Daily Alcohol Self-Challenge

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by leaving30something

Anyone ever notice a difference in their anxiety level with drinking and/or eating carbs?

Years ago, I used to drink for the reasons to escape the uncomfortable feelings of more extreme levels of depression, anxiety, and other unpleasant emotions. I wasn't on any low-carb plan at the time, but when I stopped drinking from those trigger emotions and found healthy ways to deal with them instead, I noticed a significant decrease in them. Of course, whether it was simply cutting of alcohol or using healthy methods of dealing with them or a combination of both that caused the change is possibly indistinguishable.

I still get random moments of weakness on those emotional triggers, but it's very rare nowadays (maybe once or twice a year) and I quickly have a pep talk in the mirror that prevents me from going down that path again.

Now with my current trigger of boredom, I don't get any anxiety shifts when I drink. Generally, I "have" low-grade chronic depression with occasional major episodes (dysthymia is the "clinical" term), generalized anxiety disorder, and ADHD. All of those being the clinical diagnoses after much psychological evaluation, but I'm not sure how much credibility I give the latter two.

However, when I'm doing low-carb (and keeping myself in ketosis), I notice a significant mood shift. My mood is elevated to what I imagine are normal levels, I have significant mental clarity compared to the usual mental fog and racing thoughts, and thus end up being much more productive. It's been way more effective for me than any medications I was ever prescribed.

I actually took a break from ketosis on Saturday by consuming about 200 carbs and just got back into it on Monday (according to testing strips). During that Saturday and Sunday, I noticed a more depressive mood shift and lethargy, which lightened on Monday and is completely gone today (Tuesday).

Of course, other things may factor into that, but the simple answer is yes, I notice a huge difference when low-carbing in my mood/anxiety/distractability.

I haven't completely cut out drinking yet, but I'm going to force myself to abstain for the next 14 days to truly see the impact on weight loss (as drinking doesn't really impact my mood negatively any more--on most occasions).

[Knittering]

I'm glad you're still here, L30S.
Not eating carbs definitely helps with my anxiety issues. Unfortunately, sometimes the only thing that will settle my nerves is alcohol. (Well, Paxil worked very well... but I gained 80 pounds on it. I'm not going to back to it, that's for sure.) Yesterday I had a difficult & upsetting day and had a glass of wine when I got home. I was proud of myself for stopping at ONE glass rather than half the bottle... or the entire bottle.

Abito, I love beer and used to drink way too much of it before I started low-carbing. I miss it, but it's not worth all those carbs -- especially since one is never enough. That's going to be harder to resist in the summertime, especially at my in-laws' house.

Hayek:

However, when I'm doing low-carb (and keeping myself in ketosis), I notice a significant mood shift. My mood is elevated to what I imagine are normal levels

I totally relate. When I'm eating low-carb I feel as close to what I imagine a normal person feels like as I ever have. Good luck on your fourteen days of AF!

[MikeysMama]

Can I join in? I don't think I can quit drinking all together, but I would like to limit myself to just social settings or weekends...I don't need to drink everyday, but when I start, I don't really know when to stop and before I know it, an empty bottle of wine is left at the end of the night. I really need to work on that. I'm not sure if it's making me keep weight on or not, but I'd like to find out! I'd also like to limit myself because that much wine can't be good for me lol. Anyway I hope everyone is taking baby steps and making progress

[Knittering]

Welcome, MikeysMama! I have the same problem with wine. One glass just naturally leads to another, and another.

My plan is to stay AF for the rest of the week.

[CherylB]

Hello, ladies! Just dropped by to check on you. I caught up on the posts that were written since I was last here and one of you mentioned you'd like to know more about "The Drinking Man's Diet." I googled it and found it on Forbes website. I copied and pasted it here for your viewing pleasure, but the few images that were included in the article did not come with.

I am still AF and have been since Saturday night. Taking the Antabuse but already starting to feel a bit sad. I can't get my food intake under control at all and it's making me feel so weak and powerless. Even though I'm broke and have a half-month to go, it doesn't deter me from ordering a pizza in the evening.

So, abstaining from booze is not the "fix it" maneuver that I thought it would be. I thought my drinking was what caused me to cave and order stuff for delivery at night. Apparently not. I'll still see where this Antabuse stuff will lead me, but isn't it nice to know that The Drinking Man's Diet exists?

Originally Posted by Online article.

The Drinking Man's Diet
Alan Farnham

"Did you ever hear of a diet which was fun to follow? A diet which would let you have two martinis before lunch, and a thick steak generously spread with Sauce Béarnaise, so that you could make your sale in a relaxed atmosphere and go back to the office without worrying about having gained so much as an ounce? A diet which allows you to take out your favorite girl for a dinner of squab and broccoli with hollandaise sauce and Chateau Lafitte, to be followed by an evening of rapture and champagne?"

So starts a jaunty little pamphlet titled The Drinking Man's Diet that first appeared in 1964. It was published by an equally jaunty San Francisco bon vivant, Robert Cameron, who priced it at $1. (Cameron used noms de plume--first Gardner Jameson and Elliott Williams, later Jeffrey W. Roberts.) In two years, he sold 2.4 million copies in 13 languages. Now Cameron, 93, still jaunty, still a bon vivant and still admirably trim from following his own diet, is reissuing this classic. It can be bought for $4.95 through Amazon.com or through Cameron's own website.

Then and now, the diet is a work of staggering brilliance.


Robert Cameron, with glass in hand.

Like Atkins, whose own low-carb diet followed Drinking Man nine years later, Cameron proposes healthful weight loss by reducing one's intake of carbohydrates. As far as it goes, that's fine, since what Cameron's book terms "man-type" food (also "aesthetic" and "gourmet" food) is mercifully low in carbs: well-marbled steaks, thick slabs of fish, salads strewn with Roquefort.

Then, however, he adds the animating spark of genius--a corollary that will forever lift the Drinking Man's Diet above all lesser low-carb regimens: Gin, vodka, rum, brandy, whiskies and other distilled spirits contain at most trace amounts of carbohydrate. So the low-carb adherent can drink, if he wishes, and keep on losing weight. Figuratively speaking, Drinking Man takes the South Beach diet, adds a redeeming splash of rum and pops in an umbrella.

What makes this more enjoyable than calorie counting, "is that most of the things you like best don't have to be counted at all: steak and whisky, chicken and gin, ham, caviar, pâté de foie gras, rum and roast pheasant, veal cutlets and vodka, frogs legs and lobster claws--they all count as zero." (See sample menu.) No wonder the little pamphlet sold millions! Here was a diet Dean Martin could love.

Columnists and commentators from Walter Winchel to Herb Caen talked up the diet. Time and Newsweek devoted stories to it. Walter Cronkite interviewed Cameron at length on TV. At the zenith of the Drinking Man craze, funnyman Allan Sherman immortalized the diet in song. A few stanzas will suffice to give the flavor:

With every Manhattan
Your stomach will flatten
If pounds you would burn off
Then turn on your Smirnoff

The little book's format (faithfully retained for the reissue) only added to its appeal. Unlike today's ponderous diet tomes, this was tiny--just 4 inches by 7 inches, and svelte enough to slip into a shirt pocket or purse. The whole thing ran just 50 pages. Of those, only the first 13 were text--written in a breezy, slightly goatish style that strikes the modern ear as one part Rabelais, one part Austin Powers.

A section of testimonials, for instance, contains this one from "Daisy T., showgirl": "Believe me, it was no fun being taken out to a swell place and all you could eat was some celery and yogurt. Now I order double lamb chops."

Or this, from "Paula P., woman-about-town": "Frankly, I like my cocktail. But I don't like to go sashaying around with rolls of fat pushing their way around the shoulder straps of my evening dresses. Now with the Drinking Man's Diet (and why not the Drinking Woman's?) I can eat three solid meals a day. And I don't wear a girdle anymore."

The remaining pages were given over to tables that provide the carbohydrate count, in grams, of various essential foods, e.g. carrot (5), prune (5), daiquiri (6), martini (trace).

All was going swimmingly for Cameron, when suddenly the tablecloth was yanked from under him. He was traveling, promoting the book, when his mother phoned from Des Moines in tears to say that the local paper was carrying an ominous headline: "Drinking Man's Diet 'Mass Murder,' says Harvard Nutritionist."

Dr. Frederick Stare, who founded Harvard's School of Public Health in 1942, had decried Cameron's diet as unhealthful. Stare eventually retracted the "mass murder" part, but by then, as Cameron balefully notes today, the damage had been done. The accusatory headline had run on page 1; the subsequent retraction ran on page 28. In culinary terms, the Drinking Man's goose was cooked.

In a way, it hardly mattered. By then, Cameron had sold $2.4 million worth of books (in 1966 dollars). To paraphrase the lyrics of another famous old song, "They can't take that away from me."

He returned to publishing, issuing Above San Francisco, the first in what would become a series of lush coffee-table books filled with Cameron's own aerial photography. His latest title, Above Mexico City, debuts this Christmas. The series has sold, collectively, 2.5 million books.

Cameron today can afford to do what he wants. And what he has wanted to do for some time is reissue The Drinking Man's Diet. This he now has done, making only minor tweaks. The tables, for example, have been updated, allowing for more precise measurements of carbohydrate values.

Since 1964, innumerable dieters and drinkers have proved to their own satisfaction that the Drinking Man's Diet works. But is it good for you?

Told that Harvard's Stare once decried the diet as "mass murder," nutritionist Lisa Young of New York University burst out laughing. Then, in a more sober vein, she went on to say that 60 grams of carbohydrate per day (the amount Cameron recommends) is too little. Likewise, she faults the diet for being too high in animal fats.

And as for downing as many martinis as you wish? "That's crazy. You can't eat or drink as much as you want of anything--except water--and come out clean."

To Cameron's credit, his original said as much in its conclusion: "Don't be a hog. If you gorge yourself with food, even if it is low in carbohydrates, you will get fat. If you drink too much, you will get drunk. Moderation in the pursuit of happiness is no vice."

The reissue closes with a coda as magical and alluring today as it must have sounded 40 years ago:

"So, drinkers of the world, throw away your defatted cottage cheese and your cabbage juice; and sit down with us to roast duck and Burgundy. You have nothing to lose but your waistlines."

Speaking strictly for myself, allow me please to say, "Mr. Cameron, bring it on!"

Drinking Man's Diet: Sample Menu
(With grams of carbohydrate)

Menu planning, the Dean Martin way!

Breakfast

1/4 cantaloupe or 4 ounces of tomato juice (5)
Ham or bacon, 2 slices (0)
Egg, fried, boiled or poached (trace)
Coffee or tea (0)

Lunch

Dry martini or whiskey and soda, if desired (trace)
Broiled fish or steak or roast chicken (0)
2 glasses dry wine, if you wish (trace)
Green beans or asparagus (1)
Lettuce and tomato salad with French or Roquefort dressing (4)
Coffee or tea (0)

Dinner

Martinis or highballs, if you desire (trace)
Hors d'oeuvres of 2 stalks of celery stuffed with pâté (5)
Shrimp cocktail (4)
Beef, pork, lamb, veal chicken or turkey (0)
Green beans, 1 cup, brussels sprouts, 1/2 cup, or cauliflower, 1 cup (6)
2 glasses dry wine (trace)
1/2 avocado with French dressing (8)
Cheese: Roquefort, Camembert, Swiss or cheddar (trace)
Coffee or tea (0)
Brandy (trace)

Total grams of carbohydrate: 33

[CherylB]

I'm tipsy just reading through that menu! The buzz starts at lunch and goes clear through about 8 pm. Hmmmm......

[Knittering]

Holy moley, that is a LOT of booze! I can see why it was marketed to men and not women. Not many people could lose weight while drinking that much!

[leaving30something]

Lol, Martini for lunch! Hahah somehow I don't think that plan would work for me
Two of you posted about anxiety, thanks for you feedback. I too am definately more focused in ketosis, wish that was enough to keep me on track!

As far as the anxiety I experience its that autoimmune fight or flight response I seem to get here and there over very simple things. Like at work in a meeting if I think someone is going to ask me a question or attention is coming my way. Idk, it's horrible and not rational. I think it is less when I am clean, as in eating very whole foods and not having drank a few days.

Anyhow great to see this thread is staying active. I made it 3 days Af and now its the wind down to the weekend hoping to keep to just a few. Have a great day everyone!

[CherylB]

You can do it, L30S (Sorry. Gotta abbreviate that somehow.) I'm on day #5 AF, but I'm on the Antabuse. Can't take all the credit for being strong. But it is nice to not wake up with a hangover, and to stop the bleeding of my bank account. Those are great benefits of sobriety.

Have a lovely day, ladies. If you partake, try to do it in the way you know you should. Bravo for trying!

[dipgal]

Hello everyone.. haven’t checked in for awhile.. busy, busy and not trying overly hard to cut down on the AL. I’m doing fairly well at home with only a low carb beer or two and occasional glass of wine. When socializing I have gone a little overboard. I had 3 chocolate martinis last night when out with a friend. Delicious, full of carbs and sugar.. UGH!!! And, that was after a food binge during the day.. My blood sugar readings were very high when the binge was over (I am not diabetic but insulin resistant and probably have “pre” diabetes) and I had a terrible sugar high.. I rarely do something like that but I was on edge about a speech contest I was in last evening. (I came in 1st place though).. LOL

CherylB, I am glad you are feeling good AF! Keep it up!

Regarding the discussion of feeling depressed, poorly, etc. when not eating healthfully.. oh yeah – 56 years of that. It stinks. And that is how I spend most of my time. I have fallen off the wagon for the past week and I am so sick of failure after failure.. It just solidifies my ingrained subconscious “why try, you know you can’t do it” self-talk. I was listening to self-hypnosis tapes, but they didn’t do much good. Haha, now I need self-hypnosis tapes to make me want to listen to the weight loss and exercise self-hypnosis tapes!

When I am eating well and nourishing my body and tossing in some water exercise I feel in control. I am actually DOING something about my predicament rather than just whining about it. You know the old cliché… it’s madness to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results (or something like that).. I just have been unable to get myself out of this rut. Next week I am going to see an old friend who is an Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner.. This is also called “tapping” and can be very helpful to change bad habits IF YOU DO IT! Google it for more info if this kind of modality would interest you. I just need to get to my “core” reasons for not thinking I am good enough or worthy of good health and will not consistently do what it takes to get there.

Regarding the drinking man’s diet… From my readings, although spirits are low or zero carb, our bodies use that substance and turn it into glucose for fuel. It will use that instead of our fat stores (if in ketosis), so it makes it more difficult to lose weight unless there is a calorie deficit. I know from many years of experience that AL inhibits my weight loss and health on so many levels. It is best to keep plugging away at limiting it.

Okay – so today IS another day and I’ve started with sensible food choices today. And even though I am dining out again tonight with girlfriends I plan to just have a glass of wine or two and a low carb dinner.. Oh, brain… please follow through with this plan!

Waving to and welcoming the new challengers!! You can do it!!

[dipgal]

to have 4 AF days from Monday through Thursday this week! Whose with me??

[Hayek]

I've been alcohol free since my last post. It was tempting to go out today with friends given the "holiday," but the thought of alcohol (even carb-free stuff) didn't even sound good!

My goal is to stay free through the 30th (concert and a day/night with friends), but who knows, I might not even drink then!

Granted it's only been a little over a week, I haven't magically started dropping weight at a faster rate. Oh well!

[Stevie Renee]

Hi all....a quick fly by to say hello. I have been doing well. We leave Sat for a food & wine festival. It will also be our last hurrah at our desert house as we are selling it. Looking forward to floating in the pool one last time!

When I get back, I will be back to a thoughtful, clean, dry plan.

Be good to yourselves.

[leaving30something]

Hi to all. I have not been here, and have not been very good, maybe 2 AF days this week. It's been busy and hectic. Worse part, totally off ow carb. It's my bday week so it all started there and just having a hard time getting back. Part if me is thinking why bother, because here is always something that throws me off. Someone on here said "dieting is hard- being fat is hard, pick your hard" trying to get that mind set. But those damn Cadbury mini eggs keep luring me!

[SillverOrchid]

Hi guys, mind if I join? DH & I only used to drink on the weekends, over the past year we have been drinking almost every day. We usually split one large bottle of wine but I really think it's not healthy for us to drink every day. I have gained back the weight I lost the last time I did LC and I honestly think it was in part due to the wine also the hormone problems I am having this year.
I would like to be AF Monday through Thursday at least..and throw in Sundays as well, or a Friday night. I do so love my wine.. but I wan't to feel healthy and lose the weight more.
Today is also my first day back on low carb. I feel so much better when I eat this way, don't know why I stopped.

[dipgal]

Well, I may as well check-in, too. Keeping the alcohol down this week after way too much last weekend. Hope to be better this weekend... But, have a BIG wine tasting event tonight where there are 40 booths lined up. Attendees get lots of tix to sample.. I paid $35 and will be with all my great girlfriends, so will definitely partake! Have a good weekend!

[Hayek]

I made it from my last post until Friday (3/22/13) so almost 14 days (a few hours short lol). Some out of town friends came to stay the weekend and there was drinking involved. Nothing that threw me out of ketosis though. Still not sure if this recreational drinking is stalling my weightloss as a 14 day period probably isn't the best indicator. Either way, I didn't really miss the non-social habit drinking (i.e. drinking alone weekly because of boredom) during my abstention period.

Hope all is well for everyone else.

[Knittering]

Welcome Kristy! It's good to see your name again.

I've been doing okay since my last post. If I drink, I limit myself to a single glass of red. I always want more, of course! But I stop at one.

I hear you about temptations like Cadbury eggs, Leaving30Something. I just keep reminding myself that shorts weather is right around the bend and I don't quite fit into my summer clothes yet... and can't afford to buy new ones. So, low-carb and ketosis it is.

[SillverOrchid]

Originally Posted by Knittering

Welcome Kristy! It's good to see your name again.

I've been doing okay since my last post. If I drink, I limit myself to a single glass of red. I always want more, of course! But I stop at one.

I hear you about temptations like Cadbury eggs, Leaving30Something. I just keep reminding myself that shorts weather is right around the bend and I don't quite fit into my summer clothes yet... and can't afford to buy new ones. So, low-carb and ketosis it is.

Thanks, I am around just mostly on the PG I am on day two of no drinking during the week. I feel like I just needed to cut back..so only on the weekends and will probably switch to rum and diet something or other and cut the wine out completely. I need to do this for my health and DH is on board too. Today is day two of LC as well.. so far...so good!

[Bella]

Yes, this connection is clear in my case. I am less anxious when I don't drink and when I eat less sugar. So why drink? Well it is a bit addictive, plus sweet, plus it gives an ever so short anxiety release. But it doesn't last. Plus when I drink, one drink just doesn't cut it for me. Better to have none. Alcohol is a well known depressant as well. That kicks after the initial euphoria. Just easier for me not to drink, but it has taken me a while to just go A-F. But I'v got a good start and looking forward to giving and receiving support.

Originally Posted by Hayek

Years ago, I used to drink for the reasons to escape the uncomfortable feelings of more extreme levels of depression, anxiety, and other unpleasant emotions. I wasn't on any low-carb plan at the time, but when I stopped drinking from those trigger emotions and found healthy ways to deal with them instead, I noticed a significant decrease in them. Of course, whether it was simply cutting of alcohol or using healthy methods of dealing with them or a combination of both that caused the change is possibly indistinguishable.

I still get random moments of weakness on those emotional triggers, but it's very rare nowadays (maybe once or twice a year) and I quickly have a pep talk in the mirror that prevents me from going down that path again.

Now with my current trigger of boredom, I don't get any anxiety shifts when I drink. Generally, I "have" low-grade chronic depression with occasional major episodes (dysthymia is the "clinical" term), generalized anxiety disorder, and ADHD. All of those being the clinical diagnoses after much psychological evaluation, but I'm not sure how much credibility I give the latter two.

However, when I'm doing low-carb (and keeping myself in ketosis), I notice a significant mood shift. My mood is elevated to what I imagine are normal levels, I have significant mental clarity compared to the usual mental fog and racing thoughts, and thus end up being much more productive. It's been way more effective for me than any medications I was ever prescribed.

I actually took a break from ketosis on Saturday by consuming about 200 carbs and just got back into it on Monday (according to testing strips). During that Saturday and Sunday, I noticed a more depressive mood shift and lethargy, which lightened on Monday and is completely gone today (Tuesday).

Of course, other things may factor into that, but the simple answer is yes, I notice a huge difference when low-carbing in my mood/anxiety/distractability.

I haven't completely cut out drinking yet, but I'm going to force myself to abstain for the next 14 days to truly see the impact on weight loss (as drinking doesn't really impact my mood negatively any more--on most occasions).

[leaving30something]

Just checking in. Good too see so many of you are doing well. I have so much going on right now I just haven't been able to stick to anything. Hopefully next week will be different. Happy Friday!

[Stevie Renee]

Hi all...and the new people too

Today is day 5 and I have had no cravings. I was even happy to open the fridge, see 2 bottles of wine and move on. Usually I start to salivate.

And like many of us, intention is to have a couple, a couple turns into a whole bottle.
Makes me feel guilty and I don't want to live like that.

My goal right now is to get 30 days under my belt.

I had a big challenge for this Sat - a wedding - but I solved it. I said I would be the designated driver. No more challenge

We go on a Disney cruise early May for my 50th (celebrating early. I don't turn fifty till Nov) and I do plan on having wine.

Happy Good Friday and Easter to all.

[Stevie Renee]

Originally Posted by SillverOrchid

Hi guys, mind if I join? DH & I only used to drink on the weekends, over the past year we have been drinking almost every day. We usually split one large bottle of wine but I really think it's not healthy for us to drink every day. I have gained back the weight I lost the last time I did LC and I honestly think it was in part due to the wine also the hormone problems I am having this year.
I would like to be AF Monday through Thursday at least..and throw in Sundays as well, or a Friday night. I do so love my wine.. but I wan't to feel healthy and lose the weight more.
Today is also my first day back on low carb. I feel so much better when I eat this way, don't know why I stopped.

I find it a challenge when my DH wants to drink also. And we are weak at times! We may say we will cut back and then don't do it. Right now we seem to be in a good space of doing it! What I found interesting for myself, is I am a late bloomer with drinking. I started drinking a few years ago. before that I rarely did. And I love me some wine too!

[CherylB]

Hi, ladies! I'm home! I have decided that a life of drinking coffee and water just isn't for me. I haven't had any booze since March 9 but that's because I'm taking the Antabuse pill. I stopped taking it Wednesday night so by the time I get paid (Next Wednesday, thank you LORD!) I can go do some serious shopping.

My problem is in knowing when to say when. I like to drink daily and I don't know when to really quit. Sometimes I start too early in the day and then the #%^@ really goes awry. And my dieting has been non-existent and I've had enough of that mess! April is a new plan for this gal.

I'm going back to Atkins and doing it as sanely as I can. That means I am not going to get hysterical if I "cheat" now and then, and I'm not going to weigh every week. I'm a daily weigher and I think it's time to just plot my course and weigh monthly just to see if things are going in the right direction.

When I first did Atkins, it was 1998 and I was drinking Vodka with Crystal Light every day. I lost 40 lbs over 4 months and I had an occasional lapse in my eating, as well. I really did try to do the diet strictly, though.

So if I can lose 8-10 lbs a month eating and drinking that way again, I will be elated. I can live with that and even if it goes a lot slower this time around, I have to remember how much older and less resilient I am than I was way back then. I have to give myself a little more patience and love. Every day I stay on plan, I'm that much closer to happiness and wellness.

The plan is this: Allow myself one 1.75 liter bottle of vodka per week. I can drink daily or skip a day here and there to make it last the week. But I can not buy another bottle before the week is out. Personally, I like the idea of at least taking two days during each week to not drink anything at all. It will be good practice for me to have booze in the house and not partake.

I'm on a very tight budget so what I'm thinking of doing is just drinking flavored vodka on the rocks rather than spending a bunch of money on things like crystal light. I will measure out each jigger and track it so I don't go over what I'm allowed in one day. This will save me a good amount of cash and it will also be good for me not to be taking in all that artificial sweetener. Not to mention artificial coloring and other stuff, too. I just talked myself into it.

The past week or more, I drank 3 6-packs of O'Doul's. That stuff costs just as much as the real thing and I just don't see the point in spending good money on something that tastes like booze when I can't get a little buzz in the process. So, since being AF isn't quite sitting well with me (like it has a few times in the past), I'm just going to put my Antabuse pills aside and live on the wilder side for a while. Let's see how it goes.

Wish me luck! Are you happy to see me again?

[dipgal]

Hi everyone… I’ve been so BAD that I’ve been too embarrassed to write. I’m the one who started this thread and I haven’t set a very good example. This is my current excuse: DH’s B-day is Monday and we will be celebrating it doing what we love best.. gambling, drinking and ending the day with a celebratory meal. So, the *you can’t do it* part of my brain has been telling me over the last few weeks that I shouldn’t bother trying since I can’t be *perfect* on 4/1. And, therein lies my troubles. I am 56 years old and have had this exact same mentality since I was about 10 yrs old.. When will I get into my thick head that almost everyone isn’t PERFECT 100% of the time. Everyone has celebratory occasions, and many do manage to have a fairly healthy weight. Maybe not thin in their own eyes, but healthy.. and even overweight but fit can be healthy. Thin does not always equate to healthy.

For those of us who do like to have cocktails, I believe they can fit into a basically healthy lifestyle if handled properly. Believing that because you have a social occasion in 3 weeks where you will want to drink - and therefore drinking all that you can until the day AFTER that event… because THAT IS THE DAY when you’ll cut down or abstain is NOT a way to handle a healthy lifestyle.

The above is what I do… and then the day comes where I planned to abstain or just have one low carb beer or a small glass of wine.. and then I feel deprived and angry. I may do it for a day or two, but then I’ll go out and feel so deprived that I’ll have 2 or 3 martinis with the girls. Another failure… and then a “okay, I’ll start again on Monday”.. UGH!

Obviously this long ingrained pattern is the reason for my lack of success with better controlling my alcohol or staying on a healthy eating plan. I have got to figure out what is going on in my subconscious. I think that these addictions are just filling up the void of my life not being “enough”, or ME not being enough. I am so grateful for so much, and want for it to be enough. My mother and 1st boyfriend used to say that I “was never happy” and “always wanted more”. I remember my mother’s comment to me over and over was “If I give you my hand, then you want my whole arm”. Either they were right, OR I have internalized their words and my subconscious believes this. I think I have just typed my way to an AHA moment!

CherylB, reading your post triggered my rant above. I am happy to see you again – although I want to see you succeed in this part of your life I am glad to share our journey here. You and I are like two peas in a pod. Hopefully the month or so off will give you a jumpstart on moderating. I like your plan. I too would like to take a couple of days (or more) a week off. I want to say “let’s be buddies” and be accountable, but then I’d be afraid if I fail (and of course I will from time to time) I have one more failure notch in my belt to solidify how I always fail.. (Head trash that I am working on getting rid of).

So, my plan will be eating healthfully low carb, but not counting grams or calories. I don’t want to obsess that if I go over my quota then I failed. If I am hungry I’ll eat and notice when I am satisfied. I’ll go to the swimming pool several times a week for water exercises and swimming. I will allow myself a glass of wine to sip on or a low carb beer during the week and maybe 2 on the weekends. But, I will decide if I really WANT it, or is it just a gnawing habit that needs to be broken. Several years ago I thought I’d never live if I didn’t have soda with my meals. Now, it’s never even a consideration. That’s how I’d like this to be… someday…

FatMomma, what you said to Cheryl is true for me. I admit I have a problem, but am not willing to give it up. Not even to the point of taking antabuse or other prescriptions out there. I do have some L-glutamine which helps with cravings.. especially if you actually swallow it vs letting it sit in the bottle.

If you are still here after this very long post.. thanks for reading!! HUGS!

[dipgal]

Hi again all.. since this is basically a weight loss site the individual categories and threads have to do with that main goal but with the twist or tweak of a related item. This thread is about how we are dealing with the alcohol consumption or addiction problem as it relates to weight loss. Yes, we get off into tangents because so many of our behaviors (especially negative) are inter-related.. But, if we every REALLY need hard core support and help there are plenty of strictly Alcohol Addiction support forums out there. My favorite is My Way Out. I often don't think my problem is severe enough for that one.. but some days it may be and I don't want to admit it. I lurk there frequently.. usually after an especially "bad" day..

Let's all be tolerant as to where we are on this journey and be supportive. Some of us may graduate to the "no" alcohol thread.. some not. Some may decide that the My Way Out forum is the way to go. It's all okay! It's a journey to health, happiness and being the best we can be.

Hugs to all!

[CherylB]

[Hayek]

I drank for/during my concert yesterday. Only had 4 beverages over a 3 hour period so not that bad.

Did cave in and get Wendy's with my friends after the concert (my favorite fast food place that I haven't been to in 3+ years lol). Had two burgers (with the buns) and fries, though I still showed as being in ketosis this morning on the strip, so no major harm done? Either way, it was worth it haha.

And for now, I just consider myself done drinking until whenever. No real set goal, but it hasn't even sounded good lately. Last night it actually took effort to drink lol. We'll see how long this stretch lasts, I might even do better without thinking of it as a "restricted" item.

[CherylB]

Wow! Sounds like you are done with it. Well, don't force yourself! Enjoy the break for as long as you want to abstain. Isn't freedom wonderful?

[Stevie Renee]

Happy Easter to my fellow cyber people.

I am humbled to read the open and honest posts here.

This is the thread I feel is for me - whether I am drinking or not - you are stuck with me! lol

Day 7 -no drinking. That is a long stretch for me....just taking it day by day and remembering I want 30 days. Will I drink on day 31? Not sure.

I wish I had the magic words of why we do what we do - the repeat patterns, the frustration, the guilt. And how many times we just wanna say "forget it, I will be what I will be - a drinker and over weight" - but we want more for ourselves. We must keep striving and learning.

I know for myself if I start creating a perfect plan and I go off, planned or not, I would binge. I am really allowing myself to get over that black/white perfection.

I did learn a lot from listening to Robin Woodall's vlogs on youtube. She wrote the Weight Loss Apocalypse book - it is geared for emotional eaters, the crazy diet train people and the HCG plan. It speaks volumes even if you do not do the HCG plan.

Anyway all....be good to yourselves.