Follow uP: Booze is Making Me Fat

Well, after a primarily booze-free February (minus a 4-hour dinner with my bosses that got a little rowdy), I lost a grand total of: 2 pounds. At first I was really miffed that the weight didn’t come pouring off like I foolishly expected, but when I realized that two pounds a month in the long run could equal 24 pounds per year, it was a little more eye-opening.

I don’t necessarily think that the alcohol itself is the problem. For me, it’s what accompanies it. Glass of Pinot Noir? No problem until the cheese plate, 3 loaves of bread and olive oil are rolled out along with it. Beers? Fantasic! And what’s even better with beer is a GIGANTIC slice of pizza from Rizzo’s, conveniently located next to the liquor store. Drunken calories never count until your muffin top has a muffin top and you’re insisting that your stretch pants must have shrunk in the wash.

I’m not planning on going back to balls-to-the-wall drinking just because it’s March and a certain Irish holiday is coming up. As a matter of fact I’m going to try to turn 2 pounds into 4 by continuing to make more responsible choices this month. My friend Josh has adopted the 0-1-2 rule this month and I think I’ll abide by it as well. It’s pretty simple really; when you go out you can have zero, one or two drinks. I think it’s a pretty solid plan.

To read the original post, click here: https://alysonph.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/fess-up-booze-is-making-me-fat/

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Drink uP: Delicious Cheap Organic Red Wine

 

Back in the day my girl Jen Smith and I would debit-card a humongous bottle of $9.99 Citra Merlot from the liquor store across the street from us on Graham Ave in Brooklyn and not even think twice about how embarrassing it was. We’d pair it with a loaf of Italian bread from the Mafioso bakery, olive oil and hours of good music (cds, not iPods) and, in the words of my Irish grandmother, be happier than pigs in shite.

In the past five years I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to France twice, Spain and Greece and have sampled beautiful wines in all price ranges but I refuse to become a wine snob. This in turn has kept my mind open to the little treats in life such as Luzon Verde, a $9  100% organic red wine from Spain that I can’t stop drinking.

Dark purple in color, this Monastrell is best chilled for 10 minutes and poured into a decanter as it opens up wonderfully. I’m sure it’s delicious with food but we love to drink it by itself. The flavors are violet, licorice and berries, rich and full on the palate without the choking of the throat that tends to happen with many Spanish reds.

I’m not a wine writer or expert by any stretch but I am an enthusiast and I assure you that I’ve come a long way from the crappy wine days back in Billyburg…and this one’s a winner.