alcohol and dieting

sjserna

I would have to say my biggest craving is wine or alcoholic drinks. I don't go out much but I have a little stock in my house. And I've already once broke my diet from drinking continuously. Does anyone have the problem or did u sub with low cal drinks ?

eric_sg61

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I quit drinking for about 6 months. After that period, i allowed myself 2 craft beers on Fridays and 2-3 beers on Sundays. It doesn't sound like a lot, but since I didn't touch alcohol for 6 months my tolerance was really low. Those 2-3 beers give me a great buzz without coming anywhere near sabotaging the rest of my diet.

newjeanbean

I would try what eric ^ is saying. The last time I was doing great, 2 months strong, went out drinking with my friends and ended up on a 3 day bender that led to completely destroying my routine for months. Now I'm back on track and I also haven't drank for a week now. I work in a bar so that's why I can get pretty mad with drink sometimes. I can't just have one or two when I go out.

I think I'll try what he's saying as well! After 6 months I should be able to control myself

Liftng4Lis

Perhaps you should take the IIFYM approach on this one.

sjserna

That's most likely what I'll do . I'll stop for a while and maybe later on I'll be able to just have 1or 2 without having to worry about breaking my diet. Thanks for the support ????

tremroy1

I understand the desire for a drink.....at 65.....I have done my share of drinking......I am cleaning up my act entering a new phase of my life......eliminating things I dont really need. Re started on MFP 152 days ago, stopped drinking at the same time. May not go back, not sure at this time. At first there was something missing, but now I dont miss it. Could go for a beer after golf, but have stayed clean. What I dont appreciate is the negative comments from friends about the fact that I may have quit completely. Good luck to all. I feel better after losing 25 lbs.

sjserna

That's awesome about cleaning up. And stay positive cuz there is always someone negative with something to say to bring people down. Just keep the good work up

sistrsprkl

Everything in moderation. Just log it and make sure your portions are correct. 5 oz of wine isn't that much. I always use my smallest little wine glass.

tulips_and_tea

I understand the desire for a drink.....at 65.....I have done my share of drinking......I am cleaning up my act entering a new phase of my life......eliminating things I dont really need. Re started on MFP 152 days ago, stopped drinking at the same time. May not go back, not sure at this time. At first there was something missing, but now I dont miss it. Could go for a beer after golf, but have stayed clean. What I dont appreciate is the negative comments from friends about the fact that I may have quit completely. Good luck to all. I feel better after losing 25 lbs.

Isn't that sad? The negative comments, I mean. I've encountered the same thing. Luckily, I feel so much better after giving it up completely (just a personal experience for my own body; I'm not against alcohol at all) that it's still worth it to me.

Good job and keep it up!

PRMinx

I could never give up wine and craft beer. They will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

I did cut back though - mostly because I go to a 6:15am class at the gym. That said, I have a couple beers or a couple glass of wine 3-4 nights a week. I make sure it fits into my macros and I have it with dinner so that I don't snack needlessly. I try not to drink enough to get a hangover, because that leads to greasy food the next morning.

marie3221

I am in the same boat. Drinking has affected my weight loss. I did not realize how many empty calories are in alcohol. 7 calories per gram, almost as much as fat calories! I have said several times on here that it is just not worth it when you are tring to reach your weight loss goal. Try your best to just stop, and the water weight you loss alone will make you motivated enough to keep it up. Good luck!

sjserna

I could never give up wine and craft beer. They will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

I did cut back though - mostly because I go to a 6:15am class at the gym. That said, I have a couple beers or a couple glass of wine 3-4 nights a week. I make sure it fits into my macros and I have it with dinner so that I don't snack needlessly. I try not to drink enough to get a hangover, because that leads to greasy food the next morning.

Omg, the is the biggest issue with me, drinking and then craving the greasy food. That's were I usually fail at the diet. But so far I've cut back to once a week having a drink.

shadowofender

I normally fit alcohol into my day, but I was drinking way more often than I was comfortable with, so I had tos tep back and I'm not drinking right now.

When I am drinking, I either need to stick to ONE delicious beer, or I go with vodka and a calorie free mixer.

PRMinx

I could never give up wine and craft beer. They will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

I did cut back though - mostly because I go to a 6:15am class at the gym. That said, I have a couple beers or a couple glass of wine 3-4 nights a week. I make sure it fits into my macros and I have it with dinner so that I don't snack needlessly. I try not to drink enough to get a hangover, because that leads to greasy food the next morning.

Omg, the is the biggest issue with me, drinking and then craving the greasy food. That's were I usually fail at the diet. But so far I've cut back to once a week having a drink.

What helps me is that I try to drink things with flavor. A lot of people will go for a light beer, for example, and then drink them too fast which leads to more drinks. I drink a hefty IPA and it takes me a while to drink a pint. Add the higher alcohol percentage and I'm calling it quits after 2. I love the taste, like the buzz and it's not enough to make me hungover the next day. For me, wine is more dangerous in terms of the volume I can drink (but has fewer calories).

hallo_spacedog

I used to have about 3 beers every single weekday and more on the weekends, but I tried to bring it down. Now I often don't drink on weekdays but if I'm drastically under on calories I may have one or two. I try to keep it to 3-4 max a session on weekends, normally.

But yeah, I count it like I would other calories and just make room for it otherwise I would be completely miserable. I would rather give up some food and keep drinking than other way around.

To be fair though I don't really exercise though, so if I did it might not be a smart thing.

MizTerry

I follow the IIFYM
I generally add a shot of vodka to some Crystal Ice drinks that have zero cals or I have a glass of barefoot cabernet. It's not too bad.

chelledawg14

If I'm going to have a few beers, I plan it ahead of time so I make sure I extra calories for the week to accommodate the beer. I also drink Miller/MGD 64 whenever they have it. If not, then Miller Lite. The only "craft" beer I'll drink is Summer Shandy. I'm glad I don't care for the heavier beers. Wine, well, that's a once every six months or so thing so that would go for my cheat day.

samanthagraessle

I did great from January to April with not drinking or only having 2 beers tops. Now, Mon-Friday I eat great and workout. But once Friday night hits, its party time til Sunday. I have not gained anything, but havent lost anything either. Its actually getting pretty tiring bc summer is almost over and I'm still where I was in April pretty much. So this week I'm going back to how I was, minimal drinking. Maybe a special night out with a few more drinks once every 8 weeks.

_runnerbean_

For me, drinking alcohol is a triple bad thing because-
1. It has lots of empty calories
2. It makes me want to snack
3. The lower inhibitions make me have more than the ( planned) one and also lots of food I don't really need.

There is also the theory that alcohol is metabolised before fat so it can slow down weight loss- not sure if I am explaining that correctly.
I have been cutting right back on my drinking since trying to lose weight and I feel so much better for it.

red66stang

I could never give up wine and craft beer. They will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

I did cut back though - mostly because I go to a 6:15am class at the gym. That said, I have a couple beers or a couple glass of wine 3-4 nights a week. I make sure it fits into my macros and I have it with dinner so that I don't snack needlessly. I try not to drink enough to get a hangover, because that leads to greasy food the next morning.

Omg, the is the biggest issue with me, drinking and then craving the greasy food. That's were I usually fail at the diet. But so far I've cut back to once a week having a drink.

That's the problem for me too. It's not the couple of beers or whiskey/diet cokes, it is the frozen pizza I eat at midnight because I got the munchies. I now plan what days I'm going to drink and make sure to put it in my daily calories ahead of time so I don't overdo it. I also started limiting my drinking to just weekends. It's like anything else. If you enjoy drinking and can do it in moderation without going overboard, then do it. Just know your limits and stick to them.

Kimdbro

I could never give up wine and craft beer. They will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

I did cut back though - mostly because I go to a 6:15am class at the gym. That said, I have a couple beers or a couple glass of wine 3-4 nights a week. I make sure it fits into my macros and I have it with dinner so that I don't snack needlessly. I try not to drink enough to get a hangover, because that leads to greasy food the next morning.

Omg, the is the biggest issue with me, drinking and then craving the greasy food. That's were I usually fail at the diet. But so far I've cut back to once a week having a drink.

What helps me is that I try to drink things with flavor. A lot of people will go for a light beer, for example, and then drink them too fast which leads to more drinks. I drink a hefty IPA and it takes me a while to drink a pint. Add the higher alcohol percentage and I'm calling it quits after 2. I love the taste, like the buzz and it's not enough to make me hungover the next day. For me, wine is more dangerous in terms of the volume I can drink (but has fewer calories).

I've done the same thing, and this helped me immensely! Wine is the devil for me because I could just keep drinking it like water, before I know it I've finished a bottle and downed up to 700 calories in the process. I started drinking a light beer, but I hate light beer and found I just drank more also, I figured I might as well have the wine. Then I discovered an IPA with a wicked punch. I drink it way slower, I can't possibly have more than two and I'm satisfied.