Beer! I love it, but it dosnt help the weight loss.

LarsEnnerberg
LarsEnnerberg Posts: 14 Member
edited November 19 in Food and Nutrition
I like to drink. I watch what I eat but get a lot of calories from my liquid diet. Anyone have any advice besides to grow up and stop drinking
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Replies

  • thegenealogists
    thegenealogists Posts: 2 Member
    I am not a big drinker, but casual on the weekends if I'm going out with friends. I plan my drinks into my calorie consumption. So, I suggest you plan your beer into your daily calorie consumption and maybe cut back. Good luck!!
  • LarsEnnerberg
    LarsEnnerberg Posts: 14 Member
    So... If I don't eat?
  • tdatsenko
    tdatsenko Posts: 155 Member
    Just fit it into your diet. As long as you're under your calorie goal for the day/week, I see no problem with enjoying a beer or three.
  • LarsEnnerberg
    LarsEnnerberg Posts: 14 Member
    Lol
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    I was drinking 1-2 beers a day when I started. Now I'm drinking maybe one a month, if that. I had to cut back and it was difficult. At first I cut back to having 2 a week with my cheat meal, the one a week, then one a month. You could probably drink more than that if you wanted, but once I cut back to the once a week range I didn't care much for drinking anymore.
  • LarsEnnerberg
    LarsEnnerberg Posts: 14 Member
    Thanks guys!
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    One can of beer has about 150-200 calories depending on brand. So, even daily a beer after dinner is perfectly doable. Getting drunk on beer every evening will indeed require a lot of calories, but just enjoying a beer, it is very realistic even while losing weight.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    edited June 2015
    I don't drink beer, but I did drink sweet tea (from the South)...so pretty much same thing, just not as calorically dense as alcohol. Just typically a lot of calories consumed that must be accounted for and decisions made on whether those "less filling" calories are worth it to you as you still have to balance the calories in vs calories out equation. For me, when I stopped drinking sweet tea, it seems like I dropped 30lbs or so within a very short time (must have been drinking a lot of sweet tea :D )
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,630 Member
    Hmm, I drank all the way down and I still drink nearly every day. For lunch I will probably have a 24oz can of beer. But, I already burned 1200 calories of exercise this morning. All about balance.
  • Ohwhynot
    Ohwhynot Posts: 356 Member
    Yeaaaaahhh... I hate to say it but unless you can stop at a couple beers, it's hard to fit in session drinking and still be under calories. I have one really good beer and then switch to hard liquor.
  • rosesandhello
    rosesandhello Posts: 16 Member
    I loooveee beer. :D I've tried to have more beer-free days, and on other days, try to fit it into my calories by getting a good workout session in. I also try to stop at about 3 drinks, and not go over that.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
    I love beer too but I had to choose which was more important to me: drinking or losing weight and getting fit.

    Now I only have like one beer a week.
  • Unknown
    edited June 2015
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  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    You can drink. You can't drink a lot though. Those calories add up like crazy. Every weekend try to drink a little less. Anyway, I find that once the weight started falling off I would look at alcohol like it was getting in the way. I learned how to sip on a glass of wine for quite a long time.

  • LarsEnnerberg
    LarsEnnerberg Posts: 14 Member
    Wow! Thank you thank you thank you! All great advice. You guys are awesome. I appreciate the support and the camaraderie! I get the gist and I feel that I will have to make choices. Painful painful choices....lol.
  • robin388
    robin388 Posts: 25 Member
    I'm a beer consumer myself. Love the porters and stouts. Now I only have those once in a great while. I have switched to lighter beers (miller 64, not ideal I understand) just to help cut back those heavy calories. Especially because I never can have just 1 or 2. I have like 4 or 5 in a night. (6-9 if we are out or watching sports) The next day I fill my day with oatmeal and salads, plus I tend to hike a lot in the warmer seasons. This helps since I don't hit the gym. The last 10#'s have been tuff so it might be time to consider another exercise.

    Good luck!!
  • GeorgeL583
    GeorgeL583 Posts: 34 Member
    Just work-out like a mofo, and keep the cals. in check
  • cflynn99
    cflynn99 Posts: 6 Member
    Amstel Light is a tasty light beer, at only 95 calories I find a can fit a few into my weekly calorie intake. Sucks to have to make these hard choices. I love a good beer, or 3.
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    One can of beer has about 150-200 calories depending on brand. So, even daily a beer after dinner is perfectly doable. Getting drunk on beer every evening will indeed require a lot of calories, but just enjoying a beer, it is very realistic even while losing weight.
    That's nice but, if OP is anything like me, there's not even half a buzz until ~1L of beer... That makes for more than 150-200 calories.

    Honestly, when I'm in a deficit, I switch to hard liquor. Cheap brandy mixes with practically any diet fruity- or cola-type drink and has between 1/2 and 2/3 of the calories beer does (for the same amount of alcohol).
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    edited June 2015
    It's like anything else when you're losing weight (or maintaining, for that matter): you have to balance your budget with your wants. I fit in a craft brew every night, and tbh I workout more to earn it. This is something I look forward to every night.

    Lat night was a pint of Surly Overrated. Tonight I'm thinking about that bottle of Bell's Uranus that I've been holding on to; about 300 kcal per 12 oz bottle:
    A6DLHH2.png?1

  • Monklady123
    Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
    I love a cold beer in the hot summer. aaaaah.... I also love dark beer which, I suspect, is probably higher calories than lighter beer. That said, I'm not stopping it altogether, just cutting down. Hard yes, but I'm not about to give it up completely.

    So I guess I have no real advice except maybe try to do extra exercise if you're going to be out with friends or at a bbq or something, and try to cut back a bit. Like if you drink three at an afternoon/evening bbq then only have two.

    Anyway, I'm sure beer is nutritious, right? so we don't want to cut it out completely.... :wink:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited June 2015
    I love a good brew, but I resigned myself long ago to the fact that I can only have a beer or two on occasion...not just a calorie or weight thing, but beer in particular seems to elevate my triglycerides more than if I'm just drinking wine or spirits and it also tends to have a more profound impact on my fasted glucose levels as well.

    Let's just say I've become much more wine savvy over the past few years and I enjoy a good Vodka and bourbon in the winter.
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    I like to drink. I watch what I eat but get a lot of calories from my liquid diet. Anyone have any advice besides to grow up and stop drinking

    I drink at least 2 pints of craft beer every day. Granted I am not trying to cut weight at this time but even when I was I had beer every day. The trick is just to moderate it, just like everything else. If you are tracking your food, track the beer too and make it fit. Nothing more to it. I would give the same answer to someone who said they loved cheese, or bacon, or marshmallow peeps.
  • terrenceobrien1
    terrenceobrien1 Posts: 22 Member
    I had to quit drinking in order to stay on track with proper nutrition. I was, unlike the poster above, unable to moderate. If I were to have two pints of quality craft beer, I would most certainly have seven more. Then I would be drunk, and eat a whole pizza and pass out. I would then eat junk food to quell the hangover. Vicious cycle.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    I love, love, love beer! I have cut back, but I still have a beer most days. What works for me is:
    - I only have a beer if I've "earned" it by getting 10,000 steps or more. 15,000 steps earns me a second beer. Sometimes I actually go out walking or running, just so I can drink another beer.
    - I buy quality craft beer and savor the hell out of it. Small sips, not guzzling. A beer might last me a half hour or more. This doesn't work with budmillercoors because that stuff tastes worse than piss when it's warm.
    - Budget for the calories in MFP.
    - If I end up drinking many beers and go over my calorie budget, I make up for over the course of the next several days.

    This all applies to wine too.
  • RedVonMunster
    RedVonMunster Posts: 18 Member
    I like to drink. I watch what I eat but get a lot of calories from my liquid diet. Anyone have any advice besides to grow up and stop drinking

    Basically you're saying "any advice besides something that works".
  • terrenceobrien1
    terrenceobrien1 Posts: 22 Member
    edited June 2015
    Basically you're saying "any advice besides something that works".

    I concur. Alcohol is very prevalent in almost all societies. That does not change that fact that it is a mind altering drug. Consumption of it affects so many facets of life and one's perception of life-- it's more than just belly fat.

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  • Journey30toLife
    Journey30toLife Posts: 17 Member
    Craft beer and Buffalo Wings are my struggle :)
    I just started using buffalo sauce on my grilled chicken, that takes care of my buffalo wing craving for the most part. When it comes to beer, I love stouts and porters which are not in my favor. Ha ha. Lucky for me, during the summer I don't drink the heavy ones like that. I have been fitting them into my calories, exercising more to earn them and cutting back :neutral:
  • andrikosDE
    andrikosDE Posts: 383 Member
    I prefer to make beer than drink it. I'm more of a "taster" than a quantity drinker.
    If I were to drink multiple beers in a day (weekends only) I'd make sure to work out extra. The sense of accomplishment would get its reward with some nice tasty drinks at the end of the day.

    My "light" beer is Berliner Weisse which I brew to 2.8% ABV strength and age in probiotic bacterial culture for a few months. The sour fermentation gives the beers aromatic compounds and flavor profiles that are very unusual for such a low alcohol beer.

    My winter beer is a nice 12% russian imperial stout or a 13% barleywine that I sip from a small glass... Mmm.... winter warmer! :D
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