Vodka vodka everywhere, but not a drop to drink

I drank my first martini when I was in my twenties, appropriately at a business luncheon at tony “21 Club,” where it was the beverage of choice back in the day.

The martini (vodka) became my favored drink throughout the seventies and eighties. I’d drink a couple at lunch many days and somehow managed to work through the afternoons and into the evenings without lapsing into a coma. Thirty somethings have the stamina of bulls.

I switched to wine exclusively  in 1988, starting with twist-off Gallo and working my way up to Silver Oak and Somoma Cutrer once my taste buds recognized the dramatic contrast. Edgar and I could polish off three bottles of wine at dinner. Wine and popcorn also was a delectable snack.

Back to vodka (straight this time) around 2000 since red wine (even expensive red) was giving me  headaches and white was cloying. I was then FOF and also couldn’t tolerate Smirnoff quite as well as I did two decades earlier. One martini too many absolute-ly sent some brain cells packing.

Five years ago, my youngest sister went on a diet, lost weight and looked good. I was not happy with my weight, so I consulted with a doctor and started a diet, too. “Don’t drink a thing (meaning anything alcoholic) for the first two weeks,” the doc advised. Forty pounds and about five months later, I still hadn’t touched a drop of vodka or wine.

I had lost a great deal more than weight. I had completely lost my taste/desire/need/relationship with  alcohol. Once in a while, I’ll have a modest craving to order a drink at dinner, but it dissipates quickly. Unfortunately, I developed a mad desire for sweets to compensate for the sugar I no longer get through vodka. My weight shot back up after scrapping the icing off countless cupcakes but I’m finally getting that under control, too.

I’m thrilled to have miraculously lost my craving for alcohol. I hope it never returns. We had some fun times together over the years but I’m having plenty of fun without it.

 

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0 Responses to “Vodka vodka everywhere, but not a drop to drink”

  1. Heather Rudy says:

    I think life is better with out it for me. I have lupus so I decided to give up the wine last summer and I think it has been a positive decision. I think it has aided in my diet I started on New Years also. I keep my fancy wine glasses and when I feel like having a glass in the evening I pour myself a San Pelligrino with a lime and relax knowing I’m doing my body good. Good for you!

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  2. Vera J says:

    Geri,

    I also went on a diet and didn’t drink one drop of anything alcoholic for the first 6 months. Then I would have maybe one glass of wine with dinner once a month. After a year I had lost 80 pounds and thought the taste for wine had left. I was wrong.

    I have gained almost 20 pounds back and find the desire for red wine has also returned. I don’t have a sweet tooth, and maybe that is my substitution. I don’t really care for the feeling wine gives me, I just love the taste of a really good cab. I think I can probably attribute the weight gain to the return of 2 to 3 glasses of wine almost every evening.

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