Alcohol and dieting

I don't drink often mostly because I would rather use extra calories on food. Also, if I have a couple of cocktails it usually leads me to eating poorly.

I'm sure I drank more than the average person before I started using MFP. I never considered it to be a problem until the last year or two when I started to figure I should probably cut back for overall health reasons. People who don't drink or drink very little would have possibly considered the amount I drank as problematic. Even though I'm in my 30s, my partner and most of my friends are artists or musicians and it's the norm for many people I know to drink regularly. I work in social services and actually a lot of my coworkers drink pretty liberally sometimes too, but maybe that's just the company I keep! (young-ish people without kids I guess, = more hanging out and drinking, typically).

I had never even really considered the amount of calories in alcohol. I would have a few (to a few to many) drinks almost every weekend, and sometimes a glass (or two, or three) of wine or beer on some weekdays. I'd almost never go a week without having a few drinks. Once I started using MFP though, I was determined to stick to daily deficits and pretty effortlessly cut out almost all alcohol intake as a result, it was easier than I thought it would be and has put my mind at ease knowing that it was more a function of my social life than a need to just drink. When I was younger my social anxiety was very high and the thought of facing people in a social situation while sober was kind of terrifying, but that has abated over the years. Now I don't even really want to drink most of the time, but when I do I typically don't have more than a couple. On days when I'm out with friends or my partner and do decide to drink, It's pretty much impossible to meet my deficit goal (1340) so I give myself some leeway and consider it a success if I stay at or around maintenance (1840). I didn't have a huge amount of weight to lose, but I've been at least 15 pounds heavier than I'd like to be for pretty much my entire adult life. After having a few drinks I invariably want to eat pizza or other high calorie food, so cutting way back on alcohol has been doubly effective as it dramatically decreases those insatiable late night cravings.

Random thing that I've learned works for me for some reason - I don't like flavoured/sweetened soda really, but I find that drinking plain old carbonated water is really satisfying, and kind of reminiscent of drinking beer if you drink it out of a glass bottle. Maybe I'm a weirdo but I can't get enough carbonated water lately. Club soda and bar lime makes for a decent drink at a bar if you want to go out but want to avoid drinking too much, too.

I don't drink often; actually, since starting my journey, my tolerance has gone down and I consume a lot less when I do drink. I've actually lost my taste for it, for the most part, as well. Having a full blown hangover from a few glasses of wine or two mixed drinks now (which were no problem when I was 30+lb heavier) kind of ruins the experience as well, haha.

I personally drink rarely now by choice. I save it for special occasions or the occasional night out with friends. I make anything I want fit within my intake when I do decide to.

Really, I don't want to cut alcohol out completely. However, I can't fit it in if I don't work out that day. I think this is one of the things that keeps me going back to the gym (particularly on the weekends)

I cut back. and, I NEVER thought I could do that. I am a hop head. Two summers ago I discovered the world of craft beers. Yeah, I put on the pounds. Now I drink crap beer, Select 55, if I want it during the week. Yawn. I will indulge in one pint of sensual craft beer here & there. Those babies can be over 200 calories. Also, my workout schedule is 6 days a week now. I got tired of working out hungover. Not fun.

terar21 wrote: »

I drink probably 2 nights a week, maybe 3 depending on if I go out. The way I look at it for myself is moderation and fitting it into my daily calories. There's no reason I can't find calories for a glass of wine. I've also learned to like vodka with sparkling water and a little lime. I can make several of those fit into a day lol.

I also have a healthy relationship with maintenance days

It's not a big mental barrier for me to decide "today is a day where I get to eat a maintenance and enjoy a night out" and go right back to a deficit the next day.

I love this. This is how it should be. I find myself blaming my one or two (or, last night, three) beers on why I'm not losing weight though. If I didn't drink beer, I probably wouldn't eat any carbs.

I used to drink daily, and was still able to lose weight. However, it often led to temporary setbacks due to binges in eating and drinking and everything that goes with that (hangovers, missed workouts, etc.). I've now cut way back, having a drink 1-2 nights during the week and then having a few on Friday or Saturday nights. As a result, my losses are a lot steadier and I miss fewer workouts so my fitness gains have improved drastically. As with anything, do what works for you, but just wanted to share my example in case it helped anyone.

I drink a half a beer with dinner pretty much every night and then on Fridays I tend to have a Diet Coke and spiced rum. I just need 2.5-3oz to get a good buzz. The other good or bad thing about losing so much weight is that it takes less booze to get going.

Yesterday I had a pint after work with a friend. I worked it into my calories. And it was fine. Tomorrow night I'll have a vodka tonic or two at a party along with pizza. Again, I'll work it in. No problem.