Hi, I like beer.

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2

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  • SMarie1219
    SMarie1219 Posts: 67
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    I have to agree just log it. I track my beer and if I know I will most likely be drinking quite a bit of it I try and work out and up my water consumption to counteract the swelling.
  • capnrus789
    capnrus789 Posts: 2,736 Member
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    If you like beer. Make it fit. Drink craft, enjoy it, log it, make it fit.

    ...but if you plan on this whole MFP thing actually working, you have to know what's going in.

    Count everything, beer included. There are a few calculators out there for the unlisted beers. You put the ABV in. It gives you an estimate of calories per 12 ozs.

    I'd rather drink water than any "XXX light" crap and wish I was drinking a real beer.

    QFT

    Realizing that you don't need 3 beers every night is the first obstacle.
  • YesIAm17
    YesIAm17 Posts: 817 Member
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    I drink 3 to 4 beers 3 days a week. For me it's Bud Light @ 110 calories each, which comes out to 990 to 1320 calories a week.

    It just isnt an issue IIFYM... but in order to know If It Fits Your Macros you must log everything.

    You might also want to start keeping a time log of everything you do... and I mean everything. You almost certainly will find that even after sleep, classes, homework, commute, work, etc, you have at least 30 to 60 minutes a day for exercise. Most people who track their time find they waste a lot doing unnecessary repetitive tasks like checking their email 20 times a day, visiting certain websites over and over, things they end up spending hours on per day but could be done in minutes per day.

    Hope that helps.
  • dan_IRL
    dan_IRL Posts: 204 Member
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    I try and log everything (usually miss 2-3 days a week, on weekends) but something I run into a lot is that when I try and enter the beer I drank that day, there is no record of it in the search function for MFP and I don't know how to find out the exact calories for that beer! :/

    Thanks for the responses, everybody!

    Sometimes a more obscure beer won't be in the database but you can pick one that's similar!

    Agreed, I usually have pretty good luck finding most of my craft beers in MFP. But if I don't I try and find one that is a similar style. "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Black IPA" should be pretty similar regardless of the the brewer.

    I also agree with make sure you track everything. Make it fit into your daily calories. Beer is a HUGE source of empty calories. So keep that in mind when "making it fit".
  • stuj019
    stuj019 Posts: 28
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    It has to be a lifestyle change so you do have to change somethings. Good Luck !
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    A pint of beer isn't that much if you're logging your other calories. They call Guiness a meal in a glass. I have a pint occasionally. I'm more likely to have a single malt scotch though since I try not to drink often. I'm diabetic.

    This is inadvisable, a pint of beer can be a TON of calories. Most beers I tend to drink average 8-9% ABV which comes out to 300-400ish calories for a single pint. That can be a significant amount of someone's daily intake, especially a woman's.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    I try and log everything (usually miss 2-3 days a week, on weekends) but something I run into a lot is that when I try and enter the beer I drank that day, there is no record of it in the search function for MFP and I don't know how to find out the exact calories for that beer! :/

    Thanks for the responses, everybody!

    Sometimes a more obscure beer won't be in the database but you can pick one that's similar!

    Agreed, I usually have pretty good luck finding most of my craft beers in MFP. But if I don't I try and find one that is a similar style. "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Black IPA" should be pretty similar regardless of the the brewer.

    I also agree with make sure you track everything. Make it fit into your daily calories. Beer is a HUGE source of empty calories. So keep that in mind when "making it fit".

    http://simplybeer.com/how-many-calories-are-in-my-beer/

    this is what I go by. because ABV can vary even between styles (Oskar Blues Ten Fidy = 10.5% versus Stone Farkin Wooten stout at.. what...13.2%) it's just better to take the time to count it if you're so inclined.

    the link above is what I use for everything.

    ETA: Another is: http://www.homebrewdad.com/beer_calorie_calculator.php
  • MrsK20141004
    MrsK20141004 Posts: 489 Member
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    Huge beer fan. I've switched to light of my favourite brand though for the most part. If draught is available I'm not getting lite... I try to find that balance. If I have a regular beer with a meal then I try and keep the food lighter. I'll NEVER give it up completely, that won't work for me. I know that so I work with it and I log EVERYTHING. Even if its embarassing. Then I know what I'm accountable for and where I need to make changes to account for things I refuse to change (like beer).

    Cheers! :drinker:
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Dry wine and hard alcohol. I hope its craft beer at least. In the end, I can drink a lot and I need to keep it to one or zero days a week or I can't expect to make any progress. 12 beers and 8 shots in a night easy.... No way you're going anywhere doing that consistently. Sucks, but, thats how it is.

    Absolutely craft beer. Beer is also a big part of my job (at a resturaunt where next to food, beer is our biggest profit maker)...we have rotating taps and specialize in micro and local brews. So not only do I enjoy beer (drinking, reading about it, talking about it) it's also important that I can talk about it with customers. I can't drink that much, but I probably average 1-2 pints a day. Another part of my job, I get a free beer after work. That is hard to pass up...I like wine alright, I'm not big into hard alcohol - maybe a shot here or there but it isn't really as enjoyable to me as beer is.

    I try and log everything (usually miss 2-3 days a week, on weekends) but something I run into a lot is that when I try and enter the beer I drank that day, there is no record of it in the search function for MFP and I don't know how to find out the exact calories for that beer! :/

    Thanks for the responses, everybody!

    I typically calculate 30-35cals per 1% ABV for a 12 ounce serving. So for example, a 12 ounce bottle of an 8% brew is 240 calories. 10%, 300 calories. I leave leeway because something like a big sweet stout or barleywine will definitely be higher calories due to residual sugars. So I'd use 35 cals for that calculation. A 9% bottle would be more like 315 calories (or even higher). Something like a dry belgian would be on the lower end. You can approximate calories pretty well that way.

    If you're gonna drink 1-2 pints of beer a day then you have to account for it somewhere. Either by decreasing food intake or increasing activity (or both). Or both and decrease beer intake to just 1 pint a day. I allow myself 1-2 beers a day but I'm in the gym helping to make up for it and I adjust my food intake as well. It's doable, I've had 1200+ unique beers in the last 2.5 years while losing 93lbs.
  • jconnon
    jconnon Posts: 427 Member
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    I try and log everything (usually miss 2-3 days a week, on weekends) but something I run into a lot is that when I try and enter the beer I drank that day, there is no record of it in the search function for MFP and I don't know how to find out the exact calories for that beer! :/

    Thanks for the responses, everybody!

    Sometimes a more obscure beer won't be in the database but you can pick one that's similar!

    Agreed, I usually have pretty good luck finding most of my craft beers in MFP. But if I don't I try and find one that is a similar style. "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Black IPA" should be pretty similar regardless of the the brewer.

    I also agree with make sure you track everything. Make it fit into your daily calories. Beer is a HUGE source of empty calories. So keep that in mind when "making it fit".

    http://simplybeer.com/how-many-calories-are-in-my-beer/

    this is what I go by. because ABV can vary even between styles (Oskar Blues Ten Fidy = 10.5% versus Stone Farkin Wooten stout at.. what...13.2%) it's just better to take the time to count it if you're so inclined.

    the link above is what I use for everything.

    ETA: Another is: http://www.homebrewdad.com/beer_calorie_calculator.php

    Thanks for the links, those are helpful.
  • amiableviking
    amiableviking Posts: 3 Member
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    Cutting down has been a problem for me, but I'm finding ways to make it work. I'll definitely skip a food item here and there or workout a bit extra if I know that a beer reward is involved. I've also started budgeting more money-wise, and after I saw how much money I was spending on it, its easier to have incentive to cut back - still, that probably doesn't help you much since you get a free one after a shift. I just try to keep it around the house less (outside of the home brews, they don't have anywhere to go), and when I do, I try to stay away from six packs and buy a couple of singles or a bomber (helpful if you have good beer stores around), or have a pint or two with dinner out somewhere when I know I won't be sticking around to have any more than that.
  • krystina_letitia9
    krystina_letitia9 Posts: 697 Member
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    I try and log everything (usually miss 2-3 days a week, on weekends) but something I run into a lot is that when I try and enter the beer I drank that day, there is no record of it in the search function for MFP and I don't know how to find out the exact calories for that beer! :/

    Thanks for the responses, everybody!

    Sometimes a more obscure beer won't be in the database but you can pick one that's similar!

    Agreed, I usually have pretty good luck finding most of my craft beers in MFP. But if I don't I try and find one that is a similar style. "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Black IPA" should be pretty similar regardless of the the brewer.

    I also agree with make sure you track everything. Make it fit into your daily calories. Beer is a HUGE source of empty calories. So keep that in mind when "making it fit".

    http://simplybeer.com/how-many-calories-are-in-my-beer/

    this is what I go by. because ABV can vary even between styles (Oskar Blues Ten Fidy = 10.5% versus Stone Farkin Wooten stout at.. what...13.2%) it's just better to take the time to count it if you're so inclined.

    the link above is what I use for everything.

    ETA: Another is: http://www.homebrewdad.com/beer_calorie_calculator.php

    Great link. Thanks!
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    Free beer after work at an ale house?? Yeah. doom doom doom doom DOOM doom Doom.. taco... I'd really have trouble resisting. Maybe just try one beer a day and only allow yourself one day of serious drinking. At the end of the day its pretty hard to drink 4 beers a day and still get adequate nutrition while losing weight. I mean four 200 calorie beers. Another option is to just do a flight after work so you can drink several beers. keep your drinking to a maximum of 3500 calories per week and you should be able to find a balance. Thats the total upper end and would probably require additional exercise to balance it out. It would probably be much easier to manage something in the 2000 range which only gives you 10 beers a week. If you wanna get Fed up, start the night out with some good beer and move on to good booze.

    Im sure some of you health nuts wont like my suggestions. Well, shush. If I wanna drink I'll drink. Theres are far too many special occasions going on for me to say "sorry, I cant".

    I should also note that the TEF of hard liquor is 30%. That means that 30% of the calories from alcohol are burned while processing it. This does NOT apply to beer because the calories are mainly from carbs which have a TEF of ~5%. That being said, there is a pretty big difference between hard alcohol and beer. HUGE difference. A shot is more like 40 calories than 60. A 200 calorie beer is more like 160 than 200. Both have comparable amounts of ethyl alcohol.
  • RachaelRenk
    RachaelRenk Posts: 116 Member
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    ...visiting certain websites over and over

    Like MFP?
  • RachaelRenk
    RachaelRenk Posts: 116 Member
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    I try and log everything (usually miss 2-3 days a week, on weekends) but something I run into a lot is that when I try and enter the beer I drank that day, there is no record of it in the search function for MFP and I don't know how to find out the exact calories for that beer! :/

    Thanks for the responses, everybody!

    Sometimes a more obscure beer won't be in the database but you can pick one that's similar!

    Agreed, I usually have pretty good luck finding most of my craft beers in MFP. But if I don't I try and find one that is a similar style. "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Black IPA" should be pretty similar regardless of the the brewer.

    I also agree with make sure you track everything. Make it fit into your daily calories. Beer is a HUGE source of empty calories. So keep that in mind when "making it fit".

    http://simplybeer.com/how-many-calories-are-in-my-beer/

    this is what I go by. because ABV can vary even between styles (Oskar Blues Ten Fidy = 10.5% versus Stone Farkin Wooten stout at.. what...13.2%) it's just better to take the time to count it if you're so inclined.

    the link above is what I use for everything.

    ETA: Another is: http://www.homebrewdad.com/beer_calorie_calculator.php

    Awesome! Thanks so much for the links.
  • danomyte66
    danomyte66 Posts: 7
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    Give up beer? I'm getting into shape, not going insane.
  • YesIAm17
    YesIAm17 Posts: 817 Member
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    ...visiting certain websites over and over

    Like MFP?

    Yup and it is currently the biggest time suck in my life. But it's all fitness related so at least there's that.
  • RachaelRenk
    RachaelRenk Posts: 116 Member
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    I liked the irony ;)
  • kravmark2
    kravmark2 Posts: 158 Member
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    I love beer too! Ive been trying those Labatt 52 lately. and they are ok but not amazing. Feel like Bud Light or Coors light when I really want to kick back. Feel free to friend me and we'll all be mfp drinkin buds.

    Mark
  • wendyg311
    wendyg311 Posts: 239 Member
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    Yup, gotta have them Friday night beers after work.
    I like Guinness but have found, surprisingly, I can drink an MGD 64.
    (or 2....or 3.)
    Here in CT there is a beer not so easy to find - Haffenreffer, that I really like. Only problem is, it only comes in a 40oz.
    I don't buy it anymore. If we don't drink the whole thing in one night, it gets a little flat by the next day. Pouring it down the drain is akin to alcohol abuse!!

    It's Friday:drinker: and I have already saved enough calories for 2, but only 2. I'm serious about this weight loss thingy

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