Part VI of “So, What Does SHE Do?” Alcohol

I don't. Usually. I'm not 100% abstaining, but most days I do.

And that is major progress for me. I used to be of the state of mind that a glass of wine at night was a good wind-down, was actually healthy and one wouldn't hurt.

While I was on keto, I saved carbs #14-18 (because 18 carbs were my max each day) for my glass of dry red wine, usually from a box. And I still easily lost weight.

When keto stopped working, so did the alcohol. I noticed that it would make my heart race and I couldn't calm down and get to sleep. And this all happened during the height of lockdown last year, so right during the time when people wanted to drink dull the blow life was giving us.

I also was inserting carbs back into my diet and I noticed that when I drank, I didn't lose anything. It was as if “the day didn't work” and it didn't matter what my deficit was. Perhaps it was water retention, or some other inflammation issue, or that my body prioritized the burning of the empty alcohol calories, which it's supposed to, during a time where it needed to burn. I'm not sure entirely why, but drinking and weight loss cannot go together for me any longer.

So I rarely drink now. And it kind of doesn't matter. Why is that?

1. When it was routine for me to grab that glass of wine after dinner, I now grab a mocktail, put it in a fancy glass and go to the couch. Psychologically it works because it's in a fancy glass, part of me automatically thinks it's spiked.

2. The flavors of the mocktail make it feel like I'm having an expensive spiked cocktail.

3. I'm not really paying attention to the taste after the first few sips because I'm watching some sort of screen.

4. I'm already winding down for the day and am already getting tired. I don't need alcohol to do that for me.

5. Zero calories are zero calories. No alcohol will do that for me.

6. Cheap drink

7. Extra water if I haven't made my quota.

So what's in the mocktail?

1 can of sparkling water of some flavor

Splash of lime juice (no exception)

3 ice cubes

Fruit extracts or some other fun flavor like rum, almond or even maple (about ¼ tsp of each)

Sugar free fruit syrup. My favorites are raspberry, orange, black cherry, strawberry and french vanilla (about a tablespoon or two total of any syrups I'd use)

With all of the flavors I have in stock, I can create pretty much anything. I enjoy getting the mix right, as if I'm a real bartender. And those crucial first sips, the only ones I'm going to pay attention to, are in celebration of nailing some recipe, and the need for an alcoholic taste is replaced by victory.

Besides being zero calories, each drink costs about 30 cents.

I'd call that a win even if it's not wine. Cheers to that.