I have been here before
It all started so well but then fell off the wagon in a major way – or shall we be honest and say more of a bunji jump off a cliff.
When I started over three months ago I said I wanted to lose 2 stone – I have lost 8 and feel better but I could have lost a whole load more.
I can trot out excuses, mother not well, father in law having cancer treatment, OH massively stressed at work and taking it out on me, having to evict tenants from rental property and finding they were dealing drugs and trashed the property- but you know what these are just excuses.
The main issue is me and my relationship with wine.
I like the food on the BSD diet veg and meat are heaven to me
I dont have a sweet tooth (though crisps are my weakness!).
My problem is wine – I like wind and one glass is not enough
There I have said it
OH also uses alcohol to cope with stress which only makes things worse

So now I have faced up to what the problem is – I just need to work out a strategy!

Any thoughts all welcome

I’m an all or nothing type person with quite an addictive personality, I used wine as a coping mechanism and ended drinking a bottle of wine a night to “help” me through a rough 6 months. After continually waking up feeling rubbish I decided to have a 3 month detox, 5 yrs 6 mths later I still haven’t touched a drop, don’t miss it, don’t need it. Why don’t you try giving it up for a month, see how you feel and take it from there?

How did you do it?
I have tried ( may be that’s the issue I am already using the language of failure) rather than saying I am going to
I have just remembered something my boss told me when I was a teenager
I asked how he gave up smoking and he replied he just stopped having the first cigarette of the day!

So that’s what I need to do just not have the first glass

not quite the same as alcohol, or perhaps it is
but I know that giving up massive biscuit binges was easier when I realised that my ‘need’ for the first biscuit was nothing compared to the NEED for the next one!!

next time, if there is one, that you have that first drink, really try to recognise if it satisfies a need, or just increases it

Hi all,
I think we’ve all found that an open packet of anything (biscuits, ciggies) or opened bottle of plonk is the biggest temptation, sending out invitations we really don’t need. I am reminded of something that someone said to me as I embarked on the BSD:
Resist things ONCE – in the supermarket.

I tend to hit food when problems get the better of me – like you, Madmare, I have a penchant for crips! It doesn’t help that there’s a Tesco Express just round the corner from me.

Good luck, Madmare, you’ve recognised the problem. If you can wean yourself off wine you will undoubtedly lose weight because of all the sugar you won’t be consuming – that’s a pretty good incentive to cut out the vino. Find something to use as a substitute, maybe extra exercise, a glass of water….

I love wine too Madmare. Red wine in particular! I can forgo crisps, sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits etc, and haven’t craved them once in the 6 weeks I have been on this diet. But wine is my downfall, and on Saturday night I thoroughly enjoyed a bottle to myself after getting so fed up with the slow weight loss. I’m back on the diet 100% now – not giving up just yet.

I have always loved how wine makes me feel. Suddenly, after a glass or two, the world seems a better place, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to completely give it up. I have succumb to the fact that I need to lay off it in order for me to get to the weight I want to be, and after that point I know I will have to be careful with wine. But I’d like to be able to introduce it back into my life as something to savour, rather than something to take the edge off a stressful life!

I already exercise, and drink plenty of water, and neither of them hit the spot quite like the wine does!

Hi, Madmare – you could be writing about me.
Wine is also my downfall and I hold it fully responsible for my 43 inch wine belly. Not pretty.
I have also been attempting this 8 week diet for the last 3 months but find I’m having to start again every Monday as I just can’t get out of my bad habits.
I don’t have a sweet tooth either – just carry all my fat around my middle which is why I need to do this.

A lot of people swear by Becks Blue as a substitute, it’s low calorie but has 9g carbs.

I am going to join you in starting properly again tomorrow and try and give myself a break from the wine to try and establish new healthier habits. It doesn’t help that I work at my own restaurant and bar in the evenings – I just need to leave the building without the obligatory ‘wind-down’!

I’m growing my own mint at the moment so I’m going to try virgin mojitos and see if that does the trick!

Good luck to us both!

I like wine too much also. It was one of the biggest issues for me as I started the BSD. So my coping strategy was to buy cases of sparkling water (I like Pellegrino or Gerolstein) and keep at least 3 or 4 bottles really cold in the fridge. When I think I want wine, I first pour a huge bubbling ice cold glass of sparkling water and drink it. Usually that makes me happy enough but if I decide after that to have wine, I make myself wait until dinner is on the table, then I pour a very small amount and eat dinner. I usually can resist more wine after that. My theory is that wine works so well and is so attractive because when I have low blood sugar (ie I’m really hungry) wine is a very fast sugar-delivery system.

Hi Madmare… I think I touched on my own post that boy did I like a glass or ten of wine to ” de-stress” I was stressed at work and used wine as a reward for having got through the bad day. I was piling on weight, suffering terrible night sweats, moody, tired and I think bordering on pre- diabetic. I started by challenging myself to dry January which was a killer to start with. Got used to it so decided to adopt a 5:2 approach. So I got used to that and then I started the BSD and decided to keep the same routine of Fri/ Sat. The next phase for me was to get the personal trainer twice a week for the next 4 weeks ( not cheap but I saved up and he is worth every penny!) and I am now getting a bigger buzz off that than the wine. Don’t get me wrong I like wine ( a lot) but I am more in control and I feel so much better I can’t tell you! I don’t know if this is any use. I am an all or nothing type person too but I can tell you I don’t have night sweats anymore, I’m less moody ( says my husband 😂) and I feel so much healthier now. I want rid of that wine belly too!!! Good Luck !!!

When I went to Weight Watchers and told them that the only thing I could not give up was wine, they said I was in the wrong place! But they were helpful in that they suggested reducing the intake and calories by breaking it down with sparkling mineral water. Years after, I now am addicted to mineral water!

I did not manage to have an alcohol free night last night but only two glasses and lots of tonic and a tiny amount of gin….

But as Scarlett O’Hara says tomorrow (or in my case today) is another day!
Thanks to all of you for such wonderful support
I am really bad at admitting that I need help and it so wonderful that you can be honest and not be judged
I am getting a bit teary here so here is something that makes me laugh

BTW this is me!!!!
http://www.tottering.com/product_info.php?cPath=18&products_id=128

and this
http://www.tottering.com/product_info.php?cPath=39_80_113&products_id=1510

keeptrying
I know the answer to that one – my ‘need’ for the first glass is nothing to my NEED for the second
Thank you made me think!

Rozydozy
I will try substitutions – I just need to think about the sugar not about how good the wine will taste and imagine the muffin top disappearing……

MrsG27715
Thats me!!
I need to learn to savour not slurp;_ a glass not a bottle!!

susieb
Its like looking in a mirror – lose weight all week then put it back over the weekend!
We can do this!!
Could you share the virgin mojito recipe – it sounds one to try!!

Californiagirl
I like the idea of the cold Pellegrino – I am calling at the supermarket on my way home to stock up
and the low blood sugar – that really resonates – I go far too long without eating – I never thought that its a quick sugar fix….

GillyD
and here I am blaming the night sweats on the menopause – have wondered why I dont get them in the day…..

Jnette
You give me hope!!

these posts are so positive – it really makes a difference.
Also made me start to analyse why I drink like I do
Thanks again everyone

Hi, Madmare,

You are certainly not alone in struggling with this habit – it’s a craving like a sugar craving and we need to change our routine and find some sort of distraction until the craving passes.

For a vigin mojito, finely chop some fresh mint and put into a nice-looking tall glass with ice. Squeeze a wedge of lime into it and drop it into the glass then give it all a bash (I use the handle of a wooden spoon). Top up with cold sparkling water. If you prefer it sweeter you can use diet lemonade or half and half.

Stay with me on this, Madmare. This is my day 2, or will be if I get past tonight!