I need a drink!

I'm cheap.  I said it.  I'm always looking for a bargain.  I love things on sale.  I hate to waste money.  This personality trait of mine translates into my eating habits too.  I hate to waste calories.  So it's easy for me to say no to beer, wine, and cocktails.  Because I'm cheap, I just can't justify wasting my precious calories on alcohol.  I would much rather have something I can chew!  And now that I'm getting older, I actually think about nutrients!  Crazy, I know.  I do realize that I'm in the minority on this one.  Most of our patients ask me at one time or another..."When can I have a drink?"

I will only stay on my soapbox only  for a moment here.  Why do you want to use up 100, 200, 300 calories on a drink that's going to give you no nutritional value and a headache to boot?  OK! OK!  Enough!   How can you incorporate a drink or two into your plan and still lose weight?  It can be done.  First you need to know the trade offs.  Calorie wise, a glass of wine or a beer has about 100 calories.  So does one small serving of fruit.  If you're following your plan, trade one serving of fruit for one drink.  Easy enough, right?

Not really.  Obviously, we don't want to do this every day.  By skipping a fruit serving, you're giving up vitamins, minerals, and fiber that you are not going to get from alcohol.  So this is a once and a while option.  Sure, even the best apple is not going to give you a buzz but we do care about our health, right?  Alcohol also interferes with our bodies ability to burn fat stores.  So drinking will slow you down.  And I know we are all in a hurry to get to our goal weight.

So while you are actively trying to lose weight.  Keep the drinking to a minimum.  Let's say once a month.  Save it for special occasions.  Once you are at your goal weight, a drink or two once a week is fine and shouldn't interfere with you maintenance as long as you accommodate the calories.  OR, you could be cheap like me and spend those calories on a spinach salad :)  Hey, they don't call me the food Nazi for nothing!