Alcohol and Dieting

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13

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  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    I do what's realistic. I can't imagine cutting alcohol completely; that's not a realistic life-long goal.

    I just account for the calories.

    What has helped me most is planning ahead of time. If I know the wife and I are going to have a date night out, I can plan my food calories for the day so I have room for drinks later that evening.
  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
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    I work out for drink calories and I will admit sometimes that is the ONLY reason I work out. B)
  • yasminbower1991
    yasminbower1991 Posts: 63 Member
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    I save calories for a drink in the evening, i rarely if ever drink a lot in one go so i dont see a problem with having one a day as long as i have the calories left :)
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,712 Member
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    viclrstew wrote: »
    I like my 2 martinis in the evening. I just save enough calories for them. Still losing though perhaps not as fast, but one has to live, right?

    Mmmm. Love a good martini! I agree with this. If it fits your calorie goal and doesn't cause you to over eat then it's fine. Up to each person to decide though.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I'm not giving up alcohol forever so I might as well learn to drink it without over consuming calories now.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    You will have to pry the beer out of my cold dead hands.

    If that means I'll never have the body of a 22 year old fitness model, so be it.
  • Scarlett_ptista
    Scarlett_ptista Posts: 22 Member
    edited May 2015
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    257_Lag wrote: »
    I work out for drink calories and I will admit sometimes that is the ONLY reason I work out. B)

    Everyone has their reason to hit the gym, that's not a bad one ;)
  • Scarlett_ptista
    Scarlett_ptista Posts: 22 Member
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    Echoing a lot of other comments; I usually try to fit it into my calorie allowance. For the most part that means I just don't drink unless it's a cheat day, or I have worked out, because I struggle to stay under 1200 cals. Everyone's allowance and needs are different.

    I am trying to log everything now, even cheat days and mistakes, and I do really eat waaaay too much when I drink. It throws me off too much when I get the munchies, so if I can I will try to plan for it and eat very light for the rest of the day.
  • Hoop4la
    Hoop4la Posts: 68 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Sadly .. alcohol and diet do not mix ! Not for me anyway - but I am an all or nothing type girl :/ But good to see many of you are managing to achieve it - well done
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I lost 65 pounds in two years (47 the first year, and then another 18 the second year) while having a cocktail and a glass of wine most nights, and sometimes more on the weekends. I factored them into my goals and meal plans. I also exercise an average of 400-500 calories a day, which makes it easier to fit a drink or two into the daily goal.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I drink 5+ drinks 3x a week... I fit it in my macros and I'm still losing!
  • dmt4641
    dmt4641 Posts: 409 Member
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    I limit drinks to social occasions and to 2 drinks that are not too sugary. A gin with diet tonic is not that many calories. And I make some good skinny margaritas. I don't really count a weigh in the day after drinking - I am either dehydrated so lose weight or bloated and gain. I give it is a day to even out.
  • zanne54
    zanne54 Posts: 336 Member
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    galgenstrick wrote: »
    It also blocks fat oxidation so your body preferentially burns the alcohol off before it can burn fat.

    This happened to me one summer. I was burning a ton of calories through exercise so I could drink a significant portion of them back. I thought it would be the same as eating a portion of them back and that I'd continue to lose weight as I was still at a deficit. Boy was I wrong. I pretty much plateaued for that entire summer from the solstice to Labour Day. And then 3 weeks later, when the booze had worked its' way out of my system, I magically started losing again.

    I get better results when I don't drink. But that's not a viable long-term choice. So I'm trying my best to limit drinking as much as I can during the weight loss portion. But I do still cave once or twice a week and have a drink or two.
  • Alligator423
    Alligator423 Posts: 87 Member
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    Just limit it to social events these days.
  • Dead_Darling
    Dead_Darling Posts: 478 Member
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    I tend to limit my drinking only to going out (club) - and that's only if I can fit it into my calories. I barely go out anyway, and there have been times when I was the sober one! It wasn't because I was a designated driver, I just wasn't in the mood for a lot of drinking.

    Because my stomach can't handle alcohol as much as it used to, when I do have a drink, it's normally vodka and orange juice or JD and Coke.
  • mk2fit
    mk2fit Posts: 730 Member
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    I've lost 52 lbs. since October while fitting in a couple vodka and diet tonics every day. Just save the room calorie-wise. I guess it is like chocolate lovers saving room for chocolate. Reading all the previous makes me wonder what would happen if I stopped alcohol altogether. >:) Nope
  • Hulbert0089
    Hulbert0089 Posts: 97 Member
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    I love IPA's, good wine and Captain Diet Cokes. Sometimes in the same evening :). Safe to say their calories can be a diet killer for me. More often it's not the calories in the drinks but the insatiable appetite I get the day after. I'm determined to continue the string of successful days logging. I see some people have done so for hundreds of days which is more than a streak it's a lifestyle change and that's what I'm after. Ive gone out a few times and managed to find a better balance and make sure to keep on a cardio routine to burn calories. I'm down over 25 lbs so far and a side affect is that my tolerance is much lower!
  • bidwork
    bidwork Posts: 1 Member
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    "Here's the problem with all alcoholic beverages, and the reason I recommend refraining from alcohol consumption on the diet. Alcohol, whenever taken in, is the first fuel to burn. While that's going on, your body will not burn fat. This does not stop the weight loss, it simply postpones it, since the alcohol does not store as glycogen, and you immediately go back into ketosis/lipolysis after the alcohol is used up.

    If you must drink alcohol, wine is an acceptable addition to levels beyond the Induction diet. If wine does not suit your taste, straight liquor such as scotch, rye, vodka, and gin would be appropriate, as long as the mixer is sugarless; this means no juice, tonic water; or non-diet soda. Seltzer and diet soda are appropriate."

    ~ Robert C. Atkins
  • Hulbert0089
    Hulbert0089 Posts: 97 Member
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    Karen_libert wrote: »
    I have found that there is a very negative pattern to drinking and my weight loss. Once I have had a couple of glasses all control goes out the window and a massive binge is the result. I have regularly wiped out an entire weeks weight loss in one night. I know it's not fat but I can gain large amounts of weight that take a whole week to loose again. I drank on Friday night last week and I literally gained 7lbs over night. I've lost 2 back but I know I will be heavier this Friday morning than I was last Friday morning. when will I learn? I think, for me, the answer is all or nothing. I have decided several times to stop but come Friday night I feel the sence that I deserve a 'treat'. It's the last part of my old hedonistic 'I want it so I'll have it' lifestyle that go me so overweight in the first place.

    Exactly the same thing for me sometimes!

  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    I enjoy a drink now and then. Maybe 1-2 times a week on average. Just one is enough. I just track it along with all of the other calories.

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