Wine!
 

Well now that I've got your attention...:D

I was wondering if anyone has had experience with drinking wine and how it affects their weight loss efforts. My DH and I like to have a glass of wine with dinner (maybe 4 oz or so) so I'd say 4 nights out of 7 I have one. I do keep it within my calorie goals for the day (currently around 1850), but I've really not been having the success I'd hoped for (lost 5 pounds in 3 weeks, but for my weight, I'd hoped for a little better). I read somewhere that alcohol is bad for weight loss.. don't remember why though.

Anyone else have a glass of wine regularly and still have good success on their plan, or is this something I have to give up??

I can lose with less than 4 glasses of wine per week, but I lose faster with no alcohol. I also find that my weekly progress is better with 2 nights of 2 glasses of wine, rather than 4 nights of one glass each, but you might work differently.

Wine is certainly still a part of my plan!

Hi! Big drinker here! I am not a 40-something, but I wanted to tell you about what I have found out. From what I have read, your body digests things in a ceratin order - alcohol first, then fat, etc. So, when you drink, your body stops digesting fat and works at ridding your body of the toxin, alcohol. Even if your drink or two is within your calorie limit, it is still going to stop your body from working on burning up other reserves.

A drink an evening will stall my weight loss completely. I have been limiting myself to twice a week. That seems to be a good balance for me. But I have heard women on here that are able to have a galss of wine a night and still lose weight just fine. I think it depends on how fast you want to lose.

Good question! I'm not a wine drinker, but I like to have a few beers on the weekends. When I've had success in the past, I limited it to 3 or less light beers once a week.

I was able to lose steadily without giving it up completely. I favor dry reds, dark beers, and Scotch (not all at the same time, obviously! :P) - but as long as the calories were logged, it was never a show stopper. I never had a big issue with giving up the chips and ice cream - but holy cow, DO NOT try to touch my glass of wine! :D

I've been pomdering the wine thing too sorta. I had bought some mead at Cost Plus Imports a couple of months ago because we had friends visiting and it came with spices for mulling and it just sounded nice to sit out back with a fire and chat away while having a drink. We never got around to it, so I still have 2 big ol' bottles of the stuff waiting to be drink drank drunk. As best I can calculate, it's just a bit under 400 cals for a cup of the stuff, so it would have to be a one time on plan with a plan thing, but I'm not sure it's worth it. Thankfully, I don't drink much/often, but I DO use wine and brandy and beer for cooking with. It didn't seem to acuse any problems that way, perhaps because most of the alcohol burns off.

Tonight we are having Provencal Bean Soup and it uses a 1/2 cup of white wine. When I added it into the pot, it sure smelled good and had me thinking I would really enjoy a glass...but dang, those calories...

Barb

Alcohol slows down my weight loss, maintenance, and I even gain.

I adore my nightly glass of wine. In the past, I've been able to lose weight while still enjoying that, but I think I'm going to have to rethink it this time around.

I refuse to give up my cocktails! I usually have a MGD64 or a mixed vodka cocktail with a calorie free mixer. I love all of the new flavored waters to mix vodka with. I'm probably in the minority but I find that alcohol will speed my weight loss, even in maintenance. Most likely because alcohol seems to wipe out my appetite--not always a good combo!

I get a hankering for a beer or a glass of wine now and again. Overall, I do try to not drink for a couple of reasons. One, nutritionally it's basically empty calories; two, when I drink I have an increased appetite and it's harder for me to resist eating more. So, I do include it from time to time, but for me it tends to hinder my efforts.

Alcohol is a DISASTER to my diet plan. I drink one night on the weekends now and then. When I do, I'm always down on the scale the next morning (dehydration) but up after that and spend the rest of the week getting back to where I was. My body must not process it right.

haven't got anything constructive to add, except mmmmmmmmm....wine......