Can drinking fit in with weight loss

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  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I'm also on 1100 calories a day, plus exercise calories. I don't allow more than about 10% of them to go to alcohol, from a health perspective. So, I just fit it in and if I exercise a lot one day I can eat and drink more.

    I'm losing a pound a week and drink about 135 calories of wine most nights. That's about 7.5 oz or 1 1/2 glasses. I'm down 8 pounds. I don't eat candy, cookies or sweets so it also serves as my carb/sweet fix.
  • rumijs
    rumijs Posts: 218 Member
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    I'm a social drinker so I don't drunk all the time but usually have a good session with friends every other weekend or so. I may consume an easy 1000 cals depending on what the night has in store. But I usually monitor my deficit throughout the week and know what I can "afford". In the end, I can still lose and easy 1 - 1.5 lb per week. It all comes down to moderation. If alcohol is constantly taking up a ton of (empty) calories, then you're less likely to end up in a deficit by the end of the week or month.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    jmgonzalez1231 wrote: »
    has anyone found that they can still drink moderately (two days a week in my case, never more than a 6 pack of light beer in one sitting) and successfully meet weight loss goals ? Does drinking have to go by the wayside or can they go together somehow. Drinking never seemed to be a problem but I'm noticing as the years go by that even light beers are having a negative impact. Wondering how others are able to balance this out in their lives, thanks in advanced !

    It depends on you, really - what your TDEE is and what your deficit needs to be to meet your goals, and whether you can both fit in the calories of your beverage into that deficit. My personal experience is that when I am in a deficit, I need fuel from food not from alcohol in order to feel ok.
  • worldofalice
    worldofalice Posts: 148 Member
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    I lost about a stone in my first term at university 4 years ago...and I don't think it's necessary to detail how much alcohol I was consuming, you can imagine :') This was from an already low weight however and I wasn't particularly aiming for weight loss so slightly different circumstances. I would imagine about 80% of my calories came from alcohol some weeks, at the expense of nutrition and with disastrous result on my health. So yeah it can happen, but if you're drinking excessively then you would have to compromise your actual wellbeing. If it's a couple of moderate nights a week -just shave a few calories off your meals elsewhere that day.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I lost 65 pounds in 2 years while having a cocktail before dinner most nights, and usually a glass of wine with dinner too. I measured them accurately (most alcohol and mixers have a lot of calories, so you need to be honest about the quantity), logged them, and kept within my limit.

    I also burn, on average, 400-500 calories a day exercising (running or cycling, mostly, including commuting to work by bike), and my goals without exercise were between 1450 and 1650 depending on my weight and how aggressively I was aiming to lose. That left plenty of calories for nutritious solid food; exercise calories offset the booze. If you're sedentary and aiming for 1200 total calories, you do need to be careful not to let your alcohol calories prevent you from getting the nutrition you need. You can "bank" calories but I wouldn't recommend too many, as it might leave you feeling too hungry or distracted on those days.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,071 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    Yes, if you skip food, you can drink your calories and still lose weight.


    Or you can find a sensible balance where you eat food and most of your calories go on food but you can also fit in alcoholic drinks in moderation, if you want to.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,071 Member
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    bwogilvie wrote: »
    I lost 65 pounds in 2 years while having a cocktail before dinner most nights, and usually a glass of wine with dinner too. I measured them accurately (most alcohol and mixers have a lot of calories, so you need to be honest about the quantity), logged them, and kept within my limit.
    .

    You can swap to mixers with no calories, like diet coke or Pepsi Max.

    That's what I do and my spirit only has 70 calories per serve ( I sometimes only have half serves so even less) - not at all hard to sometimes fit in a few drinks doing that.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    You can swap to mixers with no calories, like diet coke or Pepsi Max.

    I'd rather not drink than use those mixers! Diet tonic water, on the other hand, isn't too bad.

    My favorite cocktails, though, don't have soda mixers; they have vermouth or Campari (or both, e.g. the Negroni). And unfortunately, no one has come up with calorie-free vermouth or Campari. :-(
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
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    Heck, this is a lifestyle, not a diet, so yes I fit my 3 B's; bubbles, beer, and bellinis in, as well as my 3 C's; chocolate, cake, and candy. A balanced diet, hee hee.

    When I count my calories I do it by the week, not the day. That may help you fitting in your weekend beers.

    Cheers, h.
  • mlz1413
    mlz1413 Posts: 10 Member
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    What about upping your calories allowance by exercising?
    So how about if you want 600 worth of beer having a small bowl of cereal for breakfast at 200, then soup at lunchtime at 150, dinner needs to be chicken or fish with lots of veg and a little rice OR potatoes so approx 450, then a half hour walk at lunchtime and/ or evening will give you approx 100 -200 extra calories.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    You can drink and lose weight if you put aside the calories for it, but an easier way rather than keeping a very low calorie allowance for food or trying to exercise like a mad thing to bank the calories ahead of time might be to drink less, or less often. I think in your example you said you drink 6 beers twice a week; if it was me I'd give myself one of those nights off or only drink 3 beers a time. It's not as much fun, admittedly, but I would rather have extra calories for food and it saves money as well. If you can make it fit, go for it, but I think I would be hungry.

    As you lose weight you might find your alcohol tolerance decreases, and 4 beers do the job that 6 used to in time.
  • FoodFitnessTravel
    FoodFitnessTravel Posts: 294 Member
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    Definitely, as long as it's not followed by drunk eating. I did it. i'm in college and drinking is huge part of going out for me
  • AlciaMode
    AlciaMode Posts: 421 Member
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    I drink regularly and have lost 40lbs in 8months. I try to stay away from beer and mixers and just drink whiskey with ice or wine.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
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    This is why I follow the TDEE method with a 15% deficit - no 1200 calorie diets for me. I lost 20 lb using it, drinking and eating all the normal foods I ate in the past with a focus on hitting my protein macros (which meant I ate more protein in the past and added some foods to my diet but I didn't stop eating anything as long as it fit).
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
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    Try vodka? A shot it like 60 cals so it's a bit easier to get drunk off fewer cals
  • zane856
    zane856 Posts: 60 Member
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    Thank you all!! It's so nice to see that people have success and it doesn't have to be an all or nothing. This weekend I made sure to up my exercise and be very vigilant about my calories during the day. I still messed up and did fun drunk eating but the scale didn't reflect it wildly like it has in the past, so hopefully being vigilant during the day and banking calories through the week will help. And not eating back my exercise calories during the week and saving them for weekend beers !!
  • nicoletuncay
    nicoletuncay Posts: 4 Member
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    jmgonzalez1231 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone !! I have a question for those who said to make it fit in the calorie allowance for the day. I know logically this makes sense but in practice seems impossible. So if I get 1200 calories, and I know 600 is going to be spent on beer, I make sure each of my 3 meals is only 200 calories ? I think that would work only up until I started drinking and then I'd want to eat everything, haha. But is that how you guys successfully do it ?

    Counting calories is all so new to me so I'm trying to get a better handle on it, any tips are appreciated!! I do eat healthy and exercise a lot so the beers are not coming after a giant pizza or anything fun like that (tho a giant pizza may be followed by the beers...) but even despite the healthy eating, the beers seem to be getting me. One day I'll likely give it up but hopefully not yet !! Thanks everyone !

  • nicoletuncay
    nicoletuncay Posts: 4 Member
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    nicoletuncay wrote: »
    jmgonzalez1231 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone !! I have a question for those who said to make it fit in the calorie allowance for the day. I know logically this makes sense but in practice seems impossible. So if I get 1200 calories, and I know 600 is going to be spent on beer, I make sure each of my 3 meals is only 200 calories ? I think that would work only up until I started drinking and then I'd want to eat everything, haha. But is that how you guys successfully do it ?

    Counting calories is all so new to me so I'm trying to get a better handle on it, any tips are appreciated!! I do eat healthy and exercise a lot so the beers are not coming after a giant pizza or anything fun like that (tho a giant pizza may be followed by the beers...) but even despite the healthy eating, the beers seem to be getting me. One day I'll likely give it up but hopefully not yet !! Thanks everyone !

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