MirGSS' "Burninating the Challenge" Challenge

[Morrigainz]

Yes, but after I busted Corey up, his wife would probably never let me come over again. And then Mir would has a sad.

[katscratch]

For me, tea works just as well (actually better) than wine for the nighttime chill beverage, but I go through phases.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I'd be all like:

 

[IfItPlugsIn]

How much are you looking to cut?  I'm looking to lose about 20lbs/10% body fat.  I don't know much about "cutting" in the weight-lifting world, but I plan to track my calories on myfitnesspal, keep protein high, carbs low-ish, and *try* to get in more workouts.  Any chance you want to try to keep each other in check next challenge?

[foxytrot]

Awesome to hear you had a better day. I love lists, it helps me feel more organised and productive, even when I haven't done anything more than just write things down! It also kills that "I need to do something" feeling if you've written down everything that needs doing, and can look at it and go "well, I've done the things that need doing NOW so that's okay".

 

About the cut - I am still so new to all this, I don't think I can offer any advice, but I will stand on the sideline and shake my pompoms and cheer for you whatever you do next challenge

 

And kickboxing....was talking to mr fox tonight about this. SO want to try it one day. I need a sport for when I have to (eventually, in a year or two) stop (temporarily) playing roller derby...(when we decide to try for kiddie #2, which we're not set on, but I suspect will happen). I was asking mr fox if he thought crossfit or kickboxing would be okay to do while pregnant, since I won't be able to skate.......he looked at me like I was crazy.

[weirdquark]

Awesome to hear you had a better day. I love lists, it helps me feel more organised and productive, even when I haven't done anything more than just write things down! It also kills that "I need to do something" feeling if you've written down everything that needs doing, and can look at it and go "well, I've done the things that need doing NOW so that's okay".

 

About the cut - I am still so new to all this, I don't think I can offer any advice, but I will stand on the sideline and shake my pompoms and cheer for you whatever you do next challenge

 

And kickboxing....was talking to mr fox tonight about this. SO want to try it one day. I need a sport for when I have to (eventually, in a year or two) stop (temporarily) playing roller derby...(when we decide to try for kiddie #2, which we're not set on, but I suspect will happen). I was asking mr fox if he thought crossfit or kickboxing would be okay to do while pregnant, since I won't be able to skate.......he looked at me like I was crazy.

 

There are plenty of blogs of crossfitters and weightlifters who carry on with more or less their normal routine while pregnant -- there are exercises you need to modify and you'll eventually want to dial it back on weights and intensity a little bit, but if you're lifting weights before you're pregnant, continuing is good for you and apparently has made pregnancies go more easily. Which makes sense, because if you can squat your bodyweight for reps then you're probably not going to have back pain from your baby belly.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

There are plenty of blogs of crossfitters and weightlifters who carry on with more or less their normal routine while pregnant -- there are exercises you need to modify and you'll eventually want to dial it back on weights and intensity a little bit, but if you're lifting weights before you're pregnant, continuing is good for you and apparently has made pregnancies go more easily. Which makes sense, because if you can squat your bodyweight for reps then you're probably not going to have back pain from your baby belly.

 

Not to mention, all those isometric ab contractions and bearing down should enable you to fire that baby out like a cannonball.

[Chaze]

Not to mention, all those isometric ab contractions and bearing down should enable you to fire that baby out like a cannonball.

 

lmao!

[Morrigainz]

OMG Corey, yes! That made me giggle. I'm picturing it now....

 

As far as cutting, I'm not sure. I'm not really unhappy with my weight, just with the amount of fat I have on me. According to my scale at home, I have (last time I checked, and it's been a while) just under 30% bf. Who knows how accurate that is - probably not very. Anyway, I'm trying to decide calories and stuff as well as how long I want to cut for. To be honest, I don't know a lot about cutting/dieting.

 

Anyway, on to planning the next challenge!

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

We can keep each other accountable.  Today starts my rehab challenge (a weeke arly so I can refeed for a week in the middle to get ready for SSS), in which I rehab from various things that will help me with my cut in addition to their primary benefit.

[Morrigainz]

Do you have details on your cut? I'm still trying to figure mine out.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

In the long run I don't want to count calories, so I'm gonna try stopping now and going with the qualitative approach, so I'm going anti-detailed outside of protein numbers.  I'm going to try to get 250g of protein a day, but beyond that just minimize sugar and total intake and watch the scale. If it's not dropping as fast as I want, I reduce more.

 

Sugar is going to be cut drastically and I will be literally treating it as a drug.  No more buying snacks at work, no more dessert during the week.  The only exception will be 1 cheat day on the weekend. This is how I dropped weight before.  I could look forward to the cheat day for anything I had a craving for, which helped me do better during the week, and eventually I stopped going crazy on the cheat day as the cravings slowly subsided once I got my willpower in check. I'll be using the rules from the 4 hour body slow carb diet that i lost 30ish lb on before as they worked well for me then and use this qualitative approach. HERE's a short write up, but basically it is:

 

1. Don't eat carbs that are white or can be white: No bread, pasta, potatoes, cereal, etc. If it can be white, but isn't, still don't eat it (like wheat/whole bread or rice).  It's all refined in some way to get it into that form and it causes insulin spikes which make you fat.  Pretty much is just no grains or high glycemic index foods and keeps your carbs to legumes. I don't even really do the legumes anymore and get most of my carbs through vegetables, and minimize anything on the list Chrissy makes.

2. Eat the Same Meals Over and Over: I have the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. From what I've experienced, it helps in that it makes preparing food stream lined.  You get used to preparing those foods and can do it quick. You're more likely to follow through when it's less hassle.  My total prep time for my eggs and chicken each week is under 20 minutes, I just have to wait for it to cook. I don't even have to think of this goal anymore, it's automatic.. It''s hard for some people because they egt bored, but an extra part is learning how to do somehting simple like swithcing up spices or sauces for variation wihtout making it take longer.

3. Don't dirnk calories: Most people are amazed by how many calories they drink when they actually count them.  This is another one I don't have to think about anymore as I drink just water except for my morning coffee with cream (which I will be switching to half and half/creamer that I put in myself).  when we go out to dinner, I do a diet soda. When I used to drink regular soda and milk, I was consuming well over 500 kcal a day wihtout even realizing it, and since it's suspended ina liquid, it digests very fast and doesn't really help with hunger.

4. Don't Eat Fruit: This is another source of hidden calories and sugar spikes.  Fruit is high glycemic index, easily digestible sugar and beyond the additional vitamins, your body processes just like table sugar.  Also, fructose (the main fruit sugar) has a double whammy effects due to being glucose AND sucrose (it's 1 molecule of each chained together).  I keep it to 1 serving a day if any and is what I use to satisfy my sweet tooth if it gets bad.

5. Take 1 day off per week: Like I said above, it lets you put off cravings for the weekend and makes it easier to ignore cravings during the week.  At first I used it and went nutso, but eventually my cravings subsided all together and it became more of 1 cheat meal and a dessert.

 

Bonus points: 40g of protein in the morning to get amino acids in your blood.  This helps your body stay away from metabolizing muscles for energy, gives it something to help with morning hunger since most people do high carb in their first meal, and also has the protein thermic load which helps you kick start matebolism during the day.  Also sleep enough and drinks lots of water.

 

I did the above with a little calorie counting mixed in (VERY rarely had issues with going over calories, it was more for watching myself on cheat days) and lost something like 3-4% of my bodyweight a month no problem. This was what worked for me out of various fad diets as it has a few simple rules and it works as long as you don't try to game the system (like eating 10-20 wings at lunch every day as it's technically ok). YMMV.

[Strawberry Squatcake]

In the long run I don't want to count calories, so I'm gonna try stopping now and going with the qualitative approach, so I'm going anti-detailed outside of protein numbers.  I'm going to try to get 250g of protein a day, but beyond that just minimize sugar and total intake and watch the scale. If it's not dropping as fast as I want, I reduce more.

 

Sugar is going to be cut drastically and I will be literally treating it as a drug.  No more buying snacks at work, no more dessert during the week.  The only exception will be 1 cheat day on the weekend. This is how I dropped weight before.  I could look forward to the cheat day for anything I had a craving for, which helped me do better during the week, and eventually I stopped going crazy on the cheat day as the cravings slowly subsided once I got my willpower in check. I'll be using the rules from the 4 hour body slow carb diet that i lost 30ish lb on before as they worked well for me then and use this qualitative approach. HERE's a short write up, but basically it is:

 

1. Don't eat carbs that are white or can be white: No bread, pasta, potatoes, cereal, etc. If it can be white, but isn't, still don't eat it (like wheat/whole bread or rice).  It's all refined in some way to get it into that form and it causes insulin spikes which make you fat.  Pretty much is just no grains or high glycemic index foods and keeps your carbs to legumes. I don't even really do the legumes anymore and get most of my carbs through vegetables, and minimize anything on the list Chrissy makes.

2. Eat the Same Meals Over and Over: I have the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. From what I've experienced, it helps in that it makes preparing food stream lined.  You get used to preparing those foods and can do it quick. You're more likely to follow through when it's less hassle.  My total prep time for my eggs and chicken each week is under 20 minutes, I just have to wait for it to cook. I don't even have to think of this goal anymore, it's automatic.. It''s hard for some people because they egt bored, but an extra part is learning how to do somehting simple like swithcing up spices or sauces for variation wihtout making it take longer.

3. Don't dirnk calories: Most people are amazed by how many calories they drink when they actually count them.  This is another one I don't have to think about anymore as I drink just water except for my morning coffee with cream (which I will be switching to half and half/creamer that I put in myself).  when we go out to dinner, I do a diet soda. When I used to drink regular soda and milk, I was consuming well over 500 kcal a day wihtout even realizing it, and since it's suspended ina liquid, it digests very fast and doesn't really help with hunger.

4. Don't Eat Fruit: This is another source of hidden calories and sugar spikes.  Fruit is high glycemic index, easily digestible sugar and beyond the additional vitamins, your body processes just like table sugar.  Also, fructose (the main fruit sugar) has a double whammy effects due to being glucose AND sucrose (it's 1 molecule of each chained together).  I keep it to 1 serving a day if any and is what I use to satisfy my sweet tooth if it gets bad.

5. Take 1 day off per week: Like I said above, it lets you put off cravings for the weekend and makes it easier to ignore cravings during the week.  At first I used it and went nutso, but eventually my cravings subsided all together and it became more of 1 cheat meal and a dessert.

 

Bonus points: 40g of protein in the morning to get amino acids in your blood.  This helps your body stay away from metabolizing muscles for energy, gives it something to help with morning hunger since most people do high carb in their first meal, and also has the protein thermic load which helps you kick start matebolism during the day.  Also sleep enough and drinks lots of water.

 

I did the above with a little calorie counting mixed in (VERY rarely had issues with going over calories, it was more for watching myself on cheat days) and lost something like 3-4% of my bodyweight a month no problem. This was what worked for me out of various fad diets as it has a few simple rules and it works as long as you don't try to game the system (like eating 10-20 wings at lunch every day as it's technically ok). YMMV.

 

I'm starting my rehab today, too, Corey! 

 

The only things I'm doing different:

 

1. I am allowing berries if I really want something sweet. Not like a crazy amount or even daily. But occasionally berries will kill a sweets craving and is a better choice than say ice cream. 

 

2. I'm not good with the same meals over and over for lunch, but it does work for breakfast. So I am taking that approach. And I agree with protein over carbs for breakfast. It makes my whole day easier. 

 

Other than that, I agree with everything and am doing the same with grains/white foods/added sugar, one day/meal off to push cravings to one day, not drinking calories (for me, this is basically just alcohol, so no alcohol for me except on the "off" day - and then limited to 3).

 

I go off the rails when I haven't planned or don't have/make the time to plan/prep meals on Sundays. I did spend yesterday cooking, so expect this week to be a good jump into rehab. So that will be one goal for the challenge. 

 

I'm also adding in a bedtime goal. When I actually lost weight this challenge, it was weeks I got plenty of sleep. 

[Chaze]

In the long run I don't want to count calories, so I'm gonna try stopping now and going with the qualitative approach, so I'm going anti-detailed outside. f protein numbers.  I'm going to try to get 250g of protein a day, but beyond thaimize sugar and total intake and watch the scale. If it's not dropping as fast as I want, I reduce more.

 

Sugar is going to be cut drastically and I will be literally treating it as a drug.  No more buying snacks at work, no more dessert during the week.  The only exception will be 1 cheat day on the weekend. This is how I dropped weight before.  I could look forward to the cheat day for anything I had a craving for, which helped me do better during the week, and eventually I stopped going crazy on the cheat day as the cravings slowly subsided once I got my willpower in check. I'll be using the rules from the 4 hour body slow carb diet that i lost 30ish lb on before as they worked well for me then and use this qualitative approach. HERE's a short write up, but basically it is:

 

1. Don't eat carbs that are white or can be white: No bread, pasta, potatoes, cereal, etc. If it can be white, but isn't, still don't eat it (like wheat/whole bread or rice).  It's all refined in some way to get it into that form and it causes insulin spikes which make you fat.  Pretty much is just no grains or high glycemic index foods and keeps your carbs to legumes. I don't even really do the legumes anymore and get most of my carbs through vegetables, and minimize anything on the list Chrissy makes.

2. Eat the Same Meals Over and Over: I have the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. From what I've experienced, it helps in that it makes preparing food stream lined.  You get used to preparing those foods and can do it quick. You're more likely to follow through when it's less hassle.  My total prep time for my eggs and chicken each week is under 20 minutes, I just have to wait for it to cook. I don't even have to think of this goal anymore, it's automatic.. It''s hard for some people because they egt bored, but an extra part is learning how to do somehting simple like swithcing up spices or sauces for variation wihtout making it take longer.

3. Don't dirnk calories: Most people are amazed by how many calories they drink when they actually count them.  This is another one I don't have to think about anymore as I drink just water except for my morning coffee with cream (which I will be switching to half and half/creamer that I put in myself).  when we go out to dinner, I do a diet soda. When I used to drink regular soda and milk, I was consuming well over 500 kcal a day wihtout even realizing it, and since it's suspended ina liquid, it digests very fast and doesn't really help with hunger.

4. Don't Eat Fruit: This is another source of hidden calories and sugar spikes.  Fruit is high glycemic index, easily digestible sugar and beyond the additional vitamins, your body processes just like table sugar.  Also, fructose (the main fruit sugar) has a double whammy effects due to being glucose AND sucrose (it's 1 molecule of each chained together).  I keep it to 1 serving a day if any and is what I use to satisfy my sweet tooth if it gets bad.

5. Take 1 day off per week: Like I said above, it lets you put off cravings for the weekend and makes it easier to ignore cravings during the week.  At first I used it and went nutso, but eventually my cravings subsided all together and it became more of 1 cheat meal and a dessert.

 

Bonus points: 40g of protein in the morning to get amino acids in your blood.  This helps your body stay away from metabolizing muscles for energy, gives it something to help with morning hunger since most people do high carb in their first meal, and also has the protein thermic load which helps you kick start matebolism during the day.  Also sleep enough and drinks lots of water.

 

I did the above with a little calorie counting mixed in (VERY rarely had issues with going over calories, it was more for watching myself on cheat days) and lost something like 3-4% of my bodyweight a month no problem. This was what worked for me out of various fad diets as it has a few simple rules and it works as long as you don't try to game the system (like eating 10-20 wings at lunch every day as it's technically ok). YMMV.

 

That sounds nearly identical to how my wife had to eat when she had gestational diabetes with our second son. Her diet was really specific because she had to worry about not losing weight while pregnant, but it was all about the insulin spikes from carbs and it seemed to match up with your rules here. Odd things, though, too. She had to have 6 meals a day, which is pretty standard, but no dairy for meal 1, fruit 3 meals a day, dairy every meal that you didn't eat fruit, and never (EVER) fruit and dairy in the same meal. Plus a complicated rotation of starchy carbs and non-starchy carbs that I don't remember. And they were like "don't mess up or your baby wil have diabetes!"

 

And it really went to show that whatever problems she has with diet, she can and will do anything for the kids because she was flawless. It was unlike anything I've ever seen her do. The onlymistake she made was putting a cough drop in her mouth, checking the packaging and immediately spitting it out and washing her mouth out when she realized they weren't sugar free.

[RBC]

I really like the system you've laid out, Corey. Like Strawberry, I'll likely keep some fruit in the mix, but will drastically cut those white grains out entirely. 

[IfItPlugsIn]

In the long run I don't want to count calories, so I'm gonna try stopping now and going with the qualitative approach, so I'm going anti-detailed outside of protein numbers.  I'm going to try to get 250g of protein a day, but beyond that just minimize sugar and total intake and watch the scale. If it's not dropping as fast as I want, I reduce more.

 

Sugar is going to be cut drastically and I will be literally treating it as a drug.  No more buying snacks at work, no more dessert during the week.  The only exception will be 1 cheat day on the weekend. This is how I dropped weight before.  I could look forward to the cheat day for anything I had a craving for, which helped me do better during the week, and eventually I stopped going crazy on the cheat day as the cravings slowly subsided once I got my willpower in check. I'll be using the rules from the 4 hour body slow carb diet that i lost 30ish lb on before as they worked well for me then and use this qualitative approach. HERE's a short write up, but basically it is:

 

1. Don't eat carbs that are white or can be white: No bread, pasta, potatoes, cereal, etc. If it can be white, but isn't, still don't eat it (like wheat/whole bread or rice).  It's all refined in some way to get it into that form and it causes insulin spikes which make you fat.  Pretty much is just no grains or high glycemic index foods and keeps your carbs to legumes. I don't even really do the legumes anymore and get most of my carbs through vegetables, and minimize anything on the list Chrissy makes.

2. Eat the Same Meals Over and Over: I have the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. From what I've experienced, it helps in that it makes preparing food stream lined.  You get used to preparing those foods and can do it quick. You're more likely to follow through when it's less hassle.  My total prep time for my eggs and chicken each week is under 20 minutes, I just have to wait for it to cook. I don't even have to think of this goal anymore, it's automatic.. It''s hard for some people because they egt bored, but an extra part is learning how to do somehting simple like swithcing up spices or sauces for variation wihtout making it take longer.

3. Don't dirnk calories: Most people are amazed by how many calories they drink when they actually count them.  This is another one I don't have to think about anymore as I drink just water except for my morning coffee with cream (which I will be switching to half and half/creamer that I put in myself).  when we go out to dinner, I do a diet soda. When I used to drink regular soda and milk, I was consuming well over 500 kcal a day wihtout even realizing it, and since it's suspended ina liquid, it digests very fast and doesn't really help with hunger.

4. Don't Eat Fruit: This is another source of hidden calories and sugar spikes.  Fruit is high glycemic index, easily digestible sugar and beyond the additional vitamins, your body processes just like table sugar.  Also, fructose (the main fruit sugar) has a double whammy effects due to being glucose AND sucrose (it's 1 molecule of each chained together).  I keep it to 1 serving a day if any and is what I use to satisfy my sweet tooth if it gets bad.

5. Take 1 day off per week: Like I said above, it lets you put off cravings for the weekend and makes it easier to ignore cravings during the week.  At first I used it and went nutso, but eventually my cravings subsided all together and it became more of 1 cheat meal and a dessert.

 

Bonus points: 40g of protein in the morning to get amino acids in your blood.  This helps your body stay away from metabolizing muscles for energy, gives it something to help with morning hunger since most people do high carb in their first meal, and also has the protein thermic load which helps you kick start matebolism during the day.  Also sleep enough and drinks lots of water.

 

I did the above with a little calorie counting mixed in (VERY rarely had issues with going over calories, it was more for watching myself on cheat days) and lost something like 3-4% of my bodyweight a month no problem. This was what worked for me out of various fad diets as it has a few simple rules and it works as long as you don't try to game the system (like eating 10-20 wings at lunch every day as it's technically ok). YMMV.

I read this, and think in my whinest child-like voice, "Awww man, I don't wanna!" and make a little pouty face, stomp my feet a little, you get the idea.  I can handle 2 (for the most part), 3, and 5.  I tried a sugar detox, including fruit illimination, and failed miserably. I'm fairly good at gluten free eating, but cutting the oats, rice, and potatoes would be tough.  If I really want to drop the fat, I know this is the right route to go. sigh.

 

40g of protein sounds like a lot, first thing in the morning.  I already do 3 eggs, and that's less than 20g.  Of course, I'm hanging around 100-125g per day, so maybe that's proportional to yours?

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

That sounds nearly identical to how my wife had to eat when she had gestational diabetes with our second son. Her diet was really specific because she had to worry about not losing weight while pregnant, but it was all about the insulin spikes from carbs and it seemed to match up with your rules here. Odd things, though, too. She had to have 6 meals a day, which is pretty standard, but no dairy for meal 1, fruit 3 meals a day, dairy every meal that you didn't eat fruit, and never (EVER) fruit and dairy in the same meal. Plus a complicated rotation of starchy carbs and non-starchy carbs that I don't remember. And they were like "don't mess up or your baby wil have diabetes!"

 

And it really went to show that whatever problems she has with diet, she can and will do anything for the kids because she was flawless. It was unlike anything I've ever seen her do. The onlymistake she made was putting a cough drop in her mouth, checking the packaging and immediately spitting it out and washing her mouth out when she realized they weren't sugar free.

 

It sounds the same because it's based around the same principle as the diabetes diets.  The idea is that the reason we get fat is because we have constantly high blood sugar levels and constantly high insulin, which drives all that sugar into fat cells if muscles are already at max capacity. In non-pregnancy cases, diabetes typically comes when this reaches such high levels that the pancreas basically breaks from having to produce so much damn insulin. With pregnancy, all kinds of hormones are flying about and having effects on other hormones, of which insulin is one, so it can cause the same types of issues.

 

The 6 meals a day is to keep spikes even lower since instead of having say 50g of carbs, even slower burning ones, at a time, you're having 25g twice and spaced out. I couldn't explain the fruit dairy thing, not an expert, but probably has something again to do with manipulating and controlling blood sugar levels while making sure you're getting enough carbs. There's always the possibility that it was more complicated than needed as well.  Doctors tend to think they know a lot about nutrition when most of their kowledge is decades old.  A lot is right, but a lot is dated and has been proved wrong.

 

I really like the system you've laid out, Corey. Like Strawberry, I'll likely keep some fruit in the mix, but will drastically cut those white grains out entirely.

 

I do too, it's my candy.  The first time I did the diet I didn't even cheat with that, but now I will as long as it's in small amounts and away from other meals.

 

I read this, and think in my whinest child-like voice, "Awww man, I don't wanna!" and make a little pouty face, stomp my feet a little, you get the idea.  I can handle 2 (for the most part), 3, and 5.  I tried a sugar detox, including fruit illimination, and failed miserably. I'm fairly good at gluten free eating, but cutting the oats, rice, and potatoes would be tough.  If I really want to drop the fat, I know this is the right route to go. sigh.

 

40g of protein sounds like a lot, first thing in the morning.  I already do 3 eggs, and that's less than 20g.  Of course, I'm hanging around 100-125g per day, so maybe that's proportional to yours?

 

Well, yeah, those are the easy ones, but 1 is the most important one by far, but also the hardest. Not doing 4 makes it a little easier. I had to walk by free pizza and cookies 5 times so far today while having under 70g of carbs in the last 24 hours, I'm feeling the addiction for sure. I had a lot of success that first time, dropping from high 250's to low 230's in 3-4 months.

 

This time I don't control dinner but my wife cooks less starchy stuff that before.  When she does go with a pasta meal, I only have half and supplement with chicken which I always have cooked in the fridge.

 

The 40g is his baseline, he doesn't scale it. I imagine it's for your average 180 lb male and scales fine.  Doing 20-30 would probably be fine for you.  I personally don't eat until 11ish, so I just do 2 scoops of whey protein when I wake up. It's also just a half lb of chicken breast if you want to do it with whole foods.

[Morrigainz]

I can handle some of it. The not drinking calories thing though....I like my beer

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I can handle some of it. The not drinking calories thing though....I like my beer

 

That is what cheat days are for. If you're a nightly drinker, og man, that would suck.  If you're like me and binge drink once every month or so, it's easy to use a cheat day on it.  When I was doing weight watchers therer were actually days where I would use 80%+ of my point on teh beers, including all my weekly bonus and carry over points.

[This is Seth]

hence the reason why losing weight really just boils down to not drinking for me...

[Morrigainz]

Me too. I am a nightly drinker. Ever since my food poisoning, though, I have cut back to just 1 during the week. Or a half bottle of wine. Instead of 2-3 beers or an entire bottle of wine.

[foxytrot]

Oh man, wow. Much respect to those of you who commit to eating to that plan.

[IfItPlugsIn]

Maybe if you cut the drinking down, you should take the money you save and put it towards something else you really want.  Half a bottle of wine every night would really add up!