Weekend cocktails ruining your progress?

They sure are ruining mine. Last week I started coming to this site and soon became obsessed. I love having a place where I can be held accountable for everything I put in my mouth. HOWEVER, come every Thursday or so, I love to relax with a few drinks. For the calories, I've decided to drink Bacardi Limon w/ Fresca (68 cals). This worked well Thursday night, but then fast forward to Saturday. I was so stupid to "save" my calories from lunch in order to party big, but as the night wore on, hunger kicked in, pizza arrived, and I indulged. Between Friday and Monday, I put on nearly 5 lbs. I still lost a pound last week which puts me right at my goal, but I could be progressing so much faster if only I could put the drinks down! This is the downfall of every diet I get on. Sorry about the rant, but maybe putting it out there might help me have the control to leave the drinks out for a while. Anyone else have this issue?

Jennifer

Are you kidding me -  I can't seem to leave the bottle out of the picture on the weekends or after a very stressful day at work!  I totally feel you on this and have tried both minimizing my intake and altering my drink of choice (vodka tonic) with a "diet" tonic, to no avail.  It's hard to say no to a fun night out with the girls and to cocktail hour after a stressful day.  Sometimes I try going from a mixed drink to wine, then on to beer, and by that point my stomach is so upset I stop drinking. So far, that's the only thing that keeps me in line. ;) Then there's the other issue - attack of the late night munchies!

I have only healthy late night munchies around for this reason. Sure you could indulge enough to make them bad, but I soon realize I am drunk enough (yes sad) to just go to sleep and forget about it, and eat in the morning. My late night snack items include Jennie-O turkey sausage, low fat cheese, celery (yes celery- I like crunchy things), and grapes. Yep, that's it because I REFUSE to order pizza (you can do that, too! just make the decision!), esp cause it takes too long. And once I have to start cutting up turkey sausage and cheese I get too lazy and just go to bed. Hope this helps ;)

*meanmanuela*  Interesting approach you're taking... lemme get this straight, you make your stomach sour to stop you from overindulging. That's comical! Totally sounds like something I'd do because an upset stomach makes it so much easier to quit drinking. You can't just stop after a few! Hahaha!

The munchies! My goodness, I thought I had myself in line, but I had a house full of people (who probably aren't counting calories) and one person says "hmm, I'm hungry," I mean, it's my job as the hostess to take care of these people! I'm so upset!

So I don't really know if I was expecting something out of this post, but maybe if you'd like we could try to keep each other accountable during the weekend. The thought of having to answer to someone MIGHT help me cut back. What do you think?

I'm in the same boat.  Good all week then comes "hey lets go out and have a beer" beer leads to more beer, then snacks, then greasy food then, more beer.  All this leads to more hours on the elliptical...which I really hate.  So I guess I'm the good weekday portion controller and the weekend let it all hang out yo-yo dieter.   CHEERS 

I was the same until recently when I developed an intollerance to wine and subsequently had alcohol poisoning....I havnt touched a drop in 2 weeks as I still remember how bad I felt - and that was only after 2 glasses of wine.

 

I hear you Jennifer!

this weekend I had too many beers and thought a hot dog sounded good - I probably haven't had one in years!  why oh why!  For me it's not the drinks as much as the bad choices I make after wards which usually include fries or something like that.

I have seriously cut down my drinking, which means no drinks when going out, not just one or two.  It's hard, but it's gotten easier lately.  Just let yourself have one night per week to have whatever and the whole diet will be a lot less painful.  This method may also help with the zig-zagging type strategies and it hasn't slowed me down.

It's going to be worth it! 

*Becky* Sorry to hear about the alcohol poisoning. That's got to suck. I'm a total wino too so not being able to indulge in a few glasses would be mildly depressing to me on a Friday night.

*lemntwist* I'm going to try the one night a week thing. I usually only drink once during the week and once on the weekend. The one night during the week is just usually to help unwind so I can stand work for the rest of the week. (partially joking)

I imagine that cutting back to one night a week will decrease my tolerance so I won't be able to consume as much without getting sick. We'll see how it goes. I'll still be counting all my delicious beverage cals though!

I am so the same, the alcohol is such a killer on the weekends. Not only is it calorific, it just makes you want unhealthy food, and if you resist the hangover is so bad that you need to have it the next day anyway! I've been limiting mine for a while, and my tolerance has sure gone down (I get drunk on just three glasses of wine, I used to have to drink 4 pints of beer before I'd feel tipsy), but that also means the hangovers have gone up when I do indulge :(

for those who get really ill on wine ( not meaning drinking 3 bottles and wondering why you felt so sick the next day) i'm talking 1 maybe 2 glasses. you should check into sulfur allergies. my mom is allergic to sulfur and wine has a lot of sulfites in it.she is ill after 1 glass..... something to consider. a good test is to buy a bag of dried apricots ( which uses sulfur dioxide to preserve them) open the bag and if you get a headache instantously from the air inside usually that means you have problem with sulfur.

liljdoll

Like everyone who has posted, I too have the same issue. I am a bartender so it is EXTREMELY hard not to drink (especially when it is free!!!) and then eat everything in sight. I find that if I eat a good breakfast, a decent lunch and then a small dinner on the night that I know I am going out and then start drinking right after dinner, I do not have the craving for late night food like I would if I waited a long time after dinner and then went out drinking. Does that make sense? I feel full all night. Maybe it's just me?

I actually have to say no to going out sometimes because I don't trust myself not to drink too much or eat late night junk food.  If I do go out, I'll drink a couple of lite beers and then drink water after that.  Sometimes my friends give me a hard time for not drinking but I just tell them what's up and they get over it.  I also make sure to eat a good healthy dinner right before I go out, so I won't be tempted to order or snack on something bad!

Original Post by miller12:

liljdoll

Like everyone who has posted, I too have the same issue. I am a bartender so it is EXTREMELY hard not to drink (especially when it is free!!!) and then eat everything in sight. I find that if I eat a good breakfast, a decent lunch and then a small dinner on the night that I know I am going out and then start drinking right after dinner, I do not have the craving for late night food like I would if I waited a long time after dinner and then went out drinking. Does that make sense? I feel full all night. Maybe it's just me?

No worries though, it's just me and my hubby tonight so I have a low-cal dinner waiting in the fridge if I so choose to indulge. Cheers!

I absolutely agree. I've noticed that I'll limit my cals to save up for the late night drinking bash, but it only hurts me in the end. If there's food involved, I'm totally going for it. By the way, did I mention that I totally fell off the I'm-not-drinking-til-the-weekend-bandwagon? I've had 3 cocktails tonight.... but I still have a few hundred cals to get today! Woo!

Here's another one in the same boat.  I have drinks almost everyday of the week.  I eat very healthy, but it is my downfall.  I have a very high tolerance.  I don't know if I could cut back only to 1 night per week. Having done it b4, I recognize the first few days are the hardest.  It does get easier.  Wish me luck.  (I'm gonna tag this to see if you guys keep checking in for support).

*hasta* This is the one place I'm going for support, and I feel I'm letting everyone down when I go on a drinking binge. I can be so strong during the week while I'm counting in all my cals for the day, but let a few days go by when I'm feeling pressure, and I fall. Case in point, today. My car is in the shop for the same problem I've been having for well over a year now, and I'm faced with the idea of filing a complaint to my car's company for arbitration. My husband says it shouldn't be a big deal because the car is still under warranty, but it's a stress that affects me, ya know? The way I deal is with a few drinks.... opens my mind. So now I sit here, having had a few drinks, and then I think about the cals, and it kills me. I want so much to do well for ME, but I constantly fall to this internal pressure of drinking. I can tell myself at the beginning of the week that I will do better, but it seems that I fall in the eye of one "small" mishap. I'm so lost.

this is my downfall recently. I cannot go out to the bar and not get dumbass loaded. I hate it. So many calories with the drinking. Then the food that comes with it. Then the next day you dont care what you eat. It sucks. My biggest problem while dieting, hands down.

I don't know why on my last post it says I have a low cal dinner waiting and it's just me and my husband. I am not married! LOL

Anyway, liljdoll I sooooo feel your pain. I do exactly the same thing. You are not alone. Anything goes wrong I throw cocktails at it which fixes it til I pass out but the next day I still gotta deal. I am right there with ya! I am going to be forced to cut down soon anyway. I am thinking of doing the Lap Band next year and it is suggested that I not drink for a while. I know I need to find another way to deal with issues that arise in my life without reaching for that drink but you get use to doing something that is a quick fix for that moment and it is hard to break the cycle! Last night I was at my bar and had to refuse a few drinks. It was so so hard!!! Please know you are not alone!

It's very comforting to know that there are several of us out there.  I am too embarrassed to really talk to anyone about it except (when I'm drunk) to my best friend.  She drinks heavily too, but I don't think its as often or as much except on the weekends.  This post may be a little long.  I'm sorry.  I know most of need to get in and out to carry on our responsibilities for the day.  But I feel it is important to try to suggest things that may help each other.  Here is a list of things that I made for myself to try to substitue when I get that craving.  I try to pick one of these things to do while the urge passes.  Once it gets late enough in the evening I start getting ready for bed - shower/bath, put on warm ups or PJs.  That takes care of the rest of the late evening for me b/c it just doesn't have the same ambiance if I were to drink in my PJs.  Perhaps you can come up with list for yourselves.  Keep it handy.

My pitfalls:

-Travel for work.  It makes me anxious and I hate packing

-Chrismas parties

- Restaurants ( we go often).  Just seems right to have red wine with dinner.  Problem is I want to keep going when I get home.

-Evening boredom and trying to escape the daily grind of preparing dinner, policing the kids.

- Monday nite football - traditional beer drinking time

- Weekly visit with our family friends.  They drink a lot and so do we when we're with them.

- Sunday nights.  I get anxious about Monday's.

Ideas to cope:

- must exercise today

- organize the house so the mess doesn't subltely bug me

- take dog for a walk in the evening to keep me busy and avoid the evening cocktail.

- try to change my attitude about helping with the kids homework, piano practice etc.

- play a game with my son

- Help my daughter to practice the piano

- Practice the piano for myself to see if I can get better.

- update this jounal to track how I'm feeling through the evening.  Use it as a friend to confide in

- get a book from the library to read in the evenings. 

- make a physical list of these ideas/options and choose one when i'm feeling tempted.

- do a little something to work towards the xmas prep and madness that settles in within the next couple of weeks.

 - follow my husband's lead.  Don't stay up after he goes to bed and try to stop drinking when he does in the evening.  He's good at just having one or two.

Good luck guys.  Stay in touch. (BTW I didn't have a single one last night! I feel so good the next morning when I can have resisted. - Caio

 

Thank you hasta! That is a good list and very helpful! Although I have no kids and I am single I can use the idea of some of the others. I need to get a hobby and stick with it. It's just the temptation is in my face all the time working at a bar as my second job. I must have self control!

I am going to the Patriots game this Sunday and it is going to be very very hard with the tailgating and all! Wish me luck!

*hasta* I love how you say that wearing your pjs ruins the ambiance of drinking for you. That's hilarious. Come to think about it, I very rarely drink in a full set of pjs aka I'll keep on whatever t-shirt I had on during the day and throw on my pj pants while I drink. However, I so prefer drinking in jeans! Haha! Way to stay strong on not having a drink last night. I wish I could say the same. I indulged in several. The guilt is bugging me today, but I did step on the scale this morning and it doesn't appear to have caused any immediate damage. Tomorrow is my official weigh-in day for the week so we'll see what happens! Stay strong, ladies (and gentlemen, if there are any)!!!

Jennifer  

I hear ya!  Drinking & not eating is what got me chunky in the first place.  I don't drink often but when I do I binge.  I love doing shots & sipping my weak Captain & Coke all night.  Unforunately my poision of choice has tons of sugar.  I've switched to Bicardi & Diet or flavored Vodka & Tonic but man, the next day - all I crave is milk & Chef boyarde (that's my hangover therapy).  The only thing that has helped me somewhat is drinking water with my cocktails.  If I drink a glass of water for every shot or drink then I don't drink as much & I don't blow my diet as bad.  The next day I have a bowl of grapenuts & skim milk which takes the place of  my chef boyarde and milk therapy.

Chin up girlie, it's seems we all have the weekend vice every now and again!

Cheers! lol

Mia