How Counting Calories Drove Me To Drink

It was a long journey from my days of drinking a 6-pack of Coke a day

to my days of really, truly and honestly preferring water.

It’s been a long time since I’ve kept a food journal or counted calories, but I realized recently that the years I spent focusing on my calorie consumption had driven me to drink.

When I was dieting, I went through phases of pretty obsessive calorie counting. Software programs, websites and PDAs (remember those, before we all had smartphones?) fed my obsession by providing detailed data on every type of food imaginable, forms to record every micronutrient, and colorful graphs to plot my daily or weekly consumption. As obsessive as I was, there were three things that I never counted:

1. My morning coffee (not withstanding the carefully measured tablespoon of fat-free Half-and-Half)
2. The Gatorade I consumed during a long run (since I never added “calories burned” to my “calorie budget”)
3. Any alcoholic beverages (although I did limit my consumption to 1-2 drinks on weekends)

My calorie counting days are over, but I think they’ve driven me to drink, although it took me a long time to realizing what was happening.

Lately I noticed that I’ve developed a habit of drinking a glass of wine or 1/2 a beer on most nights. I was talking to a friend about this, and trying to figure out where this habit came from. I don’t like to get buzzed, let alone drunk, so I’m not drinking for the effect. On the other hand, I have gotten more and more picky about the beer I like and have no problem not finishing a beer that doesn’t live up to my standards. So I came to the conclusion that I am drinking for the pleasure of the taste.

This thought made me realize that I rarely drink any other caloric beverages (other than the coffee I now enjoy with full-fat Half-and-Half or the Gatorade I might put in my water bottle if I’m running long on a warm day). After years of dieting, I have internalized the idea that “juice = empty calories” and I don’t even think of pouring myself a glass of juice, even though it would offer my taste buds the same pleasure as an alcoholic beverage. What makes no sense whatsoever is the fact that my glass of wine or beer does have calories, and they are just as empty as those in juice!

Now that I’ve realized this inanity, I’ve given myself permission to enjoy a glass of juice–or even lemonade. I am still conscious of the calories, but I am no longer ignoring the carton of fresh-squeezed OJ in the fridge when I know that it really would hit the spot. I know that wine–and even beer–may have health advantages, but juice also provides vitamins and other nutrients that can be good for me.

Do you have any “forbidden foods” that you just won’t eat?

Does your list of forbidden foods make sense?