Dieting and alcohol!?

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  • hexrei
    hexrei Posts: 163
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    FYI a typical beer (like miller GD or high life) only has about 140 calories..not that I drink those anymore - they put high fructose corn syrup in it... YUCK

    Interestingly, dark beers (albeit often more expensive) are generally lower calorie than pale lagers like bud, miller, coors.
  • hexrei
    hexrei Posts: 163
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    I drink shots with no-cal mixes. Rye and diet coke, vodka and crystal light (even vodka and diet coke...vodka doesn't have that much taste especially after a couple :wink: ). If you're going out dancing with friends, then I'd worry even less because you can get some exercise in with some high energy dancing! You should try to eat something though before drinking, so you don't get completely wasted!
    Agreed! my favorite "new' one is vodka and ocean spray diet blueberry. The higher the alcohol percentage the more bang for calorie buck. As long as your primary goal is weight loss a few low-calorie drinks will only serve as calories and not hurt you.

    Or if you're turned off by artificial sweeteners (like me) there are various sparkling waters that make great zero-cal mixers, flavored by natural fruit essences. They're pretty cheap too.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I was listening to the Jillian Michael's podcast and learned that alcohol slows down your fat burning by over 70%. After learning that I pretty much stopped drinking. LOL!
  • hexrei
    hexrei Posts: 163
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    I was listening to the Jillian Michael's podcast and learned that alcohol slows down your fat burning by over 70%. After learning that I pretty much stopped drinking. LOL!

    I'd like to hear her reasoning for that. I have read that alcohol is burned preferentially by the body for fuel, and if that's what she meant, its not that big a deal to drink. Just dont drink a lot.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,250 Member
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    I'm one of those people who enjoys a drink (I'm a student), and there has been many a time when I've been worse for wear because of drinking on an empty stomach. How can I drink AND not go over my calories? I'd drink low-calorie drinks such as gin, but even one of those is around 100cals. I don't even want to THINK about a beer.

    How can I get round this?

    Get round it?

    Well you can either limit your alcohol to levels that keep you within your calorie limits or don't limit your alcohol and go over it.

    All alcohol has calories.

    What you cannot do is not limit your alcohol consumption, drink tons of the stuff and expect to stay below your calories for the day.
  • missprincessgina
    missprincessgina Posts: 446 Member
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    My "diet" drink is grey goose and club soda or for something a little fruity, Absolute Raspberry and club soda.
  • MyIrishluck26
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    Try the Skinny Girl Margarita! 37.5 calories for a serving. I had two servings' worth last night (one tall glass), and it was just 75 calories, and I didn't go over. Now the nights I go out, however, are going to be difficult (just started MFP yesterday), I love me some jagerbombs! Might try the vodka/soda with an orange wedge someone mentioned earlier. Wish the bar I go to would get the Skinny Girl, I'd be set. :)
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    lots of good tips on here :) bump so I can save these for the next time I want a drink, lol :)
  • tuffytuffy1
    tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
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    I am a HUGE beer drinker. Too much beer actually. What I did recently is bought a bottle of Absolut Ruby Red, and these sparkling waters by a company called Sparkling Ice - I get the pink grapefruit ones. I put half a jigger in mixed with a lot of the sparkling water for a super yummy drink and only aboug 35 calories :)
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    On nights when I go out (which is seriously like once every six months now, haha), I just let that be a freebie night. One-time where I don't track my alcohol, but I eat sensibly, and I just let it go once it's done. For regular nights, I have one drink, make it a good one, and just make sure it's around 100-200 calories or so, so that it fits into the day. So long as I'm drinking moderately, it doesn't make any difference with weight loss.
  • cbush0315
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    I'm SO glad I found this topic! I've been wondering about this since I started losing weight back in October! I love drinking... Especially beer. I always feel so guilty when I drink more than a couple beers. I feel like I'm going to gain every bit of weight I've worked so hard to put off already. I've been trying to decrease the number of nights I drink in a week but I just simply don't want to. So I've just been going to the gym every day that way if I decided to grab a drink that night I don't feel awful about it.

    Glad I'm not alone!
  • jeccalou
    jeccalou Posts: 92 Member
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    I was listening to the Jillian Michael's podcast and learned that alcohol slows down your fat burning by over 70%. After learning that I pretty much stopped drinking. LOL!

    I'd like to hear her reasoning for that. I have read that alcohol is burned preferentially by the body for fuel, and if that's what she meant, its not that big a deal to drink. Just dont drink a lot.

    Right, and it only reduces "fat burning" while the body is actively metabolizing the alcohol. So unless you are drinking twenty four hours a day and have little to no calorie deficit then the occasional drink is okay and will not greatly inhibit weight loss.
  • MissMom3
    MissMom3 Posts: 101 Member
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    I drink Whipped Vodka and diet Stewart's Orange or diet Sunkist....tastes like a creamsicle!!! 1 oz. of the whipped vodka is 88 oz. and if I stay under my cals with the alcohol I only need 3 or maybe 4 drinks to get my buzz on!!
  • BandForAlyAnne
    BandForAlyAnne Posts: 321 Member
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    i eat low calories and then shoot hornitos tequila. or no21 vodka.
  • mightyfrances
    mightyfrances Posts: 14 Member
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    I like the Miller 64 also. It's filling and doesn't make me want to eat.
    Merlot is my beverage of choice, but it seems to increase my desire to snack.
  • Sarasari
    Sarasari Posts: 139 Member
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    I've had Skinny Margaritas at restaurants under 100 calories and pretty good. Wine spritzers are another good option.
  • MissMom3
    MissMom3 Posts: 101 Member
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    vodka and diet coke = 56 cal

    What vodka is this?
  • Icandoit66
    Icandoit66 Posts: 74 Member
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    Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry Juice with Lime and Vodka! Tastes like a Cosmo! Only 5 calories in 8 oz of diet cranberry juice!!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Try the Skinny Girl Margarita! 37.5 calories for a serving. I had two servings' worth last night (one tall glass), and it was just 75 calories, and I didn't go over. Now the nights I go out, however, are going to be difficult (just started MFP yesterday), I love me some jagerbombs! Might try the vodka/soda with an orange wedge someone mentioned earlier. Wish the bar I go to would get the Skinny Girl, I'd be set. :)
    If it's got that few calories there's hardly any alcohol in it. Fine with lightweights like me, but still.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    vodka and diet coke = 56 cal

    What vodka is this?
    Any kind, you just have to spill some of it.