New to this

viron1

Hello

I'm a 19 year old weighing in at 14.5 stone (~200 lbs) @ 5"10 height. I found this website while searching and I think its great. I was just wondering if you could help with a few questions?

I'm at University at the moment and my social life for now revolves around partying and etc, im planning to cut out alcohol in my routine but I would like to still go out and enjoy my life at least once a week (3-5 times a month) - will this hurt my routine/diet/progression very much? Or will I still see some improvement - would it be beneficial to do an extra workout day the day I go out, to make it almost neutral with no gains or improvements but also little negative effects (in regards to my routine)

Is 3/4 working out days enough for now?

I do a mixture of strength training (situps, pressups, squats (also doing the 30 day program) and stair running (cardio) but I am starting the couch-to-5k program next week but is there anything I could add to my routine? Or is the balance okay as it is?

I'm also dieting following the journal and eating a mixture of fruits, veg, fish by the way

Thanks for your time,

J.

iWaffle

Alcohol is okay if you can fit it in your calorie goal. If you want to do some extra work when you know you're going to go out and have a few that's perfectly fine. The big thing to watch out for is that your willpower to eat good will drop dramatically when you've been drinking. The alcohol calories might not be what gets you.

3-4 days a week for working out sounds great. I'm doing about 5 days a week. I think it's good to have some rest days with no workouts. Sounds like you have a good plan figured out. Just stick with it and execute.

Cr01502

Sounds like your on the right track. Alcohol once a week is fine. Just do your best to log it and not get too carried away. I know when I'm hungover the next day I want to eat everything in my fridge.

Working out 3-4 times a week sounds good. If you don't belong to a gym you can check out Convict COnditioning or You Are Your Own Gym. Both will allow you to progress in strength training without the use of gym equipment.

Best of luck to you.

kevinrbarger

You're going to get differing opinions on this, but the basic fact of the matter is that it doesn't matter where calories come from, all that matters is how much you consume. Exercise (at least as far as myfitnesspal is concerned) creates more calories that you can consume, so if you know that you're going to be drinking, try to gauge or decide before hand what you're going to have and either cut back on the calories that you eat during the day in preparation, or exercise those calories off, or both.

And if you mess up and drink more than you think you were going to, don't worry about it. Especially if it's only one night a week. Write it off as a cheat day and just make sure that you stay within your caloric budget the rest of the time.

kevinrbarger

The big thing to watch out for is that your willpower to eat good will drop dramatically when you've been drinking. The alcohol calories might not be what gets you.

Oh, and also this. This this this this this. I know that at a certain level of drunk all I really want to do is eat a huge meatball sub. And fries. And boneless buffalo chicken wings. And an omelette. And... well, pretty much anything greasy. This is why Waffle House is still a thing.

viron1

Sound great, thanks for your help everyone

Yeah your right about feeling hungry, I think the best thing I can do regarding this is to make myself a sandwich before I go out, so when I get back I can chow down on it (chicken and maybe whole grain pita bread? or something alternative to snack on when I get back - will need to think)