Women who drink

I'm a guy but it's the same idea. I try to drink straight liquor only -- except for when I get bought a drink, then I humour them ... --and you'd be surprised how much you can drink this way if you keep it tight during the week and only drink "heavily" perhaps 1-2 times per week.

We all realise this is not great for our health but if it isn't going away, it's better to be at a healthy weight while doing it.

Besides, if you weigh less, you drink less

I love this! LOL

BUMP

I generally drink once a week and don't have a problem losing weight. I basically stopped the "glass or two of wine at night" drinking, and save it for the "sleeping on the bathroom floor" nights of drinking.

haha. What she said. I hardly drink anymore but when I do.. I do it right. It is usually only once a month though. If you are going to drink every week... I say go for a light beer to get that "full" feeling and then switch to vodka water and lime. That's my fave way to take it easy.

Just replace food with the booze ;-)

My favorite drink is grape vodka, diet tonic with a splash of Sprite Zero. Well, one of my favorites. I like them all.

I first started MFP in my partying years (...which, I think I'm still in, by the way!), and I used to keep within my calorie range while going out to drink .... I used to add in my drinks to my calorie count before I went out ... and I would add like 4 or 5 in there lol .. just because I knew I would actually drink that much, especially if I wanted to get drunk ... (It sounds so awful to type out, but whatever, everyone does it lol) .... So I would track my alcohol calories .. then I would add in an additional 400-500 calories for food that you will eat when drunk .... And dont even use the whole "oh i wont eat when I'm drunk" ... yeah, yeah you will. Just accept that fact now, and add it in. I would also look into which liquors have the least amount of calories .. From what I can remember, vodka or tequila has the least ... I wouldnt drink beer if your trying to lose weight mainly because its still pretty high in calories, it makes you feel bloated, plus you'll have to drink more of it to get you drunk .. which if thats your goal, stick with liquor ... If you're more about just going out after work to have a few cocktails, you should still be OK. Also, exercise the day that you are going out ... If you go hard-core at the gym, you can rack up enough extra calories that you wont be blowing your day completely, AND watch whatever you are eating that day ... mainly because you will consume extra calories after the drinking, so you can try to balance out your "before and after" calories. Also, if you are going to have a mixed drink, keep the add-ins to things that are low in calories .. like, if you are going to drink vodka, get a flavored vodka (my favorite is cherry) and mix it with soda water and a splash of cranberry juice .. instead of a straight vodka & cranberry .... or use diet coke and bacardi rum .. Or just do shots

I have to tell you though, if you are really serious about losing weight, you really do gotta give up alcohol. You can still drink it and have a good time, but if your looking for an easy way to still go out, drink and have a great time with your friends every weekend, its going to reflect on the scale, unfortunately!

Yes, I love craft beer. I just log whatever I drink, and that definitely limits me, since I have to fit it into my daily calories.

Since I have lost weight and have cut down the occasions where I drink, I've turned into a cheap date.

it's not so much the drinks as the wings, grande supremo turbo nachos, calamari, hot pretzels w/ cheese dip, or pizza they force me to eat that usually causes the trouble.

Just kick up the exercise to cover at least some of it. :drinker:

lol YES! I can never stop eating bar food once I'm too plastered. I used to have this handy worksheet that showed the lowest cal alcohols and what to mix for "skinny" cocktails. I remember Everclear was THE lowest cal pure liquor, but other than that I'm at a loss. So wait, you all mix vodka with WATER?? like, order at the bar "I'd like a vodka and water with a lime" ???

I do soda water, I'm pretty sure that's what everyone is talking about. Soda water is just carbonated water, the lime adds some flavor so it's not horrible. if you get a flavored vodka you don't notice it as much. Takes a little to get use to, but the results are the same.

alcohol really screws up your fat loss. I can't recite the technical reasons but it's the way your body uses acohol for fuel (or doesnt rather) that is a double-whammy to fat loss.

I'm sure there are some experts who can chime in.

Not really. It has very significant effects on the body, but it doesn't "screw up" anything as far as caloric balance. This myth owes a lot to the fact that people tend to lose willpower and diet adherence when they are intoxicated, as well as the fact that when hungover, most people will crave energy dense (especially fatty) foods.

I'm no self-proclaimed expert but I drink a lot, eat a lot, read a lot and exercise a lot

Mix vodka with a diet drink. Or man up and just drink that *kitten* without a mixer.

yes. wine or clear liquor with a low calorie mixer. i prefer to stay in and make my own margaritas with fresh lime juice

BUMP

I don't do any heavy drinking anymore because I just can't handle the hangovers now that I'm getting older. but I still have a glass or 2 of wine on occasion and if I really want something like Sangria/mixed drinks at a picnic/bbq I just make sure I stay hydrated (water!!) and make sure I have the calories to spend.

I am a drinker and I don't feel like it has hindered my weight loss. I did stop drinking half a case of beer every night so I'm sure that helped. Now I drink vodka & diet sodas such as diet 7 up or sprite. My usual is vodka and diet cherry 7up. I do still drink beer just not as much of it. Just make sure you log it. :drinker: