Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

[not2late]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

I'm surprised that more of it doesn't 'cook out' with a flambee. I mean, you're essentially BURNING the alcohol away, aren't you? But, damn, now that you mentioned cooking with it, you're making me want to do so. Wine applications are limitless in cooking and I've always been more of a hard alcohol drinker, even though I was raised partially IN a winery and have been exposed to it for as long as I can remember.

Oddly, I don't have much of a craving for getting tipsy on the weekends since I stopped doing so two months ago. But the idea of curling up with a martini or glass of red wine after work just sounds SO GOOD to me right now. Even moreso than having a favorite sweet or carby food I've been deprived of.

Actually, you're evaporating the alcohol away or you are using the alcohol as fuel. Residuals remains.

http://www.ochef.com/165.htm

Frankly, I don't like varietal wines for cooking---I find the flavor they give to food is very one dimensional and relatively lifeless. Blended wines and fortified wines have a fuller flavor so make better cooking wines, imo. Fortified wines have a longer storage life. So if I open a bottle of fino sherry to use a couple of tablespoons for my shrimp sautee tonight, I don't have to worry about 'needing' to finish the bottle.

And of course, using liquers or liquor is a good option for cooking, but you need to know enough about them in order to prevent their flavors from competing with any herbs/spices you use in the dish.

[angelstar]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

When I did Atkins last time I did extended Induction for 4 months so I didnt work my way up the rungs to alcohol. I cut down my alcohol intake quite abit and only drank diet coke whilst out with mates. If i did drink then I either gained a pound or 2 or stayed at the same weight, no matter how good I was with food or exercise. If ur planning on drinking then I'd say save it up for a special occassion as stalling for a week isnt fun. Sometimes being the designated driver is a good thing, u can watch ur mates get totally plastered and make complete fools out of themselves!

[n0matter]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

To iterate, I WILL be drinking again. This is not a question of "should I or should I not?", but I do thank you for sharing your personal experiences with rung 5 with me. I don't plan on bar-hopping or hanging out and drinking with mates. I'm talking about two glasses of wine or two martinis or any variation of such/week. That's approximately 1 gram of carbs, 250 calories and a combined 4 hours of metabolic influence.

[Rubysugar]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

Congrats on being half way!! That's awesome!

I have the occasionaly glass here and there. Maybe once in the last month and a half. I didn't notice anything horrible. I did notice my tolerance was waaaaaaaaay down. My MIL called me and I quote "A big mouth, full of wine" But she meant it in a very loving way. really, she did....

Megs? Guiness is carby?? noooooo... I lurve Guiness, let us know if you figure out a punch with it.

[staziaw]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

N0matter - congratulations on all the forever lost weight! That's excellent.

I too am looking forward to the Alcohol Rung, just to be able to have a glass of wine once in a while. Of course, the key, as with everthing, is moderation. But you know that!

Again, 'grats on the loss. Very cool.

Stacy

[Analog6]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

Wine will slow your loss, but only you can decide how much that matters. I cannot drink red due to it being a migraine trigger, but have a glass of white (4oz - I have a special little glass!) 2-3 times a week.

Enjoy!

[fawn]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

oh a cold beer on the beach. yummy!

Only very seldom though as beer is so high carb and I refuse to drink the low carb beer. YUCK
I love corona light
HOWEVER......Since low carbing more than 3 drinks at a party and I am in bed the entire next day vomitting my guts out. Violently ill! I only allowed that to happen a couple of times. Man I used to be able to slam a 6 pack with no problems! oh yeah my biggest problem was my fat stomach!

So now I just have a cold beer every once in a while or a nice glass of red wine.
Listen to me talking big
I haven't had a drink since my cruise last November! I bet I'd get hammered now.
n0matter, you will get light headed very easy........may I suggest a few pieces of some really fine cheeses to accompany your wine to eliminate a spike? It works for me.
I'm outta here...........that cold beer is sounding too good right now as it is 100 degrees

[Rubysugar]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

Oh, excellent advice on the cheese... I love Stilton with wine. *drool*

[ErinRachel1021]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

I remember reading somewhere that if you're going to eat cheese, wine is the perfect thing to pair it with (this, of course was in regarders to cheese *binding* someone up).

[not2late]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

Angelstar makes a good point---all the OWL/Pre-Maintenance foods fall into the YMMV category (Your Mileage May Vary). That's why we go through those phases to see what effect these foods have on us. If they don't affect your weight loss, good. If they do affect your weight loss, good! Because then you will be able to make an informed decision whenever you are confronted with the food.

RE: Guinness-- 12 fluid ounces of the draught has 10 carbs, the extra stout has 14
http://www.realbeer.com/edu/health/calories.php

But when I make carbonnade a la flamande, I usually add maybe a cup of Guinness to it. That's the only dish I use beer for----other than the high carb baked goods I make for friends and family.

I typically stick to the fortified wines, liqueurs and liquors for cooking.

editing to add...

Cheese and wine.
Cheese affects the taste of wine. Depending on the cheese and the wine, it can either tone down or exaggerate the tannic taste and the wine flavors (oak, grassy, smoky, berry, asphalt, and whatever else those oenophiles can taste in them).

[Bren]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

I enjoy an occasional glass of wine........ I waited till I hit rung 5 before having one and was quite surprised as to what a "cheap date" I had become. Ask 2big........ we had quite a good time with that one. You know the old adding five carbs etc. Could have had a real party until 2big gave the proper definiation.
Now, I am fine with it..... and usually on a Friday evening.

And congratulations n0matter on your lose!! WEIGH TO GO!

[msnicksmom]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

Great job on the loss n0matter, and great job on following the principles too!

I worked through OWL quickly and lost quickly. My CCCL remains high. I found on Rung 5 that:
I now savored my drink more than before, just as I savored my food more than before.
I did get lightheaded, dizzy, tipsy feeling VERY quickly. Adding fats with drink helped.
I put portion control in place, ie, I ordered a drink at a restaurant, or at a gathering, made sure I was AWAY from where I could easily or automatically get more.
It caused cravings with the first sip. Cravings I resisted, but struggled with then for several DAYS after.
Still lost the next day. Always. Even if I hadn't lost IN days, the scale was nice the next day.
Wine was and still is my favorite, but I do get less affects (don't know why) from scotch on the rocks, scotch and diet, rum and diet coke, etc.

Hope that helps, and that you enjoy your wine

[n0matter]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

Thank you everyone for the information. I particularly liked the wine and cheese suggestion since I've gotten so easily excited about the prospect of trying out new cheeses lately. I don't know whether it's about getting older or simply getting sick of the hard stuff but wines and cheeses are started to appeal to me more all of the time. I've been a hardcore drinker on and off for many years, which has contributed significantly to my overall weight loss. Now the idea of sipping a nice read wine, developing my palate and learning to appreciate wines and cheeses is so much more appealing then drinking a half bottle of scotch and going on an all-night bender.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

N0matter get somebody who knows cheese andor wine to help you match them up cause you don't want a cheese to ruin your wine as Not2late pointed out.

[ErinRachel1021]

Re: Halfway to goal! And another wine question...

^His father might as well be Baccus. Between him and my much more modest knowledge of wine (worked in a wine bar in Palo Alto for quite some time...etc) I think this will be a fun rung for the both of us.