What are you doing about Alcohal?

Options
245

Replies

  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Options
    Wine in moderation is good for you.
    Immoderate consumption of alcohol is bad for you in lots of ways.

    So: I treat my drinks like any other snack or side dish. Log it, try to plan around it, don't overdo it.

    Drink it because you enjoy it, not because you have to for party purposes or because everyone else is, and stop when you're not enjoying it any more.
  • mariodog1
    mariodog1 Posts: 16 Member
    Options
    Great insight! That makes sense.
  • hunnyhun921
    hunnyhun921 Posts: 20 Member
    Options
    I would do this too. I would go out with my husband on the weekend and have several drinks. I finally realized that I could not do that every weekend if I wanted to lose weight. I have about an 8 oz glass of wine about once or twice a week and that's it. And I make sure I log all of it.
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Options
    I quit drinking while I try to lose weight..I would rather eat vs drink those calories.. Maybe once I maintain I might start having a few again but for now it just isn't worth it.

    THIS! I am only drinking on special occasions like my birthday, a vacation, or when my mother in law moves away. :laugh:
  • JerseyGirl081
    JerseyGirl081 Posts: 98 Member
    Options
    I haven't given up alcohol at all but I don't drink that much to begin with. I drink 1-2 glasses of wine a week. And maybe a beer or 2 when I go out but that doesn't happen very often. Last time I went out was several months ago and i didn't even drink then. I haven't noticed it affecting my weight loss.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Options
    HYDRATE. It is the single best thing you can do before, during, and after drinking alcohol. This will help with the bloating and everything.

    Cheers!
    YES! Alternate a glass of water with each cocktail..it helps a lot!
  • furniem
    furniem Posts: 145 Member
    Options
    I only have it for special occasions (birthday's, the odd party, Christmas, New Yrs) now as opposed to every weekend like before Just because it is the weekend does not mean all healthy eating and exercise stops. It just means work at a desk has stopped for two days.
    If you want it, fit it into your calories, exercise for anything extra if you want to but I would not make it a norm to drink to excess each weekend. Isn't excess what got us to this place? :wink:
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    Options
    Why be hungover and dehydrated?
    Why is this your boyfriend's influence?
    Make a healthy decision for yourself.
    Just don't drink.
    You don't need it.
  • andreagreen1974
    andreagreen1974 Posts: 64 Member
    Options
    Did you know that your liver also processes your fat?
    Pissing your liver off will not help you lose fat.

    In reality, you want to lose fat! Weight is made up of more things than fat.

    Is the alcohol making you binge eat?

    If you drink too much, it causes you to be dehydrated which makes you LOSE weight. But it prevents your fat from processing
  • PayneAS
    PayneAS Posts: 669 Member
    Options
    3 glasses of wine is enough for me which is more or less 300 calories which shouldn't be that much to effect my weight and progress

    Unfortunately, I'm fairly sure those three glasses are more than 300 calories. Check the serving size and measure it out. For example, my most often wine of choice is Apothic Red which is 122 calories at 5 oz. 5oz is not a whole lot. Slightly more than a half a cup. Go take a look at your half cup measurement. If I drank 1 cup (8 oz) it is 195 calories. Nearly twice the amount you are saying. 488 calories for 3- 8oz glasses.

    You really need to log *every* day. No matter how bad. It will only hinder your process until you can start to tell by sight alone how much a serving of something really is and the calorie impact. I've been at this for a year and am just now getting comfortable at doing that. I still measure most of my foods & drink just to be sure.
  • tinak33
    tinak33 Posts: 9,883 Member
    Options
    HYDRATE. It is the single best thing you can do before, during, and after drinking alcohol. This will help with the bloating and everything.

    Cheers!

    This^^^
    Make sure you have at least 8 glasses of water before you start drinking and at least 1 after. Maybe mix in a glass of water between glasses of wine.
    If you are doing shots, chase it with a glass of water. The dehydration is what makes hangovers and bloating soooo much worse....
    Also, if you know you are going out and having wine and maybe a shot or two, log it before you go! That way it's in, you already know how many calories you will use from it, and you can work your food and exercise around it. 3 glasses of wine isn't too bad in calories, so you should be able to work it in. :drinker:
  • amye004
    amye004 Posts: 32
    Options
    Hello All,
    I'm 24 and I've noticed all week I'll be in control of my calories and exercise. I'm not too too strict if I go over 100 or 200 calories, I don't stress because I want to stay positive and focused, but I've noticed on weekends I end up not tracking my food, I drink wine and I'll have an occasional shot of alcohol (mostly influence of the boyfriend). I don't go out so I'm not having high calorie mixed drinks; however, Saturday and Sunday majority of the time I'm dehydrated and hungover. My weight fluctuates, I feel gross, sometimes bloated and sometimes emaciated. When I drink on the weekend normally 3 glasses of wine is enough for me which is more or less 300 calories which shouldn't be that much to effect my weight and progress, but it really does! What are you guys doing about alcohol? Avoiding it completely? Including it in your daily allowed calories? I don't know if I should just cut down completely but that would have to be a lifestyle change not just temporary?

    Track your food on the weekend! It can also play a factor into why your weight fluctuates and give you some insight as to your weekend habits. If you want to drink, then drink. Do not deprive yourself if you want it but make it apart of your daily intake. I would also recommend you have water that night (even just before bed) as it will keep help you feel less hungover the next day. Drink a lot of water the next day as well to keep hydrated. I also find exercise the day after, even if it's a 20 min walk helps with feeling gross too. I don't drink often, but when I do it fits into my daily goals.
  • shmiracles
    shmiracles Posts: 105 Member
    Options
    My advice is to avoid it. It is a poison that affects the glands used to lose body fat. The liver, kidneys, pancreas, adrenal glands, hypothalamus, and the list goes on. If you must have alcohol, I'd recommend 1 glass of wine with a meal. Otherwise avoid it like the plague. The same can be said for quick sugars. This advice has served me well. I think it will do the same for you. Good luck. :)

    i don't always succeed at this goal,
    but i fully support this statement. for me it's not about the calories but the more immediate effects drinking has on the liver, the kidneys, and metabolism that slows down weight-loss overall.
  • jacque930
    jacque930 Posts: 122 Member
    Options
    HYDRATE. It is the single best thing you can do before, during, and after drinking alcohol. This will help with the bloating and everything.

    Cheers!
    YES! Alternate a glass of water with each cocktail..it helps a lot!

    Hungover feeling - HYDRATE.. I agree... most of that feeling is due to the dehydration from alcohol. I drink and just log it and work it in. I may have 1 day a month, if I am lucky, in which I have one or two too many drinks but one day won't hurt.. Just track it and don't make it a daily occurrence. - Remember to enjoy life! Just have to be reasonable..
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Options
    3 glasses of wine is enough for me which is more or less 300 calories which shouldn't be that much to effect my weight and progress

    Unfortunately, I'm fairly sure those three glasses are more than 300 calories. Check the serving size and measure it out. For example, my most often wine of choice is Apothic Red which is 122 calories at 5 oz. 5oz is not a whole lot. Slightly more than a half a cup. Go take a look at your half cup measurement. If I drank 1 cup (8 oz) it is 195 calories. Nearly twice the amount you are saying. 488 calories for 3- 8oz glasses.

    You really need to log *every* day. No matter how bad. It will only hinder your process until you can start to tell by sight alone how much a serving of something really is and the calorie impact. I've been at this for a year and am just now getting comfortable at doing that. I still measure most of my foods & drink just to be sure.

    Yep.

    At home, I purposely got old-fashioned small wineglasses that comfortably hold an actual 5-6 ounce pour, so I know what I'm drinking. Restaurant wineglasses are often huge, and while they're certainly not overly generous with their pours, neither are they sticking to the amount in the calorie counting charts! I don't drink much out of the house as a rule, and when I do its usually one glass with a nice dinner on a rare date night.

    At home, we'll have two (small) glasses with dinner once or twice a week, and I think its possible to fit that into your totals and macros.
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
    Options
    What's more important to you....being drunk and letting your boyfriend dictate your choices or losing weight???? I treat drinks the same way I do anything else I consume. If I have the calories then I have a drink. It fits into my goals and I do not excude food in order to be able to have a drink. Tomorrow night I plan on having a glass of wine or 2 so I'm making sure I workout so I have a good sized buffer of calories. If you aren't eating just so you can have alcohol then you have problems. And if your drinking makes you feel like crap, why are you drinking??? The things we do in life shouldn't make us feel like crap, they should make us feel good.
  • Misha6
    Misha6 Posts: 17 Member
    Options
    When I know that I'll be rounding out my evening with a few drinks I add more exercise! I'll work out an extra few hundred calories. Calorie restriction on a day where I'm drinking doesn't make as much sense to me, because I don't want to spike my blood sugar too much while I'm consuming alcohol. I also try to hydrate more. I drink water before drinking and drink some of a Powerade Zero before bed to reintroduce some electrolytes. It helps tremendously.
  • kitinboots
    kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
    Options
    I'm a bartender so I'm constantly surrounded by the stuff. From behind the bar I see that measurements aren't too accurate to go on either - a glass of wine might be almost double what you think it is. I struggled to keep to one or two drinks here or there so I swore off the stuff completely for a month. Now everyone around me is used to me not drinking and I'm used to saying no. It makes it much easier to stick to just one vodka if I choose to drink, and to say no if I don't want to.
    I suggest giving yourself a month off the stuff before stepping back in with caution.
  • Guamybear
    Guamybear Posts: 1,061 Member
    Options
    Alcohol is tough. Since you typically know when you drink and how much you drink, maybe give yourself a buffer - whether it's going for an extra long run or just make sure you eat a little less that day. For me, its not necessary the day that I drink that's a problem, it's the next day (I for whatever reason am always STARVING the ENTIRE next day after drinking... horrible). So yeah. Maybe drink more water while you drink... that could help with the hangover and dehydration.

    Good luck!

    I had this problem.. I don't eat when I did drink so the next day I ate everything in sight... much safer to not drink.
  • smittelman6
    smittelman6 Posts: 3
    Options
    I agree with those who say you just have to suck it up and count those calories! Of course on a special occasion like your brithday or christmas you might be taking the day off from counting altogether -- but if this is a regular every weekend type of thing, they need to be logged. I tried it the other way, and found that I was losing substantially less on the weeks I drank.

    Now, if I want a couple of beers, I make sure to exercise an extra 400 or 500 calories off in the morning (for me this is only about 45 minutes on the elliptical -- not that big of a commitment!)... that way, I can still eat normally and have 4 or 5 (light) beers at night, without getting completely off track.

Categories