Drinking and dieting

Great question!! I've been wondering how I'm going to still be able to enjoy a couple drinks AND still lose weight. Everyone says "Lose the alcohol if you wanna lose weight" and I really do want to...but I love having a glass of wine or a couple beers with friends.

I'm interested to see what success (if any) others have had while dieting and not giving up the libations

Get a heavy stein to drink your beer from. That way you get a workout while you're drinking

If you enjoy drinking (as I do, love it) it's not realistic to cut it out completely. You just gotta learn to balance it, work out extra beforehand if you know you're going out.

Great topic. One of the things I have learned from using this website and app for the last couple of months is that if I omit dessert and alcohol I can almost eat whatever I want!! The problem is, I also like alcohol in moderation and (even more) I LOVE desserts. So in order to keep within my calorie limit, I have to be REALLY good the rest of the day, and also work out as several have suggested, and on top of that limit the alcohol to 1 or two drinks, and limit the portion size of dessert. It's hard- but it's worth it!!

I agree with the whole balance thing. Calculate it into your calories for the day. Find out how many calories your favorite beer is or drink is and find ways to cut it back or save your food calories.
I went to Michelob Ultra because it is like 50 calories and it really isnt that bad lol I also know that my wine, which I almost have a glass 5oz 3-4 time a week is 100 calories so I usually work that into days that I am gonna work out
Best of luck to you, there is no such thing to me as give up the foods and drinks I love, I just find a way to make them fewer calories!!

I lose all self eating control when i have a few drinks Everything seems ok to eat. When i do not drink i have far better willpower.

Maybe this is just because I'm young, and fit, but I found when I first started on this site, I blew well over my calories on alcohol and junk about once a week. ( I blame student life..) I would stick to 1200 or a little under all week long, than Friday or Saturday I'd just have whatever I wanted after dinner. Drinks, junk, whatever, then got right back on track the next day. I found I could still lose about a pound and a half doing this, so I just enjoyed my one day.

I've since learned a few things about this:

1) The cheat day was probably the ONLY reason I managed to still lose weight. 1200 calories a day (I never used to eat my exercise cals, roughly 600-900 a day) is NOT nearly enough for me to eat day in and day out for weeks at a time. I would have completely shot my metabolism. So the unintentional cheat day helped balance things out.

2) However, alcohol is a bad choice for getting in these extra calories. It lowers leptin levels, the hormone that controls your metabolism (more or less).

3) An even bigger HOWEVER, it worked for me. I didn't stress about going over once a week. I usually ate healthy and normal up to dinner on those said days, then stopped logging. For some this might be a bad idea, but for me it meant no guilt and a clean slate tomorrow, so it didn't turn one night into a downward spiral. I kept losing weight, and I felt like I was in control of my diet. I was happy with myself for sticking to the plan well enough to see results without feeling deprived.


SO, I guess what I'm getting at here is you can't sacrifice something that makes you happy, and expect to stick to it. Especially if you have a lot to lose. You'll get miserable of not having the things you like (like alcohol! ) well before you get to your goal weight, so work it in to your plan. If your older, it might be wise to keep it to 2-3 servings a week, but if having all of those servings at once on a social night with friends is what you want, go for it! And feel good about it, too, because you've earned it by sticking to the plan the other 90% of the time

i eat less on the days i plan to drink my calories, and try to work out a bit extra. drinking and dancing or drinking and bowling might help cancel things out a bit. just try to be active when drinking.
you have to find your own way to live fit, if you cut out everything you will reach your goal but are more likely to gain it back

This is pretty much what I do as well .... Allow myself a cheat day and have whatever I want all day and get back on track the next day.

I too love to drink and can not give it up ... well will not give it up. So I kind of alter what I drink now... for instance I will get one of the flavored vodka's and a lime ... or a splash of juice. I may also drink it straight on the rocks with a lime ( I don't recommend this if you aren't a heavy drinker) but for me ... it helps me drink slower because its stronger ... and it takes me there quicker than all the mixed stuff.