Alcohol

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goragon
goragon Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Alcohol is destroying my weight loss and I just can't seem to stop.

I just looked up how many calories I've consumed just by drinking alcohol and last night I drank over 1500 calories.

It looks like I may have to try and stop drinking if I am to get my weight under control again.
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Replies

  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Can you just drink less? Like I normally have 1 drink and I make it something awesome and satisfying like a really good craft beer. Even the super caloriffic ones are 300 or less. I can generally make that work. Stouts are much lower calorie. In the 120-200 range depending on the brewer.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,080 Member
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    That's an awful lot of alcohol.

    I had to quit too. Weight loss was only one of my many problems with alcohol.

    I hope you find some peace. Quitting will be the best thing you ever do.
  • PrincessMel72
    PrincessMel72 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    Yep, all empty calories. I indulge in some fruity cocktails only once a month now and always make up for the extra calories by either banking them through the weeks or working out a bit longer.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Me and you both!

    Okay. No, that's a lot of alcohol!
  • MichelleWithMoxie
    MichelleWithMoxie Posts: 1,817 Member
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    yowza! 1500 cals in alcohol is kind of overkill. alcohol hasn't inhibited my results at all. I only drink on weekends though, and have only 2-4 drinks (mostly beer) a day.
  • anybeary
    anybeary Posts: 188 Member
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    Try Kudzu root pills. They worked well for me. They decrease alcohol cravings. You have one drink and say, "That was sufficient. I don't feel like having another."
  • phlegmfatale1
    phlegmfatale1 Posts: 24 Member
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    when do you drink - with others or alone? i just quit for 3 months because of some meds and it was much, much easier to lose / work out without it. now i'm trying to ease back in. beer is a calorie bomb, it's all gin + seltzers in my future...
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
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    My sister stopped drinking to assist in her weight loss and lost 30lbs in a very short time. She too consumed a lot of calories in drinks.
  • bellesorrisa
    bellesorrisa Posts: 14 Member
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    I feel you - I need to stop too. You can do it! I noticed that if I'm craving for an alcoholic drink, I drink a glass of seltzer water or club soda (can buy the flavored ones) and that helps curb my craving.
  • jholman38063
    jholman38063 Posts: 7 Member
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    You sound like you're on the verge of seeing what effects alcohol may or may not be having on you. I think 12 steppers call that taking inventory or moment of clarity or some other thing. (Not sure. Never had to do a program to quit stuff, luckily.) People without a strong urge to drink heavily will never understand that, and that's OK. You understand it. Having said that, as a practical matter as far as weight loss, just like with sweets, fried foods, whatever... if you can't see yourself going cold turkey, cutting out a little every day will move the needle in the right direction. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. Can you cut down to 1000 calories of alcohol a day right now? That could easily net a 50 pound weight loss in a year, all other things being equal. That is a good strategy for weight loss, but does not really work if you are intending to battle addiction.
  • Ruatine
    Ruatine Posts: 3,424 Member
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    goragon wrote: »
    Alcohol is destroying my weight loss and I just can't seem to stop.

    I just looked up how many calories I've consumed just by drinking alcohol and last night I drank over 1500 calories.

    It looks like I may have to try and stop drinking if I am to get my weight under control again.

    Feeling like you can't stop is a sign of addiction, so I hope you were just being hyperbolic by saying that. If you were exaggerating, you really just need to assess what you're going to drink and when and fit it in your calorie budget. Log the drinks in your food diary before you drink them, so you know how they're going to affect your day. If you were not exaggerating, I recommend taking a hard look at your drinking behavior and reaching out to a local AA group.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Love ETOH--I won't give it up. I just drink on weekends.
  • gexking
    gexking Posts: 125 Member
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  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    What are you drinking? 1500 is a lot of calories but if you are having some type of sugar bomb fruity drink that could only be 2 drinks. If you like high calorie drinks then you may have to give up drinking them daily.

    If you really feel like you can't stop drinking then I'd suggest giving it up altogether for a w few weeks just to see if you can. If you can't, you need to address that problem.
  • bethanyka
    bethanyka Posts: 159 Member
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    i can't do alcohol in moderation either and it was killing my weight loss, not to mention the crap food that i eat along w/ the alcohol.
    if you can have 1 or 2 drinks and call it a day, great. if not then it comes down to:
    what do you want MORE?

  • kschwab0203
    kschwab0203 Posts: 610 Member
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    If we are talking just beer, then that is about 8-10 beers per day depending on what kind of beer you are drinking.

    I like to enjoy my drinks a few days a week too, but I had to lay off the beer. I switched to drinking red wine. The kind I get is approximately 100 calories per glass, 480 calories in the whole bottle according to MFP.

    I do find that on top of the calorie overload after a night of heavy drinking, I am super starving the next day and tend to make really poor food choices.

    I still drink beer on the weekends depending on what we are doing (bbq, crawfish boil, etc).
  • Iamnotasenior
    Iamnotasenior Posts: 234 Member
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    Yes. It can be tough to lose weight if you drink every day. If your body is busy burning off alcohol, it's probably not burning off food calories efficiently while you are drinking. You will probably not make good food choices after a few drinks either (chips and salsa go so well with a margarita or two). I too, have a problem with controlling how much I drink once I start. So I went to counseling. After trying unsuccessfully to moderate my drinking, I came to the conclusion that I had to just stop all together. As my counselor says "I don't have an off switch" when it comes to alcohol. I would strongly urge you to try talking with a counselor who has experience in alcohol dependency and explore the reasons that you are having problems with moderating your alcohol intake. I resisted counseling for years and years and I wish I hadn't waited. Life is so much better now. I'd still love to be able to drink and miss it, but I like losing weight, no hangovers and being in control so much better.

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