Off to a good start but beginning to slip. My social life revolves around food and alcohol.

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jenlynn1411
jenlynn1411 Posts: 3 Member
in Motivation and Support
I have been doing well and was pretty proud of myself but over the weekend I ate over my calories and drank beer on top of it. I do this every time I diet and eventually it makes me give up. I don't have much money so my normal weekend activity is to have friends over, sit at the bar, drink and eat. This habit had made it nearly impossible to lose weight in the past and I have a lot to lose so I need to get serious but I could use some support and motivation. Please send me a request and hopefully we can help each other. Also if you have advice on how to have a social life without ruining my diet please comment.

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  • tdatsenko
    tdatsenko Posts: 155 Member
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    I just eat less during the week so that I can eat more on the weekend. As long as my weekly average balances out, I'm happy.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    Girl, we have friends over every single weekend! We also love the food carts on the weekends. I love my craft beer and have a growler refill joint a couple blocks away and I take advantage of it! It's not really about taking away what you love it's about making it all fit in. I run and I lift, I burn a lot of calories and I work out hard 6 days a week, from one to two hours depending on the day. I do this because I love food, drinks, etc. some people HATE to work out and they can lose by restricting their diet. I'm not one of those, I love cooking and eating too much so it's a good thing we are active - biking, running, hiking, pole dancing, paddle boarding, etc. I've been in maintenance for several years. Maybe that's how you have to look at it also? oh and also things like low cal drinks, low cal appetizers, etc that's something else you can look at....
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Work it into your calorie goal, get some extra exercise and enjoy yourself.

    Most people have the same kind of social life and make it work.
  • njfitnessmom
    njfitnessmom Posts: 345 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I basically do the same thing as OP and try to stay under my calories during the week so I have room to enjoy a couple drinks on the weekends. I also try and stay away from high calorie mixed drinks with tons of sugar. I tend to drink mostly corona lights or vodka and water with lemon. Another thing I do is try and get a good workout in earlier in the day if I know I'll be having some drinks that evening. Feel free to add me as a friend.
  • Altagracia220
    Altagracia220 Posts: 876 Member
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    tdatsenko wrote: »
    I just eat less during the week so that I can eat more on the weekend. As long as my weekly average balances out, I'm happy.

    This is a good idea. Maybe cut your daily calorie limit by 100-200 to save for the weekend?

    What if you and your friends go out drinking weekends once or twice a month and the other weekends ya'll walk in the park or exercise together?
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
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    -Eat less during the week and save those calories for the weekend.
    -Choose alcohols that have less calories or don't include a lot of sugary mixers. Wine is 125 calories a glass. Straight alcohol (vodka, bourbon, scotch) is also a good option. Even with beer, some are better choices than others.
    -Occasionally do something that doesn't involve alcohol...watch a movie, meet friends in the afternoon and go to the park, walk around the city and get coffee...whatever.
    -Occasionally make some better food choices. If you're going to eat with your friends, that's fine...you need to eat regardless! But you don't ALWAYS have to eat high calorie things with them. You can mix in some healthier choices on occasion.
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    Pre log your food and drinks... after all, since you do this every weekend you already have an idea of the foods and drinks you have. That way you'll know how many calories you're consuming, and you can work around that earlier in the day by eating less. Also, workout during the day so you have more calories to work with. :)
  • Daveysgirl2014
    Daveysgirl2014 Posts: 41 Member
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    I'm so glad someone posted on this. My husband and I enjoy drinking together and with friends and we love, love to grill burgers, etc. I just got started with this last Friday. Been getting depressed looking at my body in the mirror for some time now. I have a wonderful husband who lets me know on a daily basis that he loves me at any size but I'm bigger than I've even been and I really need to change that. I am 41 and approximately 5ft and currently weight 147 lbs. I do a pretty intense workout three days a week but overeating has always been my problem. Right now I am taking baby steps with this. I know that even though I work out and earn calories I should still try not to use them but again, baby steps right now. At this point I am just mainly focusing on my calorie intake but eventually need to start paying attention to sodium intake etc. Part of my problem there is that my knowledge of food sort of sucks. I bought a thing of Hillshire Farms turkey to make sandwiches for lunch and thought I was doing a good thing. Calorie wise I did but it is loaded with sodium. Maybe a stupid question but if I buy meat from the deli rather than off the shelf, will it contain less sodium? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,780 Member
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    jenfichter wrote: »
    I have been doing well and was pretty proud of myself but over the weekend I ate over my calories and drank beer on top of it. I do this every time I diet and eventually it makes me give up. I don't have much money so my normal weekend activity is to have friends over, sit at the bar, drink and eat. This habit had made it nearly impossible to lose weight in the past and I have a lot to lose so I need to get serious but I could use some support and motivation. Please send me a request and hopefully we can help each other. Also if you have advice on how to have a social life without ruining my diet please comment.

    My first piece of advice is to stop calling it a diet.

    I mean, to me, anyway -- there is no end to what I am doing. I will never eat again like i did 3 years ago. I changed my lifestyle for good. I'm not on a diet. This is just how/what I eat now.

    I have pretty much done this without sacrificing much. Salad for fries here. Carrots for chips there. But I eat pizza, wings, nachos, burgers, etc. and i have my beer.

    if i go over one day, or a couple, i just try again tomorrow.

    look, it's taken me 3 years to lose 60 lbs. To say that i did this slowly is an understatement... but I did it in a way that I could fully integrate it with my life. not make drastic changes.

  • jenlynn1411
    jenlynn1411 Posts: 3 Member
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    Maybe my problem is I want to lose weight too quickly. I'm just sick of being tired all the time. I have two boys to keep up with and it's not easy with all this extra weight. I will try a longer workout on Saturday morning and make Saturday night my drinking night. I'll still have to cut back though. Since I've gained weight it takes a lot more alcohol to get me drunk which adds up to way too many calories. I wish I lived in Colorado ;)
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,780 Member
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    jenfichter wrote: »
    Maybe my problem is I want to lose weight too quickly. I'm just sick of being tired all the time. I have two boys to keep up with and it's not easy with all this extra weight. I will try a longer workout on Saturday morning and make Saturday night my drinking night. I'll still have to cut back though. Since I've gained weight it takes a lot more alcohol to get me drunk which adds up to way too many calories. I wish I lived in Colorado ;)

    Yeah... Like that doesn't cause munchies... ;)
  • JaimusWilliams
    JaimusWilliams Posts: 84 Member
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    jenlynn1411 wrote: »
    Maybe my problem is I want to lose weight too quickly. I'm just sick of being tired all the time. I have two boys to keep up with and it's not easy with all this extra weight. I will try a longer workout on Saturday morning and make Saturday night my drinking night. I'll still have to cut back though. Since I've gained weight it takes a lot more alcohol to get me drunk which adds up to way too many calories. I wish I lived in Colorado ;)

    I know that feeling. I work real hard during the week for the most part and on the weekend I try my hardest but those beers always seem to find their way into my stomach. I just love the taste of it. If I don't eat before I drink I tend to eat bad foods. You can definitely drink but it slows down weight loss. Then I wake up in the morning and regret it and then go insane at the gym. I want to lose weight quickly also but I am still losing so I always need to remind myself it's a marathon and not a sprint. Change of life and not a diet. Small steps!
  • zornig
    zornig Posts: 336 Member
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    Daveysgirl2014 wrote: »
    Part of my problem there is that my knowledge of food sort of sucks. I bought a thing of Hillshire Farms turkey to make sandwiches for lunch and thought I was doing a good thing. Calorie wise I did but it is loaded with sodium. Maybe a stupid question but if I buy meat from the deli rather than off the shelf, will it contain less sodium? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Unfortunately, deli meat is pretty much the same, whether it's pre-packaged or sliced off at the counter. Boar's Head makes a low sodium turkey breast; if you're grocery store carries a different brand, ask the folks at the counter if there's a low sodium or no sodium option. It's a bit more expensive, but Whole Foods also carries a no salt added turkey breast, or you could buy an uncooked turkey breast and roast/slice it yourself at home.
  • jackiemonx
    jackiemonx Posts: 343 Member
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    try having a couple of your favorite beers to get the taste for them then switch to the low cal crap for the rest of the day! that works! work out before you meet your mates, just little things to help ease the load!

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