Alcohol. eat after or stick to calorie goal?

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zealey77
zealey77 Posts: 104
in Health and Weight Loss
I find myself in this position too often. I'll have a humble breakfast, go for a crazy jog and work out, then I'll get a call from a friend telling me about a great party they're going to and why don't I come? So I go. I'll drink my daily MFP calorie allowance and then return home starving. I fight the urge to eat in that moment, but part of me tells me I'm starving so eat something. But I've already used up my daily calorie allowance. My body tells me I need to eat something to soak up all the alcohol, but my MFP ticker tells me I've already used up my calorie take for this day . What to do? Help.
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Replies

  • bekahlou75
    bekahlou75 Posts: 304 Member
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    I find myself in this position too often. I'll have a humble breakfast, go for a crazy jog and work out, then I'll get a call from a friend telling me about a great party they're going to and why don't I come? So I go. I'll drink my daily MFP calorie allowance and then return home starving. I fight the urge to eat in that moment, but part of me tells me I'm starving so eat something. But I've already used up my daily calorie allowance. My body tells me I need to eat something to soak up all the alcohol, but my MFP ticker tells me I've already used up my calorie take for this day . What to do? Help.

    Drink something lower calorie, or don't drink as much.
  • jackjackattck
    jackjackattck Posts: 117 Member
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    I find myself in this position too often. I'll have a humble breakfast, go for a crazy jog and work out, then I'll get a call from a friend telling me about a great party they're going to and why don't I come? So I go. I'll drink my daily MFP calorie allowance and then return home starving. I fight the urge to eat in that moment, but part of me tells me I'm starving so eat something. But I've already used up my daily calorie allowance. My body tells me I need to eat something to soak up all the alcohol, but my MFP ticker tells me I've already used up my calorie take for this day . What to do? Help.

    Drink something lower calorie, or don't drink as much.

    Agree with this. What is it that you're drinking? Stick to zero or low calorie mixers, like diet coke, unsweetened tea, or club soda. You should be able to go out and have some drinks without consuming 1000+ calories while out. One vodka+club soda only has about 70-90 calories, depending on the grade of vodka.

    On top of that, I would recommend eating something, even if it it's light, to soak up the alcohol even if you do go over your calories. Drinking that much on an empty stomach can be pretty bad for you.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Eat before you drink. I do to try to help slow down the impact of alcohol to my system.
    Also, work it into your macros. If you know you'll want to drink a significant amount, work out extra beforehand.

    Alcohol isn't fuel, and you shouldn't drink enough to fulfill daily calories. Try to find a balance between fuel and fun for your body.
  • sargessexyone
    sargessexyone Posts: 494 Member
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    This is a toughy. I've been there and done that. Personally I eat, however I have been trying to plan better and limit the amount of alcoholic beverages so that I can work them into my caloric goals for the day. In the future plan ahead or workout a little harder the next day would be my advice.
  • svetzza
    svetzza Posts: 7
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    I hate that. Happens to me a lot too. Lately, I'm just staying away from alcohol all together... it's a bit difficult and less fun, kinda annoying, but it's affecting my calories intake too much. Alcohol will make you feel hungry though. It enhances cravings big time. My new rule is that if I do drink and take up my calorie allowance, I can only eat foods very low in calories and/or non binge foods like baby carrots, apples, grapes, cucumbers etc for me. It takes a while to eat those foods and it'll definitely fill you up physically at least for a little while and by doing that, after you eat a bit the cravings should subside a little, enough to allow you to just go to sleep comfortably which I assume you'd be doing after coming home. If you keep it to fruits and veggies, I doubt you'll feel as bad about it later and it won't be as if you put anything bad in your body after the alcohol.
  • AnnieRN6
    AnnieRN6 Posts: 48
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    Alcohol has seven calories per gram. That's a lot of calories--and a lot of alcohol--if you're using up the vast majority of your daily MFP calories just to drink. Even if you only cut that in half, you'll get to eat a lot of food.
  • zealey77
    zealey77 Posts: 104
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    I hate that. Happens to me a lot too. Lately, I'm just staying away from alcohol all together... it's a bit difficult and less fun, kinda annoying, but it's affecting my calories intake too much. Alcohol will make you feel hungry though. It enhances cravings big time. My new rule is that if I do drink and take up my calorie allowance, I can only eat foods very low in calories and/or non binge foods like baby carrots, apples, grapes, cucumbers etc for me. It takes a while to eat those foods and it'll definitely fill you up physically at least for a little while and by doing that, after you eat a bit the cravings should subside a little, enough to allow you to just go to sleep comfortably which I assume you'd be doing after coming home. If you keep it to fruits and veggies, I doubt you'll feel as bad about it later and it won't be as if you put anything bad in your body after the alcohol.

    Good advice right there. thanks Svetzza. x
  • alimaeden
    alimaeden Posts: 10 Member
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    If I have a bad alcohol binge, I will eat after, and take care of myself when I'm hungover, and then try to even the calories out over the course of the rest of the week. even a 700 calorie oversight can be made up through exercise and being under inside a week. if you hold yourself accountable for it, you're less likely to do it in the future :)
  • LittleMissFit83
    LittleMissFit83 Posts: 38
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    Stay away from beer and head for the hard bar and diet pop. That way you will have calories for food when your blood sugar levels plummet. :)
  • veganbettie
    veganbettie Posts: 701 Member
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    I try not to drink during the week so if I fub up during the week it doesn't hit my calories too hard....I seem to be doing okay so far...doesn't always work. But if you're hungry I would still eat.
  • tallgirlshelley
    tallgirlshelley Posts: 108 Member
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    I find myself in that situation, as well. I really don't plan on ever giving up alcohol. I'm not an alcoholic and I like it, so I shouldn't have to, right? But I do know I let my guard down after a night of drinking and will eat anything not nailed down or rotted green. I try to limit junk in the house, but with three kids, it's inevitably around now and then. I do try to get in a decent calorie burn if I know ahead of time that I'm going to drink. I'm also going to try a suggestion I read about on here - alternating each beer/drink/etc. with a tall glass of water. Hopefully I'll drink less, feel more full and never have a hangover!
  • ZOOpergal
    ZOOpergal Posts: 176 Member
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    I find the opposite: If I decide to drink instead of eat, my hunger goes away after the second beer. I have, however, seriously lowered my standards to stay in my calorie limit. I used to drink Newcastle...Then dropped to Coors Light...Now I'm at Natural Light. Tastes much worse but its only 98 calories a can.
  • bwats33
    bwats33 Posts: 25 Member
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    Stay away from beer and head for the hard bar and diet pop. That way you will have calories for food when your blood sugar levels plummet. :)

    Never understood why people think this is true....a normal serving of hard liquor is about 100 calories. About the same as a bud light or corona light. I guess it's better than an IPA, but I see a lot of people mistakenly drink 'whatever and diet coke' instead of beer thinking they are saving a significant amount of calories.
  • laylaness
    laylaness Posts: 262 Member
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    I do vodka and club soda. It's about 90 kcal per drink, and I consume less volume of liquor than beer or wine. If I need to go over so I can eat, I do, but I'll make up for it by eating 50-100 kcals less for a day or two, or try to get an extra workout in.
  • krawhitham
    krawhitham Posts: 831 Member
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    I work in eating *with* drinking. That is if I know I'm going somewhere that I'm going to want to drink.

    If friends invite me out on a whim, like what happened to me earlier this week, I go and socialize but I don't drink because it's not in my calorie allowance. I'm friends with nice people who genuinely like me (who also happen to be mature adults) and so they don't pressure me in to drinking when I decline.

    I only drink and eat (one in the same to me, they are all calories) if my daily allowance allows it!
  • freewilly75
    freewilly75 Posts: 4
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    Eat. Just don't go overboard. Prepare a sane snack to consume post party as drunken food choices are rarely the best. In the long run, it is about overall health and wellness. Also, if you feel ill the next day you are less likely to get out and get some exercise.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Drink less, walk home after the party and enter it in as exercise...voila a couple hundred calories worth of food you can eat :ohwell:
  • tiffalicious121
    tiffalicious121 Posts: 14 Member
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    Stay away from beer and head for the hard bar and diet pop. That way you will have calories for food when your blood sugar levels plummet. :)

    Never understood why people think this is true....a normal serving of hard liquor is about 100 calories. About the same as a bud light or corona light. I guess it's better than an IPA, but I see a lot of people mistakenly drink 'whatever and diet coke' instead of beer thinking they are saving a significant amount of calories.

    Hard liquor = 35-40% alcohol, avg serving size 1.5oz + mix

    Beer (depending on where you are) can be as low as 3.2% alcohol, but typically around 5%

    Hard liquor is lower in calories to get the same amount of alcohol
  • TKhamvongsa
    TKhamvongsa Posts: 287
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    I find myself in this position too often. I'll have a humble breakfast, go for a crazy jog and work out, then I'll get a call from a friend telling me about a great party they're going to and why don't I come? So I go. I'll drink my daily MFP calorie allowance and then return home starving. I fight the urge to eat in that moment, but part of me tells me I'm starving so eat something. But I've already used up my daily calorie allowance. My body tells me I need to eat something to soak up all the alcohol, but my MFP ticker tells me I've already used up my calorie take for this day . What to do? Help.

    You could always reserve one day to cheat meals or not tracking. Then you won't have to worry about it as much. I find that if you allow yourself to eat/drink, you won't most likely binge. Just work towards the cheat day by doing extra workouts etc.

    I hope that helps!
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    Eat before going out drinking. Limit your drinks to just a couple. Drink something non alcoholic and zero calorie in between each alcoholic drink.

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