Regularly drinking beer while losing weight

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  • brighteyes31143
    brighteyes31143 Posts: 87
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    18 beers in one night= I LOVE YOU!!! LOL now I dont feel like a 'lush' I keep my diary closed for this reason. I dont want to be judge for my joy of drinking!!! hats off to you, Lady :)
  • mearlie
    mearlie Posts: 224
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    This isn't helpful to you, but my dad was a cross country runner.. he'd run 20 miles (or however far it got him.. I know he ran for a good 2 hours. Have a pub lunch, including about 7 pints.. and then he'd run back.

    He scaled it back as he got older, but he's always been skinny as a rake. He said he'd earned his pints :P

    BHAHAHA! Love this!
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    I lost my weight without avoiding beer. It's difficult in a deficit, since you want to maintain good nutrition with fewer calories. I don't recommend a large chunk of your daily calories to come from beer, but a beer now and then is good life. And I want a good life.
  • msafunk
    msafunk Posts: 163 Member
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    According to your profile, it says that you only have 23 more pounds to lose, and unless your pictures are from before you gained any weight, you look like a fairly fit and healthy person. 1.5lbs to lose per week is a bit drastic for someone who doesn't have a LOT of weight to lose. Maybe take it down to 1lb or .5lb per week so you can drink beer and lower your risk of your body freaking out and eating away at your lean muscles mass?

    If you're trying to get your half-marathon times down, you should probably be consuming a lot more than 1450 calories a day! If you try to lose the weight and THEN get back into gear for exercising, you're going to put a bit of that weight back on just from rebuilding muscle.
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
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    Curious to what your opinions are on this. I'm currently on 1.5 lb loss per week plan and my slated caloric intake per day is 1460 calories. However, one thing I really, really enjoy is beer - and not the light stuff either. I'm a fan of dark beers and IPAs. If I could drink 2 beers 3 or 4 days of the week while still healthily scaling back on actual food calories, I'd happily do it. A few questions:

    1.) I'm sure it's not healthy per se, but if I consumed 1,100 calories a day in food and another 400-500 in beer (I exercise quite a bit) would this be sustainable or would I be, ahem, killing myself?
    2.) For you workout warriors, I'm also trying to cut my 5 mile time by 3 minutes (from 40:50 to a 37:50) in the next 2 months. How do you balance your beer intake with your fitness goals?

    I work mine on a weekly basis, and drink a lot of calories on the weekend, works for me. I don't see why you could do similar but drinking less beers, more often than me. Just make sure it fits into your calorie goal, and that you are still getting enough nutritious food.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    Im referring to a good stout like a Guiness, at 4.2% alcohol its less calories than a bud. All beers can be made alcohol heavy but why not choose tasty beers that also save you calories. While in Utah, I had a delicious beer called Polygamy Porter, it was only 3.2% alcohol but delicious.

    Old Rasputin is an AMAZING stout and it is 9% alcohol. 12 oz is 303 calories, but you drink less of it because of the alcohol content. Guinness is good but it is flavorless compared to Old Rasp
    http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-rasputin.htm

    OP I drink beer, once a week, and usually a few at a go. I just try to be reasonable.
  • seandominguez
    seandominguez Posts: 19
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    I'm sure what I'm supposed to be eating is around 2,000 calories and burning from there, but my experience is that I tend to overeat whenever I'm eating 2k. I'm strange. Either I go way above 2k or far below it (at least when I'm counting).

    As for trying to reduce my times, one thing I know for certain is that I am a much faster runner when I'm lighter. I'm sure I'll plateau sometime because I'm not getting enough nourishment and have to up my calorie intake, but when I ran my half marathon, I felt much better running at 150 lbs than I do now at 155 lbs. Curious to see how fast I'll go when I hit 145 or even 130.

    In the end, as much as I love my runner's high, there's definitely some vanity in this desire to lose weight :P

    Anyway, it seems like we have an almost consensus here: calories are calories, and beer is no exception. Given the way I was raised, I suppose it's just difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that beer isn't just poison. Anything that makes you feel that amazing has to be terrible, right? hah
  • ptak1sm
    ptak1sm Posts: 172
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    I've lost around 35 pounds and still drink beer...or liquor, depending on how I'm feeling. Once a week, usually, because that's about all I can afford. My "cheat day" is every Saturday, so I try to make that my bar night, and it hasn't harmed me at all. I don't count calories at all that day, but the weight has still come off pretty steadily with no plateau. Just enjoy, and drink a craft for me :)
  • smokinjackd
    smokinjackd Posts: 341
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    NOT DRINKING REALLY SPEEDS UP THE PROCESS.. BUT YOU CAN DRINK WITH MODEST RESULTS

    WHY????
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
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    This thread just reminded me, only one day to beer'o'clock! Woohoo!
  • ozburn320
    ozburn320 Posts: 2
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    Plain and simple caloric surplus=weight gain. I love my IPA's (especially doubles) but also understand they run between 220 and 300 calories per 12 oz bottle. As much as I despise light beer I've had success trading out a few IPAs a week for lighter choices. I workout like a maniac and typically burn over 1,000 calories in exercise alone per day. At the end of the day, you can still drink and achieve your weight loss goals but have to understand the simple formula, the higher the abv in a beer, the more calories. Hope this helps.
  • ozburn320
    ozburn320 Posts: 2
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    If Stone was that close to me I'm afraid I'd weight 330.
  • CaitlinM77
    CaitlinM77 Posts: 16
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    OK so:

    One thing people haven't mentioned is that alcohol is preferentially processed by the liver. That means that any other processes that are taking place will be dropped in favour of processing (via alcohol dehydrogenase) the alcohol.

    During weight/fat loss, the liver is largely the organ that breaks down the fat from lipid cells.

    If you're drinking, you won't break down fat while you're still breaking down alcohol.

    The alcohol of a standard drink is gone in an hour, two standard drinks if you're male. Most people can have 1-2 standard drinks and so long as they're at a calorie deficit, they'll still breakdown fat. But it would be faster without it. It's not ONLY calories. Keep your drinking moderate. Something to keep in mind.
  • crackur
    crackur Posts: 473 Member
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    Drinking is no different than eating any food you would normal eat. Don't let others tell you how to live your life......HELL Shaun T drinks every weekend.

    and tell me that dude ain't fit?
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    If there was a diet that told me to leave out alcohol - I wouldn't be on it. However, I have noticed that since I lost weight I have become much more of a cheap date - 6 pints now and I'm spannered.
  • eksero2k
    eksero2k Posts: 83 Member
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    Ever since i started working out etc I have been out drinking with my friends about once a week on average. The days I go out drinking I just try to eat a little less than I would on normal days, to compensate for this. I also try to stick to mixed drinks with diet soda as much as possible, though that's not always possible! So far this seems to work out quite well :)
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
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    If ever you are in the UK look me up and I will take you out with our drinking club that has a running problem. I will never give up beer!
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
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    If there was a diet that told me to leave out alcohol - I wouldn't be on it. However, I have noticed that since I lost weight I have become much more of a cheap date - 6 pints now and I'm spannered.

    6 pints?!? Yep, you're right - a cheap date!
  • MrsFowler1069
    MrsFowler1069 Posts: 657 Member
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    hahahaha,

    I just want to say that I love what this thread became. Yeah, I'm referring to heavier beers. My favorite ones? I'm really keen on Karl Strauss' Amber Lager and just reds and browns in general. Starting to get into IPAs - never thought that would happen. In fact, this time last year, I refused to drink beer. Strange.

    I live in San Diego and we have a lot of great local beers here. Stone is just up north and my favorite pub has $3 local brews on Monday nights (guess what today is!?)

    Will definitely just look at beer as normal calories. Sounds good to me. Being able to eat what I like is far more motivation to be 'good' than anything else - including incremental weight loss.

    I'm with you. I didn't want to have to break up with Whiskey. :wink:

    If there was a diet that told me to leave out alcohol - I wouldn't be on it. However, I have noticed that since I lost weight I have become much more of a cheap date - 6 pints now and I'm spannered.

    I will say this is true. I have always been able to drink all the boys under the table. Since I am not overeating, I have to be a lot more careful! We won't even talk about the two times I forgot to eat beforehand....I guarantee this has never been a problem for me before. lol

    Consider yourself warned!
  • customstevo
    customstevo Posts: 3 Member
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    I can usually drink 6 or 7 beers a night and still maintain my goal. If I want breakfast it's always going to be a few hard boil eggs or an egg and cheese wheat sandwich < 300. My lunch it's usually around 600. I run 4 miles 5 days a week, and usually give myself Thursday and Friday off, so that give me a deficit of 500 I assume at least because I run hard.

    Maybe beer calories burn easier, I find filling up on beer makes me eat less and feel fuller for dinner. I do keep in mind if I know I am going to have 6 to make them high lifes or something easy, but I my roommates always are stocked with IPA, it doesn't matter to me running 4 miles a day and eating the bare minimum through the day.

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