Alcohol and losing weight.

margo36

I have a couple of Red Wines every night and have lost weight. It's the first thing I put in my diary LOL

RebeccaLeinen

I drink a glass of sangria with fruit in it... OR
a shot of whiskey and coke zero is only 70 calories or
a shot of vodka with diet tonic and a lime is under 100 calories as well... if you are a beer drinker stick to select 55 or michelob ultra lite under 100 calories... and i make sure to do a lil extra in my workout to make up for it...

Yes we all know drinking is bad for weight loss...but hey so is stress! lol sometimes you just need a drink or 2!

andy13

if I'm going drinking i will go for a killer walk that day so i don't go over my calories, if you wanna drink you gotta earn it.

TavistockToad

i dont drink as often or as much as i used to, because of the empty calories, but i still enjoy a drink on the weekends. my problem is the hangover the next day... i just want to eat the whole world!!! so instead of it being 1 bad day because of the booze, its 2 cos of the greasy food the next day as well!!!

kyle4jem

I guess it depends what you drink, how much you drink and whether or not it affects your judgement and leads to over eating.

I drink at weekends because that's when I go to the pub to meet my friends. I have 3-4 half-pints of strong Cyder and log it. I've not had any issues losing weight.

Beer is more bloating than wine - after all have you ever heard of someone having a white-wine-belly :laugh:

However, as has been borne out by almost half the poster here... it's what happens after they drink which seems to be the cause of their weight gain: they lose all sense of proportion and tend to crave easy, calorie-dense, fast foods. :sick:

Maybe the trick is to have light snacks in the fridge, so that if you do come home with the munchies, you are snacking on carrots & celery with a little hummus, rather than doritos and cheese dip!

nsblue

having to log everything into my mouth and be no more than 1200 cal and eat healthy and keep my blood sugars good, I can't afford alcoholic drinks at this time. My doc said avoid alcohol during weightloss n that is what I have done. I have gone out to parties, had a blast and have only drank double waters on the rocks... had a blast with the bartenders and tipped them for the service.

chippywelsh

I love social drinking too. I once gave up for a couple of months - partly to see if I could. Made absolutely no difference to anything - didn't feel better, didn't lose weight, didn't sleep better (not that I have any problem sleeping normally). I have cut back now, mostly because I'm middle aged and it just feels like I should drink less. I drink either white wine or vodka and diet coke or tonic. Lot less calories than pints of cider I used to drink!

engineman312

There have been other threads on alcohol, but the general consensus seems to be:

- Alcohol makes it harder to lose weight because it is mostly empty calories, and because the more you drink, the more likely you are to binge eat, or lose track of how much you are really consuming in calories

- You can lose weight while drinking, but you need to include the alcohol in your daily consumption, and in many cases this involves budgeting your calories so you have enough for the drink, and setting a limit so you can't go over you calories for the day.

P.S. I don't drink most of the time, but I'm certainly not against it - I just have to avoid it most of the time to stay under goal, and because there are alcoholic tendencies in the family.

my name is danny, and i approve of this message.

i drink, and it's probably making things a little more difficult, but i'm still losing. everything in moderation. i drink maybe 6-7 drinks a week, especially during football season. i love a glass of red wine during dinner, or an after dinner cocktail.

this is nothing compared to what i used to drink. i used to drink a beer when i got home, a half a bottle of wine at dinner, and two scotches a night.

i actually loooooove alcohol, not getting drunk. i love the smell of a good wine, the taste of a properly brewed beer, the aroma of an aged scotch, the flavor an an excellent gin. so cutting down has been good.

i've been thinking about cutting it out myself until December 31st (with the exception of thanksgiving and christmas).

Lozzy_82

Yup - alcohol is a big part of my life too. In my attempts to lose weight I've gone from drinking quite a lot 5-7 days a week to having just 2-3 drinks on 2-4 days. I managed to go the whole of August without a drop of alcohol, which I never thought I'd be able to do (I hadn't previously had a week without booze in about ten years!)

It is tough. I find if I drink cider (my favourite) then I stop losing completely, even if I log it religiously and stay within my calorie goal. I can get away with the odd glass of wine or gin & slimline tonic though.

I have heard that it's not just the empty calories that are the problem, but that alcohol also inhibits your body's ability to burn fat (or something like that) so drinking makes it harder to lose weight even if your calories are at the right level. I have NO IDEA if there's any truth in that, or if it's just one of those weird rumours - I've just heard it mentioned.

SueGeer

P.S. I don't drink most of the time, but I'm certainly not against it - I just have to avoid it most of the time to stay under goal, and because there are alcoholic tendencies in the family.

I can relate to this. My DH was a heavy drinker....bordering on alcoholic although he denies this. I used to like a drink too but not to excess. Then, in April last year something clicked & I threw away a virtually unopened bottle of Baileys; DH finished the bottle of whisky he had and neither of us has touched a drop since.

It doesn't feature in my diary cos it doesn't feature in my life. I'm not ever going to preach to anyone, but be wise and take note of some of the comments here. Good luck! :drinker:

Sue x

SuperScrabbleGirl

im in first yr in college and i like to socialise with friendsand do sometimes feel i have to go out , i was wondering whats the best drink to drink in terms of calories ????ive been drinkin bulmers light any other suggestions???

Any kind of cider is bloody awful (tasty though). I try and stick to Vodka like and soda, or vodka and diet coke.

babydull

im in first yr in college and i like to socialise with friendsand do sometimes feel i have to go out , i was wondering whats the best drink to drink in terms of calories ????ive been drinkin bulmers light any other suggestions???

Any kind of cider is bloody awful (tasty though). I try and stick to Vodka like and soda, or vodka and diet coke.

A bottle of wine for me. 510 cals, and I always work-out harder to get enough cals to cover the booze.
I drink a lot, but to me 4-6 days a week seems very excessive. I would work toward cutting that down for the sake of your health, but so long as you're burning enough extra calories to counter the intake, you'll still lose.

thirtyandthriving

I used to have a drink every night. However, I got to the point in my weight where I decided I was going to be healthy. I think it was the whole realization I was turning 30 next year. New decade, new body? So although I did not intend to quit drinking, I pretty much have. I log EVERYTHING! And it simply does not fit in to my calorie intake for most days. I still drink when I can, But it is more like one every week or two. I have also found recipes on here for low cal alcoholic drinks that have been pretty good. Search "Skinny" margarita. That is one that stands out as being pretty good.

mamitosami

When I was your age I did the same thing! I had a ton of fun and kept weight off (and on!). I don't drink now, 'cause I can't handle the hangovers (!), but you can lose weight while having drinks, I did it many times. And I lived to tell the tale. I've had to lose weight several time because of my addiction to food, not alcohol. But I enjoy not drinking now (at least not drinking anywhere near what I used to drink!). I run a lot and I find it effects my running, at this point in my life that's more important, so I've made the choice not to drink. But that's not to say I don't indulge certain times of the year... now I just pay for it with a whopper of a head ache!!!!

Oh, and I used to drink wine, beer, whatever crossed my path! But whenever I was watching my calories I would drink wine. And I exercised a ton.

amybrauch

I have been drinking alcohol the entire time that I have been on MFP and I just try to log it & keep track of it in my daily calories.

shakybabe

I'm mainly housebound so don't get much chance to socialise and get out, but I do find having a Brandy as a nightcap helps relax my muscles and used to do it everynight. Since I've been loosing weight I haven't but as its getting cold again and I'm stiffening up I do miss the effects of it helping me relax before bed without the additional side effects that muscle relaxants bring.

pattymartin2010

bump

twowheelhooligan

I was going through a 750ml bottle of vodka every 3-4 days easily. I could feel my BP go down after pouring my first drink after getting home and especially after my first sip. I knew, in my head this was bad, but I kept doing it. Slowly but surely, the scale doesn't lie. I got to my heaviest EVER and said, ENOUGH! I literally did say that out loud!

I always like 2 wheels, motor or pedal. I started bicycling to save impact on knees, and got from liking to loving getting out on bike. I tried running a bit, and then I signed up for swim class.

What am I saying? I'm saying that once I got in the routine of working out, signing on daily here at MFP, not lying to MFP food journal, I didn't really want to drink anymore. I'll have maybe a drink or two at the MOST during course of a week, and it's more to compliment dinner vs relieve stress. My exercise relieves the stress now.

So, that $60/week on vodka, plus another $10-15 for mixers, I can use towards workout equipment and I'll be better off.

I choose to not have the empty calories in my system, especially while I'm still trying to lose weight. Maybe once I achieve my goal weight, I'll celebrate with a bottle of booze.

Best of luck!

2-wheel

genxrider

High in calories and carbs.

When I quit drinking I dropped 15 pounds without doing anything else.

patilee

bump

Jonna13

As long as you add the alcohol into your diary, and are within your daily caloric intake I don't think it's a big deal. I drink 1 or 2 beers most nights with dinner and I'm still losing. I've lost 4 almost 5 lbs in a week and a half. That being said, I work my butt off at the gym too so I can have those drinks and not feel guilty about it.

itontae

if you are in the UK, ASDA do premixed cans of diet tonic and Gin, and Diet cola and vodka. £1 each.
75 calories per can. Served over ice you get two glasses out of a can and the can makes portion control easier than if you have access to a bottle of gin and a big bottle of diet tonic.

I'm going to a party tonight with two of these tasty numbers.

Ral263

I'm in college, so drinking happens quite a bit...but that doesn't mean you need to cut it out completely to lose weight. For me, I usually "break even" with drinking-- I tend to eat less on the weekends, since I wake up later/less time for meals, so that gives me a little bit of wiggle room in terms of extra calorie intake.

That being said, I'm also one of those people who doesn't "drunk eat," which I know can be a huge issue for people trying to lose weight.

I typically drink Friday and Saturday nights, probably 6 drinks each night, so lets estimate about 700 calories (I only use diet mixers or drink wine-- using soda or juice is going to make your calorie intake skyrocket, obviously). But, I typically will just have lunch and dinner on these days, so I am breaking even calorie wise. I know this isn't healthy at all, but I'm pretty healthy in all other aspects of my life (I run 50 miles a week, only eat unprocessed foods), so it's my one treat

Just remember to use diet mixers, and CLEAR alcohol-- silver tequila, vokda, gin, etc, because they are lower in calories. HTH!

BrewerGeorge

... and CLEAR alcohol-- silver tequila, vokda, gin, etc, because they are lower in calories. HTH!

Not always. Something like schnapps or flavored vodka will be clear and still have way more sugar - and thus more Calories - than a whisky or dark/amber rum or tequila. FWIW, darker beers don't have more calories either. Guiness draught stout, for example, is going to be a lot lower Calorie than a hellesbock which is about the same color as Budweiser. Heck for that matter, Guiness has few calories than regular Budweiser, come to think of it. I suppose you can say that non-opaque drinks are generally lower in calorie, but I can think of exceptions to even that - like absinthe or ouzo and water.

Bottom line is to treat alcohol like other foods and LOOK IT UP!

KokomoJoe

Had 2 beers tonight. Walked over a mile to the bar and walked back. I think I might not have broke even but a lot better than could have been. might walk back for a few more