How does alcohol fit into your routine????

[lindrusso]

As I sit here and sip my wine (very good by the way - 2000 Greg Norman Estates Yarra Valley Chardonnay - $10.99 at Sam's), I'm wondering how alcohol fits into your fitness program.

I wonder because I often feel guilty for "imbibing" - not only because of the extra calories, but because it slows down your metabolism (from what I've read) - something I DO NOT need!!! Though I am happy to read about the benefits of red wine and such.

At times when I'm really careful, I add it into my total calories - if I have enough I get some, if not, too bad. However, sometimes I will have more than two drinks which means I will go over calories for the day.

The new YMCA plan I'm on recommends avoiding alcohol. I KNOW this will not happen for me - I don't generally cut any one thing out entirely, especially when I really enjoy it. (FYI - This program also recommends NO SUGAR - but it's not a no-carb, high protein thing per se - it still allows pasta, potatoes, etc.. But the program is truly bland - recommending things like broiling fish and squeezing some lemon over it - booooooorrrrriiiingggg (to me), so I will be making many modifications.)

Anyway, I just wondered how you all view alcohol in your overall healthy living plan.

[jd]

lindrusso, I also enjoy a nice glass of wine. While I've been on WW, I've really reduced the amount I've been drinking to about 1-2 glasses per week. Once I hit my target weight (hopefully about 6-8 weeks), I will be using some of my increased daily calories for exactly this enjoyment - likely a glass a day during the week and two on the weekends. Sounds like you will need some excellent wines to get through your Y menus! All the best!

[Laura]

I am such a lightweight these days, that I really don't drink that much. I average 1-2 glasses per week, and sometimes none at all (makes it difficult to participate in our virtual wine tastings on a weekly basis.) There was a time in my life when I drank way too much. Real life made me change my ways. It's not the best example to set for your kids being hung over each and every weekend. I do enjoy a good glass of wine, but often find myself evaluating why I am drinking it. If it is for the wrong reason, I usually won't (but then again, sometimes I will.) I am more likely to enjoy it if I have been good, and feel good.

I remember one day last year when I called up my fiance (boyfriend then) and told him I was making a pitcher of margaritas and planned to drink them. He could join me if he wanted, but that pitcher was going to be emptied, with or without him. He came over to save me from a big hangover and gave me a large shoulder to cry on as well. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Natasha]

Alysha,

Now that s a good question. I can t wait to see what hhcowgirl has to say!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif Just kidding...

As many of you may know, I am a wine fan. However, I don t drink much at all - say 1-2 glasses a week most weeks. I also keep reading/hearing about the effects on your metabolism, and that s more of a concern to me than the calories. I wonder, though - if this it in fact true about your metabolism, which would slow your metabolism down more: (a) if you have, say, two glasses once a week, or (b) one glass on each of two nights in the week? Food girl? Anyone else? Since I don t drink much, I m not particularly concerned, but am still curious.


[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 02-05-2001).]

[kwormann]

Because calories count so much with my low meetabolism, I have really cut out on alchohol. I try to limit it to 1-2 drinks per month. WHen we are out just for "normal" meal, I have sparkling water with lime. It feels like a drink, but I dont get hot, and no calories or hangover. When I do indulge, I love wine, Corona and tequilla! I make sure I have something I love to make it worth while.

Kim Happy Drinking http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[MrsReber]

Two things I miss drinking while I'm pregnant are wine (a nice glass of zinfandel while making dinner) and Bailey's- which is so very nice when it's nasty outside. I was never a very big drinker so it was one or two glasses a week. My husband is currently torturing me by drinking my Bailey's! Anyway, in the plan that I was following from my gym, they count wine as a fruit. They do tell you to try to avoid it. I was weighed once a week and if I had a drink or two the night before my weekly consultation, I always weighed more. I did try to figure it into my daily calories, but 1/4 cup of wine doesn't exactly cut it! I loved that plan since I usually cheated a little bit and I still lost the weight. Like with everything else, though, moderation is the key.


[This message has been edited by MrsReber (edited 02-05-2001).]

[emilycat]

Gosh, I feel like such a lush...
Granted, I am just out of college and my "heavy drinking days" aren't far behind me, but I must admit that I do love to drink. It's something I'm conscious of, though, because alholism is very prevalent in my family.

Anyway, enough prefacing -- I probably have 1-2 drinks 5 or 6 times a week -- almost always 5-ounce glasses of wine, if I have beer, I only drink one. If I do, by chance, go out and have a bit too much fun (a whole bottle of wine + , say, ) I won't drink for the next 3 days or so. I feel like I have to detoxify my body or something. Although in the past week or so, I've only had about 2 drinks -- I've been sick, and knew alcohol wouldn't exactly speed up my recovery. Not to mention that my dulled taste buds would have been a waste of a good bottle of wine.

Here's something I read in Runner's World in the January issue:
The decision to drink alcoho is a personal one with pros and cons that vary from person to person. Here's the most recent thinking on the subject.
Your Health: According to most research, women who consume 14 alcoholic drinks a week and men who have 21 drinks experience a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer, says Ruth C. Engs, Ed.D., professor of applied health science at Indiana University in Bloomington. (Once drink equals 12 ounces beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1 1/2 ounces of liquor.) But once you exceed daily drinks, your risk rises. For women in particular, heavy drinking may increase the risk of breast and endometrial cancers.

So, according to this, I'm okay in terms of how much I drink. It's only one source of information, but for now it's my rationalization. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Emily

[Gina O]

When I look at the question "how does alcohol fit into your routine?" the first answer that comes to mind is that I wish it did fit into my routine. I would love a glass of port each night after dinner, or wine with dinner. Right now I really only drink occassionally, and usually not much... maybe 2-3 drinks on a Friday night every other week. (But, we are not going to talk about this past Friday). The main reasons I do not drink more are 1) the calories and 2) a medication that I take each night that "enhances" the effect of alcohol ie, if I have two drinks, the next morning it feels like four. Gina

[pmmahan]

interesting topic!! Well, I've been trying not to drink lately (reminders of holiday hangovers make me groan), which is hard because I am 23 and everyone my age drinks, and drinks a lot!!
For example, this weekend, on Friday night, I had a glass of Cabernet sauvignon with dinner, and on saturday, I had two glasses of Pinot Noir. I am all about moderation these days, but I do love wine!

[hhcowgirl]

Funny, Natasha!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

As most of you can tell from my last few "hungover" posts, obviously I do find a way to "fit" alcohol in my routine. However, it is something that I am not thrilled with and it does concern me at times. Like Emilycat, my college days are not far behind me. Plus, since I'm in law school, there is still somewhat of a collegiate atmosphere around here so that is is definitely conducive to imbibing. Here is how I sort of rationalize my habits, though: since there is just so much work to be done during the week (research, reading, studying and synthesizing what I have studied), I only drink on the weekends. However, this timing is unfortunate because I also like to get in my good long runs on the weekend, and these two activities are pretty much mutually exclusive. Anyway, I have a feeling these fairly crazy weekends will stop as soon as I graduate from law school--my BF is a little older than me, for one thing, so he is sort of "over" the tendency to relive one's college days, plus the hectic lawyer-ly schedule seems overwhelming to me; I certianly do not plan on going into work hungover. So right now I am just sort of enjoyig it while I can. BTW, although I am pretty meticulous about couting all other kinds of calories, there is simply no way I can w/ alcohol, so I sort of take the weekend off as far as counting calories goes. Cheers, all!

[food girl]

I just had to reply! Alcohol interferes with carbohydrate metabolism, but not your overall metabolic rate. Women have less of the enzyme that clears your system of alcohol, thus recommendations for alcohol consumption for women is always lower.

It is true that alcohol can reduce your risk for heart disease, but what they don't tell you is that the risk outweighs the benefit if you are under 60 years old. Of course, exercise and a healthy diet will help far more than having a glass of wine, and sometimes the 18 -20 lbs that people would loose if they stopped drinking would do them a lot of good ....

The "risks" are breast cancer, cancer of the mouth, tongue, esophagus and larynx - especially if you are a smoker. I talk to too many women with breast cancer who have 2 drinks per day, and they say "Well, I am not giving up my wine". For this reason, I really try not to make drinking a daily "habit", that one day I will just feel like I cannot quit.

Alcohol consumption also accellerates bone loss.

Ok, to get off my high horse, I did have a beer yesterday. I like to have a little drink before I paint - it loosens me up. I love almost all alcohol, beer, wine & liquor, but because of its dehydrating effect I try to keep my intake to 1-2 drinks per week when I am in training. If I drink the night before a long bike ride I feel like crap for about the first 20 miles the next day.

Ah, I am just thinking of a nice gin & tonic on the front porch on an 80 degree spring day...

Lisa

[pammy]

Sorry, my old brain has forgotten who posted the question about the perks of aging. This is one of the areas that is certainly not a perk. I love wine and good, microbrew/homebrew beer. But, they do not love me (or my thighs, butt or belly). So as I have gotten older (not that I am ancient, but boy, do things change after 30!) I have cut back significantly on my intake of alcohol. I have about 4-5 glasses of wine a week and maybe a beer or two. When I am trying to loose a couple of pounds, I cut back even further. The good thing is, the less you drink, the more you appreciate the flavor of what you are drinking.

[cindyluwho]

I might have a drink once every couple months or so, so I guess I'm less than a lightweight by many people's standards, but I certainly don't have objections to having a drink now and then. That said, I may be in the minority here, but aside from the caloric or metabolic issues which have already been mentioned here, it seems that if you've got a hangover, your body is screaming out to you that you are going well beyond what is healthy. I think that the flu-like symptoms and nausea that result from drinking large quantities of alcohol indicate that your body is reacting to what it considers to be a serious assault to its system or a failed poisoning attempt. This may sound over-dramatic, but I think this is only because we're so used to people thinking it's funny or a badge of coolness when someone is puking in the corner or wakes up with a hangover. If you really consider what is happening in your body, it's really not that funny or cool, in the same way that having the flu or food poisoning is really an undesirable thing, only the flu and food poisoning are usually not self-induced. There are many reasons why it seems very attractive to drink to excess, many of which I've been tempted by personally, but they're not really worth it in the light of day. Well, those are my thoughts, to anyone who cares to hear them!

[ChefChris]

Hi, I love to drink a glass of wine while making dinner. I find now though that I drink less the older I get. Now that I have two young children I save drinking more than 1-2 glasses of wine a night for a very special occassion. It is so hard to feel bad the next day and still have to take care of them, not to mention unfair to them for mommy to be hungover and cranky! I also am conscious of how it effects weight loss and my desire to exercise. I just started weight watchers a couple of weeks ago to lose that last 5-10 pounds that have been driving me crazy and I have noticed just by cutting out the glass of wine I had probably 4-5 nights a week, it has sped up weight loss. Rather than having a glass a day I am now striving for one or two on the weekends. It is difficult because my husband collects wine and we both love it!
Chris

[SusieO]

This is a really interesting thread. I, like jd and Chris, cut back on alcohol considerably when I joined Weight Watchers. (I'd rather spend the points on chocolate http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif) Recently, I've started drinking more, but still only about 3-4 glasses of wine per week. (I'm really enjoying the virtual wine tastings!)

[Natasha]

Lisa,
Thanks for the info about the metabolism stuff.

[LGBurns]

This has been a really interesting thread for me. I have been thinking of posting a similar question myself.

My family has a history of heavy drinking and my husband's parents never drank (his grandfather was an alcoholic, so his parents were very strict about alcohol). I'm really conscious of how much I drink because of my family history.

I really enjoy a good glass of wine, beer or a good margarita or manhattan every once in a while, but have never been a heavy drinker. I really love having a glass of wine while I'm cooking, but usually only indulge when there's wine in the recipe (a little for the pot, a little for me http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif) or on special occasions. We don't keep hard alcohol at home, but we do occasionally (maybe every other week or so) buy beer or wine, especially if I see something on sale. But my husband drinks a lot less than I do, usually he can't even finish a whole beer, and doesn't like wine as much as I do, so we usually take a long time to get through a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine. I think if I was married to someone who drank more, I would probably drink more. So, it's probably good that Mark doesn't drink that much.

[beccathebaker]

I came across this posting and was quite interested as I did some research for my nutrition degree on alcohol and diet. Though I would not advocate heavy drinking in any way, as a few of my relatives are alcoholics, I would like to share some of the information that I found:
1994 study in Lancet found that wine taken with meals conteracts platelet coagulation and reduces thrombosis or risk of blood clotting
The same study showed that wine with meals prevents the modification of LDL or bad cholesterol (with red wine)
Wine fed mice have much higher concentrations of catechin which has been shown to decrease tumor growth.
Phenolic compounds and antioxidants like resveratrol are plentiful in grape skins and wine are shown to have cancer chemopreventative activity.
According to Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, physician and director of medicine and public health at Boston University Institute on Lifestyle and Health, alcohol is metabolized differently, so adding an extra 100-200 kcals per day of alcohol usually does not lead to an increase in weight. However, when the same number of calories were added in the form of carb. fat or protein, weight increased!
Now- As a health professional, I am weary of taking any one side of the issue over another, but I must say that after all of my research, and through looking at other cultures relationships with alcohol, i do not see the harm in a daily glass of wine. I find that it adds pleasure to a meal and in moderation can help our overall health!
I hope that this posting does not offend anyone- I am just reporting the interesting info. that I have collected over the past few months which I found to be quite different from what the general public has been led to believe.

[hhcowgirl]

ALl right Becca! That's the ticket! I will thank you on behalf of both Emilycat and myself (recent college grads who are always trying to find ways to justify their drinking habits http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif). Seriously, though, thanks for the info. I promise not to misuse it!

[Jessica]

I've been sick lately, but when I am healthy I have one or two glasses of wine on the weekend. I might go to a party a few times a year and have a hard-liquor drink or two. I was never much of a drinker but my DH loves wine and I have learned to enjoy it with a meal. I prefer to use my calories on ice cream, though.
Once in a great while, I pour a little Bailey's on ice and indulge.
I do think our country has some weird attitudes about alcohol. I was raised in a family where the parents drank wine or beer with dinner (not every day) and did not get drunk. Alcohol was for grownups and not for over-indulgence. Period. Neither I nor my siblings have ever had problems or hangups with alcohol. My DH was raised in a family where it was against their religion to drink. He went through a brief partying phase in college (thankfully, before I met him) and then settled down.

[mandarin2j]

Like LGBurns, I have a history of alcoholism in my family, so I watch my alcohol consumption.

I have maybe 2-3 drinks a week (average--sometimes more, sometimes none at all). My friends give me a hard time because I can usually nurse the same drink for some time, but I feel ill if I don't just sip 'em. If I have my main aerobic endurance workout the next day (usu. Sat. or Sun.), I just have club soda, because I don't like the dehydration that often accompanies alcohol use.

Sometimes I have more than a few drinks in one evening, but I always alternate with water and drink a big glass of water before bed. One night's fun just ain't worth a whole day's pain! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[JHolcomb]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mandarin2j:
[B]My friends give me a hard time because I can usually nurse the same drink for some time, but I feel ill if I don't just sip 'em.

I had a flatmate in Ireland who would get furious with me because I took so long to drink one drink. She used to threaten to leave me sitting in the bar by myself if I didn't finish in a "reasonable" amount of time http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif.
My big drinkin' days are over and done. I'm only a couple of years out of college, so I still remember what happens to me if I drink more than one or two drinks (or 12 or 13. Freshmen can be sooooo stupid...). Also, I can't afford the calories. I do drink 1-2 glasses of wine every week or so, but not more than that. It dehydrates me so much!

[dink52]

Originally posted by beccathebaker:
I came across this posting and was quite interested as I did some research for my nutrition degree on alcohol and diet. Though I would not advocate heavy drinking in any way, as a few of my relatives are alcoholics, I would like to share some of the information that I found:
1994 study in Lancet found that wine taken with meals conteracts platelet coagulation and reduces thrombosis or risk of blood clotting
The same study showed that wine with meals prevents the modification of LDL or bad cholesterol (with red wine)
Wine fed mice have much higher concentrations of catechin which has been shown to decrease tumor growth.
Phenolic compounds and antioxidants like resveratrol are plentiful in grape skins and wine are shown to have cancer chemopreventative activity.
According to Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, physician and director of medicine and public health at Boston University Institute on Lifestyle and Health, alcohol is metabolized differently, so adding an extra 100-200 kcals per day of alcohol usually does not lead to an increase in weight. However, when the same number of calories were added in the form of carb. fat or protein, weight increased!
Now- As a health professional, I am weary of taking any one side of the issue over another, but I must say that after all of my research, and through looking at other cultures relationships with alcohol, i do not see the harm in a daily glass of wine. I find that it adds pleasure to a meal and in moderation can help our overall health!
I hope that this posting does not offend anyone- I am just reporting the interesting info. that I have collected over the past few months which I found to be quite different from what the general public has been led to believe.

[dink52]

I accidently put the quote of Beccathebakee in. I am new about posting my thoughts.
I have found everyone's thoughts and information very interesting. I too have
relatives that are alcoholics. I am always
aware of how much I am drinking vs food, cal.
etc.
I have found that I "crave" a drink more so when it is near my period. When I have started I don't care if I drink or not.
I really think this craving comes form
hormones/glucose levels.I don't really know.
If you talk to a doctor about it. You are consider a alcoholic which I maybe but I don't think so. I also think chocolate does the same thing for some people. I really don't like chocolate that much.
Does anyone else out there feel like this??I know all the pit falls about wieght and metabolism.Of course I am over weight.
I just wish there was something out there that I could eat to take away this
major sugar crave .

[m4star]

Being diabetic, there are a few problems for me drinking (blood sugar being a big one) but I love wine. I collect it, it is a hobby. However, I find that when I drink I must be very cautious. One good glass of wine before dinner can all too easily slide down so well that I pour another. And I am a light-weight, so two drinks will mess with me pretty good. I find that I crave really terrible foods when I am tipsy - or drunk http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif I just can not say no to sweets, and actually too much wine makes me crave chocolate ice cream (my husband thinks this is crazy). Drinking also makes it all to easy to sleep in rather than get up early for a workout.

So how does it fit in to my routine? Well I use wine and all alcohol to celebrate...and when I do, I try really hard to "keep my head" and enjoy that first glass but switch to water after.

[luv2cook]

We usually have a cocktail in Fri. nights. sometimes Sat, sometimes not, sometimes Sunday, a lot of times not. Last night we did have (I did) a bloody mary with sweet onions from Spec's and my DH had our usual vodka concotion.

We do try to buy quadruple distilled vodka and we have started drinking wine. I can take liquor or leave it...but i have noticed that my tolerance is up and I don't get headaches as much as I used to...hmmm...