Intuitive Drinking

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I know, I know, a lot of Intuitive Eating stuff on the blog this week! Today is actually day 19 of 21, I can’t believe it’s almost over! Today, however, we’re not talking food, but alcohol! (Did Blame It On the Alcohol just pop into anyone else’s head? Oh I miss college…).

Aaaanyway, I was surprised to open up my e-mail last week and see an IE Challenge about intuitive drinking. However, after reading through the e-mail I had so many thoughts swirling through my head about it, so I thought this would be a great discussion post. Personally, I don’t actually drink that often at this point in my life. After coming to law school I realized that I just wasn’t one of those students who could go out until 3am and then pull it together enough to get my reading done the next day. Nope, I was out for the count.

But you know why else I stopped drinking much? Calories. When I started counting calories I realized just how many empty calories and sugar I’d be taking in from drinking and that took away all the fun. And if I knew I was going out drinking that night, I’d eat less to save up calories. Yep, I did. As do many girls, especially in college (I feel like I could write a whoooole other post on that). Luckily, I’ve managed to push those numbers out of my head (for the most part) and learned to enjoy a drink (or a few…) from time to time.

  

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So when I received this e-mail from Jamie it really got me thinking about why we drink and why we choose certain drinks.

Sometimes we drink to relax and wind down.

Sometimes we drink to have more confidence.

Sometimes we drink to forget.

Sometimes we drink to fit in.

Sometimes we drink because it tastes good.

Sometimes we drink to have fun.

So what does this have to do with intuitive eating? Well, with the intuitive eating challenge we learn to think about what we’re craving before we decide what to eat. Shouldn’t we do the same with drinking? Yea, that vodka soda may have fewer calories, but don’t you really want a cold beer? Or a margarita? Before I went out to get tacos with Kelsey and Lindsay, I realized I couldn’t remember having had a margarita since college, back when I didn’t care how many calories were in my drink. I’d put them on the no list ever since then, but that night, I wanted a margarita. And I had three glasses. THREE. They were delicious.

Photo stolen from Kelsey

Now, I’m not saying I’m going to go drink margaritas every couple of nights from here on out, but I’m saying that I was so glad I let go and enjoyed the evening. Life is about balance, and life is much to short to go without margaritas.

 

Do you think about calories when picking an alcoholic drink?

Do you drink intuitively?