Weight Loss & Beer

Ssladick

Alright, I know this has been covered a lot and I did search for other topics and I found many conflicting opinions on it, but I want your opinion on whether my thoughts on the subject make sense or not...

I used to drink pretty heavily. Probably 2-3 nights during the week (3-6 beers each night) and on friday and saturday (6-12 beers a night). I know that's a lot of drinking, but I have a very high tolerance. Under these circumstances I have remained the same weight (I have been this weight for around a year).

Since I started trying to lose weight I have cut drinking during the week completely, but I am really not willing to give it up on the weekends when all of my friends are partying.

Knowing that I stayed the same weight while drinking that much, if I cut out drinking on weekdays, and assuming my tolerance will lower so I don't drink as much on weekends, I should lose weight right? Obviously I'm eating healthier and exercising now which also help.

Will drinking on weekends make the work I do during the week worthless??

Thanks! Sorry it was long

Pebble321

Reducing alcohol by any amount is going to reduce your calories intake so it can only be a good thing.

It's also a really good step to help reduce the amount of damage you are doing to your brain (speaking as one who drank wayyyyy too much when I was younger - well done to you on limiting it now!)

To answer your question, it's definitely not worthless.

FifiLea

It won't make the effort you put in during the week worthless (it's always worthwhile to exercise and eat well), but you might take longer to see results which might, in turn, discourage you. Does that make sense?

If you're happy to take longer to reach your goal, and can be sure that you won't be discouraged, then do what you have to do so that you're happy and don't feel deprived.

Personally I've gone off drinking and eating rubbish since I've been working out as it does feel like a waste of calories. I look at a glass of red wine and I think, "I could have some salmon and broccoli for that many calories." But that's just me!

LushLoni

I don't know, the way I see it is that you are taking in less calories so overall it should have an effect.

It's like if you start going to the gym but you don't burn hundreds and hundreds of cals a day but you are doing moer than you were, it should make a difference, might take longer than it would if you cut alcohol out completely but maybe youd be less likely to stick to a weight loss plan if that was the case.

I believe in doing what feels right for you at the time and you have the power to adjust as and when you see fit.

KanCrav

I don't think your weekends are going to counteract your work during the week completly. You can log what you drink on the weekends if you want to see the numbers and keep them under control. Everyone is entiltled to an off day if they choose.. so intstead of eating cake.... you drink beer!!~~!! My only warning would be to watch out for that bar food. I know when I drank I wanted fried EVERYTHING! And thats not going to help your waist line one bit!

Of course NOT drinking every weekend is the best choice for your overall health... but do what you gotta do! Just dont get behind the wheel of a car... thats not healthy for any of us!

cownancy

Logically, calories are calories. So, any reduction in your caloric intake should help in your weight loss. I am not a drinker, so I haven't paid much attention to the nutritionists' information on beer, but I do know that there are some other reasons to cut out beer while attempting to lose weight, I just cannot tell you anything about them. LOL. Sorry. Still, I have heard some discussions in my support groups about drinking and the doctors have always advised people to cut down as much as possible. Just don't substitute the beer calories with something equally as caloric.
I do believe that alcohol depresses the system, which may slow down your metabolism, but don't take my word on that. Do what you can! Make sure you limit your weekend consumption to a calorie total that doesn't surpass those two days.

elliecolorado

I used to drink 5-6 days a week, 10+ beers a night and a few shots.

I have cut back to 2-3 days a week, 5-6 beers a night and maybe 1-2 shots and I have been losing weight pretty consistently. I won't give up alcohol completely to lose weight. I do try to do extra long workouts on days that I know that I am going to be drinking and can still lose 2-3lbs a week when I do it that way. For me I have found that if I use my 'exercise calories' for alcohol I lose consistently, but if I don't exercise I don't lose.

No guarantee that it works for everyone that way, but it works for me.

runlaugheatpie

I love beer. And wine. I have "given up" so many things (including smoking, but I don't miss that at all), let me have my bevvies on the weekend, you know? I'm probably the worst example out there (because I have what seems to be other things keeping me from losing weight), but I know for a fact that you can lose weight and still enjoy your brewskis on the weekends.

This girl lost quite a lot of weight without giving up beer: http://www.suzistorm.com/
and this girl also loves her beers: http://www.sherylyvette.com/

(Both follow Weight Watchers)

Sorry I don't have guy examples!

I basically rarely drink at all during the week. That's about as much as I'm going to cut down. I try to limit to 3 glasses of wine or beer in the weekend (per day Fri/Sat) but nothing generally on Sundays.

littlemili

I think to lower your tolerance to alcohol enough for you to need fewer drinks, it takes more than 5 days off per week. I sometimes cut alcohol for 2 weeks, and after that notice a little difference. I would also say if you are indulging that heavily in alcohol, your eating needs to be pretty damn good. And remember alcohol can cause water retention (certainly does in me) so you should probably take your weigh-in day a few days after you last get drunk.

It's up to you how committed you are to weight loss vs getting drunk. Personally I don't want to give up alcohol but I am more interested in my weight loss than getting trashed twice a week, so now I might go out properly once a month and have 1/2 drinks a week socially.

AI1108

ok so I just graduated from college and love partying on the weekends... who doesn't right? As soon as my PT realized this, he discouraged it but he knew I liked my nights out so we just worked extra hard on weekdays. But he also warned me that it's been proven that alcohol hurts your metabolism while it's in your system. Now I only drink one night on the weekend and limit it considerably. The closer you get to your goal weight the lower your tolerance will go.

The way I figure it .. whats the use of working hard if I can't enjoy my time outside of the gym? I eat clean (very limited processed foods, I don't drink my calories, tons of organic fruits & veggies, lots of lean protein, etc.), and my only weekly cheat is one night on the weekends... not every week. Long story short.. work hard on the weekdays.. earn your weekends, but try to limit it as much as possible as it will make the weight loss journey a little easier.

ljbhill

It will affect it. I too used to be a relatively big drinker. Bottle of wine 2-3 nights a week. More on weekends and Fridays are included in that. I found that when I drank, I was less inclined to make healthy food choices, log my food and exercise. For me it was counter-productive to all my effort in the week. I ended up cutting down to one-two glasses of wine a week with a friend and one bottle over the whole weekend. It was hard to change as my friend's didn't get it but in the end it was so worth it. I ended up doing dry July and now rarely feel the urge to drink and only do so on special occassions or evenings out. I now feel, so much more energetic, healthy and alert. Mostly these days, I don't even want a glass when offered!

Everyone's different. It is hard to change your lifestyle and habits but if you want to lose the weight and keep it off, changes have to be made. You could try setting yourself a challange for a month and then re-evaluate? See what works best for you.

Ssladick

Thanks for all the replies so far! Love the information!!

PhilipByrne

This is a complex area. It is not simply a matter of adding up the calories in all that beer and coming up with a total weight loss/gain.

I've been drinking in asimilar pattern to you, with added wine thrown in and eating crap for years but did not gain weight. I am overweight but it hasn't increased. Logically I should be many pounds heavier than I am. There seems to be more going on when the calories are consumed in alcohol form.

Now I've cut down drastically on the booze and intend to stick with it for a few months and see what happens to the weight. To be honest I am not expecting serious weight loss. But who knows.

Good luck to you and enjoy those party nights. There is more to life than counting calories.

bhagavatilad1

Scott all I know is that the both of us decided to take iniative to lose weight and signed up on the same day.

That means we are serious about losing the weight. The mere decision to give up drinking during the week is a good one. You are so young and you should enjoy lifes pleasures.

Any effort you put in during the week to focus on losing weight will not be wasted because there is such a thing as empty calories and they are found in foods and drinks that are of no benefit to us such as fast food and alcohol. I think you are smart enough to figure out when the time is right for you to quit all together.

I don't know I'm not really an exessive drinker but I splurged and had a margarita when my son's father was in town so sometimes you just need a drink other than that I don't drink regularly. Before I used to drink wine coolers until I found out how many calories were in them. good luck.

Angelabec

I drink wine rather than beer, but it used to be pretty much every night. I have now totally cut it out during the week, and at the weekend I exercise more to make up for the additional calories. As long as you stay within your limits, it shouldn't stop your weight loss. What I have found though, is that as time has gone on, the drinking has become less important to me. Whereas before I would be really looking forward to that glass of wine, to start my weekend, it seems less important, and I can take it or leave it.

So in short, you are absolutely doing the right thing. Don't deprive yourself of something that you enjoy, but cut it back gradually, account for the calories, and see where it takes you.

Good luck on your journey )

CARNAT22

I drink vodka and low cal mixers as opposed to wine (which was my drink of choice!)

You can still drink but make sure you exercise a lot more, opt for a lower cal option and obvioulsy don't overeat when you are drinking.

xraychick77

beer contains phyto estrogens..estrogens of course the female hormone helps us hold onto fat.

drinking beer itself does not make one fat or give a beer belly. but it can make it harder to lose fat.

Sparksfly

Anytime I drink more than 3 beer in one sitting, I have trouble losing weight later in the week. For me, I think drinking stalls my weight loss, regardless if I have the calorie deficit for the beer or not.

TavistockToad

i think your plan to just drink on weekends is a great idea, and shouldnt 'undo' your work during the week.

the problem i always have is with the hangover the next day... i always want to eat EVERYTHING and the more greasy the better when i am hungover... so an evenign off ends up beignt he whole next day as well.

Ssladick

Luckily I don't get hangovers. I have never had one

Rae6503

What about switching to hard alcohol? Jack and water or something. Or i think vodka actually has the lowest calories (although I drank WAY too much of it in college and can barely touch it now).