Beer and weight loss

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  • cedarblack
    cedarblack Posts: 63 Member
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    Alcohol calories aren't the problem for me, when I drink I tend to move around a LOT and dance like an idiot so will burn off a fair few of those calories! The problem for me is the craving for pizza and sweets when I'm hungover, ughh, and now I'm older hangovers can last for days too...!
  • battybecks
    battybecks Posts: 147 Member
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    Guinness has 210 calories a pint. If you're going out, be honest about how many you're going to drink, pre-log them and plan the rest of the day with what you have left. As much as you can, take your booze calories out of your exercise calories. So three pints - 630 calories, which for me would be running for an hour. If that's not possible, work out for half an hour and skip a packet of crisps and a biscuit instead.

    This is what I do. Easy peasy. And sometimes, when it's after midnight and everyone's getting more beer, I think "well, I'll count it as tomorrow".

    REAL ALE! YEAH!
  • battybecks
    battybecks Posts: 147 Member
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    As long as you meet your weekly calorie goal, you will lose weight. What you eat or drink does not matter. It can make a difference in how you feel though.


    Not true, alcohol is not a normal calorie:

    Alcohol is also metabolized differently from other substances, and it affects the way your body handles carbohydrates and fat. When alcohol is present, your body starts to process it right away instead of focusing on the things it would normally work to break down, like sugars and dietary fat. Those get converted into body fat instead.

    Read more: http://www.ehow.com/way_5651804_alcohol-weight-loss.html#ixzz2thJEXgGW


    I would seriously consider cutting the drinking down to one night per week if you are incapable of socializing with out drinking.

    It looks like she is only going out once a week. While I agree that most of your information is true (sorry but food/calories in your stomach do not instantly get stored as fat as soon as you drink alcohol.), she isn't in a body building competition where this is actually going to affect her very reasonable weight loss goal. =\

    I don't think you understand that people need a social life and if they enjoy beer, telling them to "reduce or completely cut it out" instead of telling them to fit it into their calories will eventually lead to them quitting and giving up on a healthier lifestyle because they are losing their minds.

    The calories getting stored is not my opinion, it is a scientific fact. She stated two or three pints a couple of times a week.

    Alcohol is a different monster than food. We do not need alcohol to survive. If some one has an issue with cutting down alcohol to make their selves healthier, then they have a bigger problem than losing weight.

    All things in moderation, right? 3 pints of Guinness is not moderation whether you like it or believe it. When we start depriving our bodies of nutrition to fit alcohol into our diet, well that is just sad.

    I totally agree with you! Three pints of anything alcoholic is too much. Why oh why in the UK everyone thinks it's normal?! If you go abroad (south Europe where I am from) people drink so much less! It's common for people to drink a glass of wine and then put the bottle away in the fridge. I have never seen an English person doing that, once it's open it needs to go down and sometimes it's several bottles.... Sorry guys, I love England but the drinking habits here (in general) are appalling!


    Haha! You guys would have a fit if you saw my food diary! Three pints is nowt.
  • Julesdublin
    Julesdublin Posts: 39 Member
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    Alcohol calories aren't the problem for me, when I drink I tend to move around a LOT and dance like an idiot so will burn off a fair few of those calories! The problem for me is the craving for pizza and sweets when I'm hungover, ughh, and now I'm older hangovers can last for days too...!

    I hear you, sister.... I hear you. Same here :sad:
  • cpcoursec
    cpcoursec Posts: 82 Member
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    "There is nothing I like better than a nice glass of wine, or the odd pint of Guinness (Irish girl here too :) ) I have lost 63lbs, and still had them. I just factored it into my calorie intake. Honestly, I don't deny myself anything, if I want it I have it. When I start to deny myself stuff, that is when I tend to start gaining. Now, it is just a case of everything in moderation."




    This is so simple and beautiful. If everybody else thought like this, there would be a lot more happy and healthy people on this board.
  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
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    I always thought it was around 170 calories per pint... :frown:
    Assuming you're drinking draft, it's 210 all right.

    The good news is that's fewer than the same amount of orange juice or milk! :drinker:

    http://www.guinness.com/en-ie/food-calorie-guide.html

    Per the Guiness site:

    35.2 cals per 100 ml

    How many oz in a pint in Dublin? I assumed 16 ounces (maybe that is off?)

    If 16 imperial oz then that's 454 mls = 160 cals
    If 16 US oz then 473 mls = 166 cals

    Didn't realize there was a meanigful difference between imperial and US liquid measures.

    Tastes better than juice or milk too! :drinker:

    ETA: Wikipedia says an imperial pint is 20 imperial ounces (568 mls) - is that right? Don't remember my "pints" in Ireland being equivalent to nearly 20 US fl ounces.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    US pints are smaller than British ones.

    Hence the British rhyme: "a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter"

    Its US equivalent is something about a pint of water weighing a pound, but I forget it cos I'm not American.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    ETA: Wikipedia says an imperial pint is 20 imperial ounces (568 mls) - is that right? Don't remember my "pints" in Ireland being equivalent to nearly 20 US fl ounces.
    Yes, an Imperial pint is 568ml, so at 35.2 cals per 100ml that's 200 cals - a whole new number!
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,266 Member
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    I googled the subject first and I got all kinds of advise – some of them quite conflicting, actually. So I am hoping you guys here can help me with it.
    I’ve gained a fair amount of weight over the last year and I am trying to lose it – around 22 lbs (10kgs)
    The thing is…. I live in Dublin, Ireland. And I love a good beer, I really do. There’s something wonderful about having a couple of pints with friends on a Friday night after a week’s work. I am doing my outmost to stop drinking but it is having a detrimental effect on my social life. A lot of the socializing here is done in pubs. Currently I am trying to avoid going to the pubs as the temptation of a good pint of Guinness is too much to bear but I know it’s not sustainable.
    So, my question is…. Can I lose weight drinking beer? Has anyone here lost weight having 2 or 3 pints a couple of times a week? Is it only the calories that I should worry about or does alcohol hinder the weight loss process?

    just plan for it and count up the calories ahead of time so you know how to modify the rest of your day. Pair it with a glass of water. Make yourself drink the water in between sips of the beer. The point of getting healthy is so you can have a longer life. If you aren't living life and enjoying it then why even bother? That is how I look at it. Preplanning is key to weekends or bar times or just having fun. Its about being in control.
  • Julesdublin
    Julesdublin Posts: 39 Member
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    I am banking some calories already for Saturday when Ireland is playing England in the 6 nations rugby match :tongue:
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    I am banking some calories already for Saturday when Ireland is playing England in the 6 nations rugby match :tongue:
    :drinker:
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
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    What I do, is on days I know I am going to go drinking with my friends I decide exactly what I will drink the day before, log it, and then plan the rest of the day around it.
  • brevislux
    brevislux Posts: 1,093 Member
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    I'd say: prelog the beer and then during the day you'd know how much you can eat without going over your calories.
  • cardosium
    cardosium Posts: 25 Member
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    I live in Ireland. The United Kingdom is another country. The Irish and the Brits have similar drinking habits all right but they are different people with different culture. And I am not even Irish, by the way.

    3 pints is hardly the amount of alcohol that will make me drunk dancing the Macarena on the top of the table. I try to have no more than one pint per hour. Also, here in Ireland we do “rounds” of drinks. To have only 1 pint means I will either have to pay for at least 2 (no, I don’t go to the pub on my own) or be a cheeky monkey and have a pint for free and head home.

    I want to lose weight but I still want to have a social life and go to the pub and have a good banter with my friends. I don’t see the point in being a slim “Billy-no-mates” kind of person.

    I know where Ireland is. It must be a cultural thing then, because for me there's no need to have drinks to have a social life... I wasn't being judgemental, it's just that in some cultures social life doesn't have... for the lack of a better expression 'evolve around alcohol'.
  • cardosium
    cardosium Posts: 25 Member
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    Eh cardosium? Dublin is in Ireland, not England. And due to historical reasons most Irish don't like being called English. Also, medical recommendations for women are up to 11 units per week, which would be 5.5 pints of Guinness, so no-one here is being reckless in their drinking, ok? You're entitled to an opinion, but you're in danger of cramming it down people's throats now. Let's keep it non-judgemental eh?

    I know where Dublin is. I was not being judgemental. I guess it's a cultural difference....

    But calling it 'medical recommendations' is stretching it a little.... I have never heard a doctor saying 'you should drink 11 units per week'...

    Anyway, I always find alcohol in England (and I have to mention England instead of Ireland because that is the reality I know) to be touchy subject. Most natives either claim that drinking levels are fine or look the other way whereas people from Southern Europe tend to believe that such levels are incredibly high. I am not saying I am right, but whether we like it our not 3 pints are equivalent to 1.70 litres which is people should drink of water.... Telling me that drinking that much is healthy doesn't really make sense. I never said it's not acceptable, it surely is unhealthy especially if it is a twice weekly habit.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    But calling it 'medical recommendations' is stretching it a little.... I have never heard a doctor saying 'you should drink 11 units per week'...
    That didn't translate well. The medical recommendations are "no more than..."

    Having said that, my mum's doctor actually recommended she drink Guinness regularly when she was pregnant with me to boost iron levels as she was having trouble absorbing it form supplements! Well it was the 60s...

    BTW OP, I created a separate "booze" section in my food diary. It's a good way to keep track and see what drinks have scary calories.
  • Julesdublin
    Julesdublin Posts: 39 Member
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    Saudi Arabia and Yemen springs to mind… Yeah, in these countries alcohol is not part of a night out indeed…
    Are you honestly trying to say that in Southern Europe people don’t drink to socialize?

    :noway:
  • maffff
    maffff Posts: 72 Member
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    Yep. I have been drinking throughout, split a bottle of wine with the missus most nights, will have a few beers here and now, I just account and allow for it.

    Incidentally, I was in Dublin this time last week. Wonderful. The Guinness tastes amazing compared to over here.

    If you feel you're depriving yourself but cutting out something you want entirely you'll never manage to stay focused, so try to fit it in :)
  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
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    Seems like a good place for this...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBd4TqcBNgs

    Omar Isuf (the man) and Alan Aragon (the god) discuss alcohol and bodybuilding. This is video one in a series. I haven't even watched it yet but feel fairly sure these guys will rock the topic.

    EDIT: Watched this and it was good. First 5 minutes is them kind of bull****ting around but solid video. Pro booze :D (well at least not anti)
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
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    [/quote]

    """"Anyway, I always find alcohol in England (and I have to mention England instead of Ireland because that is the reality I know) to be touchy subject. Most natives either claim that drinking levels are fine or look the other way whereas people from Southern Europe tend to believe that such levels are incredibly high. I am not saying I am right, but whether we like it our not 3 pints are equivalent to 1.70 litres which is people should drink of water.... Telling me that drinking that much is healthy doesn't really make sense. I never said it's not acceptable, it surely is unhealthy especially if it is a twice weekly habit.""""""
    [/quote]

    I notice you conveniently missed the fact that in the info I posted, 1 bottle of beer 341ml contains 327.38g of water as well as 1.64 g protein and 12.64g of carbs.

    So an Imperial pint at 20oz or 625ml will have 600g of water - which is .......oh no I've gone cross-eyed.........



    And I srewed up the quote function!

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