, this is not an excuse to give up your daily starches and fruits to have multiple drinks in one setting... That's how the WW people get into trouble by saving their points for the bad stuff..

This early on in your program, your body will be less forgiving for going off plan for a night... If you have multiple drinks, don't be surprised if you go up a bit or at least not lose much... I'd keep it to one or two drinks at the most.. And then make sure you get plenty of water the next day to help rehydrate your system...

Cecil - you won't like what I'm going to say, but alcohol is the reason I have only lost 15 lbs in 16 months. I won't give it up. And I'm not a lush, but maybe one time a week I have a few beers (okay, may four or five, but they are light!). Then the next day, I want food and then the 2 lbs I lost that week are back on.

If you follow the plan (or at least the plan I was on), you are only allowed 3 drinks per week and 1 light beer = 1 starch; 1 oz of hard liquor = 1 starch and one 3 oz glass of wine =1 fruit. Maybe if you stick to these amounts, you'll be okay. I'm not sure how many fruits and starches you get, but you definitely have to count the alcohol as part of those daily servings (that's what my program book says).

Okay, Dan and I were posting at the same time...he's much wiser than I am and, obviously, been way more successful. Do what he says!

Yup - alchol really affects some - and I am one of those...I usually save my two little fruits and have 6 oz of wine...the next day I am up two lbs and it takes me all week to get rid of that.... but, once in a while it is sooo worth it...we just have to keep on living, no matter what otherwise we will give up --- and that would be worse.
Moderation in everything...

Dan, regular beer = 2 starches and light beer = 1 starch

1 glass of wine is generally 2 fruits, since 3 ounces is not much, but if you have a wine spritzer, I think that would count as one fruit, since you don't get much wine in there.

If you are sticking with the 3 drinks or less per week and fit them into your exchanges you can totally be successful losing weight. It is best to not try to have all 3 drinks in one night (especially if you are at a party with a lot of food available). Bad judgement almost always follows that.

Just chiming in to say that the new plans have the same limits - consume infrequently- alcohol up to 3 times a week.

week 46
LAWL franchise center
Plan 2 with lites
total lost 56 lbs.
Original goal of 50 lbs lost – achieved
New goal to lose total of 65 lbs

You guys that was a lot of great information... of course I am kinda bummed. But Does 3 times per week mean 3 drinks per week or only drink within the program 3 times per week? I am confused. This is what I was planning and by what you guys said sounds like it's not on program. Ugh! 3 3oz glasses of wine. 2 shots or Tequila and 2 Bacardi diets. I am awating a response I am sure it won't be what I want to hear. But thanks for all of your thoughts and information it is greatly appreciated!

I have saved the starches all day so I could enjoy several Bacardi and Diet cokes one night. (Okay, it was my baby cousin's Sweet 16 and she had 80 something classmates I needed those Bacardi and Diet Cokes to make it through the evening ) What I could tell you is, me who was known to out drink my college guy friends, woke up the next morning with a HANGOVER! Lesson learned--savign starches for liquor consumption is not smart, I should've gone over a starch and at least had something in my system to absorb the liquor.

What I do now is I order a cosmo or a sea breeze, and count it as a fruit and a starch, the fruit juice slows down the liquor and I can sit and sip my drink. I've also saved 2 fruits and mixed 6 ounces of sangria in a hurricane glass with seltzer and ice, then I can sip it through a staw over several hours.

Worse comes to worse pour some Crystal Lite into a martini glass and have yourself psychollogically belive you're dirnking liquor. I do that with Diet Cranberry Gingerale quite frequently, it's all about the psychological aspect.

Cecil, I always took it to mean 3 drinks per week.

Cecil - good try, but it means you only can have a total of 3 drinks in a one week period. You can have one drink on three separate days or have all three drinks on one day...but that's it. I'm still trying to figure out how the French stay so thin and drink wine at most of their meals????

Ha ha ha! I figured so. Ugh! Very frustrating. I don't know how I am going to do this? I guess I didn't know what I was getting my self into. 16 days of no drinking I think that's the longest I've ever went. I guess it will be good for me. But I don't know that I like it all to much. Wish me luck!

Cecil, I'm gonna sound like a hardass here, so I apologize in advance...

The only way this plan works is if you follow it too the letter. A few months from now, as your body is better able to handle it, an infrequent cheat won't affect you that much, but for now, you gotta stick to it.

In college, I played rugby and joined a fraternity - both of which are associated with drinking.. In recent years as professional and family life took precidence, my drinking waned, but I still would drink when out with friends or hanging with the guys. On weekends, I'd usually have a couple of beers after the kids went to bed...

My point is that it was hard to give up, but I was so bound and determined to lose weight that it became easier than I thought it would. After a month or so, I didn't miss it at all and it became a real treat to have a couple small glasses of wine or the occasional beer...

What I'm saying is that you have to exercise some willpower and just deal with the fact that you can't maintain ANY of the kind of consumption you're used to, whether it's food or drink. The reward is that after a night out with your pals, if you stick to the plan, you will not onle reap the rewards of not gaining weight, you'll feel AWESOME about your ability to say no. The mental rewards are mandatory to make the physical rewards tangible.

Just do it.. If I can, you can...