Drinking one night?

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Ok so I have been very good with staying on track with watching what I eat. I am having a girls night tonight and I would like to have a few drinks with them and let loose a bit, but I don't want to go over my calories too much, so I was thinking of having a snack instead of big dinner. I am pretty well off in the nutrition area and I'm not worried about that at all. I don't do this often, but I was wondering if its a bad thing? A few Bacardi with Diet of course...

Replies

  • mycrazyturtles
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    Only if your trying to build muscle is Alcohol really bad for your body. I just bought Cherry Vodka which as 68 cal per oz. and I got Sierra Mist 0, its amazingly yummy. But I only have 1 drink a week, when I just need to wind down.
  • Veryan7
    Veryan7 Posts: 3 Member
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    Martini exrta dry is one of the lowest in calorie alcoholic drinks when I last reserched it. HAve a good night
  • Starrotts
    Starrotts Posts: 164
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    i had 1 bacardi breeze 409 claories never again....
  • FemininGuns
    FemininGuns Posts: 605 Member
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    Here's some info on the 'drink' - cheers (water)!!!

    From the Health Hound

    As part of my commitment to staying current on the research,
    I have sniffed out some research on alcohol consumption that
    may surprise you.

    A popular myth is that you can drink clear alcohol and as
    long as you count the calories in the alcohol (7 calories
    per gram) you will be fine. Because carbohydrates and
    protein contain 4 calories per gram, and fat contains 9
    calories per gram – the reasoning is that 7 calories in
    alcohol are simply calories and nothing more.

    Well, according to research carried in the American Journal
    of Clinical Nutrition, alcohol puts the brakes on fat
    metabolism (your body’s ability to burn fat as energy) in
    more ways than one. In the study, eight people were given
    two vodka drinks separated by 30 minutes.

    Fat metabolism was checked both before and after each drink.
    It turns out that even hours after drinking both drinks, fat
    metabolism dropped by an incredible 73%. What is happening?

    When you drink alcohol, your liver converts it into a
    substance called acetate. (The acetate levels in the
    subject’s bodies were 2.5 times higher than normal). And it
    is the acetates in your body that make losing blubber almost
    impossible.

    Your body prefers burning acetate to all other sources of
    fuel (fat being one of them), and basically shuts down its
    normal process of burning off any other source of energy.

    In other research, alcohol has been shown to increase
    appetite. When you combine alcohol with meals, studies have
    shown you tend to eat more. And since the alcohol is going
    to serve as your body’s primary source of fuel, all the
    calories go directly to your waistline.

    And finally, alcohol increases your cortisol levels and
    decreases your testosterone levels for about 24 hours after
    you imbibe. And this definitely is not good for trimming
    down or adding muscle!

    So, if you think an alcohol calorie is just a calorie –
    think again!
  • redgrandma
    redgrandma Posts: 15 Member
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    Drinking on an empty or almost empty stomach is not a good idea, it may make you want to drink even more before you realise what you are doing.

    Have a good filling low cal meal before you go and try drinking something that you can top up with low calorie tonic or soda.

    If you are having a girls night out I bet some of them will be on diets too, Try to get them involved , tell them about this site and hopefully you wont go too far wrong, and get some new recruits for MFP.

    the main thing is to enjoy yourself,

    have a good night out
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
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    i had 1 bacardi breeze 409 claories never again....

    I don't plan on intaking those types of mixed drinks, just a few Bacardi and Diet (65 cals each)
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    Options
    Here's some info on the 'drink' - cheers (water)!!!

    From the Health Hound

    As part of my commitment to staying current on the research,
    I have sniffed out some research on alcohol consumption that
    may surprise you.

    A popular myth is that you can drink clear alcohol and as
    long as you count the calories in the alcohol (7 calories
    per gram) you will be fine. Because carbohydrates and
    protein contain 4 calories per gram, and fat contains 9
    calories per gram – the reasoning is that 7 calories in
    alcohol are simply calories and nothing more.

    Well, according to research carried in the American Journal
    of Clinical Nutrition, alcohol puts the brakes on fat
    metabolism (your body’s ability to burn fat as energy) in
    more ways than one. In the study, eight people were given
    two vodka drinks separated by 30 minutes.

    Fat metabolism was checked both before and after each drink.
    It turns out that even hours after drinking both drinks, fat
    metabolism dropped by an incredible 73%. What is happening?

    When you drink alcohol, your liver converts it into a
    substance called acetate. (The acetate levels in the
    subject’s bodies were 2.5 times higher than normal). And it
    is the acetates in your body that make losing blubber almost
    impossible.

    Your body prefers burning acetate to all other sources of
    fuel (fat being one of them), and basically shuts down its
    normal process of burning off any other source of energy.

    In other research, alcohol has been shown to increase
    appetite. When you combine alcohol with meals, studies have
    shown you tend to eat more. And since the alcohol is going
    to serve as your body’s primary source of fuel, all the
    calories go directly to your waistline.

    And finally, alcohol increases your cortisol levels and
    decreases your testosterone levels for about 24 hours after
    you imbibe. And this definitely is not good for trimming
    down or adding muscle!

    So, if you think an alcohol calorie is just a calorie –
    think again!

    My question pretty much was "Is one night out drinking with the girls going to undo everything I have done?" I am not looking to replace frequent meals with alcohol. One night. A few drinks.
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    Options
    Drinking on an empty or almost empty stomach is not a good idea, it may make you want to drink even more before you realise what you are doing.

    Have a good filling low cal meal before you go and try drinking something that you can top up with low calorie tonic or soda.

    If you are having a girls night out I bet some of them will be on diets too, Try to get them involved , tell them about this site and hopefully you wont go too far wrong, and get some new recruits for MFP.

    the main thing is to enjoy yourself,

    have a good night out

    Thank you! I am actually very disciplined when it comes to food. I have the willpower to say no. I know drinking on an empty stomach can be bad. Lol I planned on eating a decent snack but I guess I probably should have said very low cal small meal. :) Yes most of the girls coming tonight are watching what they eat, so I might have some whole wheat chips and salsa out for some light snackage, but that's about it. A couple are on MFP already too!
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
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    Martini exrta dry is one of the lowest in calorie alcoholic drinks when I last reserched it. HAve a good night

    Thanks for the tip! :)
  • Ben2118
    Ben2118 Posts: 571 Member
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    What the poster said about the effects of alcohol is true, however that is only a real problem if you are having a glass or 2 of wine, nearly every night, as long as you are committed (and it sounds like you are) to get straight back at it, it doesn't really matter. I went on a friends birthday night out, had 2 beers and then maybe 4 jack daniels and coke zero's along with a bottle of water, that was 4 days before my weigh in and that week I still lost 3.5lbs so I think what they are saying is if you drink a small amount every night thinking it won't hurt, it will really mess up your weight loss goals, however from experience, one night of fun every now and again is fine, after all I think we deserve it every once in a while :smile:

    Have fun,

    Ben.

    (I probably wouldn't weigh yourself for a few days either as you will have probably retained some water at the scales won't be showing a true indication)
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    Options
    What the poster said about the effects of alcohol is true, however that is only a real problem if you are having a glass or 2 of wine, nearly every night, as long as you are committed (and it sounds like you are) to get straight back at it, it doesn't really matter. I went on a friends birthday night out, had 2 beers and then maybe 4 jack daniels and coke zero's along with a bottle of water, that was 4 days before my weigh in and that week I still lost 3.5lbs so I think what they are saying is if you drink a small amount every night thinking it won't hurt, it will really mess up your weight loss goals, however from experience, one night of fun every now and again is fine, after all I think we deserve it every once in a while :smile:

    Have fun,

    Ben.

    (I probably wouldn't weigh yourself for a few days either as you will have probably retained some water at the scales won't be showing a true indication)

    Thank you very much. That was very helpful and I agree with the having fun every once in a while. And if it makes any difference to ya, I only weigh in once a week max (i try to go 2 weeks) and it's on thursdays :)
  • Ben2118
    Ben2118 Posts: 571 Member
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    I weigh in every tues, I prefer once a week. The fact you are planning ahead and thinking about what to drink speaks volumes! I am sure before you started your journey you wouldn't think twice about what drink you were having (I know I didn't) so that is an achievement in itself, well done! :wink:

    Ben.
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    Options
    I weigh in every tues, I prefer once a week. The fact you are planning ahead and thinking about what to drink speaks volumes! I am sure before you started your journey you wouldn't think twice about what drink you were having (I know I didn't) so that is an achievement in itself, well done! :wink:

    Ben.

    Thank you so much! I try to start each day by thinking who I will be around, what I will be eating, what may influence my plans and I work around it. I used to down rum and regular cokes as well as mixed drinks on my occasional drinking nights like they were nobody's business and it would probably frighten me if I knew how many cals I was intaking! It does mean a lot that you noticed that and your praise is greatly appreciated!