ALCOHOL QUESTION PLEASE HELP

axman19

I looked around and just have a simple question for you guys to answer. Yes I know it is not good to drink while dieting, but I enjoy it and am a social drinker who drinks about 1 every two weeks. There is no worry of me letting my guard down and eating a whole pizza after a few. My question is Rum at 70 calories and 3g of sugar. Should I be saving calories if I plan on consuming 5-10 or am i better off having absorbtion food in my stomach and going a little over my daily calorie intake. Thanks everyone. Absolutely love this site so far and I think it is gonna be huge in me getting to where I want to be.

ashleyh3156

lol..not laughing at your question, just have the same question myself. I've been trying to only have 2-3, this allows me a nice buzz, but a chance to skip taco bell at 1am. best advice I got.

SpaceMarkus

I would save the calories.

EmilyAnn89

if i'm going to drink i save calories for the alcohol. i try not to go over. if i need a snack i just grab a bag of 100 calorie popcorn and that usually satisfies me

axman19

I use to do the 1am taco bell stop and I had a wierd habit of grilling pizzas in my garage when I had friends over while drinking.

Sasha_Bear

Well you gotta eat to keep from bowing to the porcelain God later, no matter how many drinks you decide to have I would try to stay in your calorie goal if you need extra calories for drinking do a short workout and earn some extra before the festivities begin! :drinker:

Kristhin

Factor the calories of the alcohol into your daily allowance of calories and don't allow yourself to go over.
You will end up needing to drink less because you'll have less food on your stomach and thats good because
the less you drink the better for you.
Alcohol robs your body of nutrients.

jennywrens

don't eat less, but try and get a workout in to add extra calories for the alcohol!!

bcattoes

It's much easier on your gut if you have food with alcohol.

afteil

Personally- I would try to eat fairly light throughout the day (have a large salad or something for lunch), but before you start drinking eat something a little more filling, even if it has a little more calories, to keep from getting sick the next day.

sweetiepie31612

If i'm going out I make sure to hit the gym...the more drinks I want, the harder I work out.

lulu1962

I've cut my alcohol consumption a lot since joining MFP, mainly 'cause I want to eat, too! Had a few "mini" vacations & went way overboard on the food/cocktails for those few days. I just get back on track as soon as I get home & cut some calories from the next few days. I've had fun:drinker: and still lost weight!

stephierue

5-10, without food? I don't think it is worth it. Too much alcohol on an empty stomach & not a healthy habit. How about 3-7 & a little something in the tum tum?

notOpel

I'd suggest you have food on your stomach, but for general health/safety reasons rather than cutting calories... Obviously, drinks affect us more on an empty stomach and I'm thinking their effects on our liver are probably amp up in that case too. Plus, I have a hard time believing that after 5 or 10 drinks your going to have the sense and willpower to resist a binge on that pizza! I guess the benefit of having an empty stomach when drinking would be that you'll theoretically need less alcohol to get your thing on....
Really, my advice would be to have a "cheat day" where you eat sensibly and enjoy your drinks, guilt free. Then work extra hard for the follow days to burn off those empty cals.

annacataldo

Alcohol dehydrates your system, so when I drink, I drink the same amount of water... lets say i have 5 beers, at 16oz each, I would need to then drink 10cups of water just to make up for the alcohol, and not to mention the amount of water I have to drink on a daily basis.
Also, alcohol changes how your body processes food after like 2drinks... So I dont eat while Ive been drinking. I eat before.

I also dont get any drink with energy drinks included (like jager bombs & tic tacs, etc), and dont order any drinks that include pop (Even diet), and dont have any sugar based alcohols--such as peach schnapps, triple sec, blue curacao, etc. So I have straight shots, light beers (budweiser 55 and mgd 64, or like a coors light or something like that if those arent available), and if i want a mixed drink i do a screwdriver, vodka cran, or whiskey cran... the cranberry juice that bars use as mixer isnt the best for you cuz its a higher sugar version, so i usually have the screwdriver at bars and if im at a house party have the vodka/whiskey cran where i can get a 100% juice cranberry juice.

Also, when you drink, save calories for it. Eat all day, just lower calorie meals---instead of nuts for a snack have carrots, and instead of a sandwich for lunch have a salad, etc etc etc...

axman19

Any when i say 5-10 I mean probably 3-5 maybe six, just wanted the answers.

aimee0515

If you save your calories...you won't need 5-10 drinks...trust me. I, too, like to have some drinks and hang out and socialize. People say all the time that it is bad for you but I'm not going to stop living. Here is what I do. I DO save my calories and then I don't need to drink as much. I am a vodka/soda drinker and I also make skinny margaritas at home. I have done research on alcohol (for my own benefit) and this is what I found in a medical journal. Consuming 1 alcoholic beverage (1 1/2 oz. 80 proof liquor, 5 oz wine, 12 oz beer) in 1 hour reduces your metabolism by around 50%. When you up it to 2 drinks in an hour, your metabolism is reduced by about 74%. And the more you drink...the more it reduces. The reason this is...alcohol is a toxin (poison) and your body recognizes this and does everything to get it out of your system so you don't die. The more alcohol you put into your body, the less your body will metabolize food and it will turn to the alcohol and metabolize that. I can't give you an answer to your specific question...I think it's kinda a personal choice...but I don't eat as much throughout the day if I know I'm going to be having more that a couple drinks in a day.

TrainingWithTonya

Remember that when you consume alcohol, it becomes the only thing burned by the body until it is out of the system. So, I'd suggest eating lighter earlier in the day so that you don't have a lot on the stomach that will just be stored as fat when it can't be burned immediately.

kerribrumley

I would eat lightly and save some calories, and add a workout...but eat something high in protein like beef jerky or even cottage cheese so it soaks up the alcohol.

kandyland86

go work out to bank 'EXTRA' calories to drink! your body needs fuel and alcohol is not fuel .... moslty my opinion but what i will be doing this weekend .... WOOHOOO MAY 24 .....

teresaq1

If drinking rum, have it with diet coke and put half the shot twice the diet coke. Two drinks for the cost of one shot. Helps keep the number of drinks down. Also, one glass of water for each drink helps to move it through your system a little quicker.

annacataldo

If drinking rum, have it with diet coke and put half the shot twice the diet coke. Two drinks for the cost of one shot. Helps keep the number of drinks down. Also, one glass of water for each drink helps to move it through your system a little quicker.

drinking a drink like diet coke with alcohol?? First off, alcohol dehydrates your system, meaning you need extra water... Second off, any caffeine drink, such as pop (wether it be diet or regular), dehydrates the water in your system. Drinking two dehydrants is a bit much. Also doctors say not to drink diet pop because it is loaded with chemicals. These chemicals are proven to slow down weight lose. Doctors suggest if you really have to drink pop, to drink the regular because diet is so horrible for you. I however can not drink pop in any form or else I cant loose weight. period.

You want a drink such as oj because it will still hydrate your system, while serving as a mixer.

aimee0515

If drinking rum, have it with diet coke and put half the shot twice the diet coke. Two drinks for the cost of one shot. Helps keep the number of drinks down. Also, one glass of water for each drink helps to move it through your system a little quicker.

drinking a drink like diet coke with alcohol?? First off, alcohol dehydrates your system, meaning you need extra water... Second off, any caffeine drink, such as pop (wether it be diet or regular), dehydrates the water in your system. Drinking two dehydrants is a bit much. Also doctors say not to drink diet pop because it is loaded with chemicals. These chemicals are proven to slow down weight lose. Doctors suggest if you really have to drink pop, to drink the regular because diet is so horrible for you. I however can not drink pop in any form or else I cant loose weight. period.

You want a drink such as oj because it will still hydrate your system, while serving as a mixer.

You should mix your alcohol with water or club soda. But if you want to have a rum and diet...that is fine. You are putting alcohol in your body...a little bit of diet as a mixer isn't going to be a big deal...everything in moderation. If you mix drinks with juices at a bar...ALL refined sugar...you are going to triple your calories per drink...at least. Even if you are mixing at home with all natural juice...it is still sugar and will get stored as fat because your body will not metabolic it (see my earlier post).

axman19

Should have mentioned I drink flavored rum with water.

cjjohnson1

Aimee,
I too have questions about alcohol. I like to drink wine, and generally drink it with dinner at night. It seems like I end up having 2-3 glasses many evenings. I watch my calorie intake, and include the calories from the wine. (114 cal per 6 oz.) I just don't seem to loose weight. And I have read alot about the effects of alcohol also. I have read that when you drink alcohol, it is burned first, making you store other calories/food as fat. I have also read that it alone is stored as fat.-this is in a book on how to quit drinking without AA. Something about the maltose it is made of. I am wondering what you think. I am allowed 1200 cal/day. And am staying within my allowance each day & exercising (buring about 300 cal/day) I feel like I should be loosing weight!!! and I am not, therefore it makes me think it has got to be the alcohol. ? like last night, had a salad with 4 oz of chicken breast on it, and then had 3 glasses of wine. I am wondering if no matter what, what I ate was stored as fat?? since I had the wine? Even if I am within my calorie allowance???
Let me know what you think,
Thanks,
Crystal

DeenaSteelerGirl

I always save cals. on the weekend for a few brews. Good luck.. I will send you a friend request.. you don't have any : )

bcattoes

If you stop drinking while dieting, but then begin drinking when you reach your goal weight, won't you just gain it all back? I have some type of alcohol, usually wine, nearly every evening. I have worked my diet around this because my intent was to get to a place where I was healthy - eating foods that are good for me, exercising regulary, weight under control. But I like to drink and I don't have health or social issues because of it so I made sure that was part of the plan, because I want to stick to this even after I reach my goal weight/size.

Xaspar

Save the calories and drink a glass of water between each serving of alcohol to counteract the dehydration effect. A good buzz can cause a good bloat later because my body got dehydrated and then started hanging on to ALL the water it could to counteract it after the fact.
If you hold out some calories for a few drinks, then you don't have to feel 'guilty' about having those drinks and can really enjoy the evening without wondering what the consequence to your diet will be.
Another idea would be to 'earn the drinks' through an extra awesome workout earlier in the day. I always feel better when I feel like I DESERVE the opportunity to enjoy myself because I invested time, energy and effort to make sure I could guilt-free. A good night out should be about celebrating your friends, the week's accomplishments, etc. not guilt over excess calories.
My $.02...

HeyLisa

If you stop drinking while dieting, but then begin drinking when you reach your goal weight, won't you just gain it all back? I have some type of alcohol, usually wine, nearly every evening. I have worked my diet around this because my intent was to get to a place where I was healthy - eating foods that are good for me, exercising regulary, weight under control. But I like to drink and I don't have health or social issues because of it so I made sure that was part of the plan, because I want to stick to this even after I reach my goal weight/size.

I don't drink daily but I like this! :happy:

mikeyml

If you're only drinking once every 2 weeks then just consider it a splurge day. I have 1 day every 2 weeks where I purposely go over on my calories so it mixes up the routine and it keeps me from missing the food/drinks I love. That doesn't mean I eat 5000 calories that day, but I will go over by 500-1000. What is your weight loss goal set at? For .5 pounds a week you have a 250 calorie deficit built in and for 2 pounds there is a 1000 calorie deficit built in. So on my splurge day I let myself go up to 1000 calories over my daily goal and that would bring me to maintenance levels. No weight gain or weight loss at that point. However you will gain water weight from drinking and it might take a week to lose it.

By the way, your calorie calculations are off for the rum. There are 60 - 70 calories per 1 ounce of liquor. Bartenders use a jigger to measure alcohol for a drink and those hold 1.5 ounces. A shot glass also holds 1.5 ounces. That means each drink is up to 105 calories of alcohol plus whatever you mix with it. If they are pouring by hand then you might end up with 2 ounces or more per drink which throws it off even more.

hpsnickers1

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/130545-the-real-effect-of-alcohol-on-your-waistline