Alcohol

jodycoady

Big time! If I have a drink outside my "cheat night", I totally binge on food afterwards. Lack of inhibition for sure. Keep up the good things you are doing. Just remember they really are 'empty' calories. With self-control comes great rewards!:flowerforyou:

stormystrickland

I have the exact same problem you do, and currently, I keep gaining and re-losing the same 4 pounds because of it. What I've found is that you have to set goals for yourself. Realistic goals. I love having a good time out with my friends, but I realized that I can't lose weight anymore by drinking 3 nights out of the week. Slowly make a goal to cut down your drinking per day a week. When I go out, I like to drink a pretty good amount.. so, for me, it isn't realistic for me to limit my drinks to 3 a night like other people do... At least not yet. I decided to cut out one whole day of drinking per week, and for a while, I began with drinking 2 days per week. Now I've successfully cut down my drinking one day per week, and it's slowly but surely getting easier to not drink at all when I go out. Just take it one day and one week at a time. Any small step toward cutting down in this area is actually a really big stride.

Also, I also recently moved away from my family from work too so I definitely know how you feel there!

eileen0515

Regular drinking is not really compatible, with consuming at a deficit. To drink regularly and stay at a deficit, your nutrition would really have to take a beating. Not a good sustainable plan. A better idea is to change your lifestyle.

Nutella91

im a college student. alcohol screws up my diet every weekend too

rollng_thundr

Regular drinking is not really compatible, with consuming at a deficit. To drink regularly and stay at a deficit, your nutrition would really have to take a beating. Not a good sustainable plan. A better idea is to change your lifestyle.

I hate your brutal truth Eileen, but facts are, if your goal is to eat/consume at a deficit, then alcohol is a no-go. If you consume, then you have to restrict actual nutrition to keep at a defict. Not practical.

BTW, I haven't had a drink in 15 days.... my blood alcohol level's getting dangerously low.

:drinker:

amblight

When I gained all my weight, that's exactly the reason. I would consume about a weeks worth of calories in drinks on the weekends, awful foods to 'cure' my hangover (which were always MASSIVE) etc.

When I cut all this out (I still get drunk occaisionally - though before I averaged on 1L of hard liquour per week plus a few beers, now I'm probably on ½L per month!), changed nothing else, I dropped 22lbs almost instantly, and another 11 fell off over the next few months.

vanguardfitness

Find out why you feel the need to drink

massromanticfool

Usually what I do is make my drunk days maintenance days, and try to leave about 400 calories at the end of the day aside from that. I find that's usually enough to allow me to have a good time without paying for it the next day. I only really do this about twice a month or so, though.

leggup

I also struggle with this. My latest technique is to measure all alcohol before I consume it. I also have to pour a single serving of it into a glass. So, for wine, 5 oz of a red I like is 105 calories. If I know I want to drink that night, I create a 300ish calorie deficit through exercise and I skip my afternoon snack. Also- no chugging. Ever. No shots, ever. I have been more inclined to savor my wine if I know I'm only getting 3 glasses of it. I've also found that I get a more pleasant drunk off of less.

As for the hangover foods, the easy answer is to not be hungover. Consuming 1-2 glasses of water for every alcoholic drink should help pace you better throughout the drinking.

Treat alcohol like you would treat chocolate cake. There's no point in eating healthy all week only to snarf a huge chocolate cake on the weekends. Maybe ask yourself why you want to eat that much cake in the first place.

Lisa1971

I understand this! I'm like the story "if you give a mouse a cookie."
If you give me a glass of wine, I will want some cheese. And some crackers. And another glass of wine. And some more cheese. And maybe some of those other crunchy things I had stored away...
I do much better when I work out in the evening and come home TIRED!
I also substitute flavored seltzer for beer. I find it just as refreshing, but it is not an appetite stimulant, and I don't get into the eating spiral.

Also, try alternating having a drink with have a glass of water/seltzer/diet pop when you out.

Good luck!

LOVE THIS! This is also me, btw.

Julesdublin

I struggle with the same. I can drink a lot of beer during a night out. I am trying to have just 1 night out per week and never more than 4 pints and it’s already around 800 calories. Deadly.
When I started MPF I was a lot more conscious but I can feel I am becoming more and more relaxed with my drinking. With St Patrick’s weekend starting tomorrow I will probably have to spend the entire week drinking water and eating lettuce to make up for the extra calories I will ingest from tonight until Monday. :drinker: :sad: :drinker:

Cortelli

Regular drinking is not really compatible, with consuming at a deficit. To drink regularly and stay at a deficit, your nutrition would really have to take a beating. Not a good sustainable plan. A better idea is to change your lifestyle.

I hate your brutal truth Eileen, but facts are, if your goal is to eat/consume at a deficit, then alcohol is a no-go. If you consume, then you have to restrict actual nutrition to keep at a defict. Not practical.

BTW, I haven't had a drink in 15 days.... my blood alcohol level's getting dangerously low.

:drinker:

I am going to disagree with you both. I am doing an OK job meeting my (to me, reasonable) nutrition goals and am quite healthy based on my most recent check-up. I drink pretty regularly, probably most days of the week. Now, "most days of the week" is a glass of wine or two, or a double shot of liquor sipped in bed while reading, but still, it is drinking regularly. And occasionally I "over" indulge on a night out on the town. On those days, I do have to either not meet my nutrition goals, or go over my calorie goals. I'll generally go over my calorie goals without remorse if the social / cultural night out is more important or special to me.

I'd definitely agree that regularly consuming large amounts of alcohol calories and maintaining a deficit is nigh on impossible (regularly as I use it meaning more than one night a week or so for me).

And I'd also agree that it is a lot more challenging for those who have to maintain a low calorie total to maintain a deficit -- i.e., it is a lot easier for a larger man to hit reasonable nutrition goals, have a glass of wine or two or hit the town once or twice a week, and hit a deficit with a 2400 daily cal total, and than for a smaller women who maybe tops out at 1600 cals before hitting maintenance levels.

marywt8

It is really hard, I'm doing an alcohol free week this week and hoping I can cut down from there. I'm the same, I have to exercise at work but I don't put in the effort like I should and still am packing on the grams. I went over the top last week so this week I'm almost happy for a break.

tiffalicious121

I also struggle with this. My latest technique is to measure all alcohol before I consume it. I also have to pour a single serving of it into a glass. So, for wine, 5 oz of a red I like is 105 calories. If I know I want to drink that night, I create a 300ish calorie deficit through exercise and I skip my afternoon snack. Also- no chugging. Ever. No shots, ever. I have been more inclined to savor my wine if I know I'm only getting 3 glasses of it. I've also found that I get a more pleasant drunk off of less.

As for the hangover foods, the easy answer is to not be hungover. Consuming 1-2 glasses of water for every alcoholic drink should help pace you better throughout the drinking.

Treat alcohol like you would treat chocolate cake. There's no point in eating healthy all week only to snarf a huge chocolate cake on the weekends. Maybe ask yourself why you want to eat that much cake in the first place.

I love the chocolate cake reference! I also really needed to read this thread. I too have really been struggling with alcohol. I will do really good all week then blow it on the weekends. I usually drink almost daily, but through the week I tend to limit to one or two glasses of wine or vodka with crystal lite. Last weekend I consumed 2 bottles of wine in a single day...that's almost 1000 calories! I have also discovered that when I really overindulge, exercising does not seem to help, not to mention trying to exercise with a hangover is no fun at all. I too am going to try to take a week or 2 off to see if I can start seeing some results. My drinking is stress driven, so I know it will be a challenge. Good luck!

zealey77

Amen to that OP, I drink most of my calorie allowance 3 days a week with alcohol. But, hey, calories are calories. So long as you keep under your daily calorie goal what does it matter whether it's Big Macs or bottles of hooch? (I'm sure it matters somehow but MFP is obsessed with just eating under a calorie deficit each day so who cares where the calories come from? lol)

LosingItForGood13

before u start drinking open up your food diary and research how many calories the drink is that u are drinking and this way u can better manage how many glasses u may be able to have without going overboard

monstergirl14

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a huge drinker. I used to drink Friday and Saturday with all of my friends, we'd go to the bar and have a lot of fun. Sometimes we just danced the night away. I'm far from an alcoholic, but I do love to drink on the weekends because it's fun for me. I've hit a wall in weight loss though, so I stopped drinking one weekend and realized that that was the culprit. I stopped drinking for almost a month and I'm seeing results now, so that's good. When I drink, I DRINK. I cannot moderate. Go big or go home. I miss having a beer sometimes but I'm not craving the stuff. Might drink on Easter, I don't know.


TL;DR, I have the same issue and stopped drinking lol

jkowula

Man it is so nice to see that I am not the only one out here who struggles with this. I need.. yes need my whisky on Friday or Saturday nights. This is not really an option for me. Ya maybe I need to take step 1, but I am not ready to admit I have a problem. I just don't see the weekends any other way. If I don't drink I might as well be working, if I am working, I might as well not have a life.

So.. to this point I have done great on the weekdays. I have lost 28 pounds in 5 months but now the problem is things are slowing down big time, I am pretty much stuck at the same weight. I know if I quit drinking the pounds would come off again. I am torn, as others have said, what do you want more.. hmm, that is the dilemma with me.. I will be watching this thread closely for helpful ideas.

dickrocketjones

Don't eat when you drink. Will lower your tolerance. Less alcohol required. Just drink in moderation to avoid the hangover. Or smoke a little weed and avoid the hangover all together.

Lesa_Sass

I find I can be strict with diet and exercise throughout the week but as soon as the weekend hits I drink enough alcohol and accompany it with enough hangover food to undo all the good work I've done in the week. Does anyone else struggle with this? I've been trying to change my habbits but as I live away from my family for work I find it really hard to restrain from drinking in my down time.

Hi, my name is Lesa and I am an alcoholic. I was not an every day drinker, nor did alcohol cause any problems in my personal life, as a matter of fact, the only person I was hurting was myself when I drank. One day I woke up and realized that it was not okay for anyone else to hurt me, so why was it okay for me to hurt me?

I found help with abstaining from alcohol an changing many aspects of my life for the better in the rooms of AA. Best decision I ever made in my life.

I was not an all day drinker, and every day drinker or an every week drinker, but when I drank, I could not stop, THAT is what alcoholics are.

If you would like some help stopping drinking I would be happy to talk to you about it. I can honestly say that I have a better life today with out booze in my life than I did before, and I could not imagine going on vacation, and enjoying it, with out a pitcher full of margaritas. I loved drinking, it just did not love me. Life is good today with out it.

Just remember as you are reading through these posts, to many, alcohol is like a family member or very best friend, people will do what ever they can to protect it and keep it in their lives. Dont take the advice of those people.