Beer over dinner

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LC107
LC107 Posts: 41 Member
edited March 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
I am in my final year for my MBA and I am pretty loaded with stress. To deal with this stress I have really tried to focus on my health. I have cut significantly my alcohol (4 beers/alcoholic drinks-5 nights a week kind of drinking) intake along with taking control of my diet (paying attention to the CICO) and working out (weights, walking/running, dance and yoga) BUUUUTTT 2x a week I am coming home from a long day (1:20 pm-9:50 pm) at school and have to choose between dinner or a beer (or two) and beer wins hands down, every time. Grant it, I am getting adequate calories and nutrition (1400ish cals) but with my Goose Island IPA taking 344 calories away I am pretty spent, plus I really dont like to eat at night. When I eat at night I get heartburn and my legs are incredibly restless. Anyways on to my point- How bad is it that I give up dinner two nights a week to have 2 beers instead? I guess I would just like some reassurance that it is just CICO. I really dont want a beer belly :s
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Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    It's all about CICO. What you eat or drink to get there is up to you.
  • RobD520
    RobD520 Posts: 420 Member
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    From a health standpoint beer over dinner is not good. But you already know that.
  • LC107
    LC107 Posts: 41 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    It's all about CICO. What you eat or drink to get there is up to you.

    That is kind of what I figured- CICO but like I said I just wanted that reassurance. Thank you :)
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    Many times I have a beer or other alcohol in place of a meal after 6. My macro needs are typically met before hand though so if you had to look at just the numbers and not the meals, you wouldnt be able to distinguish it from another day.
  • Kimo159
    Kimo159 Posts: 508 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Firstly, OP, congrats on cutting your alcohol intake this much. Alcohol is empty calories that provides little to no nutrients that are beneficial for health, as I'm sure you're aware. Weight loss is CICO so you can still lose weight drinking, but health is not CICO so the more calories that come from healthy food the better. You aren't doing this every night, and you've made huge progress in cutting your intake. Beer bloats a lot of people (myself included) but if you don't mind that (or it doesn't bloat you), you love beer and aren't a night eater and still have calories left at the end of the day and don't want to eat, why not do it from time to time? If that's what helps you stick to your deficit and lose weight. We all have to pick a plan that we can stick to for life.


    [edited by MFP Mods]
  • Bryo4
    Bryo4 Posts: 22 Member
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    I agree that was a bit out of line. Still, I will note my stress level dropped when I dialed the beer back. Strictly speaking, alcohol behaves a little differently than other carbs in your system, but yes - it really is just CICO. Personally, I just eat slightly smaller meals throughout the day when I am planning to have a beer at dinner. Good luck with your weight loss. :-)
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
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    From a CICO/weight loss standpoint, it makes no difference whether your calories come from beer or food.

    From a nutritional standpoint, you should make sure you're getting sufficient calories from your macros (protein/fat/carbs) first, especially if you're cutting weight.

    From a beer drinking standpoint, I'm sure you can find something better than Goose Island. :smile:
  • tvset
    tvset Posts: 1 Member
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    While not maintainably healthy, people have gone on beer fasts before and lived to tell about it. You'll be fine.
  • LC107
    LC107 Posts: 41 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Kimo159 wrote: »

    Firstly, OP, congrats on cutting your alcohol intake this much. Alcohol is empty calories that provides little to no nutrients that are beneficial for health, as I'm sure you're aware. Weight loss is CICO so you can still lose weight drinking, but health is not CICO so the more calories that come from healthy food the better. You aren't doing this every night, and you've made huge progress in cutting your intake. Beer bloats a lot of people (myself included) but if you don't mind that (or it doesn't bloat you), you love beer and aren't a night eater and still have calories left at the end of the day and don't want to eat, why not do it from time to time? If that's what helps you stick to your deficit and lose weight. We all have to pick a plan that we can stick to for life.

    Anyways maybe I should mention also I do not always substitute the beer those two nights, sometimes I just go straight to bed and avoid dinner or beer altogether. Thank you for your support. I don't wake up hung over and always get my workouts in so like I said I just waned reassurance on the CICO. Thank you again :)

    [edited by MFP Mods]
  • bewickfree
    bewickfree Posts: 23 Member
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    I had four beers last night (it was one hellacious day!!! It fit into my calories/macros) and was up 1lb today, even with calorie deficits all week. So I'd just see what alcohol does to your weight. It obviously doesn't work for ME. :(
  • Bryo4
    Bryo4 Posts: 22 Member
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    5stringjeff wrote: »
    From a beer drinking standpoint, I'm sure you can find something better than Goose Island. :smile:

    Also excellent advice. :smiley:
  • LC107
    LC107 Posts: 41 Member
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    5stringjeff wrote: »
    From a beer drinking standpoint, I'm sure you can find something better than Goose Island. :smile:

    Haha its not so bad. lol
  • LC107
    LC107 Posts: 41 Member
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    20yearsyounger wrote: »
    Many times I have a beer or other alcohol in place of a meal after 6. My macro needs are typically met before hand though so if you had to look at just the numbers and not the meals, you wouldnt be able to distinguish it from another day.

    That's fair enough. I dont always plan on drinking a beer or two so maybe I can be more mindful of my macros on the two days I go to school just in case. Thank you for the tip to watch the macros :)
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,222 MFP Moderator
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    Hey folks - I cleaned up this thread a bit. If you find your post gone or edited, it was likely due to my clean-up. If you're concerned about it, please feel free to send me a PM.

    While you're posting, please be sure to follow community guidelines. If you'd like to refresh your memory, they're located here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

    Thanks - and happy day-before-Friday.

    Em

  • LC107
    LC107 Posts: 41 Member
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    nosajjao wrote: »
    https://authoritynutrition.com/debunking-the-calorie-myth/
    CICO is crap science.

    Well the general consensus here says it is CICO (all of MFP seems to say that) and with my 13 pound weight loss in a little less than 3 months I am going to go with that as not being "crap science" but rather truth.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    LC107 wrote: »
    nosajjao wrote: »
    https://authoritynutrition.com/debunking-the-calorie-myth/
    CICO is crap science.

    Well the general consensus here says it is CICO (all of MFP seems to say that) and with my 13 pound weight loss in a little less than 3 months I am going to go with that as not being "crap science" but rather truth.

    Cheers to that.

    I have days where I eat less to compensate for when I'm going to have beer. Tried it last night, and I was just hungry, and ended up going over calories. Still went to bed hungry, and woke up this morning hungry. Some days you just need food instead of beer. It did not help that I had soup for both lunch and dinner.

    Usually though I focus on a lean protein and veggies to keep me feeling satiated, and then beer with/after dinner
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited March 2016
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    If youre getting 20-30% of your calories on a 1400 calorie a day Diet from beer on a regular basis seriously doubt you are getting adequate nutrition.
  • LC107
    LC107 Posts: 41 Member
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    Packerjohn wrote: »
    If youre getting 20-30% of your calories on a 1400 calorie a day Diet from beer on a regular basis seriously doubt you are getting adequate nutrition.

    Well, it is not on a regular basis. As I mentioned in a few other replies it is not set in stone every week I do this on the 2 days I go to school, other times I will just come home and go to bed. I agreed with the advice from another poster here who said they try to reach their macros if they know they are going to have drinks later. Pretty good advice. Something, I mentioned I would focus on too.

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