Alcohol...my biggest downfall!!!

ew_david

You have to figure out what you want more; to lose the weight or to have wild nights. It's very possible to continue drinking while losing weight, but you have to make the calories fit into your daily goal. Go out with a plan to only drink X amount of drinks. Have water in between. Just because everyone around you is drinking like fish, doesn't mean you have to.

Sometimes it's fun to be the sober one seeing all your friends acting like *kitten*.

BarbieFromHellx

I'm the same, but with strong beers. Try to swap creamy, fruity cocktails for something like a mojito, and rather than sticky sweet shots, go for a real spirit - just have fewer of them Apple Sourz are EVIL.

If you eat bad stuff drunk, try to provide drunk you with an easier alternative. Instead of a kebab on the way home, get a Subway. Instead of popping a pizza in the oven, have a lower cal ready meal in the fridge. Maybe even put a post it note on it saying 'SEXY!' or something that will remind your drunk brain, oh wait, I'll be better off eating this than a pizza.

If all else fails, workout harder and eat better for the rest of the week, saving up some calories for the night out.

That's what I'm going to try and do, anyway :drinker:

Apple Sourz are a no no! Lower alcohol percentage and higher calories = nah.

I know people who eat tonssss when drunk so I'm glad I'm not one of them. Otherwise I'd probably be way heavier.

Vodka sodas! With loads of fresh lime (be pushy with that bartender). It's a really clean drink if you're going to have a few and you won't have those grim sugar crash hangovers. Alternate them with fresh lime sodas if necessary.... Having five or six in a night isn't great but it's better than all the sugar and cider.

Weekends are trickiest as relaxing and going out with friends tends to involve alcohol and that totally throws off calorie goals. On the weekends I aim for maintenance calories (including drink) and am more disciplined during the week. You can always earn party calories through exercise Its better to be realistic about what you can achieve - you are trying to form good habits for life and not going out/completely cutting out drink isn't realistic!!

I don't think completely banning nights out is realistic especially as I'm 20 years old. I like the idea of sticking to maintenance calories, come to think of it I never count my calories on nights out so maybe it's something I should start doing then burning off the extra the next day.

Phrick

How about limiting the number of days per week that you do drink - so if you usually go out and wind up over-indulging 4 nights a week, try making yourself the Designated Driver at first maybe just one of the nights. If your're the DD then you have a completely legitimate reason to not indulge at all, and you can still enjoy your time out with friends, AND you don't wind up blasting your calorie goal out of the park either.

Another option would be to track a few times when you go all out, without any guilt over intake, so that you have an accurate picture of exactly how many drinks you actually have (and how many calories you consume). Then you can better plan your days. If you find for example, that 4 nights a week you consume 700 calories in alcohol and sugary drinks, you can do a few things:

- increase your workouts to earn more calories for consumption
- pre-plan your food intake for a week at a time, including your anticipated alcohol consumption( do leave a little room for minor deviations like "I don't want pretzels today I want potato chips instead" or whatever) and keep your calorie level under for the week in total (rather than a daily goal) this way if you keep yourself say 300 calories under your daily goal, 3 days a week, then you'll have saved an extra 900 calories that you can "spend" on alcohol - more if you've also earned exercise calories.

Working out more and limiting food intake in preparation for the weekends I do go out drinking sounds really beneficial.

I don't think I could ever hack 4 nights in one week hahaha! Once a fortnight is enough for me.

Oh! I totally took your OP as an indication that it was happening way more frequently than every couple of weeks! It's pretty unlikely that one night of drinking and eating without inhibition is going to completely erase all the forward progress you have made in 2 weeks. So if you have a good 2 weeks and then go out and consume a crap-ton of drinks and food on one night you should still be OK as far as weight loss goes. It might not be as fast as it could be, and if you take your weight in the day (or two or three) after your night out you might see a gain (which will most likely be temporary due to water retention, as the foods we tend to consume while at a bar or pub are generally high in sodium), but if you are keeping an adequate deficit the rest of the time I wouldn't anticipate a complete undoing of your work.

BarbieFromHellx

You could always NOT drink. It seems as though you have the whole "I need to drink to have fun" attitude by the 'it's free anyway' way you put it. But hey what does an alcoholic know anyway. Good luck with your binge drinking.


BTW this EX-fatass never ate cake & pizza to get fat. I drank like a fish.

I just wanted to know what other people drank on nights out. I am not an alcoholic either seeing as I've already said I drink once a fortnight usually now but you clearly didn't read the thread. Hahahaha wow.

pinkraynedropjacki

You could always NOT drink. It seems as though you have the whole "I need to drink to have fun" attitude by the 'it's free anyway' way you put it. But hey what does an alcoholic know anyway. Good luck with your binge drinking.


BTW this EX-fatass never ate cake & pizza to get fat. I drank like a fish.

I just wanted to know what other people drank on nights out. I am not an alcoholic either hahahaha wow.

Yep that's what I said as I poured another drink while taking another sick day from work

ajmurray1234

If losing weight is your goal, think of it this way. Alcohol, when in the system is the first thing the body uses for fuel. This means it is not using fat, which is the optimal source of fuel when trying to lose weight.

Please read this article. You can contact me as well, if you like.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035319_alcohol_body_fat_calories.html

BarbieFromHellx

You could always NOT drink. It seems as though you have the whole "I need to drink to have fun" attitude by the 'it's free anyway' way you put it. But hey what does an alcoholic know anyway. Good luck with your binge drinking.


BTW this EX-fatass never ate cake & pizza to get fat. I drank like a fish.

I just wanted to know what other people drank on nights out. I am not an alcoholic either hahahaha wow.

Yep that's what I said as I poured another drink while taking another sick day from work

Not all of us have major problems like this kind

dblaskovich

My weakness is eating after drinking - in my mind it's to absorb all the alcohol hahah. When I was younger and partied more, I would pick a drink that wasn't my favorite like scotch and water, or vodka and tonic. I try to keep the mixers as low in sugar as possible.

TavistockToad

I didn't word it right...I didn't want a lecture on why alcohol is dangerous and bad for you and stuff, saying stuff like control how drunk you get is fine. And don't be patronising, I don't go into threads and say "stop eating cake and pizza, fatass".

If you know what the issue is then you know how to fix it. Get more control of your actions when you do drink.

Also, you set yourself up nicely to have people come in to tell you what you said not to. You don't set the rules on what responses you get. If you want that the post it on your wall for your friends to read.

QFT

Madame_Goldbricker

Yep if its on 2/3 times a month. And you don't binge on food after drinking. And you stick to eating with in a deficit the rest of the time you should be okay. Water weight comes & goes - you need to be able to live your life in a way that works for you.

I quit drinking in the house on my nights off. That was 3mth ago - however I'm still drinking on social occasions which have included 2x's this month. It didn't affect my weight for more than 2 days after on the scales. OP you don't have a lot to lose on your ticker, but I read in your profile you've lost additional weight previously. What were you doing in regards to nights out then?

DawnieB1977

When I was your age I was at university drinking at least 4 nights a week lol. I lost loads of weight as a student, especially in my third year in France. I didn't eat a lot though, and my only exercise was walking everywhere.

I'm now 36 and a mum of three, so on the rare occasion I go out I drink whatever I like!

If you're going out regularly, maybe stick to spirits with mixers, like vodka tonic, or have a white wine spritzer if you like wine. And have a big workout session the day you're going out.

mbbseb

Good advice, I'm a beer drinker and only drink on weekends @home because I'm an old lady with 2 kids also. But I like the idea of giving it up and when I lose 10 lbs have 2 bud lites. If you really want it bad enough you will give it up. Bud lites are my problem and I can't just have 1.

BarbieFromHellx

Okay I will just make one more post saying I only usually go on nights out once a fortnight USUALLY and I don't do drunk eating...just to save confusion and maybe prevent the weird unnecessary rude comments ta although the majority of people gave helpful and beneficial advice so thank you.

eric_sg61

I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do I use the tips outlined in this
http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/science-binge-drinking/

SunofaBeach14

I hate it when I go out and people keep buying me drinks.

Seriously, learn to say "no thank you" or order a soft drink or tea. My job has had me out drinking with clients many a night, and I will often slip in several soda waters with lime during the course of the night.

BigT555

thanks to everyone telling op not to drink despite her post specifically asking for advice other than that.... that was good for a laugh or two

anyway op i have the same problem, and im not about to sacrifice my social life for weight loss either. ive started fasting on mornings of drinking to help lower the cals by 600 or so for that day and then just going up to maintenance once i do go out. but depending on how much you drink when you go out you may want to try and keep this to once a week if possible since i find i still often go over when i go out. those old habits always seem to poke their head out in one way or another when alcohol comes out

LINIA

Hello OP,
I am an awful lot like you in that i go out and enjoy 2 drinks from time to time, in between i alternate with water and lime slices in the water--- ---- or a splash of tonic water, lime and water can also be very tasty.

Like you i don't do the drunk eating and even though i have some pounds to lose , my BMI is normal, my clothing sizes look small so i think i get what you mean.

Your question was excellent and there is another thing you can do, create a weekly deficit--- almost as though you have been on WW. So save over 200 calories a couple of times during the week and use them on your night out. That seems to work also , as our bodies don't gain or lose in a linear fashion, you can accumulate " spending calories" before you go out for an evening.

I am really in favor of you going out once every week, having to enjoy only twice a month just is so unnecessary when you can grab the calories you need by saving them up or by doing extra fitness.

GL, i'd be interested to know what worked best for you --- this was a wonderful post with many helpful suggestions. ???? Linia

jessicasrsly

I find it interesting that you called alcohol your biggest downfall in the post title then asked that no one tell you to stop drinking alcohol. It seems logical that if something were really your "biggest downfall" you'd want to avoid it. Here's a great article on how alcohol affects weight loss and how it's the second biggest contributor to cancer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2255958/The-secret-weight-loss-Ditch-booze-dieters-told.html

Here's a great organization called "Hello Sunday Morning" ( https://www.hellosundaymorning.org/ ) that started a movement of quitting drinking for short periods of time (relatively short since they do suggest 1-3 months) and taking time to note the positive effects of quitting drinking for that period of time. Your relationship with alcohol changes. You honestly don't "need" it as much as you think you do. Believe me, I love to drink but I'm at a point in my life now that I need to let it go. I wish I would have been able to see this when I was much younger. Alcohol has held me back from my goals of regular exercise and weight loss for YEARS.

Good luck on your weight loss journey!

PRMinx

Okay I will just make one more post saying I only usually go on nights out once a fortnight USUALLY and I don't do drunk eating...just to save confusion and maybe prevent the weird unnecessary rude comments ta although the majority of people gave helpful and beneficial advice so thank you.

If you are only going out once or twice a month, I don't see how it could have a major impact on your weight. Just get up the next day, drink plenty of water, workout.

fooninie

I drink wine and beer, mostly on a weekend and on a given day. I work for my drink calories. If I know I am going to have a few drinks, I will make sure I go for a long run or a good cardio class at the gym. That way, the cals fit my macros. (sort of...)

Not sure how old you are but when I was in my early 20s I partied like a rockstar and wore tiny pants too...my problems started when I ate anything that was not nailed down in my first pregnancy. :blushing: