anyone trying to take control over beer?

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I have cut back my wine drinking. I found that I increasing becoming a nightly drinker and not that I was necessarily "concerned" I was dependent on it, I just felt I would enjoy it more if I kept to drinking on the weekends or going out to dinner. I now enjoy my extra calories by eating them, and I go over less frequently as well.

im kind of going through the same thing. i dont see my self as a alcoholic but i like to unwind when the kids are in bed. i dont drink beer mainly cider or wine but i can easily get through 3/4 drinks a night when its been a bad day. i can go without it, i feel alot better when i do actually but i use it to get rid of stress. ive realised how much it effects my weightloss so am trying to go at least a few days a week without. i havnt been on here for a couple of weeks and havnt been counting calories but before that i could do great with food and then blow it on alcohol. add me as a friend if you want to support each other.

My boyfriend is trying to cut down on the beer as he enjoys the taste. I bought him so low sugar premixed shandy. He enjoys it and its zero alcohol but all the taste. I personally do not drink much (apart from last weekend) but I have found Barcardi and diet coke to be a nice low calorie option.

I'm a binge drinker (vodka) and am trying to cut down my drinking because it makes me so ill (I'm not even supposed to drink on my meds so my insides are suffering even more than they should be). Some things I do to reduce what I'm drinking is to drink a glass of water every other alcoholic drink, only take a certain amount of cash out (when drinking at pubs etc, so once you've run out of money you can't drink anymore), and to stop keeping alcohol in your house (only buying the amount you plan to drink that session).

My better advice actually comes from my experiences with my other half who's an alcoholic. Some things that have helped him reduce his drinking include switching to a lower percentage drink (he went from tennents super 9% to cider 4.3%). He also reduced the amount he drank at once by pouring a couple of fingers less alcohol into the glass each time (which adds up over the days, weeks and so on). He's also recently been asked to complete an alcohol diary. His has spaces for recording the time, alcohol drank and amount for each day. I'd recommend keeping one a bit more detailed than simply what you drink and when though- adding in why you're drinking and how you feel before and after. I know you said you don't think you're an alcoholic, this exercise isn't just for alcoholics.. it's more so about being conscious and mindful of what you're drinking so that you can hopefully set goals to reduce it as you wish.

eta: oh, I also tried to get him to supplement his cider with other drinks (he literally drinks cider all day- no water, squash or pop or anything). I know I said alternating water earlier but it might be a good idea to find a drink you like that feels indulgent. I usually just put a fruity drink in a proper glass with icecubes, lemon and a straw and it makes me feel like I'm not missing out as much..

Hope some of this is at least somewhat useful, feel free to add me

I am not much of a beer drinker unless it's a hot summer day...

For me the unwind comes from my exercise...I lift heavy things to get rid of stress.

I enjoy beer as a complement to many foods. If my calorie budget after exercise allows for a beer, I'll have one, very rarely two. If it's more than two then I'm drinking, not having it with food, and I don't drink often.

I don't sacrifice food for beer, I do sacrifice the extra time I need to exercise for the calories if that's my choice...

Enjoying a nice beer/cocktail or two because you enjoy the taste does not make an alcoholic.

Drinking any amount of alcohol because you need the chemical to cope with your life is where the real issue begins.

This. I try to fit beer into my calories. Guinness is only 120 calories, although I tend towards IPAs and higher calorie beers (250ish). Because of that, I go out with friends for trivia once a week and try to limit my beer to that night. I usually eat around 1500 calories that day and then the beer. I'll usually be a little over for the day. The rest of the week, I try to really only have a beer if I have the calories left (and then it becomes a toss up with ice cream).

Get ready for the hate...

I drink and brew delicious craft beer. Don't get me wrong. My recent, thorough broke-status has me not drinking anything. Bummer. But when I can afford it, I often go for Coors Light or even Michelob Ultra Light. Something about those beers on a hot summer day that refresh after mowing the lawn. Ahh...

Those are great for calories. Believe it or not, Guinness is actually a pretty low-cal beer, if you like it. I also do most liquors (vodka, whiskey [not bourbon], clear rum, clear tequila, etc.) with low cal or cal free mixers.

I also agree with some of the other posts. If my wife and I knew we were drinking, which was usually on the weekend, we'd just work out like *kitten* and earn the drinking calories. You can do it, especially just not drinking it (which is the best for weight loss... no alcohol), but get ready for some rough, dry nights. Hope I didn't just give away my own alcoholic status.

Personally I am a wino. I used to have a glass of wine a night, but then it turned into a large glass of wine a night, then pasta with my large glass of wine a night. I am 90% sure most of my weight gain came from this.

I have been trying not to drink any wine at all, not even a measured 5 oz glass during the week. I find it's not the wine that's really the problem, but the entire bad habit. When I have a bad day at work, I pour some wine, eat some carb-tastic food, and then go to bed. Then I toss and turn most of the night which sets me up for failure the next day. I find that not having that glass of wine makes me far more productive during the week, but it was sure hard to break the habit. I've been working out like crazy, and have been looking at the food and how much calories I have left. At the end of the day, I like to eat those calories, and not drink them because I am hungry and my body needs that food because I am at a very large deficit. I know if I allow even that one glass right now, it will slow down my loss which is my #1 priority.

I know it won't always be like this, but for right now, it is what works best for me. The alcohol has empty calories, and even though I miss the habit, I am trying my best to make better habits. Now this weekend I worked my butt off so I could drink some beer and eat out and just feel "normal" for a day. I think that was enough to get me through for awhile. There needs to be some flexibility.

I am not sure how much of a deficit you're at or how much you exercise, but one small beer a day won't kill you. If you find your sacrificing your nutrition though for the beer, you should evaluate your goals.

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wow, timely topic. i am on day 2 of breaking a nightly wine habit. i just realized that a) i'm getting older and my metabolism/weight is showing it and b) i'm never going to lose weight, no matter what else i do, by having 3 glasses of wine a night. it's just not going to happen. yesterday was my first no-wine day for as long as i can remember. and really, it wasn't that bad. i made a list yesterday morning of the triggers that i associate with wine (end of the day, cooking dinner, watching TV at night) and then made a list of things i can do instead (drink water, walk the dog, etc.). i missed it, but not that much, and i felt SO much better. i have to figure out how i'll do this going forward, because i'm not willing to give it up completely (nor do i want to) but i have to find a new way to enjoy it. today i'm just taking it one day at a time, until i can get into some new habits. good luck to you.

Perfect timing for this topic for me as well. I struggle with this all the time. I love my Guiness, wine (red/white), Rye....! My husband and I are very social, are involved in a lot of sports and have a lot of neighbors who like to pop in for a beer or whatever. Usually through the week I'm okay. We live in the country so going out with the team after a game I usually don't drink because I have to drive home. But the weekends are really tough. I few things I've done to help the calorie intake is filling my wine glass with ice (yes it dilutes the taste...but it's still wine) I've been mixing my palm bays with 50% club soda. And I keep non alcohol (labatt's blue is my fav, I drank it when I was pregnant) on hand if I'm only having one beer with the neighbors or after doing some yard work it's really no different. Summer is going to be hard but I'm determined.

I really enjoy a drink in the evening, and usually do just fine with one or two. It's when I have more than three that it's a problem. It all fits just fine if I want to maintain my current weight of about 130 lbs. It's trying to cut smaller that I'm having difficulty. Honestly, it isn't the daily drink that's the problem, it's the multiple drink nights. Mostly because lately it's led me to ravenous eating and I end up consuming 3000 or so calories that day.

Which would all be fine and good if I didn't do it two or three days a week. :drinker:

At any rate, I too am trying to cut back. I reeeeaaallly want to have a 4-pack. Which means the Friday happy hour probably has to stop.

I was a steady 3-4 pints a day (or a few cocktails or a bottle of wine) most days. I decided to give it a break in December . I lost 8 pounds in a couple of weeks before even beginning to diet. Do I miss it? some days. most days no I don't. I feel better and am less bloated, I drink a lot more water (I subbed no sodium sparkling water with various bitters for the alcohol) I plan on staying off until next Christmas then I'll start with wine or cocktails. Likely beer will be rare despite my love for it- or maybe more because i love beer)

Life is about balance. Balance doesn't mean giving up things you love; it means figuring out how to fit it in.

THIS!! Spot on...