We were recently accused by a website called TheFix.com of promoting drunkorexia. We’ll be honest. Until the charge was leveled, we’d never heard the term. It turns out that drunkorexia is a recently coined amalgamation of drunkenness and anorexia. It refers to an eating disorder wherein people abstain from eating in favor of drinking alcohol. We have no idea how many people suffer from drunkorexia. The term has yet to make Wikipedia, so obviously it falls short of epidemic. But even one sufferer is too many. Anorexia is straight up dangerous. Adding binge drinking to the mix is train wreck in process.
Our guess is that The Fix never actually visited Drink Your Carbs. Rather, they read our name somewhere and imagined us emaciated and sipping at mid-morning cocktails like Patsy from the British comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.
Our guess is that The Fix never actually visited Drink Your Carbs. Rather, they read our name somewhere and imagined us emaciated and sipping at mid-morning cocktails like Patsy from the British comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.
Patsy: (Rubbing her stomach in discomfort.)
Edina: Have you eaten something?
Patsy: No, not since 1973.
We want to make this absolutely clear: telling people not to eat Pop Tarts is not the same as telling people not to eat.
For those who have never visited The Fix, their website is essentially People Magazine for folks in addiction recovery. They describe themselves as a “One-Stop Resource For Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery News and More.” They do maintain a useful and comprehensive list of 12-step programs, but most of their site leans toward the celebrity gossip side of the bell curve of news. Let’s check out a few recent headlines:
Inside America’s Priciest Rehabs.
10 Surprising Addicts.
The Year’s Top Five Street Drugs.
Sex and the Sober Girl: An Escort’s Experience in AA.
We understand why The Fix would want to steer their clientele away Drink You Carbs. People in rehab should rightly stay away from The Drinker’s Diet for the same reasons that vegans should avoid Atkins. Not every diet is appropriate for every dieter.
We do wish that The Fix had taken the time to review the DYC Food List. They would’ve seen that DYC promotes an incredibly healthy and bountiful diet. We’re not encouraging people to drink instead of eat. We’re encouraging people who already drink to start exercising and eat a healthier diet. We are all about better food choices. Our reasoning is simple: if you want to lose weight without giving up alcohol you have to cut the high-calorie, low nutrition foods from your diet. It all comes down to calories in vs. calories out. A bagel has about 350 calories. A bottle of Guinness dials in at 125 calories. Lose the bagel at the morning meeting and you have plenty of room for a couple of beers after work. “Skip the bagel in favor of eggs and fruit” is very different advice from “skip breakfast altogether in favor of the beer.”
We strongly believe that there is a difference between healthy, moderate drinking and alcoholism. Drink Your Carbs is intended for healthy drinkers. If, however, you believe that you are drinking too much, you probably are. Consider checking out TheFix.com. The site is as good a place as any to begin your addiction recovery.
We do wish that The Fix had taken the time to review the DYC Food List. They would’ve seen that DYC promotes an incredibly healthy and bountiful diet. We’re not encouraging people to drink instead of eat. We’re encouraging people who already drink to start exercising and eat a healthier diet. We are all about better food choices. Our reasoning is simple: if you want to lose weight without giving up alcohol you have to cut the high-calorie, low nutrition foods from your diet. It all comes down to calories in vs. calories out. A bagel has about 350 calories. A bottle of Guinness dials in at 125 calories. Lose the bagel at the morning meeting and you have plenty of room for a couple of beers after work. “Skip the bagel in favor of eggs and fruit” is very different advice from “skip breakfast altogether in favor of the beer.”
We strongly believe that there is a difference between healthy, moderate drinking and alcoholism. Drink Your Carbs is intended for healthy drinkers. If, however, you believe that you are drinking too much, you probably are. Consider checking out TheFix.com. The site is as good a place as any to begin your addiction recovery.
Side note to The Fix editors: The term “fixed” already has strong cultural connotations that you’re unlikely to override. In other words, your phone number 888-GET-FIXED would probably be better suited to a urologist’s vasectomy hotline.
