Hello JimR OCDS


Thank You for the note;


You mentioned a bit about Potassium, it does worry me a bit.
I take a water pill daily prescribed by my doctor. He had also prescribed a potassium pill along with it about 9 months ago....
I had severe stomach problems during the time I took the potassium, we did not connect it to the potassium, so he gave me Prylosec to help with the heartburn and uncomfortable feeling I had in my stomach. It didn't help! I went back to him and told him, He took me off the Potassium but kept me on the water pill.
Lo and behold my stomach problem went away and so did the heartburn... About two months ago I started taking supplements and potassium was included.... What do ya think?
Yep! Stomach problems started all over again, but it didn't register untill about a week later after I missed a dose or two of the supplements! I eliminated the potassium and have been fine ever since.
So now I wonder if Atkins is going to cause problems in this area for me. I take the water pill because my blood pressure is slightly elevated and I have edema. My Doc. thinks it's because of the weight I have gained in the past two years. I think it's a combination of a lot of things and wonder if drinking has something to do with it, although I have heard that wine is a diuretic. I have to wonder about that!
Anyway thanks for the tip.

Susann,
I too suffer from heartburn. It goes almost completely away, when I stay low-carb. Wine does contribute to it.
Also, American wine has sulfates in it, and this could cause the problem of heartburn. Also, red wine has histamines, so I tend to get a running nose with posts nasal drip, which also causes heartburn.

O well! Like an old friend once said to me, "don't get old, it'll kill ya!"

Hi you guys,
I had a chance to drop by and visit awhile and this thread caught my eye, because I am a drinker. other than the alcoholism problem that has been discussed, I would like to know if others like me simply included it in their lifestyle (without guilt). I don't drink every day, but when I drink its to catch a buzz. during a weight loss phase, I drink less, when in maintain mode I drink a few more. a coors light has five carbs, wine says 1.2 for a fluid ounce for dry, 2.3 for sweet. I just do the math and adjust carbs accordingly. I never eat when I drink, ruins the buzz if you know you are going to drink 3 glasses of wine, adjust. do 20 sit ups, anything... I used to struggle with this too, then I realized that to say I was never going to drink again was not a goal, and this is a way of life, my life, one I want to enjoy and embrace, and if I get to lose weight meanwhile, well, that's a bonus, learning to eat a healthy low carb lifestyle is a facsinating journey. There is so much knowledge, data, and information that it can only benefit, sorting out what's right or wrong for me and believing in myself and that this is not just another diet or attempt at weight loss with the possibility of failure...but a complete and honest change of lifestyle...then I have already succeeded. I have gone from a 26w to an 18-20w, its taken me a bit more than a year, next year, i maybe 16 -18w, and the year after that maybe there won't be a w in the size... ..its all good and so then is life.
If you want to drink, then drink. If you think you have a problem, then you have another decision to make too.
Just my 2 cents,
Jane

Jane,

Like you this thread caught my eye. I had a lifestyle that always provided the opportunity to have a few drinks - regularly. Entertaining clients or staff; going out on a Friday for a few. But I found that this was part of the reason I gradually gained weight over a prolonged period. For me, the drinking led to eating without being responsible, not excercising, and I think it slowed down the digestion of food. Fortunately, I always drank socially. I now drink much, much less than I used to and although I don't follow a low carb diet as religiously as some, carbs are something I'm relatively cautious about too and I do moderate my intake.

When anything becomes a very regular habit, its time to re-examine what you're doing. To Susann - if weight loss is your goal, why not try going without alcohol for while, and see if that helps you get to where you want to go. From my experience, just avoiding being in certain circumstances was half the battle. Eliminating alcohol for a while can be a good motivator if it helps you get to your goal weight and it will likely have some other good side-effects too.

As for sleeping, the thing that does it for me is picking up a book and trying to read in bed. Within a few minutes I'm off..........

Hey Jane

I like your attitude! I guess you could say that is how I have felt about drinking wine for many years. For me it is a real treat to be able to sit down at night and enjoy those evening hours and sip away, relax and get a buzz, get sleepy and go to bed.
But recently in the past few years, I have been gaining weight by leaps and bounds.... I just can't believe it! I am not a big eater, nor am I a big snacker. So it must be the fact that I am a wine drinker.... at least that is what all the information I have been taking in is pointing to.
The hard part is letting go of a habit I happen to enjoy a lot, just to lose weight. It seems like on the nights I try not to have my wine, I just don't know what to do with myself, or how to sit still and try to relax into the evening. I know I CAN do it, because I have done it before, I just don't like doing it !

Susanne,
Is it just recently you have been gaining weight? and yet you have been drinking wine in the evenings all this time? would age or something else cause the wine to suddenly have this effect? I am afraid I am not knowledgable enough on those things. (I take a PM now and then when I need to sleep.) your idea of waiting till later in the evening to have the wine is a good idea, if you want to cut back on the amounts, maybe adding a bit of soda or something? would cut it back even more, but honestly, unless you are chugging a quart of the stuff, or think you might have a problem that needs attention, why beat yourself up over it? you will lose weight slower, period. which is more important at this point? can you switch to a PM ( to sleep) for a couple of weeks then when you get off induction (or what ever) you could add a bit of wine now and then? what if, while you were in weight loss mode, you ONLY drank those three drinks in the evening and did not drink anywhere else for say, one month? maybe you have begun to drink more than those three glasses and that has caused the weight gain? this is your LIFE, you can do what ever you want with it, there is no crime or shame in wanting to enjoy a bit of wine, unless it makes you unhappy. you have not failed, you will not fail, but your results WILL be different. What will happen if you purge wine from your life? will you spend the entire time you diet waiting for the time you can have wine again? will you never sleep? will you resent having to give up something you really enjoy and thus toss away a healthy lifestyle? will you substitute something that may be unhealthy? I have faith that you will figure out what will work for you, what results you are trying to achieve and at what rate, now that you have found a healthy way to live you will find a compatable way to work it into your life so that every day is a joy, not a hardship, I bet you find a way to meet this challenge. mine challenge is snacks. I LOVE snacks. I think I would eat clods of dirts, if it were in bite sizes on a plate. (by the way..how many carbs in a clod of dirt?)
fight the good fight,
Jane

Hello again Jane,

Yes the weight gain and difficulty losing it has a lot to do with age. About 4 years ago my weight was around 145#s Every year after that I started to put on about 12#s a year. WHen this first started to happenn I would get right on the Atkins Plan and lose what I needed to lose. But in the last 2 years it is not working. I am going through peri menopause, and since that all started everything has changed!
The last time I went on the Atkins plan I could not lose the weight untill I quit drinking my nightly wine, then it came off, but yes, It was distracting, and I really had a hard time giving up something I enjoyed a lot. I could hardly wait to be able to have wine again. It was almost like torture. It was one of the hardest things I had ever done, except for having to go to the dentist once in a while, and just over a week ago, we had to put our beautiful 13 year old mixed Cocker "Fergie" to sleep. She was my baby and I'm still deep in sadness over that.
I know I will get it right sooner than later on this wine thing....Life is SO full of not so great stuff sometimes, makes you wonder why things that make you feel good, are always found out to be not so good for you. Like smoking....I used to smoke years ago, my kids were young and were learning about the dangers of smoking, I was younger, and figured I would quit when I was older, well their little begging faces, every day, asking me to quit.... because they feared I would die... just did it for me! I quit!!! But I really loved smoking....uuuggghhh. I hated to give it up!
Ice Cream is good.... but makes you fat!.... Pasta is sooooo good but it has lots of carbs ..... And Bread,.. I thought was my friend, because I love bread, it doesn't love me. See what I mean?
Oh well no use complaining, it's not gonna change. But Hey,... thanks for the note of encouragement, I do appreciate it!
That what is so neat about this site. People like you, who care enough to write and encourage people like meeee! Osuzana

I've been lurking on this thread since it's inception.

Drink is important to me. Usually my drink of choice is red wine (especially when LCing), often it's beer, and on special occaisions, Scotch.

I drink maybe twice a week. When I drink, 90% of the time it is to get high or a "buzz" (the other 10% of the time it's just a glass). It is not uncommon for me to drink a bottle of wine or a sixpack in an evening. Or more.

In this higher state, I play guitar, write in my journal, listen to music, clean something that hasn't been cleaned in ages, write letters to old friends, have intense and terrific debates and conversations with the individual I've gotten drunk with, make love with my husband, make incredible meals for 20 or more, walk my dogs, spin wool, design very funky patterns, plan terrific holidays. When drinking, I do not drive, fight, go to bed early, or watch television.

Drinking is part of my healthy lifestyle. It is not for everyone.

I'm not saying I have not had regrets the next morning; after nights when I've had too much red wine, tried to make a strawberry marguerita substituting strawberry yoghurt for frozen strawberries, called an old boyfriend from highschool in the middle of the night and woken up his pregnant wife etc. This is all part of the experience.

Drinking enhances my life. If I didn't feel this way, I wouldn't drink. Everyone is different.

My best to you all!

Janice

Hmmmm Janice
Your reply is a very interesting read. Reminds me of myself when I was in my 20's and in a band in NYC . I had lots of fun and good times. ( in that band for 9 years) Now I'm older, and married with grown children. I also don't drink as much as I used to. And parties are rare! Gosh........ where did the time go? Osuzana

In actuality I avoided popping into this thread as I figured it was just another one of those preachy "the perils of alcohol and LCarbing threads .. thanks for the post on the "Alcohol Thread" osuzana to alert us to take a peak...great discussion going down here

For years one of my hobbies has been to make Homemade wine... mostly red... I find it incorporates occcasionally and nicely into a LC WOL...in fact most of my friends are great wine makers and it is fun to gather and try new vintages... I must honestly say that I do not drink a glass every evening at dinner but on occassion when I host a dinner party the wine glasses make an appearance...

Bonnie

Just wanted to add:

This WOL can take you to many levels...I respect each and every one's decision in whatever path they chose that works for them...

Two great quotes that my friends and I share on a constant basis are:

"All work and no play makes Jack a very dull lad"

and my overall favorite from a dear friend that we share when we are out and about having a good time... our toast to each other is :

"Who has more fun than people!"

Life is what you make of it!

Bonnie

I have just sat and read every single thread. Janice from Alberta(we are neighbors ..lol)...you are too funny!!

I use to drink everynight. I loved it. Since low carbing it...I just can't. Makes me get drunk way too fast. I'm a vodka drinker.

One thing I haven't done since low carbing is have red wine.

Does red wine not put us out of ketosis???

hugs...Cin

Cyn,

First and foremost remember the rule" YMMV" and the effects of red wine in moderation reacts differently with each individual... I am going quote what the Eades have to say about red wine in their latest edition of PPLifeplan:

This is in regards to Fibrinogen:

" this component of the body's blood- clotting system is not related to cholersterol or its carriers. Fibrinogen forms the strands of the framework onto which the clot forms. The higher the amount of fibrinogen in the blood, the greater the tendency to form clots and, therefore , the greater the risk for heart attack or stroke. When the body sustains an injury of any kind, fibrinogen rushes to the site to begin to patch the damage with a clot, snaring the solid components of blood ) the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets) in a web of fibrous strands. For this reason, it's difficult to get an accurate measure of fibrinogen if you've been sick, injured (even a minor injury), had surgery, or even been under major psychological stress, because the levels skyrocket in these circumstances. Levels taken in the abscence of such tramas that rise above 335 can signal an increased clotting risk. Smoking also drastically increases fibrogen levels, and if anyone with a high reading, stopping smoking is of paramount life-saving importance. If you suffer from any of the many insulin- resistance disorders - diabetes, high triglycerides, low HDL, excess weight - you should ask your physician to check your fibrinogen level, since it tends to run higher in the presence of these disorders. The good news that eating a diet lower in carbohydrate, partaking of a little wine or alcohol, and exercising will help to lower your fibrinogen."


Bonnie

As soon as I have a drink of red wine, my face goes bright red.(The white does it to a lesser extent, and I haven't tried enough of other alcoholic beverages to be sure.) Years ago, I saw some grape sugar in my HFS, and tried it, thinking it would be better than white sugar for sweet situations. Within very few minutes, I was slammed with a vicious headache - every time. So I've since decided that I am allergic to grape sugar. Then wine gave me a slight headache. Hmm, could it be the grapes, the sugar, or the alcohol that bothers me? I've never resolved this issue, but if you set a lovely large bunch of sweet grapes in front of me, I exhibit the same "control" as any alcoholiic. Hmmm again. I guess I shall conclude only that grape sugar in any of its manifestions is a carb too much.

Hello Thinny

I'm sure you are allergic to something that grapes contain. If I eat the grape, especially the green or white grape, I get really bad heartburn. I have no problem drinking dry red wine though, but sweet Red wines do the same thing! And forget about white wine.... I get a headache every time I drink it. Same thing with Champagne.

I just don't know O'suz