Do You Drink?

QuietBloom

Absolutely. I want to be healthy and fit, but it's equally as important to me to enjoy life. I only drink red wine (no real reason other than it's my favorite drink) and if I DO drink during the week, it's one glass with or after dinner. On the weekends I have anywhere from 2-4 glasses a night depending on where I am and who I'm with. I would LIKE to keep to to 2 drinks max, but that just doesn't always happen, and I'm ok with that

Good for you. I admit I am making the most of my sudden joblessness. :drinker:

Aaron_K123

Personally I don't drink if I am trying to lose weight as I feel like I would rather "spend" those calories on something satisfying and I don't feel the need for a buzz.

That said I don't think there is anything wrong with drinking if you can fit it into your calorie budget and its worth it to you. Alcohol is just another macro that has calories, fit it in like you would fit in anything else and you should be fine.

Now if you are drinking to the point of lowered inhibition and there is a bunch of snack food around then you might run into trouble there but that is a different issue.

Branstin

I fit my alcohol into my calories limit just as I do with food. I plan ahead as much as possible and populate my food diary beforehand. This keeps me from over consuming and I don't have any problems with losing weight. I drink about once a month unless I am on vacation.

sjaplo

I am planing for an evening with a close friend that will involve lots of conversation and wine. I am a little concerned about keeping to my weight loss goals when drinking. My current plan is to go 400 calories or so under today and Saturday and count/track the calories from alcohol I will drink on Friday. Saturday is my weigh in day. Ultimately I know if I keep up on the diet the very occasional night of drinking isn't going to derail me in the long run. But I am curious:

1. Do you indulge in alcohol while eating for weight loss. How often and how much?

2. What kind of results do you see on the scale when you do?

I haven't read all of the other responses, but I sense a trend of "Limit your intake" "Can't lose while drinking" "Rather have a cupcake than a beer". Polar opposite me. I'd rather have a beer than any sweet.

1. Daily anywhere bewtween 36 and 60oz of micro or homebrew.

2. I'm down 14 lbs since Jan. from 197 to 183 - ticker says 12 because Jan 1 I was 195 and I went up! :noway: I just fit the beer into my carb intake. And yes I eat fruit and veggies daily.

It all depends on what your priorities are - I drink beer because I like beer. I do not drink to get a buzz, I drink because there is no other fluid I have found that I would rather imbibe. :drinker:

Edited to point out I have a seperate meal category called "Beer"

sandryc

Very interesting and varied responses to this. Nice to hear from all the people who make alcohol and budgeted part of their normal weight loss routine.

hj1119

1. Do you indulge in alcohol while eating for weight loss. How often and how much?

I'm in the too often and too much boat as well. Trying to limit it to the weekends, not because of my weight loss efforts but to try and curb my budding alcoholism that seems to be rearing it's ugly head now that I'm in my 30s. I mostly drink Guiness (125 for 12 oz) or Bud Light Lime (116 for 12 oz) or wine.

2. What kind of results do you see on the scale when you do?

I either stall or gain if I drink in excess. Period. It doesn't seem to matter how much water I drink, or how much I try and fit it into my calories for the day.. I consider it lucky if I stall, and I'm never surprised if I gain. When I CAN stick to a moderate amount of 1-2 glasses a couple times a week, I don't notice any change.

Worse than the weight gain though is how I feel. I never get good sleep. Even if I wake up and stick to my exercise routine the next morning, I feel lousy. And absolute worst of all - I start getting a little beer belly. It's very noticable. My stomach is trying to tone up, but it seems like my Guiness goes straight to my belly button first. I'll wake up Friday morning with a relatively flat stomach, and Monday I can't even suck in my gut.

Ldrogers85

My fiance and I generally split a bottle of red one almost every night. I have been consistently losing weight despite this, and am within 10lbs of my goal weight. Is it the healthiest habit? Nope. But does it make it impossible to lose weight? Nope. I just budget for it, make healthier choices the rest of the time, and occasionally throw in an extra work out.

It does tend to impact the numbers on the scale by about a pound or two from water weight. But I know that's not fat weight, so I'm ok with that. Go a few weeks without anything and that number drops so fast you'll feel like superman haha. But I also drink a TON of water.

I'll enjoy a pint every now and then on the weekend, but wine for me is a sip with dinner/glass with tv before bed social activity. Hard liquor just makes me sick.

mistymeadows2005

I haven't read all of the other responses, but I sense a trend of "Limit your intake" "Can't lose while drinking" "Rather have a cupcake than a beer". Polar opposite me. I'd rather have a beer than any sweet.

1. Daily anywhere bewtween 36 and 60oz of micro or homebrew.

2. I'm down 14 lbs since Jan. from 197 to 183 - ticker says 12 because Jan 1 I was 195 and I went up! noway I just fit the beer into my carb intake. And yes I eat fruit and veggies daily.

It all depends on what your priorities are - I drink beer because I like beer. I do not drink to get a buzz, I drink because there is no other fluid I have found that I would rather imbibe. drinker

Edited to point out I have a seperate meal category called "Beer"











YES YES YES! To EVERYTHING in thispost! LOL ^^^^

MyMalfunction7

I drink one to two times a week, and fairly heavily when I do. It's horrible haha. When I do drink, I often go over - I'll allot around 300 extra calories, lets say, but then I'll have five light beers (550 calories) for example.

However, I know that going out with friends and enjoying alcohol is a thing I want to be able to do, and if I deprive myself of it just to speed up my weight loss very slightly, it won't be sustainable. So I just try to focus on my weekly calorie goal and keep that under

Ldrogers85

hehe Yes. I just love beer and wine and they are tasty. I'm also a snob with them. So when I have a beer, it's not a bud light or swill like that. It's going to be the nectar of the gods. Still trying to get our homebrew up to snuff.

It's nothing something that makes me binge. In fact, if I have a glass of wine to slowly sip on in the evenings I'm far less likely to want to snack. Except for occasionally making me want nice cheese. Solution there is either to not keep nice cheese in the house or use magic willpower and just have a little, which at the most is gonna push me up to maintenance for a day.