All Right, DANGIT! Time to cut out the booze!
 

I stepped on the scale this morning for my weekly weigh-in and I'm up nearly FOUR POUNDS from last week.

??? :?: ???

So, I went back and looked at my week.

Well, last Thursday (weigh-in day), I was very pleased with my weight and another inch lost on my waist. I also got some very good news about a situation that had been causing me a LOT of stress for a couple of weeks.

Of course, that led to a nice celebration at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I did very well with my food choices... but that pitcher of margarita was followed by a bottle of wine and... well... you know.

Friday, I had two glasses of red wine with dinner.

Saturday, a bottle of champagne on a date.

Sunday, my husband and I had two bottles of wine with dinner out. Continuing the celebration? Or is it now a habit?

Monday, nothing.

Tuesday, hard apple cider.

Wednesday, nothing.

Okay, but that's FIVE days out of SEVEN when--even when my food choices were "on plan" or within only 100 calories of being right on track--I added booze (and not a small amount, most of the time) to the mix.

So, now I'm certain I've developed a habit.

I like how it feels to get a little loose. I like the celebration of a toast. I like altering my mindset a wee bit because I keep myself so tightly wound and in control during the rest of my day. I like to be a social drinker in social situations.

I don't get drunk. I "hold my booze" well due to being such a big girl and having a high tolerance. I don't binge drink or black out or anything that makes me worried about something like alcoholism. If anything, I'm hyper-sensitive to the possibility of any addictive behavior, so I'm always mindful of that.

But OBVIOUSLY, I'm going to need to cut out/cut back (way back) the boozing if I want my weightloss to continue.

I posted this in the CHICKS IN CONTROL section because this does seem like a control issue, a binge-like situation, a trend that could lead toward something harder to break out of if I don't get it under control (but mods, please move if I'm wrong in thinking this is where this goes--thanks). I'm hoping that some of you amazing people might have some suggestions on how to break this cycle.

Things to say to myself/do for myself when:

1. I want that first drink.
2. I convince myself that I'm "good" otherwise, so I can afford the drink.
3. I get bratty and say, "I can have whatever I want, dammit," and have a drink.
4. I feel sorry for myself for preventing myself from having a drink.

I've tried using logic in each of these situations, before. And apparently, this isn't a logical situation most of the time. It's tied up in so much other "stuff" that I can't reason with it and say, "Hey, Grace, just choose NOT to have a drink today. You'll feel better tomorrow," and believe it, more than a couple of times a week.

Even if I could just flip the numbers to having "two drinking days" and "five non-drinking days" per week, I know that would be a victory. *Usually*, that's about the ratio I live with. Something just got off-kilter this past week, and I'm trying to get back on track...

...when what I really want after that "bad" weigh-in is a nice cocktail. ;) (Kidding! I'm "dry" today. It's tomorrow I'm concerned with.)

Thanks in advance for any tips you might have! :D

Thanks for your honest post, Grace. This is my current battle too. Of course there's always the munchies that go with the wine once I get started.

I've decided to instigate a few new rules for myselfr:
1. Ration what I have in the house cause if it's there I'm gonna enjoy it. Budget wise I know the larger bottle of wine is a better deal, but an open bottle is an empty bottle at my house, so I'm gonna start buying only the regular bottles and limit myself that way. (At one point I bought only the individual serving bottles!)
2. I live alone so it is so easy to come home from work, open that bottle of wine while I fix dinner and then finish it off after dinner. Instead I'm going to force myself to drink something else with dinner if I'd already had a pre-dinner glass of wine rather than continuing.
3. Working back up to this one, but in previous successful WW efforts I forced myself to drink alcohol only if I had activity points to trade for it. You should have seen that trreadmill flying :)
Hope some of this helps and I'm looking forward to reading other responses.

Thank YOU, Parsp. I appreciate your quick reply. And yeah, the will power certainly gets wonky when the booze get in the brain, eh? ;) Luckily, I've been pretty good about NOT doing the munchies thing, because I figure I've "spent" my "snack budget" on the alcohol itself. MOST of the time. ;)

Ooh, that's so true! "An open bottle is an empty bottle." So so so true. Not every time, but certainly often enough that it's worth going with the smaller ones and not keeping stuff "on hand." Good one!

Oh, that's sooo hard though, isn't it? Because it's yummy and you've already had some... and, yeah, I see where I get into this bind. I figure, "in for a penny, in for a pound." That's not a great mindset on this issue, eh? ;)

Oooh, another great tip! THANK YOU! I think we're getting a Wii Fit here soon (and if not, whatever, anything physical is going to have to do, dangit) and I love the idea of having to trade off in order to get the "reward" of the booze.

That'll both keep me from drinking as often AND increase my exercise a LOT, should I want the drink more than not want to exercise!! :carrot:

You've reminded me that back when I was on a "gym binge" (like 100 days straight of gym days), I really curtailed my drinking simply because it was just so much *easier* to work out if I didn't have the dull ache of the "one too many rounds" from the day before.

What a wonderful tip! I'll have to EARN my cocktails. I love it! Much more likely to either WORK to earn it OR just cut the drinking way back (win-win, either way, right?). Excellent. Thank you.

Absolutely!! Very helpful already. Thank you!!! And I too am eager to see how this thread progresses.

I'm already feeling more hopeful, so thanks for that! :D

I also like to have a cocktail. It can lead to bad choices and water retention so I have been trying to limit intake. I am a calorie counter and a lower carb- type eater. I factor the bevvie (usually wine or a vodka drink) into the count and take it from there.
Last weekend I drank beer for the first time in a very long time. You read my post following that escapade...

Wedding anniversary this weekend and 50th birthday next - any suggestions for how to indulge without falling off the wagon. I'd love to have a special drink or dessert or something!!!!
Just started calorie counting and daily walking Sunday and have lost over 3 pounds (need to update my stats) so far and don't want a setback. Before I decided to do this, I bought all the ingredients for a most excellent Mexican Mudslide (basically a kahlua-amaretto-bailey's choco shake) which is most tempting...
Going out to dinner for the anniversary (French restaurant who's food I don't like much, which is good) but spending my birthday at a cabin in the woods...

Thanks for the great tips! I've been struggling myself. I love coming home from work and having a glass of wine. The problem is when I have a glass of wine... and another one ... and next thing you know, no mas wine to be had. I will definitely have to give these strategies a try!

As the daughter of a recovering alcoholic (my mom has 19 years of sobriety now), whose whole family on that side are alcoholics, a couple of things I've gleaned from them. One, not everyone who is an alcoholic "binges" or blacks out. Yes, those are signs of alcoholism, but they are not the only signs. Generally speaking, the alcoholics in my family have traits in common such as being able to hold their alcohol well, being social drunks, keeping drinking to the evening hours, having "just a few," and daily intake. My mom says she is what's called in AA a "high bottom" drunk...someone whose entire life didn't have to be in the gutter before she was able to realize she needed to change. And yet, she's still an alcoholic--the key point being inability to regulate intake.

I would suggest that if you continue to find that you have problems regulating your intake, it's preferable to quit entirely (even forever) rather than allowing alcohol to continue sabotaging your goals and your life.

Somehow, I was fortunate enough to avoid the clear genetic tendency toward alcoholism that dominates my mom's side of the family. (My sister seems to have avoided it too.) I drink 4 measured ounces of red wine with dinner merely because I want to improve my health and raise my HDL levels--generally I don't like the way alcohol makes me feel. However, I have my own addiction to sugar which is only controllable by complete abstention, so I guess it balances out :D

Good luck in quitting.

Yes. I do that too. And that's how I know it's not just staying within my calorie count that's gonna make a difference. It's actually choosing the *right* kind of calories, it seems. I can stay within calories every day and still not lose weight, and I think it has to be the booze to blame! (Or at least partly.)

Ah yes. Good point. ;) :hug:

First off, congrats!! What a great week or two!! Very exciting! :D

I really like the tips Parsp suggested above. Really good. I'm going to start trying those for myself!

How delightful! Have a marvelous celebration! :D

Yeah, I agree with you, Parsp's suggestions are awesome and may just be the fix I've been looking for. :D Yay!

Congratulations to her! How wonderful!!

Excellent points. I wasn't suggesting that binging and blacking out are what equals alcoholism by any means. I was simply setting the stage for the post: letting everyone know where I am and where I am not. Sorry for the confusion!! I don't want to make it seem like I know all of the "things" that equal alcoholism or any addition, by any means. I was just sharing where I am.

That is fascinating! Very interesting perspective. Thank you. I'd never heard of that and think it's definitely something to think about.

Oh, my! I never said alcohol was sabotaging my life. LOL LOL Oh, no! :D Ugh, it's so hard on a message board sometimes. I was tracking five days out of the past seven that showed me my weightloss was surely being sabotaged by the drinks. But more than anything, I'm trying to keep what you're describing from happening at all! There's no "continuing to sabotage [my] goals and [my] life" going on here.

I absolutely appreciate and am grateful for your concern. I'm sure, with a (side of the) family of alcoholics in your life, you're sensitive to these issues and I do really appreciate that. :hug:

So glad you've avoided that genetic tendency! Must be a relief!

Again, I thank you for your concern and I appreciate your post. :D

Well, not looking to quit, but I'll accept your "good luck" toward finding a better balance than I've had in this past week. ;) If you'll allow me to apply that luck in that way. ;)

Again, thank you everyone for these great posts.

Parsp has me so inspired to try some good strategies out that I look forward to tomorrow when the "opportunity" comes around and I make a better choice.

That's all any of it is about after all, isn't it? Making better choices. And doing so consistently enough to have a long-term impact.

:carrot:

Thank you, everyone!!! :D

I'm going to have to run a marathon this week in order to indulge as much as I'd like!! :)

Ooh! Sounds like a party is ahead!! :) :D :carrot:

I'm loving this "exercising to earn the treat" philosophy. It really will have so many added benefits!!

Hee!

One day down. Followed my own advice last night and purchased only 1 small bottle of wine for the evening. DS's were there and cooked dinner so all I had to do was sit and watch and enjoy. When it came time for dinner I asked for WATER with my meal (yea me!) Glad I found fellow supporters in this journey!

One day down for me too. :D :carrot:

Parsp, I'm so glad to be on this journey with you. You've given lots of support and just knowing I need to come back here and be accountable helped a great deal last night, as I headed home from a business meeting and considered pulling into the market to pick up something to eat and a bottle of wine to go with it.

Instead I came home and ate something I had here. No drink.

It was JUST FINE.

Today will be the challenge, but I'm going to commit to "earning" any drink with activity "points." I'm not familiar enough w/ WW or any other program that tabulates what exercise is "worth," but I think I can at least figure out that I have to do SOMETHING more physical than sitting at my desk and working in order to earn a cocktail today.

Wish us all luck!

Yay, us! :hug:

I limit myself to either only on friday evening or only on saterday evening ..depending on my hubby's day off ! and the babysitter .... :D ( sometimes this is friday AND Saterday evening ) LOL I take 2-3 shots of captain morgans with diet coke plus ( since dieting I've found its reduced to one ... don't know whats up with that but my body must be changing ) its a real treat for me because its also the ONLY time I ever drink anything w/caffine in it :lol: wooo its saterday whip out the diet coke plus!!! :cheer2: :lol:

I don't intend on quitting this pattern unless I see it stunting my weight loss because it doesn't effect me any other way ....

I think for you .. you just have to set your self your special allowed times and make sure that is somewhat limited !

it is much easier for me because the week days consist of motherly /wifely dutys ( my motivation not to drink at night )

jsut think of any excuse why you CANT drink instead of thinking why you CAN have a drink ... it really works for me :)

:lol: this is a big thing for me ... sad to say .. that I use to limit myself .. I justify my drinking times ... like say I tell myself .... I'm gonig to get all the bedroom closets cleaned out and organized today or declutter a whole area completely( friday & saterday also happen to be my time to do cleaning I don't durring the week days ) and then night time I feel this big sigh of relief if I completed it and I can reward myself ... If I don't get it done .. I don't even desire my "friday night drink" because I feel like I didn't "earn" it ..... my drinking would not be justified in my own mind ..

(I never realized how Odd this is untill typing it out and re-reading it :rofl:)

That's awesome. I wish I had the rigors of a "regular schedule" to help define "work time" and "play time" for me. I mean, I wouldn't trade my erratic schedule and extremely flexible work/life for a more "standard" job, by any means, but it's clear that it would be helpful for the lines to be more clearly drawn, at least when it comes to dealing with "play time" and limits.

You're absolutely right. I need to remember that a "treat" is just that: A TREAT. And that should make it something that happens infrequently enough to be special. (Then I'd bet I'd need to remind myself that just because I'm only drinking once per week (or whatever the treat interval becomes) doesn't mean that one time needs to be a HUGE blow-out, since it's the only chance for whatever number of other days that I'll get to "have at it." *sigh* This all-or-nothing mentality is at the root of so much "control" behavior and probably the weight issues to begin with.)

Anyway! Yes. You're right.

Thank you. Great tips!! Everyone has been so very helpful, here. I love this place!!! :hug:

Hey, whatever works, right? :D If it's helping you reach your goals to have that mindset, then it's "odd" but "essential," probably. ;) I've gotten really good about not judging my little "tricks" for staying on plan or keeping myself aligned with my goals. I realize we ALL have something we do or say to ourselves to keep us on-target. And what works for each of us might not work for the others.

But I love it when I hear/read suggestions here that look like they might work for me. I can try 'em out and see if others' strategies work with mine. That's awesome!!!

Part of what makes this community so dang great. :D

Everyone, let's have an amazing weekend! :cool:

Years ago I maintained my weight and still had alcohol by having to "earn it" with exercise. I would ride up this horribly long hill for an hour (half hour back) on Saturday mornings with the visual picture in my head of the beer or whatever I would have later when we were all "relaxing" and "having a good time". It worked in terms of weight for a long time, but then I finally had enough and "lost it"- weight ballooned.... Anyway- I can't drink anymore because although at times I can do the control thing I find that takes up way too much of my mental energies, and there are times that an ocean full would not be enough. Everybody has to find their own path- just like with weight loss- the "click" is internal not external from others. 3FC is a good place to be.

Excellent post and wonderful points.

So far, the "earn it" plan is working... but of course, I'm only a day or so into this thing. ;)

I agree that weightloss (and maintenance) is all about remaining in touch with what's working, staying mindful of choices, and choosing "better" more often than choosing "worse." And I love your point about mental energies.

I've gotten some good ideas of things to try out to find what my "click" is, but you're absolutely right. It has to be an internal click, even if the suggestion comes from someone else for us to try it.

Yay!

It's so hard sometimes even bringing up alcohol. We're all here struggling with a variety of issues, but at times it seems questions or struggles with alcohol have to be framed very carefully, or someone will want to brand you an alcoholic. Just seems odd that we all have such different abilities to consume or abstain from a variety of foods/drinks, but this one seems to draw a lot more judgment than many others. Someone who goes overboard with pizza is gently comforted, but someone who goes overboard with margaritas, well, they might have a "problem" (unlike everyone else here).

Don't get me wrong, education is a great thing, and helping each other to identify a disease is definitely an act of caring. Just sometimes, it is just a question, not a cry out for help.

Thanks, Silverstar. I agree.

I actually searched the board pretty thoroughly before even posting my initial request for tips because I was sure this had the potential of being a "hot topic" or certainly misunderstood somehow. I chose my words very carefully because--while I absolutely understand, appreciate, and sympathize with the issues related to alcohol addiction and abuse--I don't *have* "a drinking problem" nor do I want to make light of the issues those who *do* struggle with alcoholism face.

So, I really tried to make sure it was clear that I had had a week of overindulgence (just like you said, no different than having overindulged in food, really--simply a matter of successive not-great choices for someone actively engaged in a quest to lose weight and get fit) and was hoping to get some tips on how to make better choices for the next few days while getting this new "habit" out of my system. Some ideas for ways to get on-track until the bliss of feeling so much more in control of my journey took over and made it easier to say no to a cocktail (because not having one and staying on-track would feel so much better, once I had some distance from the week of play).

I know and trust though that everyone here has only posted from a place of caring and concern and empathy and support and encouragement, so I'm very pleased. I didn't want to come off as defensive, when--well--defending my relationship with booze, but I certainly did hope to keep the record straight. We all come to our computer screens and keyboards with our own life history and our own issues we've experienced, so of course we'll read some posts and put 'em through a filter that might not actually apply to the person's initial request for tips or whatever.

I'm just so pleased to be on track today and to have some really solid plans for how to stay on track in the future, due to the posts in this thread. If I feel myself saying, "Ooh, a glass of wine would be so nice," I can simply reply with, "Yes, it will be great... right after you hit the gym to earn that sucker." ;)

What is it that Freud said? "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." ;) :smoking:

I like that :lol:

:yes: Meeeeee toooooo! ;) :p

Yes, and after reflecting a bit, I'm a little touchy on the topic. It's hard because it seems to so charged. I once posted (not at 3FC) about loving a couple of nice cold beers with pizza, and was barraged by comments that, for a woman, more than one drink in a day constitutes alcoholism. Whoah - hold the presses! I'm a big girl (5'8") and two beers a week does not necessarily mean I have a "problem", let alone alcoholism.

I think 99% of the time, these comments are given out of a genuine sense of caring and concern, and we're all here for help. We need support, encouragment, tips, sympathy, companionship, laughs and who knows how many other things. Sometimes we need education and information, too. We're adults. We can apply the facts to our own situation, please don't draw conclusions that may not be there. One thing no one here needs is to feel like they're being judged or diagnosed.

And in all my ranting I forgot to congratulate you on staying on track today. Way to go!!!

Thank you so much.

I am really pleased with how well today has gone.

And I know I have you wonderful people to thank for part of how "easy" it has been. (Note: It's never truly "easy," now is it? ;) But you know what I mean. Knowing I could check in here has made it much more "do-able," let's just say.)

Thank you, thank you. A very good day!

:D

Okay I absolutely relate. I'm not an alcoholic, but I LOVE alcohol. I like my spirits, and I like them straight.. Although its probably not healthy I still drink because when I lose weight, and I start drinking again...how can maintain my weight? So I'm learning to lose weight with alcohol. I just worked out my calories in whisky and counted it into my day plan, or for example reduce my daily intake by about 50 cals per day which means I can have a few drinks at the weekend.

As long as you count it into your plan theres absolutely no reason why you cant ave your alcohol :)

I just have to say two things. One, way to go for staying with your plan! And two, you've inspired me!

My mini goal: No alcohol AT ALL until our anniversary. Alcohol seems to stall and slow my weight loss (not put pounds on, I just seem to slow or stop losing).

So:


http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt...46c4/event.png


Now I'm not an alcoholic, I don't drink every day and I usually only have 1-2 glasses of wine when I do drink....giving up my wine for 3+ weeks is a small mini goal I can live with.

After the anniversary is over, I'll do another mini goal to cut my alcohol intake down again.

Exactly! Unless it's something I'm willing to give up at goal (**** no!) then it shouldn't be something I have to give up completely during the process of weightloss. Cut back on? Yes. Be mindful of the impact it has? Absolutely. Earn up the "treat" with extra workouts? Yup! I'm all over it. :D

So, thanks for the "me too." It's so helpful to be able to check in here and have so much support and encouragement, get tips and ideas, just share and share and share.

Y'all rock! :D

Thank you! And YAY! Yay you! :D Awesome! :) I love that!!

Right! That's what I have generally found--until this week of five drink days--that I've slowed my weightloss, not gained. Five days was definitely too many. So, it's all about balance and learning where the happy medium is between being so restrictive that I go and binge drink to "make up" for having been so disciplined (eesh, what an awful pattern!) and being so free that I derail the overall goals.

So, yup. A couple days a week with adult beverages will work with my--slow, but steady--weightloss... especially as I "earn" the cocktails with extra exercise. I can't tell you how much I love this plan.

I was actually thinking about having a drink tonight and decided, IF I do that, I'll WALK to the market--and not the nearest-by one--to buy one thing, rather than drinking something that's already here in the house. (An ACTIVE choice. And getting me out of the habit of believing if it's on hand, it's fair game. Keeps me very mindful of exactly how much I'm buying to have NOW and all of these are good ways to stay on track with the goal.)

Yay!!!!!!!!! :D

I love it! I wish you loads of luck and an early happy anniversary! :carrot: Please check in and let us know how it's going. So dang cool. :D

Yay! Thank you for sharing how you're inspired so that I can be further inspired by this thread.

So awesome, here! Yay! :cool:

I definitely struggle with self-control issues, especially during times of stress, boredom or exhaustion. Either I'm rewarding myself or giving myself an extra push (Taco Bell, anyone?) to try to get through an event.

I'm sure I'll find a post somewhere else about emotional eating... But I tend to reward myself too often with food or alcohol. I don't like that in myself.

And the comment about finishing off the bottle? Of course! Why not! And I don't even bother to buy something like ice cream. It wouldn't last.

So I worry a bit about it... The "reward" issue... because I think that really sabotages the effort. So... for any long timers... What substitutes do you use? And I dearly wish I loved the gym as much as Meg.....

I'll defer to those who've been on this path much longer than I have, but if it helps, I can say that I haven't been to Taco Bell since January (just before I started my journey with BistroMD) and the other day I was headed home from a meeting and STARVING. I knew I would have to wait for 20 minutes once I got home for the food "on plan" to be ready to eat, so I thought, "Well, do what you used to do! Hit the Taco Bell drive-thru!"

And immediately--just from the thought of it--I felt ill. Like, sick to my stomach. Like, there was no place in my belly for all of the cheese or beans or grease or sauce or ANYTHING they had to offer. And I used to LOVE Taco Bell!!!

I didn't even bother. It seemed (in my head/heart/tummy/wherever) to be a very bad idea. And I'd not felt like that in MONTHS. It was actually a good thing.

So, I don't know what that means, other than maybe it's all about the amount of time you spend away from something... and then you can more easily navigate away from it when habit wants to override.

Not sure. But it felt really interesting to me! And I noticed it. And I came home and ate food that I had here instead. And it was just fine. :dizzy: Sometimes, that's "good enough." And if that keeps me off the "junk" even one day more, that's a really good thing, IMO.

As for the "finishing off the bottle" issue, that's a tough one. I've posted before about being the kid of depression-era parents and how that had/has an impact on my ability to EVER throw anything away.

That said, my Week 20 delivery of BistroMD arrived and I had to stock the freezer. My hubby's ice cream was in the freezer--and that sucker has been tempting me for THREE WEEKS now (HOW can he keep a carton of ice cream for three weeks with only two scoops taken out of it???????? CRAZY, right????)--and there was no choice. I had to get rid of something: my diet food or his ice cream. Ran out of space. Had to do it.

So I tossed out his remaining $2 worth of ice cream and told him I owed him some, if he felt he needed more. He said, "Nah. Didn't like it much anyway. And I need to lose a few. Better to toss it out. Good call. Thank you."

SHEESH!

I don't live in that world, for sure, but it was very nice to get to experience both throwing out food (pushing against the triggers in my emotional food/lack self) and knowing that just because something is IN the house doesn't mean it must be eaten/consumed.

That's been a good lesson for me, that "it can live here without my overdoing it" thing.

I don't use all of my deodorant at once.
I don't use all of my perfume at once.
I don't use all of my shampoo at once.

Yet for some reason I'll decide the sun cannot rise with a drop still living in a bottle I opened the night before!

Heck, I remember learning this lesson when I worked at a restaurant in my teens.

I had NEVER taken leftovers home. I was taught (again, parents = depression era) to be a member of the clean plate club and that meant you ordered exactly what you were going to eat and if you spent the money by ordering it, you'd better eat it all right there in the restaurant.

Well, I worked in a restaurant for a couple of years and learned that MOST people take home leftovers or leave half their orders on the table to be thrown out. WHAT???? I was shocked! But it rocked my world to learn that. And as soon as I learned that "it needn't happen all at once" with food, I think I started to learn that I could apply that to a bottle of booze.

Ah...

I came in to edit two words and ended up adding a sonnet. Apologies. ;) Got a lot to say on the matter, obviously.

The one thing I'll eat at Taco Bell (and only when I'm in a huge hurry) is

Fiesta Chicken Taco Salad. No beans (pounded and processed so much there is really no nutritional value at all). No salsa (sugar in it). No shell (heavy empty carbs).

I'm low carb though so the small amount of sour cream and cheese is no issue. Once you get rid of the stuff above it's about 80% lettuce.

Ohhhh, that taco bell.......

Just wanted to report in I've been on two walks in the last 24 hours (40 minutes last night and 20 minutes this morning)! Is that a trend I see starting?

I think it might be, Parsp. :D

I've been walking every day and have only had two "drink days" this week, which is exactly the "flip" I was hoping for.

:carrot:

Let's keep it goin'!!!!! :D :hug:

I don't think I could ever give up alcohol! I'm in university so the tequila and vodka are often involved in my nights out. Since going on a diet I stick to shots or diet rum and coke. So far I haven't found that it stalls me.

Wow - I can totally relate! I haven't read the entire thread yet, so will probably come back to comment more after I've done so (We're getting off early today, so I'm about to head out the door!) Just wanted to say that red wine is my downfall also. I have made a conscious effort to only drink on weekends (Fri-Sun) and it really helped. Unfortunately, I met a friend for dinner on Tuesday and ended up having a few glasses of cabernet. Hence my inability to meet my goal this week.

This weekend is going to be tough with the holiday and all but I'm going to try to have vodka and soda water instead, since it's less calories and sugar, and try NOT to go overboard. Wish me luck!

Yeah, I don't know if in my future I could/would give up *anything* entirely. ;) Who knows how my tastes may change or what sort of changes I'll experience physically, emotionally, or otherwise!

I'm glad you're not experiencing stalls. That's awesome! It seems that if I keep it down to two nights per week, I'm stall-free. So, that's the goal for now. I feel free to revise it later as needed. ;)

Good luck!

I think it's great that you can keep your drinks to the weekend. My life is just so NON weekday/weekend that it's tough to do that sort of boundary-setting based on what day of the week it is.

But I am finding keeping it to twice a week is do-able. I just have to pick--ahead of time if at all possible--which day or days it's gonna be, so I set myself up for success instead of a slip. ;)

Good tip on the vodka and soda. I might try that next time, rather than the wine.

Good luck this weekend! Let us all do a great job with reaching our goals!

:carrot:

It's great b/c you can also mix and match - flavored vodka and/or flavored soda water. I like raspberry, so I'll usually have raspberry vodka with lemon soda or plain vodka with raspberry soda. Any combination is good, so it feels like you're not drinking the same boring thing :D

I tried vodka soda last night and it was so yummy! Really tasty and quite refreshing.

I didn't feel like I was missing out while others had beers and maragritas and mojitos.

Very nice treat--and I approached it as a treat--and not something I could easily binge on, so things stayed in control.

AND we walked to fireworks and back (about two miles each way), so I got in that exercise to earn the beverages, just as planned. Yay! :D

:carrot:

Thanks everyone. Hope you're all having a delicious holiday weekend!

I'm still hanging in there. Wanted a (light) beer this past holiday but I held out for my commitment.

Am looking forward to popping a bottle of Dom with my husband on our anniversary. :)

I know the alohol dilemma all too well!! As a college student staying at school over the summer and working, there is not much to do here after work except go out to bars a few times a week. I've switched to drinking a couple Michelob Ultras (95 calories a bottle) instead of fruity mixed drinks, but it sure adds a lot to my daily calorie intake. Why can't they just make calorie free alcohol? :)