Alcohol is evil

Omicron
Omicron Posts: 48 Member
edited September 25 in Food and Nutrition
I am so frustrated. The scale didn’t move this week. I ate good foods, stayed 22% below my daily calorie goal (set to lose 1.5 lbs per week) and got the same amount of activity that I usually do. The only difference was going to the bar to celebrate a friend’s birthday and my anniversary. I’ve been good, haven’t been consuming much alcohol since it impacts metabolism and tends to be expensive on my calorie bank but it was a celebration, so I splurged. I thought I did pretty well in staying away from my favorite high calorie beers choosing instead to have Malibu & Diet Cokes. I didn’t over do it on the drinking; I had a total of 393 calories in alcohol delivered through 5 mixed drinks and 2 shots over the period of about 5 hours. Not bad I thought, considering I’d get about 2 pints of Guinness for the same calories.

Pfft, not bad my *kitten*. I’m not working this hard logging everything I consume and do to allow some seemingly innocent over indulgence to get between me and my goal. I’m not saying I’m turning my back on alcohol completely but I am definitely not doing that again.

Score this week: Alcohol 1 : waist line 0

:grumble:

Replies

  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
    When you consume alcohol the body stops burning anything else to process and burn off the alcohol first. So, in essence you are defeating the purpose when consuming alcohol, especially 5 drinks.

    It is best to either abstain or have a minimal amount, such as 1, maybe 2 drinks when going out with family and friends.
  • Omicron
    Omicron Posts: 48 Member
    I know, that’s why I have limited my drinks to one every week or two. This was the first time since starting MFP that I had a number of drinks. This weekend definitely proved that it isn't worth it at all.
  • NYCDutchess
    NYCDutchess Posts: 622 Member
    I've sworn off alcohol until my trip ie: goal date.
    For the reasons mentioned above...just want to get my body in shape.
  • barbntx
    barbntx Posts: 6 Member
    I have the same issues. I LOVE an iced cold beer. So now I am allowing myself 2 a week and no more. It is really hard sometimes but I am trying to stay focused. You can do it if I can, lol. Barb
  • Janet39
    Janet39 Posts: 280 Member
    How many days after the alcohol did you weigh yourself. I find I hold water if I have been on the beer the night before.

    It will probably sort itself out, chin up.
  • Sarahr73
    Sarahr73 Posts: 454 Member
    When you consume alcohol the body stops burning anything else to process and burn off the alcohol first. So, in essence you are defeating the purpose when consuming alcohol, especially 5 drinks.

    It is best to either abstain or have a minimal amount, such as 1, maybe 2 drinks when going out with family and friends.

    Alcohol also stops your body from burning fat until the alcohol is out of your system. I agree with either abstaining or limiting your intake. I haven't had any drinks, except for one the weekend before St. Patricks Day, for a little over a month. My fiance made me a drink this weekend to celebrate how good I've been doing and I could only drink half before I felt sick from it. So, if you abstain, you will eventually not even want it and it will be easy to say no.
  • npellegrine
    npellegrine Posts: 1
    Funny but on WW you can have alcohol and loose weight. Its almost the same as counting calories, but on WW I can eat a whole lot more than on this and loose a whole lot more as well. I dont understand that.
  • Omicron
    Omicron Posts: 48 Member
    There were 5 days between consumption and official weekly weigh in. I knew from research that my metabolism would be impacted but I did not realize to what extent and length that impact would be.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    It doesn't seem like less than 400 calories of alcohol would do much damage. I budget in calories for wine every week and my losses haven't been hindered. I am guessing this varies by person though. Maybe I'd lose more without drinking but I enjoy wine so I have to learn to live with it so I will keep up eating this way forever. I don't find alcohol any more evil than any other empty calories, whether it be diet soda, 100 calorie snack packs of crap food, or whatever.
  • mallorybriann
    mallorybriann Posts: 1,380 Member
    I went out two weekends in a row and consumed tooo much alcohol. Scale went up FOUR pounds. How hard I had to work to get rid of that four pounds was NOT worth the alcohol LOL
    And come to find out, I have gallbladder issues which are aggravated by alcohol, soooo that makes it easy to stay away from it!
    :(
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
    Why are you consistently staying 22% below your calorie goal?

    Have you considered that you may not be eating enough?
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    It doesn't seem like less than 400 calories of alcohol would do much damage. I budget in calories for wine every week and my losses haven't been hindered. I am guessing this varies by person though. Maybe I'd lose more without drinking but I enjoy wine so I have to learn to live with it so I will keep up eating this way forever. I don't find alcohol any more evil than any other empty calories, whether it be diet soda, 100 calorie snack packs of crap food, or whatever.

    Exactly.

    Whilst alcohol isn't the greatest thing in the world for fat storage its effect tends to be overblown to the point of scare mongering.

    If you do have a drinking session on the cards then I would reduce carb intake for the day and ensure protein levels remained high. I would make sure that the amount of calories fitted in with my goals and most importantly that I didn't hoover up all the food in the immediate vicinity because I was tipsy...

    Oh, and alcohol is a diuretic. It will flush water out of your system in the short term if you drink enough of the stuff. You body will then work to restore water levels back to slightly higher levels than normal to compensate. This leads to a short term spike in scale weight. It's highly unlikely that anyone is gaining lbs and lbs of fat over the course of a few days due to purely alcohol consumption unless it is coupled with MASSIVE bingeing and even then it is unlikely...
  • Omicron
    Omicron Posts: 48 Member
    @Atlantique: I have my daily goal set at 1600 cals but typically consume 1400 to 1500 which I do not think is too few calories. I've been losing a steady 2 lbs a week until this past week when it was stagnant. It could be a coincidence but my boyfriend, who also consumed a number of drinks and stuck to his calorie goal also did not loose this week. We'll see what this next week brings minus the alcohol and go from there.
  • Balishdear
    Balishdear Posts: 60
    What about two full glasses of wine? Good or bad?
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    What about two full glasses of wine? Good or bad?

    Moderate alcohol consumption is fine as long as you stay reasonably within your calorie deficit and eat well most of the time.

    The problem with booze is generally the other crap people shovel down their gullets when they get drunk leading to fat storage as well as decrease of testesterone levels (more of a problem for guys then ladies and also exaggerated.)

    Honestly, sometimes I think the sole mission of fitness "gurus" is to make the most people the most miserable for the most amount of time. Enjoy a glass or two with a clear conscience.
  • Taylor521
    Taylor521 Posts: 48 Member
    I drank 4-500 dollars worth of alcohol over my spring break and I think I lost a half a pound, while eating restaurant food the whole time. Shrug.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    What about two full glasses of wine? Good or bad?

    I will drink that a few times a week and it works for me. Most people have a few hundred calories a week they use for nutritionally void items, whether it be wine, soda, cookies, etc.
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