Help I like to drink!

PShep17

Just gonna have to make that change! I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be thinking twice about a night out or what to order in a bar. For now I've made the choice that I'd rather slim down than get wasted.

infamousmk

So EVERYTHING tastes great when you drink!!

Untrue. Spicy cheddar cheese queso tastes like crap when paired with a belgian ale.

Nice

Blah..me too! It sucks. I try and stick with one glass of wine a night its not too bad with calories..I have to stick with one though or else my brain goes into "**** it" mode...haha

CarliLove08

I didn't drink at all, then the typical "i turned 21' thing happened. After just a few months of heavy drinking a couple nights a week, i gained 20 pounds!! You have to make the decision for yourself - is it worth it?

infamousmk

Just gonna have to make that change! I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be thinking twice about a night out or what to order in a bar. For now I've made the choice that I'd rather slim down than get wasted.

Well, that's the problem right there... having one or two drinks with dinner once a week isn't going to wreck your calorie intake.. 'getting wasted' not only means a sh!tload of calories, it also means dehydration, lowered inhibitions to resist other foods, and possibly not feeling up to a workout the next day.

NikoM5

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16047538

The take away is that alcohol calories count more for occasional drinkers and the overweight. Skinny alcoholics rejoice.

Alcohol represents an important source of energy. Despite its comparatively high energy content of 7.1 g/kcal, it is still controversial whether moderate amounts of alcohol represent a risk factor for weight gain and obesity. Epidemiologic data showed a positive, negative, or no relationship between alcohol intake and body weight. Despite the difficulty in assessing alcohol intake as well as controlling for different confounders of the energy-balance equation, the conflicting epidemiologic data can be explained in most instances. Every component of the energy-balance equation is affected by the ingestion of alcohol. Moderate amounts of alcohol enhance energy intake due to the caloric content of the alcohol as well as its appetite-enhancing effects. Alcohol-induced thermogenesis is approximately 20% in healthy nonalcoholic subjects, i.e., moderate alcohol consumers, which is higher than for other energy substrates but considerably lower than in heavy alcohol consumers. This would suggest that a major fraction of the alcohol energy represents a navailable energy source for ATP synthesis in moderate non-daily alcohol consumers. Experimental evidence from several metabolic studies showed a suppression of lipid oxidation by alcohol and thus the enhancement of a positive fat balance. The nonoxidized fat is preferentially deposited in the abdominal area. The experimental metabolic evidence suggests that the consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol has to be accounted for in the energy-balance equation and may represent a risk factor for the development of a positive energy balance and thus weight gain. In the heavy alcohol consumer and eventually also in daily moderate alcohol consumers, a larger fraction of the alcohol energy might not be an available source of energy due to the induction of the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS). Experimental data in combination with epidemiologic findings suggest that alcohol energy counts more in moderate nondaily alcohol consumers than in some moderate daily and all heavy consumers. Accordingly the question is not "Whether alcohol calories do count" but "How much do alcohol calories count?". There seems to be a large individual variability according to the absolute amount of alcohol consumed, the drinking frequency as well as genetic factors. Presently it can be said that alcohol calories count more in moderate nondaily consumers than in daily (heavy) consumers. Further, they count more in combination with a high-fat diet and in overweight and obese subjects.

leslisa

oh lordy, how i miss my margaritas!!! i haven't had one since new years.

i could use one today too.

Me too - but I would rather chew my calories than drink most of them.

Crystal light has a margarita flavor now. It's in my cupboard. Unfortunately, I'm now allergic to tequila...:sad:

silvergurl518

Try going out and having fun without drinking if you can not achieve that you may have a more serious problem then staying in your cals.

i'm probably in the minority here, but i'm inclined to agree with this guy ^

(spoken from someone who loved to drink and ended up having a problem. five years sober in one month!)

Nailrep

So EVERYTHING tastes great when you drink!!

Untrue. Spicy cheddar cheese queso tastes like crap when paired with a belgian ale.

Well, ALMOST everything...LOL

MoveTheMountain

Alcohol lowers your will power and increases your carb/sugar cravings. So EVERYTHING tastes great when you drink!! ...

Not asparagus...

davidlaplante

I know what you're going through. Breaking consumption habits tied to social habits are 10x as hard!

Ultimately you have to replace the statement "and to top it off we go out on Thursday and I like to drink!" with "and to top it off we go to the gym on Thursday nights and I like to workout!". Or something else like going to art shows, walks, etc.

Try getting up super early Thursday mornings so you're too tired to go out. Or grow a new social circle that does something other than drink on Thursdays.

Anything else is really habit dodging. Which is ok unless it's getting in the way of your health/fitness goals. Eventually you have to change the social habit before you can change the consumption habit.

MoveTheMountain

Try going out and having fun without drinking if you can not achieve that you may have a more serious problem then staying in your cals.

i'm probably in the minority here, but i'm inclined to agree with this guy ^

(spoken from someone who loved to drink and ended up having a problem. five years sober in one month!)

Congrads on your 5 years! I have it all through my family, although I seem to have dodged that particular bullet (which, it can be argued, ended up moving me directly into the paths of other ones, but I digress...).

Really, nice work!

Nailrep

Alcohol lowers your will power and increases your carb/sugar cravings. So EVERYTHING tastes great when you drink!! ...

Not asparagus...

Oh yea it does if you have enough wine!! LMAO

BAMFMeredith

Try going out and having fun without drinking if you can not achieve that you may have a more serious problem then staying in your cals.

i'm probably in the minority here, but i'm inclined to agree with this guy ^

(spoken from someone who loved to drink and ended up having a problem. five years sober in one month!)

Not trying to minimize the fact that alcoholism is a serious issue, but not everybody drinks specifically to get drunk. I LOVE the way beer tastes. I don't waste my time on beer that doesn't taste good. If I was out at a sports bar with my friends and everyone had a beer and I was drinking water, I'd be pretty unhappy about it. Not because I have a problem or anything, but because I'd be pretty jealous everyone else gets to have something really delicious that I really like and I'm stuck with a boring alternative.

ETA: Congratulations, though, that is a really huge accomplishment that takes a ton of hard work and dedication

kgprice11

Try to manage your calories better by limiting eat meal intake.

bonniedibling

I feel your pain!! I like to drink as well. Here's what helps me - my husband (on the program with me) and I have lots of fun together without the booze. I suggest you spend time with someone you enjoy and have fun with without the drinks. Also, I budget for an indulgence - I will have ONE drink on Friday nights - worth 313 calories - and work that in to my daily numbers. I know that anything beyond that will really undo all my hard work, so that helps me resist and stay strong enough to stop at one. If I am strong enough to resist, so are you!

FitForLife81

I drink on weekends and it hasn't stopped any results on my end. I just plan for it

bradphil87

Try going out and having fun without drinking if you can not achieve that you may have a more serious problem then staying in your cals.

i'm probably in the minority here, but i'm inclined to agree with this guy ^

(spoken from someone who loved to drink and ended up having a problem. five years sober in one month!)

Awesome job!!!!! I have a little over 4 months right now this exact topic was what made me notice my problem and take action! Someone close to me told me the same thing "if you can't have fun without drinking I feel sorry for you" was his exact words. And I quickly noticed that I couldn't, that most (if not all) of my social life involved drinking in some way....I still hang out with the guys, catch the game at the bar etc. but I do not drink. And I still have a blast plus, everyone loves the dd!

MoveTheMountain

Alcohol lowers your will power and increases your carb/sugar cravings. So EVERYTHING tastes great when you drink!! ...

Not asparagus...

Oh yea it does if you have enough wine!! LMAO

That's actually a fair point...

FitForLife81

Captain Morgan and Diet Coke...... 60 calories of greatness!!!

Yup this is usually what I drink