To log calories from alcohol or to not?

What's the general opinion on this topic? Do you log the calories you consume from drinking? Does it depend how much you drink? How often? Or do you consider it a freebie? Just trying to get some ideas on how that works. Honestly if I'm out drinking, tracking the drinks is the LAST thing on my mind. But maybe I should be worrying about it when I'm out still. Help!
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Replies

  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
    I log when I drink, its mad the amount of cals in alcohol!
  • lauramacaroni
    lauramacaroni Posts: 25 Member
    Absolutely you should track these. There are significant calories in alcohol.

    1 glass of wine is approx 120-140 calories
    1 ounce of rum is 65 calories.

    Now if you mix anything with fruit juice you're really going to increase calories quickly.
  • rainghirl
    rainghirl Posts: 203 Member
    Alcohol is high in calories, if you don't track it then you have no idea how many calories you've had in a day. I always track it as closely as possible - it's quite scary how many calories there are, this helped me cut down the amount I had.

    Mind you I'm off to a beer festival tomorrow, so I'll be over... again.
  • Kimjanebrooks
    Kimjanebrooks Posts: 253 Member
    What I do is stay as close to my 1200 calories a day that I can but "save up" my exercise calories so I can go out for a drink on a friday night. I have swapped drinking large glasses of wine to drinking Vodka and diet coke (only 60 calories). That way I dont go over my weekly calorie allowance.

    Its worked so far.....
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
    o also I kind guess if im out on a night out I dont sit at the bar with my app on the go lol but having a drink in the house I log properly
  • EmmaM2211
    EmmaM2211 Posts: 536 Member
    Yes I log it - alcohol has an insane number of calories in it!

    If I go on an all out bender I'll usually log it the next day...as close as I can remember anyway lol x
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    calories are calories. you can easily undo your good eating behavior from the day if you then indulge in several drinks. Taking that into consideration, I'd log alcohol the way i'd log anything else with calories.
  • sarahsummers12
    sarahsummers12 Posts: 128 Member
    I can imagine it would be the last thing on your mind, but there are a LOT of calories in alcohol, so I would definitely be tracking it to a degree and keeping an eye on it - the last thing you want is to be watching your food and doing really well with that, only to have your weight loss efforts hampered by consuming huge amounts of calories from drinking. Even if you work it out before you go out and make an allowance for it, so you know you can have x number of drinks without hurting your calories too badly - knowledge and preparation and big keys for success! Good luck with it.
  • Bex2Bslim
    Bex2Bslim Posts: 1,092
    Definitely log, alcohol is the second worst thing after fat! Maybe logging every drink isn't practical, but try comparing the drinks you like and sticking to the less calorific ones, or exercise on the same day but don't eat those cals back. But YES, definitely log!!!
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
    calories are calories.
    Log all of it.
  • I log them. they add up greatly
  • IbiH
    IbiH Posts: 250 Member
    Definately log........ I normally have a glass of red wine in the evening and I'm still losing but I'm also within my calorie allowance.
  • Jen_ht
    Jen_ht Posts: 99 Member
    Hiya, I think you REALLY need to track when you're drinking. In my work there is a massive drinking culture (we work hard and play hard) and I have to plan really carefully what I drink and how much so I don't go over my cals. It's in NO way a freebie as most drinks (apart from something like vodka lime and soda) have a very high calorie content. I like a nice pint after work but straight off that's 250 cals, a large glass of wine is about the same...it really depends on what your favourite tipple is but even if you have to estimate I would try and log it (even the morning after is fine, as long as you are keeping track)...Hope that helps! :drinker:
  • girl_afraid82
    girl_afraid82 Posts: 178 Member
    Definitely log them! Most alcoholic drinks are hugely calorific, so if you don't log them you are going to be really underestimating your intake.
    I don't go out drinking much anymore (maybe once every couple of months), so I tend to have a day off from logging if I'm having a big night out, just because it's such a rarity... but if it's a regular thing, they will definitely affect your rate of loss if you don't account for them.

    You could always try to stick to lower calorie drinks... spirits with diet mixers, or soda water.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    OF COURSE!, i find i always have extra calories left if i am paying good attention to it all,,, so then i use that on BOOZE! YUM! I AM A BOOZEHOUND!
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
    I always log alcohol. Always. Loads of calories in it.
  • vickylee26
    vickylee26 Posts: 35 Member
    definitely log alcohol is basically liquid fat, its full of cals a lot people are over weight due to too much consumption of alcohol sorry def not a freebie
  • OF COURSE!, i find i always have extra calories left if i am paying good attention to it all,,, so then i use that on BOOZE! YUM! I AM A BOOZEHOUND!

    Thought i was the only one on this site.. lol
  • missmacsays
    missmacsays Posts: 681 Member
    OF COURSE!, i find i always have extra calories left if i am paying good attention to it all,,, so then i use that on BOOZE! YUM! I AM A BOOZEHOUND!

    Thought i was the only one on this site.. lol

    Oh you guys aren't the only ones. I'd like to NOT log my drinking calories because I'm pretty sure I can easily go over a day's worth of cals on a night out. Drinking's the one bad habit I've not broken myself of. At least I don't drink everyday. Just Fridays and Saturdays. But last Friday I logged what I drank and cringed at how many calories 88oz of beer packs. Gosh that sounds bad...haha.
  • BamsieEkhaya
    BamsieEkhaya Posts: 657 Member
    unfortunately I log alcohol...hence why todays going to be a horrible diet day because I'm going out tonight
  • missmacsays
    missmacsays Posts: 681 Member
    Just to clarify-I've been logging it. I've just seen varied opinions whether you should or not, but I figured that logging is probably the best bet even though I hate doing it.
  • Bex2Bslim
    Bex2Bslim Posts: 1,092
    OF COURSE!, i find i always have extra calories left if i am paying good attention to it all,,, so then i use that on BOOZE! YUM! I AM A BOOZEHOUND!

    Thought i was the only one on this site.. lol

    Oh you guys aren't the only ones. I'd like to NOT log my drinking calories because I'm pretty sure I can easily go over a day's worth of cals on a night out. Drinking's the one bad habit I've not broken myself of. At least I don't drink everyday. Just Fridays and Saturdays. But last Friday I logged what I drank and cringed at how many calories 88oz of beer packs. Gosh that sounds bad...haha.

    I had a bottle and a quarter of wine last night :'( lol
  • OF COURSE!, i find i always have extra calories left if i am paying good attention to it all,,, so then i use that on BOOZE! YUM! I AM A BOOZEHOUND!

    Thought i was the only one on this site.. lol

    Oh you guys aren't the only ones. I'd like to NOT log my drinking calories because I'm pretty sure I can easily go over a day's worth of cals on a night out. Drinking's the one bad habit I've not broken myself of. At least I don't drink everyday. Just Fridays and Saturdays. But last Friday I logged what I drank and cringed at how many calories 88oz of beer packs. Gosh that sounds bad...haha.

    Haha.. i didn't log friday night since it was my birthday party.. but your 88oz would be low...
  • SusanLovesToEat
    SusanLovesToEat Posts: 213 Member
    What's the general opinion on this topic? Do you log the calories you consume from drinking? Does it depend how much you drink? How often? Or do you consider it a freebie? Just trying to get some ideas on how that works. Honestly if I'm out drinking, tracking the drinks is the LAST thing on my mind. But maybe I should be worrying about it when I'm out still. Help!

    I log everything that has calories. For me this works best to control my eating (and drinking).

    OF COURSE, tracking both eating and drinking is the LAST thing on my mind when I'm out with friends, that is why I ended up here!
  • Just to clarify-I've been logging it. I've just seen varied opinions whether you should or not, but I figured that logging is probably the best bet even though I hate doing it.

    logging it is best.. even if you go over.. its an average for the week right?

    the only ones that will not log it are afraid to have something out there that says they drink.. even though they will say its a treat and no reason to log it... lol
  • missmacsays
    missmacsays Posts: 681 Member
    OF COURSE!, i find i always have extra calories left if i am paying good attention to it all,,, so then i use that on BOOZE! YUM! I AM A BOOZEHOUND!

    Thought i was the only one on this site.. lol

    Oh you guys aren't the only ones. I'd like to NOT log my drinking calories because I'm pretty sure I can easily go over a day's worth of cals on a night out. Drinking's the one bad habit I've not broken myself of. At least I don't drink everyday. Just Fridays and Saturdays. But last Friday I logged what I drank and cringed at how many calories 88oz of beer packs. Gosh that sounds bad...haha.

    I had a bottle and a quarter of wine last night :'( lol

    LOL. I've been having weekends like that lately. I went to a wine tasting last weekend and then realized how awful that was too. Ugh.
  • OF COURSE!, i find i always have extra calories left if i am paying good attention to it all,,, so then i use that on BOOZE! YUM! I AM A BOOZEHOUND!

    Thought i was the only one on this site.. lol


    i thought at wine tastings. you only swished it around and spit.. lol..

    just an fyi

    Oh you guys aren't the only ones. I'd like to NOT log my drinking calories because I'm pretty sure I can easily go over a day's worth of cals on a night out. Drinking's the one bad habit I've not broken myself of. At least I don't drink everyday. Just Fridays and Saturdays. But last Friday I logged what I drank and cringed at how many calories 88oz of beer packs. Gosh that sounds bad...haha.

    I had a bottle and a quarter of wine last night :'( lol

    LOL. I've been having weekends like that lately. I went to a wine tasting last weekend and then realized how awful that was too. Ugh.
  • missmacsays
    missmacsays Posts: 681 Member
    What's the general opinion on this topic? Do you log the calories you consume from drinking? Does it depend how much you drink? How often? Or do you consider it a freebie? Just trying to get some ideas on how that works. Honestly if I'm out drinking, tracking the drinks is the LAST thing on my mind. But maybe I should be worrying about it when I'm out still. Help!

    I log everything that has calories. For me this works best to control my eating (and drinking).

    OF COURSE, tracking both eating and drinking is the LAST thing on my mind when I'm out with friends, that is why I ended up here!

    Right, I wouldn't have joined a site to help me lose weight if I had good self control without tracking. lol.
  • missmacsays
    missmacsays Posts: 681 Member
    Just to clarify-I've been logging it. I've just seen varied opinions whether you should or not, but I figured that logging is probably the best bet even though I hate doing it.

    logging it is best.. even if you go over.. its an average for the week right?

    the only ones that will not log it are afraid to have something out there that says they drink.. even though they will say its a treat and no reason to log it... lol

    NO ONE READ MY FOOD DIARY FOR THIS WEEKEND THEN!! LOL
  • missmacsays
    missmacsays Posts: 681 Member
    What I do is stay as close to my 1200 calories a day that I can but "save up" my exercise calories so I can go out for a drink on a friday night. I have swapped drinking large glasses of wine to drinking Vodka and diet coke (only 60 calories). That way I dont go over my weekly calorie allowance.

    Its worked so far.....

    That's a good way to do it. I can't seem to ever find something consistent saying what calorie counts are for alcohol! It's so frustrating. How do you get accurate information? Every site is different.