We spoke to Domino about dry January

I spoke with Domino about doing a dry January aka "dry-uary".  A little insight on how our Squeezers feel sans alcohol and what to do when a Cabernet craving hits.
Any of you bypassing the booze this month? Or, have you in the past? What works when you want a cocktail but are trying to avoid have one?

Bad moms and wine moms

 There’s a bit of a brouhaha over the recent Bad Mom’s Christmas movie. I haven’t seen the movie, though I watched the first one. The issue being debated is this concept of a “wine mom” and the coupling of motherhood and alcohol. Is this an innocuous combination?  Or is it concerning, something not to be joked about?

When my younger son was in preschool, we had a playgroup. We referred to ourselves as the Winos. I’m not even a wine lover but cherished these gatherings. Thursdays, late afternoon, we’d meet at one of our apartments. There was wine and cheese (I am a cheese lover for sure). We’d hang out and catch up and the toddlers would do their thing. There were more than a couple of times we pushed strollers home or got in taxis feeling a little buzzed. In the city, none of us were driving, this wouldn’t have been a good idea. As your kids get older, you don’t have parents over as much as kids are independent so I miss those get-togethers.

I had no negative associations between booze and babies for a long time. I started to question things when I attended a discussion of Elizabeth Vargas’s memoir. Elizabeth has discussed her alcoholism candidly. What was eye-opening for me, at this event, were the comments in the audience. One person strongly objected to the “wine o’clock” concept and all the humor surrounding drinking. Another found it difficult to navigate motherhood with so many events centered upon alcohol. I am definitely someone who makes these jokes, posts alcohol-centric items on Instagram and has had wine at some of my children’s birthday parties. I would never like to be insensitive and so it got me thinking.

Despite coming from a family of cocktail lovers, attending Tulane and making a mean martini, I am someone who has never had a problem with drinking. I have always been the person who enjoyed the social aspect of drinking but could also go a week or two without a drink. I am providing this information as I think it’s one end of the spectrum. Healthy drinking is considered a drink a day (less if you look at some of the cancer research) and except on vacation, I'm always well below that. Again- this doesn’t make me superior, it just says something about my physiology.

On the other end of the spectrum, this article shows that there is a huge rise in high risk drinking, defined here as up to 4 drinks a day. From 2002 (coincidentally when my first child was born) until 2013 there was a 58% increase in high risk drinking. In my experience with clients, many women fall somewhere between drinking being a non-issue and alcoholism.  And there’s a lot of guilt and questions surrounding drinking. I am not an alcohol expert but I think one drink a day is a good litmus test. If you can have one drink and stop there, I’d say there’s likely not a problem. When that’s impossible, it’s worth looking into it further. Scratch that, I think it’s worth looking into further for all of us. Why we drink, when we drink and how we feel after drinking is an important piece of the wellness puzzle.

Should I not say “cheers” to the weekend?

The best way to drink

TGIF! I don’t know about you but my week was super busy and today isn’t any exception.

Monday night I attended a launch party for Bobbi Brown’s new book Beauty From the Inside Out. I contributed a section to this beautiful book, “About Alcohol”. Bobbi, like us at Foodtrainers, enjoys a cocktail but also likes sorting out the best way to incorporate alcohol and still feel (and look) good.

She had a pretty coconut water, seltzer and vodka mason jar mixture at the party.

Oddly enough, also this week, Men’s Journal wanted a nutritionist to chime in on hangover helpers. Now I personally do not encounter hangovers very often. For the most part I’m a one and done drinker but I also follow our 1:1 rule. More on that here. I know there are some health experts who do not drink and others who do not wish to publicize if they do. We're all for transparency in life (and with (clear) cocktails too.

Are you someone who likes a drink or prefers to pass? What do you drink? Do you think alcohol can be part of an otherwise healthy lifestyle?

Maybe the "drunchies" are to blame.

So we’ve covered what to drink before; you know us Tulanian girls aren’t afraid of a good time and love our Tanteo tequila and Titos (ok and Veev, too) more than the average person. What you drink and how often are crucial variables when it comes to your health and weight, but it’s also what happens to your food after drinking and the next day that can make or break your jean “zippage”.

We’ve all been there (some of us longer ago than others), after a late night and a little too much to drink suddenly those fries don’t sound like such a disaster. Or, maybe you were just out to a boozy dinner and you decide to have a little counter buffet when you get home. 

And guess what? It’s not just willpower, research shows that alcohol stimulates appetite and makes you crave higher fat, salt-filled foods. Not only does hitting the bottle make you more hungry initially, you will only continue to eat more at the meals following (hello hungover brunch or missed workout, nice to see you again).

So a few too many drinks in, and you touch the things (at least it’s not people anymore) you would never touch. What’s a cocktail-appreciating person to do?

At Foodtrainers we suggest a  less than 100-calorie optional “dessert”  after dinner I like to say if you’re drinking, you are drinking your dessert and Kate Hudson agrees. But if late night munchies are going to happen, we need a plan in place.

Choose a late night/lush food prior to imbibing. You want to keep it as light as possible, but if everyone around you is ordering pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches you need to have an option too. My recommendations for clients are usually popcorn, Brussels Bytes, dark chocolate or Matt’sMunchies (how appropriate). Have your snack set aside before going out and a giant cup of water to “soak up” the alcohol. If it’s been a long night, charcoal is worth a try.  And then get to bed.

You know the Grandma saying, nothing good ever happens after 2am, well there’s no place that’s truer than in the kitchen.

As for the next day… no, grease does not help a hangover but you know what does? DRAM Apothecary's hair of the dog drops and Gaia's organic milk thistle. I have been known to order it from Amazon Prime for friends during parties, cuz I’m that much fun.

Egg yolks also have a compound called cysteine that help break down alcohol toxins, so order a veggie omelet (no, bacon egg and cheeses do not count). Also suggested is to either sweat it out or sleep it off.

In an ideal world, you’re not having more than 1-2 drinks in a night… and the older I get the more I realize even that can make you hungover. But party and then post party “nosh” responsibly.

(Today's post by the younger Tulanian/Carolyn)

Do you get the drunk-munchies or drunchies? What do you find helps?