Should I quit drinking?

I only drink on nights where I'm under my calorie goal and have already done sufficient exercise for the day. I find that alcohol loosens my inhibitions around food too so this way if I'm tempted to have a snack after drinking, I can log it and still be accountable. I generally stick to variations of vodka martinis when I'm out and just log them. No reason for me not to get a buzz on if I'm out on a date or with some friends.

I think one question to ask is , why do you drink? Is it just to be social? If it is wouldn't any beverage work? Or is it the buzz you are after? That was my reason. For me the only reason to drink alcohol is for the buzz. Over time (long time) I realized that the buzz was not worth it. I was smoking then and when I smoked and drank I smoked twice as much. Also before going to bed after drinking I ate to ward off the hangover. I still like to get a little buzz on but instead of weekly it's is once or twice a year and then I keep it in moderation.
My vote for you is either quit or only once or twice a month. The calories only hurt, yet that can be said about all over indulgences. I plan for my favorite foods and not more than once or twice a month and only for one meal. I may or may not include alcohol .
Well as usual I ran on at the fingers. I do hope there is a bite or two of food for thought here. lol
Good luck, Tricia

I didn't actually "quit", I just couldn't find a way to fit it in to my calories. Now, I may have a drink or two during special dinners or when I am out but I don't drink at home any more and I don't go out to drink, I go out for dinner or to a party and the drinking is secondary to the company. I do enjoy wine and an occasional beer and I suspect that when I start maintenance those will be the first things I will add in. On the other hand, I really don't care if I have alcohol one way or the other.

YOU have to decide if cutting it out or severely restricting it is the best path for you to reach your goals. If alcohol is causing you to go above your calories regularly, either psychologically because of the loss of inhibition or physically because of the extra calories, it might not be a bad idea to cut back. Only you can prioritize for yourself.

I don't drink any alcohol myself, largely because I don't tend to feel good after drinking even small amounts of it, and as a distant second I would rather spend the calories elsewhere.

Having said that, as it pertains to YOUR situation:

1) Is your alcohol consumption actively preventing you from reaching your goals?
2) Do you feel bad about your alcohol consumption or is it damaging relationships in your life, or causing you problems with your lifestyle?

If the answer is yes to the above then you probably should consider quitting, or reducing the frequency or amount until the above answers are both no.

And if you answered a genuine no to the above, then enjoy your alcohol.

Which is more important to you? getting to goal weight or drinking? but don't kid yourself. you won't stay at goal with empty calories sneaking in (says the woman who had a skinny margarita tonight... yeah but i don't drink anymore, truly. why today? idk, but figured wth).

the thing is.. it's not just empty calories. it's how your body converts that that also takes it usually out of wanting to be an option for me.

I disagree with this. First of all it's not necessarily an either/or. In almost all scenarios one can enjoy some amount of alcohol and still meet goal weight or make progress in body composition.

And the claim about empty calories is only true if the quantity of those empty calories causes someone to not be able to adhere to a deficit and that would require a fair amount of drinking. You're making it sound like any empty calories are arbitrarily bad and that's certainly not true. Just about everyone has room for SOME amount of discretionary (empty) calories. Creating an all-or-nothing mentality isn't a good way to go about things for most people.

Yes! You should completely stop drinking if you want to loose. Only drink you can allow yourself, once in a while, can be vodka with ice and lemon/lime and/or gin.

There are some great points made in this thread and some not-so-great ones as well. As with any food/drink, don't cut out anything to lose weight that you don't plan on giving up forever. Seriously. Forever. If you lose the weight because you quit drinking, but start drinking again because you lost weight .. guess what will happen.

You can still drink and lose weight. With anything else, check your intake. Can you work it into your daily goals without sacrificing nutrients? Go for it!

Alcohol tastes great and is pleasurable to drink in moderation. Everybody is different; do what works for you.

Im not an alcoholic but i do drink pretty regularly and ive been thinking about quitting drinking until i reach my goal weight. I feel like alcohol is hindering my weight loss. i was just wondering if anyone else felt this way? Has anyone quit drinking to loss weight?
What were your results?

Personally I think nothing good can come from drinking any alcohol in any amount. It costs a lot, it takes up time, it causes headaches, it causes fatigue and any friendly bonding done under the influence of alcohol is illusory.

I quit 14 years ago and I haven't regretted it for one second. I didn't use a program or any support. I just quit. Contrary to popular belief, that's the most common way to quit anything. Independently, quietly, permanently. No big deal to make of it.

Even if you quit temporarily you can only do better and feel better without drinking. Obviously you'll be able to eat more as you're losing weight because you'll be saving a lot of calories. It can only help with your weight loss goals to quit drinking.

It's good that you were able to quit independently and quietly.

But if you are actually an alcholic it is sometimes necessary to make a deal of it as unsupervised detox can be fatal. But there's nowt more quiet that that, right?