My one glass of wine didn't seem to be a problem until the summer started.. Now with all these outdoor bbq's and parties and such that one glass is not only turning into several.. but it makes me eat more than I probably would... I don't enjoy wine without a little something.

I didn't think even this was a really big problem until just now after reading a post Glory wrote about being cautious about alcohol. I dearly respect her opinions...so I as I began to think about giving it up for awhile I felt a tightness and agitation...

This proves that I should give it up. Something is not right if the mere thought of abstaining makes me feel this way. I think I really need to do this..

So here is day 1... off to a dinner part later tonight.. but I WON'T. I know I won't 'cause I just wrote it down.

Maybe I'll even feel better in the end and see better results with my effort to burn up this extra mass.

Hey Jayde, I didn't give up wine, I love the stuff! When I was losing weight, I didn't drink it just because I couldn't afford the empty calories (the same way I didn't eat a lot of peanut butter, which I adore). Unlike fast food french fries which I planned to give up forever, I knew that I would re-introduce wine (and peanut butter) when I reached maintenance (and I did!).

Of course, I am a total light weight, so I rarely ever drank more than 2 glasses of wine at a time (I get tipsy - fast). Wine also doesn't really make me nibble (not like carby food, like pretzels or triscuits or wheat thins or bread or things that make me want to eat more and more).

In that case, if the wine is a slippery slope to behavior you don't like (drinking more glasses than you planned, eating more than you planned - which it is not for me) it might be a good idea to cut back. Not altogether! Not every social situation or special event, but just pick in advance when you'll drink wine, maybe 1 night a week as a treat meal?

If you're budgeting the calories into your daily goals and you love wine, all things in moderation, right? I know some posters that have to have their little bits of chocolate every day to stay happy, maybe this is just your stay happy treat?

Oh.. I had no intention of QUITTING the wine for good. Believe me.. the thought of giving up such a treat for good would make me more than "a little agitated".

All things in moderation.. I agree... I don't budget calories.. wouldn't even have a clue as to how many I eat.. but moderation is what I try to practice.. moderation and balance in all I do. I think you are right about the "stay happy treat.".. I'm going to see what I can do to get back on track.. I don't know how long this means to cut off the wine.. I need to see what happens .. I really think it will help me cut out excess eating as there are just too many social temptating situations...

oh.. I also gotta take wine off my superfoods list (I added it with the blueberries).. it was really becoming a mind game. hehe

As always I appreciate your help, Glory.

I would cry if they told me I couldn't have wine anymore! And I've just discovered that I DO like whites...so there's another wine I have to get into the mix......To keep my intake lower though I started drinking sparkling waters or just water with lemon from my nicest wine glasses. I know it sounds silly but it makes my mind thing I'm doing something special and I don't miss the wine as much. I still drink it often enough but I don't miss it when I'm not.

Wine is definitely my preferred alcoholic beverage of choice, but I seldom drink it simply because I forget to buy it. In my state it requires a special trip to the liquor store (alcohol isn't sold in grocery stores here). I probably have one glass a month.

I don't think she's worried about just calories here, guys. Unless I'm reading her post the wrong way.

You are right.. I'm concerned about the calories in the wine.. and the calories that come with the food that accompanies it. But I was shocked when I realized how agitated I was at just thinking about not having it. I wonder if I would have felt the same shock if I had decided to not have dark chocolate or squid ever again (two of my favorite foods)..

I don't mean I am afraid I'm an alcoholic but I know that I do have addicted tendencies... for example I became hooked on smoking almost immediately as a teenager when I was just trying it.. next thing you know it nearly ruined my life.

I don't gamble or play video games again because I know I probably would get lost in it.. how I know this.. I don't know .. I never tried either but I know it would hook me. I drank a little as a teenager.. but not in excess.. and not long as I got married early and didn't drink after that.. too busy with other things especially taking care of my children. So some 20 years or so I didn't even buy wine... But this past year or so I have really begun to love it. Not overly like I can't live without it.. but I do look forward to it. I think I probably enjoy the food that comes with it more .. the wine just makes it taste even better.

What I don't like most of all is being out of control of things I SHOULD be able to control.. like if there is a storm and it knocks over our house.. of course I can't control that.. but I should be able to control what I ingest and should be in control to exercise.. obviously I haven't been able to do that or I wouldn't be here.

I have been able to control the smoking.. 20+ years. I just don't ever want another vice. I mean.. once I get control of my eating and exercising.. I will finally be able to say that I AM in control. If all goes well... as I expect it should.. I will feel more in control.. cause actually.. I AM in control... I just need to feel that I am too.

Anyway.. tonight I volunteered to be the designated driver so not a drop passed my lips. Had I not done that I probably would have had some.. I just need to make a more consious effort not to have a glass at every social engagement.. and for now.. to probably abstain for awhile..

Probably, I know I would

I wouldn't worry too much, hon. You've already got it half mastered, realizing that something just wasn't right at the thought of not drinking it anymore. However, like with anything (food or any other pleasurable substance) it only becomes a problem if you let it. And you obviously don't want it to, which is a good thing.

I know if someone told me I couldn't have Taco Bell anymore, I'd probably destroy a punching bag, lol.

Alcohol, as with food, is about you controlling it rather than letting it control YOU.

Dear Jayde,

As a fellow Sonoma gal, I get your dillema. A main reason I even went with the Sonoma plan is because I finally found a diet that included wine. Now tell me that's not a problem!

Oddly enough, I used to drink a heck of alot more wine before Sonoma than on Sonoma. After Wave 1 was so excited to have it, I celebrated Day 11 of the plan with a delicious Spanish Rioja - my favorite. Low and behold, I had the same problems you are having. Wine makes me want to eat - and eat, and eat, and eat! I totally overate with that Day 11 dinner. More so, it took me a few times to catch on that it was the wine that was triggering my hunger. Before Sonoma I never noticed because I didn't have to pay attention.

More so, after realizing the negative effects drinking has on my appetite, I re-thought about my attitude towards it. I love wine with dinner and I used to have it quite regularly and I really felt deprived going without. I fell off the wagon so many times on other diets simply because I felt deprived not having my social nights out and my red wine with dinner. But now that I've paid attention to its effects more, and I know what it does to me, I have less of a desire to drink it. I still enjoy it here and there, but I don't NEED it like I used to. I'm a pretty addictive person myself and it surprises me that I didn't have to be more conscientious about the reduction, but I didn't. It was just a gradual slow down once I realized what was going on.

It seems you've had a bit of a 'realization' as well. We live, we learn, eh? I think just seeing that you have a problem, however that problem is construed, can often be the springboard for change. You are obviously in control. You are doing great! And BTW, smart thinking on being the DD when you went out the other night. Good luck!!

Angela

Thanks so much.. Just reading this made me feel better.

I love this! I don't think I ever thought of food this way. But it is true!

Oh, LLV.. Taco Bell? Of all the edibles in the world? okaaaay... To each his own.

Yup! I have to admit.. when I found out Mediterranean was so great AND it included wine. I just wanted to know where to sign!

Just like Pavlov's dog's salivating at the dinner bell!

Good for you. I'm learning a lot about mindfulness.. how many times in the past did I do something or eat something on automatic pilot.. without even thinking or experiencing it. Things are changing...

Now.. if we could only get addicted to our daily exercise routines.

I can't help it, I'm an addict!

Although having a drink does not always lead to out of control eating for me, I've noticed that every binge I've had has been preceeded by drinking (wine or liquor). If I have a drink I have to be extra careful not to let eating sprial out of control and lead to a binge. My definition of a binge is not just eating a bit of "junk" food - it's a full out gorging on anything and everything in the house that's edible. Luckily, this only happens to me a few times a year, but it's very depressing when it happens and sometimes it takes me several days to get back on track. I'm so glad I found out about journaling my food - it's the only thing I've found that helps to keep me conscious of what I'm eating.