[Sued1971]

I totally get this! I love a nice "Crunchy" beer (but don't like porters or stouts) and I love rich dark red wines. BUT, right now, I really can't drink them. I drink A LOT, whether it's water, soda, tea, coffee, beer or wine, I drink A LOT. So having a 1/2 glass of wine or 1/2 a beer is like having a sip. And frankly I don't see the point. If I am drinking it's going to be at least 2 glasses. I was in a regular habit of having a glass of wine or beer with dinner then one after.

I decided to do the 21 day challenge they have over in the Support Groups (I am not currently posting there though) And decided to give up drinking calories (this includes juice and soda). I had to restart once (because of labor day weekend) and I paused once (date night) on this 21 days. But I am finding out now that I am getting out off the old habit (it took a couple of weeks.)

I am not really missing my wine or beer. I usually have a GIANT glass of ice water with dinner and one after. If I still want something to drink, it's a decaf tea. Turns out the act of drinking is what relaxes me (or probably more likely, I am dehydrated at the end of the day because I don't have a lot of chances to drink during the day so re hydrating makes me feel better) it doesn't need to be anything alcoholic or fancy (I tried a while back to make refreshing low cal drinks like diet cranberry and tonic water) I just need a drink and I am shocked plain ice water does the trick.

I think after I feel like i have really broken the habit if I want a taste. I can have a taste. And if I want a DRINK I can have water.

[banananutmuffin]

I feel your pain. I am a regular drinker, and haven't yet found a solution for limiting my alcohol intake. I just enjoy it too much.

I am starting to think that cold turkey is the only way for me to go, at least to start.

[Rana]

So, I was in the wine business. I decided to get out of it, nothing related to alcoholism or weight gain/loss. But I tell you this because I love wine, I adore wine, I think wine is the nectar of the gods, and I suspect you see beer as something similar.

When I started on this weight loss journey, I didn't give up wine, I just included it in my daily calories.

That didn't work.

It didn't work for me for the same reasons that one beer don't work for you... inhibitions are down, it's pretty tasty, and food tastes better with it.

I had to cut it out. I promised myself I would add it in when it didn't become a trigger for other food or additional drinking.

The reality now is that one glass of wine is enough. I still get less inhibited and I am prone to overeat even with that one glass (it takes just habits, like always ordering a salad at a restaurant to save the total calorie bomb it can be). And now, if I do drink half a bottle or more (like I used to be able to with friends!) I can't sleep well and I feel like crap the next day.

For me, the best thing to do is NOT drink it and then once in a while, like 2 or 3 times a year, indulge in it, knowing full well what the consequences will be.

Yeah, you kind of have to want to be healthy and thinner, in order to give it up.

[DietVet]

I struggle with this too--and I'm continuing to struggle with it as my weight loss goes along. I'm a daily drinker and was drinking excessively each day--I attribute much of my weight gain over the last few years to alcohol.

At the moment, I'm working on cutting back and moderating my intake. I'm allowing myself a couple of glasses of wine within my calorie limits and that seems to be ok. I do find that on those occasions when I have more than my allotted drinks, I wind up making very bad food choices. I almost wouldn't mind the extra drinks if I didn't inevitably wind up eating crap food that I don't need.

I'm starting to think that I'm going to have to have days of the week where I have no drink at all (not even wine with dinner! so uncivilized!). This would be to try to break the habit and also to improve the ratio of my calories.--For my exercise, I lift heavy weights and work out very hard. I think the fact that on average about 300 or 400 calories a day come from alcohol (with the remaining 1200-1300 from food) is making my recovery from my workouts very difficult.

Grrr. It's a struggle.

[Glory87]

I didn't drink while actively losing weight (I think I had a glass of wine on my birthday and a champagne toast for New Year's). Now that I'm maintaining I probably have 2-3 glasses of red wine per week. I love it and it fits within my maintenance calories.