Can I get some opinions on alcohol and dieting?

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Replies

  • paulwatts747
    paulwatts747 Posts: 60 Member
    edited July 2017
    Alcohol makes me not give a damn about my calorie targets, even if I can fit it in within them, and as is well documented, it also overrides the brain's signal to stop eating, so alcohol = uncontrolled eating for me. I love booze too, and because one drink usually leads to several, I have to limit myself to having it once a fortnight or so. The first one is by far the easiest to say no to.

    When an event like this happens, typically I drink 8 or 9 standard drinks and it takes the best part of a week to get back to my pre-binge weight.

    I've got a garage full of home-brewed beer and cider that is going to take me a very long time to drink at the current rate.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    forward0backward wrote: »
    I don't count alcohol calories but I try to stay within 1200

    Well that doesn't really math.
  • KWFitLiving
    KWFitLiving Posts: 5 Member
    khicks137 wrote: »
    I keep coming across this word. Macros. Apparently this is different from calories?

    Macros are the three categories that all of your food breaks down into: proteins, fats and carbs. You need a good balance of each in order to maintain a healthy diet. A good baseline is 20-35% fats, 45-65% carbs and 10-35% proteins. The distributions vary depending on your goals.

    Alcohol falls into the "carbs" category and are referred to as "empty" calories because you're taking in the carbs/calories but aren't getting any real nutritional value from it.

    While you can drink on a diet, you have to maintain your macro distribution and remember that every drink (and every calorie) counts towards your daily caloric goals.

    Moderate your intake and pay attention to how many calories they add up to :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    edited July 2017
    khicks137 wrote: »
    RAD_Fitness wrote: »
    khicks137 wrote: »
    I keep coming across this word. Macros. Apparently this is different from calories?

    Macros is short for Macronutrients which are carbs, fats, protein and alcohol which have calories. 4 calories per gram of carbs, 4 calories per gram of protein, 9 calories from fat and 7 calories per gram of alcohol.

    Is there a certain percentage or whatever of macros a person should have in a day? Is it different for everyone?

    Macros are an individual thing...a marathon runner would have a different ideal macro breakdown than a bodybuilder for example.

    Personally, I think people get way too hung up on them...they're good to be aware of and have some kind of reasonable breakdown for performance and health, but really, if you're not a competitive athlete/bodybuilder/physique competitor, etc there's not reason to get overly worked up about them.

    The only thing I really pay much attention to is getting adequate protein.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
    Alcoholic beverages are a diet challenge. First, alcohol has 7kcals per g, second only to fat. Second, alcohol tends to "burn first" causing other nutrients to be stored as fat. Third, alcohol lowers your rational inhibition to overeating and drinking.

    If you can master all that, I'm sure it's fine to have a beer or glass of wine every day. I tend do do better to limit the number of days where I drink.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    I couldn't. But you could. If your calorie goal allows for it and you're not hungry.
  • Panda8ach
    Panda8ach Posts: 518 Member
    Check the nutrition section of your diary :)
  • krushal8880
    krushal8880 Posts: 80 Member
    When I first started my lifestyle (Diet) change. I was drinking 1 to 2 beers for 3-4 days. Now I'm drinking 1-2 beer only 1 or 2 days. I'm trying to lose 20 lbs before December. So I will only have 1 to 2 beer per month. The more you exercise and drink plenty of water will allow you to moderate your beer drinking. Good Luck and feel free to add me if you like. Have a great day! :smile:
  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
    khicks137 wrote: »
    I currently am tracking calories but have not learned much about macros yet. Will have to do some research on that, but I have the tracking of calories down!
    If you're logging your food on MFP your macros are at the bottom of the page - it will give you your calories for the day and each of the macros you're tracking (how much of each you've eaten and what's left)

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