anyone trying to take control over beer?

2»

Replies

  • kuolo
    kuolo Posts: 251 Member
    I've been in this position... a few times now. First thing, I find it really hard to break the habit without upping my calories temporarily, and I will tend to eat a lot more in the evenings to try to suppress the cravings (I don't know if you will get cravings. I did). But if you are serious about it and you do get cravings (which is probably a sign that you really do need to take a break) it's going to be worth upping you calories temporarily and allowing yourself a little wriggle room. And it is only temporary, in my experience. Also, I think it can make it easier if you change your routine, keep occupied, substitute something else (another kind of non-alc drink), etc. It's hard but it can be done, and it does get easier - good luck! If I think of anything else I will add it...
  • ZOOpergal
    ZOOpergal Posts: 176 Member
    I pretty much could have written this post. I love beer, and to be honest, I've kept my diary closed because I don't want people to see HOW MUCH I love beer. Lots of people have said to stop drinking so much, or choose something else to do instead of drinking, etc...And those are probably the best answers. BUT, if you're like me, these aren't the answers that you are looking for. I personally don't drink because my life is awful, or I'm stressed, or I want to forget about things. I drink because I like to. It's that simple. I'm sure I probably shouldn't drink as much as I do, but right now its what I feel like doing and its not ruining my life or weight loss. I've lost 14 pounds since January 2nd, all without changing my drinking habits. I do acknowledge of course that drinking beer so much isn't good for my long term health...but for right now its what I like doing. I eat great during the day, I'm not hungry, I'm not starving myself. That being said, I typically have almost 1000 calories left when I go home from work. (I earn a lot of those through exercise.) That leaves me some play to eat a little and also enjoy some beer. Sometimes I just drink the thousand calories. After a few beers any hunger I felt goes away.
  • Mar_11
    Mar_11 Posts: 35
    WOW! I'll be honest.. I didn't expect so many supportive responses!! I truly expected a huge bashing from people. MFP'ers really surprise me. I would love to comment on everyone who posted but if I did that I wouldn't have time to ride my bike to make room for beer. LOL

    After reading all the posts, I have to say it is part habit that I drink daily and part that I just enjoy drinking beer, not to mention, hubby drinks daily so I'm not sure I could be around it and not drink. His job is very active so he doesn't have a weight problem. Plus I'm not sure I want to get rid of that part of my life. That may sound bad but it's the truth. Just thinking about cutting it completely out or even cutting down to Friday and Saturday nights stressed me.

    I have decided that if I want to continue drinking, I will now EARN my beer vs cutting calories from nutritious foods during the day. Currently, I'm allowed 1,470 calories a day (without exercise) and was eating about 800-900 to leave room for beer. It's rare that I felt hungry but when I did, I didn't want to eat so I had those calories in reserve. Now, I will make sure I get on my bike or treadmill to earn those indulgent calories.

    Thanks again for all the support!
  • Mar_11
    Mar_11 Posts: 35
    I pretty much could have written this post. I love beer, and to be honest, I've kept my diary closed because I don't want people to see HOW MUCH I love beer. Lots of people have said to stop drinking so much, or choose something else to do instead of drinking, etc...And those are probably the best answers. BUT, if you're like me, these aren't the answers that you are looking for. I personally don't drink because my life is awful, or I'm stressed, or I want to forget about things. I drink because I like to. It's that simple. I'm sure I probably shouldn't drink as much as I do, but right now its what I feel like doing and its not ruining my life or weight loss. I've lost 14 pounds since January 2nd, all without changing my drinking habits. I do acknowledge of course that drinking beer so much isn't good for my long term health...but for right now its what I like doing. I eat great during the day, I'm not hungry, I'm not starving myself. That being said, I typically have almost 1000 calories left when I go home from work. (I earn a lot of those through exercise.) That leaves me some play to eat a little and also enjoy some beer. Sometimes I just drink the thousand calories. After a few beers any hunger I felt goes away.

    You and I could have been siblings separated at birth!
  • Mar_11
    Mar_11 Posts: 35
    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... :)

    Yep, that is what I have decided to do!
  • Mar_11
    Mar_11 Posts: 35
    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).

    We drink watered down beer here aka Busch light.. 95 calories for 12 ounces :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    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... :)
    I agree. In some cases, we tweak them (choosing the lower calorie guinness over the IPA sometimes) and in some cases we imbibe in moderation.
    I love wine. I skip the bread baskets. Some folks would have a little bread, a little wine. We make our priorities, and we figure out how to make it work for the long haul.
  • beachylove
    beachylove Posts: 137 Member
    My husband and I are self proclaimed beer snobs (we frequent several of our local breweries and love our beer) I don't think I could ever fully give up beer. Hell we plan vacations around breweries we want to visit.

    We cut it back no drinks Monday-Friday, we still enjoy our beer on the weekends and when we hit up a brewery we get some samples and share them. It gives us the taste without drinking the entire pint. Or when friends come over with beer they have purchased we bust out small glasses and split one bottle. We will have a pint here and there or will do 1/2 pints which a lot more places have started offering....we keep our intake lower so we can still enjoy the deliciousness that is food. :drinker:
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    Fit it into your day?

    I started getting into craft beer and trying a different beer each time and enjoying the complex tastes etc...

    Theres nothing quite like a cold beer after a day of mowing the lawn in the hot sun though!
  • 1stday13
    1stday13 Posts: 433 Member
    Right there with ya'll! Someone mentioned closed diary, not wanting friends to see how much she drank. My friends can tell when I'm on a binge because I do not log anything :noway: On those days I end up drinking all + of my calories for the day. I am /have been /will be again in the same places as many of you.:drinker:
  • sabrinarando
    sabrinarando Posts: 1 Member
    I'm in the same boat. I just love beer. And my husband drinks nightly to unwind. It's hard! Like some of you, I have also gone out of my way to not log my beer. Sadly, even though I didn't log them, the calories still counted! Ugh. So now I'm going to log them, try to only have 1 a night, and make sure that I earn any additional ones :) I'd love to be friends with anyone on this thread!
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
    Ditto to all. I've been struggling with this as well, I don't log my alcohol at all. I'm a vodka and crystal light drinker, probably 2 drinks (4-6 oz total) and 1-2 glasses of red wine (this is a habit my husband and I do every night after the kids go to bed). I drink all evening, so don't really get drunk, 5-11pm, 4 drinks, and I sip slowly. This is an extra 500+ cals a day. I'm pretty sure it's why my weight loss has been slow this time around. From the replies here, I think I'm going to try to cut down to 2 a night and have a bottle of water in between. Hubs and I just enjoy the adult beverages...:drinker:
  • mrsfyredude
    mrsfyredude Posts: 177 Member
    My husband and I are self proclaimed beer snobs (we frequent several of our local breweries and love our beer) I don't think I could ever fully give up beer. Hell we plan vacations around breweries we want to visit.

    We cut it back no drinks Monday-Friday, we still enjoy our beer on the weekends and when we hit up a brewery we get some samples and share them. It gives us the taste without drinking the entire pint. Or when friends come over with beer they have purchased we bust out small glasses and split one bottle. We will have a pint here and there or will do 1/2 pints which a lot more places have started offering....we keep our intake lower so we can still enjoy the deliciousness that is food. :drinker:

    I had to laugh at this post, as my hubby and I proclaim the same.....no Coors, or Bud or Michelob for us...it gives us headaches now! Drink on beer snobs! :drinker:

    ETA: I'm more worried about my addiction to coffee creamers really, I can give up beer, and I have, but coffee creamer! UGH!
  • beachylove
    beachylove Posts: 137 Member
    My husband and I are self proclaimed beer snobs (we frequent several of our local breweries and love our beer) I don't think I could ever fully give up beer. Hell we plan vacations around breweries we want to visit.

    We cut it back no drinks Monday-Friday, we still enjoy our beer on the weekends and when we hit up a brewery we get some samples and share them. It gives us the taste without drinking the entire pint. Or when friends come over with beer they have purchased we bust out small glasses and split one bottle. We will have a pint here and there or will do 1/2 pints which a lot more places have started offering....we keep our intake lower so we can still enjoy the deliciousness that is food. :drinker:

    I had to laugh at this post, as my hubby and I proclaim the same.....no Coors, or Bud or Michelob for us...it gives us headaches now! Drink on beer snobs! :drinker:

    ETA: I'm more worried about my addiction to coffee creamers really, I can give up beer, and I have, but coffee creamer! UGH!

    :bigsmile: Happy to hear we are not alone in our love of the delicious that is out there.

    Oh man coffee creamer used to be my vice, I have gotten so much better with it now but there are days I cave and still have some.
  • tanviranwar
    tanviranwar Posts: 1
    Living in the Pacific Northwest, I've been a big beer drinker myself. Drinking one beer a day isn't that bad, it's typically 130-250 calories. I found out that I am snacking more on junk and high calorie food when I was drinking 4-5 beers a night. Now-a-days, I just stay away from chips and nachos - and treat myself with wings once every 2 weeks. I try to check myself with just one drink a night, snack on veggies and walk a little more to offset the extra calories.
  • janicelo1971
    janicelo1971 Posts: 823 Member
    no beer here, but I do drink tequila ....for the last week just once, however im working hard at changing up my routine as it was almost nightly for the last year...I do log it under quickadd calories...but yea, I agree out nutrition must be suffering...I know I eat about 600 calories on days I drink to stay in my calorie allowance!! not much weight loss either I must add...amazing how others here state they do NOT Log the beer, but no mention of weight gain or anything from their extra calories?:drinker:
  • AlliSteff
    AlliSteff Posts: 211 Member
    First, I switched from beer to wine at home- I do not really keep beer in my fridge, so now I only have it if we go out.

    Then, I slowly eliminated evening glasses of wine during the week (unless we go out to dinner or something on my gym night off- Wednesday)

    But oy, good craft beers always have a ton of calories, don't they?
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Yeah, mine regularly wrestles the remote control away from me. It prefers to watch football. :grumble:

    Seriously though, I usually drink stuff if it is around. But have periods of time when I purposely don't keep it around, because I find I don't give a hoot about my macros or calorie goals after a couple of drinks.
  • Mar_11
    Mar_11 Posts: 35
    For a long time, I had a closed diary and logged the beer. Then I posted this and opened my diary. It is what it is! This is me and I will find a way to make weight loss and beer work together.. it just means I have to move more to allow for beer, which isn't a bad thing.

    I'm glad that this post has had such positive responses and may have even helped others. Hugsss to all!
  • krawhitham
    krawhitham Posts: 831 Member
    I'm a big drinker and I find that I make rules for myself. Rule #! is that I only drink on Friday NIGHTS, Saturdays and Sundays. Those are my drinking days, period.

    Another way I get my mind of having a drink is going to the gym, or taking a long walk. When I get out of the house and start to sweat, I don't want to sit on my butt with a cold one.

    I probably have 4-6 drinks a week, and it's usually like 1-2 Fri night, 1-2 Saturday and 1 sunday, or something like that.

    I also drink a load of tea. If I feel I need something to sip on and relax, late at night a Ginger or Peppermint tea (with honey) really puts my mind and tummy at ease.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
    Remember "It's all just piss colored water". ( from the movie Brew.)
  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
    I cut the booze out pretty much completely.

    Been maybe 3 weeks since I've had a drink, which was the equivalent of two beers at a restaurant.

    Before I started trying to get fit I was drinking 4 whiskey cocktails a night, maybe 4 nights a week. Sometimes every night.

    It just doesn't fit with my goals anymore. I'd rather the calories fuel my workouts or refuel my muscles. I don't want it making me tired the next day for workouts. Or tired in general.

    Not sure if my thoughts on that will relax over time or not but that's the way I feel right now.
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
    Nope - decided a couple of times in my life I would reduce my beer consumption or try low-cal beers. Not sustainable for me and makes me unhappy.

    Beer makes me happy - I fit it in.

    I also brew my own.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
    I love beer and wine. I won't give it up completely, but I have changed my habits with it a bit recently.

    I find I sleep much better when I don't drink (even one or two tends to make me restless at night) so I either stop drinking well before bedtime or I don't drink on nights I have to get up early the next day.

    As far as fitting it into my calorie count, I don't worry about it. If I'm going to drink, I will enjoy it and just try to make good food choices.

Categories