WINE?

Hi just wanted to know if anyone has wine with their dinner and does it effect weight loss? i.e slower or no difference at all. How about the skinny girl margaritas?

Because alcohol is empty calories and i'd much rather eat the calories, I have cut back on my drinking so now i only drink on the weekends when i go out.

I think, however, that if you include it in your daily calorie allowance, it shouldn't affect your weight loss.

Wine isn't going to help weight loss it can only deter it because of the large amounts of sugar abd carbs. The positive health affects of wine are for the heart. Small amounts of wine arent going to hurt you but I would stay away from more than a small glass a day.

An interesting article showing alcohol doesn't necessarily contribute to weight gain.

Ofcourse nowadays you can find a study to support just about any argument...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/women-drinkers-gain-less-weight/?em

I can always find a way to work in wine : ). I avoided it for the most part during induction, but have had two glasses since then. Trying to just save it for the weekend and have an added bonus to look forward to!!

I have wine and love it; I just use a smaller glass, that's the key. Sip it & nurse the glass and it will be just as enjoyable

Same - just trying to save it for weekends and drink less of it then as well. Initially I tried the one small glass a day thing, but discovered for me, one glass leads to another.

Part of me wonders if part of the weight loss comes from the fact that, for example, I don't dance at clubs until I've had a drink in my system, and then I'm dancing all night!

I do occasionally, but not habitually. Just factor the calories into your daily calorie budget. I have no idea what a skinny girl margarita is, but the same goes for that.

I was a big drinker before losing weight. I honestly never occurred to me that one could open a bottle of wine and have 1 glass.

I cut back, and eventually basically quit drinking and it definitely helped me lose weight faster. Once most of the weight was off, I reintroduced wine- but only 1 glass at a time and it seems fine. But when I'm actively trying to lose weight, I limit drinking to once a week max. I find it hinders me in many ways. It dehydrates. It causes a little hangover, and therefore less energy the next day. And it takes up valuable calories that could be used for nutritious food my body needs. I believe that on a low calorie diet it is imperative that as many as possible calories come from nutritious food, so you don't become malnourished.

I quit drinking a little over a year ago, not because I didn't like it but as kate says and I agree, I don't like the hangover feeling, loss of motivation to do much the next day. I used to be a big weekend drinker so that entailed more than 1 glass, probably more like a bottle. At this point, I am not really interested in having "just 1 glass" so I don't have any at all. If I really wanted it, I would just count the calories, but I am a bigger lover of healthy good so prefer to go that route instead.

I definitely think that having wine with dinner slows down my weight loss. I've gone without it a week now but am going to have to cut out other evening items, too, because the weight isn't coming off.

I'm with everyone else.. I'm not wasting 100 precious calories on a drink that won't do anything nutritionally for me. I'd rather eat some greek yogurt and feel full. If you are at a club and dancing a lot you can probably work off the extra calories from the excercise you're getting, but if you're just sitting at home next to a fire reading a book you'll do more harm than good with it.

Thankfully I've never been much of a drinker. An occasional glass of wine with dinner or a drink out with friends but I have only been drunk 8 times in my life (and I'm almost 41). So I don't really miss it.

Seems I'm the opposite, I'd rather skip a few bites of a meal or two so I can drink. Granted, I am mindful I need a well balanced diet.

Dieting shouldn't be miserable! Just factor it in to your calorie count...

Your body burns alcohol first, carbs second and fat third. So it depends on how much and what you drink. I was a big wine drinker, worked my way up to 2 bottles a day. Since starting Atkins, I havn't had a drink. Having just a glass doesn't appeal to me, I'd rather have the bottle, lol. At first I thought I would treat myself to a wine day when I hit certain weight loss goals. Now I am not even interested in drinking. I have decided that New Years will be the exception. When I do, though, it will be hard liquor with diet soda or crystal lite to keep carbs low. (I also quit smoking when I quit drinking, those together were my vise, and I cant imagine having a drink without the smoke)

I went from having a glass or two three or four times a week to having a glass or two maybe once a week. It's surely slowed my weight loss down more than if I didn't drink at all, but not giving up drinking entirely is, for me, part of making this a sustainable lifestyle change, not just a temporary diet.