Calories and Alcohol

sld_6001

Sam advice as the others. Burn more calories prior to drinking so you don't go over your limit and feel guilty. And use a diet mixer or crystal light as others are suggesting (super good). Most of the calories when you drink are from the mix.

lizziebeth1028

I may get blasted for this but, on a 1200 cal diet, there is no room for treats or alcohol of any kind. If you only eat 1200 cals, it is difficult to get the required macro and micro nutrients, if you add empty calories such as alcohol it will be next to impossible to feed your body with the nutrients it needs,

I would suggest if you want to do this to eat maintenance calories or higher than your 1200 Net, on days you want a drink. So on a normal day if you don't exercise and eat 1200, no room for treats, if you decide to have a treat that should be on top of the 1200 cals, so if you have a beer you should get 1350 on the day (1200 regular cals + 150 from the beer) All this will do is slightly slow your weight loss down, but will not affect your health as much as replacing some of the needed 1200 with alcohol.

Yea I have to agree with you. On a 1200 calorie diet there is just no room for a big splurge. A glass of wine or two OK that will work but if you're planning on getting good and liquored up...I would just eat sensibly that day, go out, enjoy yourself and just get right back on track the next day.

tigersword

Tough one. No fun answer here. Alcohol is made from sugar, which means it is straight carbs. An ounce of alcohol (any kind) is going to be anywhere from 80 to 120 calories. Low calorie beers have a low alcohol content.
Best advice I could give would be to maybe give up desserts, or other indulgences, then burn some extra calories during every workout. Most importantly, if you are really health conscious, drink conservatively. Maybe volunteer to be the DD every other weekend.
Good Luck!

Alcoholic drinks are derived from grains or fruits. They are high glycemic, high-sugared carbohydrates. Alcohol increases insulin levels, which sabotages your weight loss efforts

These are both misleading statements. Alcohol is created by converting sugar into alcohol. The actual alcoholic beverages don't have sugar in them and most have no carbs. Alcohol only sabotages your weight loss efforts because when you drink alcohol, you tend to eat a lot. I drink a beer, glass of wine, or a mixed drink every night. I'm having no trouble losing weight.

In fact, studies have shown that moderate alcohol drinkers actually tend to weigh less than non-drinkers.

tigersword

Quitting smoking was the easiest thing to do, I must have done it hundreds of times!

I like a good Mark Twain paraphrase. :laugh:

His actual quote is "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times."

boilermakerblaw

Alcohol only sabotages your weight loss efforts because when you drink alcohol, you tend to eat a lot. I drink a beer, glass of wine, or a mixed drink every night. I'm having no trouble losing weight.

In fact, studies have shown that moderate alcohol drinkers actually tend to weigh less than non-drinkers.

This is actually only partially true. The detoxification process of ethanol in our bodies uses enzyme dehydrogenases that disrupt the normal levels of a particular cofactor (NAD+-> NADH) that are used to drive fatty acid synthesis. So, drinking alcohol all the time can be very detrimental for someone who's trying to build bulk muscle and not gain fat.

However, that being said having one day of drinks is not going to pad your body and liver with ton of extraneous fat alone and people *do* have the tendency to want to eat more with they're drunk. I'd say going with, everything in moderation is ok, works here. One bad day of diet is not going to sabotage all diet and workout efforts!