Tips for alcohol drinkers
sdado1013
Posts: 209 Member
I wanted to ask this question to you all its for a friend of mine who is also looking to lose some weight.
Any advice for people who typically drink a few alcoholic beverages per week. She is finding it hard to stay under her daily calorie goal, even with skimping on meals throughout the day in preparation if she knows in advance she is going to drink. Plus then there's the problem of drinking more than she planned for.
She is really looking for some input from other people who drink alcohol frequently and are also looking to lose weight.
She doesn't have a lot of calories to work with cuz she is short too so it doesn't leave a lot of leeway.
Any input is welcomed.
Any advice for people who typically drink a few alcoholic beverages per week. She is finding it hard to stay under her daily calorie goal, even with skimping on meals throughout the day in preparation if she knows in advance she is going to drink. Plus then there's the problem of drinking more than she planned for.
She is really looking for some input from other people who drink alcohol frequently and are also looking to lose weight.
She doesn't have a lot of calories to work with cuz she is short too so it doesn't leave a lot of leeway.
Any input is welcomed.
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Replies
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Exercise more to earn more calories?0
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Save some calories so you can have a drink. Avoid high-calorie drinks like fruit juice or soda based cocktails. Pre-log your drinks like your food.
If she can't stop drinking more than she'd planned, maybe AA? Treated properly, alcohol is just another junk food - you can afford a little but not a lot. Unplanned binge drinking, like binge eating, needs more help than can be offered here.0 -
A shot is ~65kcal, a glass of wine ~125 kcal, a cocktail ~300kcal. "Harder" drinks give you more bang for your calorie. I shaved a few calories off my breakfast and lunch today make room for a margarita tonight--as I would budget for any junk food. On a training day I likely wouldn't even have to worry because the extra 400-800kcal allow quite some leeway in one's eating.
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It's all about making good drink choices. I love cider, but at 220 cals a pint, it's difficult to fit it in under my goal. Instead I have a small glass of wine (85 cals) or if I'm having a big night out I'll drink JD and Diet Coke (65 calories). And I pre-log beforehand.
It's totally do-able
Good luck. 0 -
I wanted to ask this question to you all its for a friend of mine who is also looking to lose some weight.
Any advice for people who typically drink a few alcoholic beverages per week. She is finding it hard to stay under her daily calorie goal, even with skimping on meals throughout the day in preparation if she knows in advance she is going to drink. Plus then there's the problem of drinking more than she planned for.
She is really looking for some input from other people who drink alcohol frequently and are also looking to lose weight.
She doesn't have a lot of calories to work with cuz she is short too so it doesn't leave a lot of leeway.
Any input is welcomed.
There is really only way - increase the day's calorie burn to earn the added calories. And who wouldn't want a drink after 90 - 120 minutes of cardio? ;-)
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I do drink, and a lot when I do. But since I still want to and do drink, I know that my weight loss will be slower by about half. And that's OK. I try to keep my food around 1200 +most of my exercise cals. I'm in a marathon not a sprint, and it's all baby steps.0
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I do drink, and a lot when I do. But since I still want to and do drink, I know that my weight loss will be slower by about half. And that's OK. I try to keep my food around 1200 +most of my exercise cals. I'm in a marathon not a sprint, and it's all baby steps.
So on the days that you do drink do you log it all or do you consider it a "cheat day"? Just wondering what to tell my friend0 -
SingingSingleTracker wrote: »I wanted to ask this question to you all its for a friend of mine who is also looking to lose some weight.
Any advice for people who typically drink a few alcoholic beverages per week. She is finding it hard to stay under her daily calorie goal, even with skimping on meals throughout the day in preparation if she knows in advance she is going to drink. Plus then there's the problem of drinking more than she planned for.
She is really looking for some input from other people who drink alcohol frequently and are also looking to lose weight.
She doesn't have a lot of calories to work with cuz she is short too so it doesn't leave a lot of leeway.
Any input is welcomed.
There is really only way - increase the day's calorie burn to earn the added calories. And who wouldn't want a drink after 90 - 120 minutes of cardio? ;-)
That's a good way to rationalize it. What do you do if you don't know exactly how much you will drink? Run more?0 -
or do you consider it a "cheat day"?
Our body has no concept of a cheat day--I try to log whatever I feed it. That, and one really crazy night can undo a week.0 -
Sounds like your friend has a problem with alcohol. She should work on that first then try to lose weight.0
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There's no easy answer for her.
I'm only on a 1,280 calorie goal and there's simply next to no room for alcohol. I've had two glasses of wine in seven weeks. Once I'm on maintenance I'll be able to have wine more often again.
She can either eat less, or exercise more. That's all there is to it. She can also search the database and see which drink (of those she likes) is lowest in cals.
If it was an occasional night out then I'd say she could have a maintenance day. Change the MFP goal to 'keep weight the same' and see what her daily cals are on maintenance. Then she'll know that she can eat that many cals in a day without regaining weight she's lost - it'll just slow down the weight loss. That can be a safety net. But if she has maintenance cal days several times a week then she won't lose weight.0 -
She is asking a sensible question. Humans drink and sometimes drink more then expected. Are the AA comments really nessasary?
Just earn more calories through exercise. For the day and for the week. Log it the best you can. As long as you stay within your weekly calories earned you are good. If you continue to go over that then you will not loose. As one of the above posted said it will slow down your weightloss if you drink. Goodluck and enjoy life!;)0 -
SingingSingleTracker wrote: »I wanted to ask this question to you all its for a friend of mine who is also looking to lose some weight.
Any advice for people who typically drink a few alcoholic beverages per week. She is finding it hard to stay under her daily calorie goal, even with skimping on meals throughout the day in preparation if she knows in advance she is going to drink. Plus then there's the problem of drinking more than she planned for.
She is really looking for some input from other people who drink alcohol frequently and are also looking to lose weight.
She doesn't have a lot of calories to work with cuz she is short too so it doesn't leave a lot of leeway.
Any input is welcomed.
There is really only way - increase the day's calorie burn to earn the added calories. And who wouldn't want a drink after 90 - 120 minutes of cardio? ;-)
That's a good way to rationalize it. What do you do if you don't know exactly how much you will drink? Run more?
Well, I pretty much know my limitations in terms of how much alcohol I can consume to get a nice buzz before it becomes pretty much a pointless exercise in taking another sip (such as getting sick, having a hangover, or worse).
Whether it is a few beers, a bottle of wine, a pair of cocktails - I know pretty much how many calories are involved, and I know how to do a 1000 - 2000 calorie burn on the bike to prepare for such a consumption. Earn the burn, and burn the earn...0 -
Yeah, dont drink alcohol so much....0
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I have a glass of wine or two most days. More at the weekend.
I've lost 20lb since the start of this year...thats 7 or 8 weeks.
I log it all. If there is a night out planned I will exercise more in the week to "save up". I take a weekly average of calories so a day high or a day low do not bother me... I average 1350 a day.
And yes. I drink too much. I also smoke. So frickin' crucify me.
Unless someone says "HELP I have a problem with alcohol" suggesting AA is not helpful.0 -
I dring 3 measured oz of red wine out of a small whiskey glass 3-4 days a week and a half shot to a shot of whiskey 3-4 times a month. These are both things that I could give up but I enjoy - really enjoy!- and would mess with my long term loss. I did cut both dramatically - I could easily have double the wine and whiskey 2-3 times a week. I would say cut it in half - try smaller glasses, and drink fizzy water for appetizers and dinner when you want to drink. Tell her good luck!
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when I cut I have to dial back the alcohol consumption. I drink 5ish days per week when I'm in maintenance...when I'm cutting I pretty much only drink 1-2 days per week. When I'm in maintenance I enjoy good craft beers...when I cut, my drink of choice is a vodka or gin and diet tonic or red wine.0
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