Alcohol

It's fine to drink. It's empty calories so it won't help with your macros or nutrition (big shock) but if you can fit it in, then enjoy.

I stay away from complex drinks with multiple ingredients and sweet drinks because it is harder to figure out the calories, but if you know what goes in them, they are fine as well. Just log them so you know what calories you've had.

cashidy wrote: »

I wish alcohol had nutrition info on the side! It makes it so hard to track. On Friday's, everyone at work usually goes out for a drink and I am not sure what is reasonable cause nothing has nutrition info and it is super hard to find any online as well.

So, I guess my question is, is alcohol off the table, or is it okay to enjoy a drink every now and then without ruining my progress?

OP most well know brands are in the MFP database. There are also a few "light" ciders and beers around.

annacole94 wrote: »

Alcohol has calories, but it's all pretty standard. I have a couple of drinks a week, but that's about all I can do. they're empty (sugar) calories, plus when you're drinking you're much more likely to eat crap food.

Generally:

Yea, I'd agree with the top row being about right, but the bottom row is questionable for the sizes of the servings vs the pictures displayed except for maybe the Pina Colada (and even 9oz might be a bit light for that probably 12 oz glass).

Here's my general rule of thumb:
Beers (per 12 oz bottles) - light beer 85-150 calories; regular beer 150-200 calories; heavier beers or lagers (and fruit flavored beers/ales) - 200-350 calories (it's best to know the specifics for that beer brand since it can vary wildly, google the beer brand).
Wines (per 5 oz pour) - reds about 125 calories; whites about 120 calories (like the graphic)
Shot of Hard Liquor (1.5 oz) - Gin, Rum, Vodka, Bourbon, Tequila, etc - about 97 calories (like the graphic)
Triple Sec (1.5 oz) - about 188 calories (so double a normal shot of hard liquor)
Hard ciders (12ish oz bottle) - 150 - 250 calories

The way I make a Cosmo, which is pretty standard: 2 shots Vodka, 1 shot Triple Sec, 1 shot Cranberry Juice, .5 shot Lime Juice; comes out to about 400 calories per serving (and closer to 6+ oz). So maybe what they show in the graphic is half a serving?

Same with the Margarita - that is a much bigger glass than 4 ounces, so don't be fooled by the low calorie count linked to that picture. The typical Margarita glass size is 12 oz...so take that into consideration, that your drink is likely going to be 2-3x as many calories as the graphic says. My typical margarita is usually about 2 shots of Tequilla, 1 shot of Triple Sec, and some lime juice (that's around 400 calories also), and that is without a margarita mixer which is going to bump up the calories even higher. Typically an 8 oz margarita is at least 455 calories, a 12 oz version is 680 calories, depending on how it is made.

For typical bartender glass sizes, see the list at this link: http://www.drinksmixer.com/guide/1-3.php . This should help you eyeball how much alcohol you are getting depending on the pour based on the size of the glass they use. A 5 oz pour of red wine should be a little more than 1/2 the standard red wine glass (8 oz) assuming they put it in the right glass (some bars will use different sized wine glasses). A 5 oz pour of white wine though would be a a little less than 1/2 the standard white wine glass (12.5 oz). If they fill the glass higher, you may be getting more than 5 oz. I've seen some bars pour 6-8 oz of wine depending on how generous the bartender is. Best thing to do, is pour 5 oz using your food scale at home, to have a good idea of how much (or little) 5 oz is, and then you can eyeball at the bar how much you are getting based on that.

As others have said, the best skinny drinks are a shot of hard liquor and either a diet soda or flavored seltzer (97 calories). Also light beers are typically around 100 calories. Next best is wine (120-125 calories). Also, if you are wine person, ask for a spritzer with seltzer water (not sprite, ginger ale, or tonic water, which all have calories). With a zero calorie seltzer, it adds volume without adding calories. You really need to know how that bar is making a mixed drink to figure out an accurate calorie count, so best to shy away from them if you are trying to lose weight right now.

And yes, I lost about 25 pounds with still including alcohol in my calorie count. Key is to log it all, so you know how many calories you are drinking. I did lose my last 4+ lbs (for nearly 30 total) during Dry January after a couple of stalls, so there may be something to nixing alcohol for a while, if you can. But I'm at maintenance now, and yes, alcohol is back in my plan now that Dry January is over.

I didn't give up alcohol while losing because I knew wasn't going to give it up forever and didn't want adding it back in to ruin maintenance.

Alcohol isn't all that caloric. It's what comes along with the alcohol that usually raises the calories. Mixed drinks made with low/no calorie mixers (or without a mixer), light beers and wine are usually the lowest in calories. Fruity drinks like margaritas and daquaris are usually calorie bombs.

For beer, since the alcohol content can vary widely, just use this:

(abv%)*(fluid ounces)*(2.5)=kcal

So Guinness, at 4.2% abv, will have 168 kcal for a 16 oz pint, while Perennial's Abraxas, at 10.0% abv, will have 550 kcal for a 22 oz bomber. The latter being my last Saturday night.

Be very watchful of portion sizes at the bar, though -- those enormous wine glasses usually have way more than 5 ounce pour in them.

Also, cheap mixes that some bars use in drinks like Margaritas add a lot of sugar to a recipe that didn't originally have extra sugar, so watch out for that.

I do vodka and water. Then I found these margaritaville packets on amazon. So I've been adding that to vodka and water. They just have 5 calories and no carbs. It's cool with my trainer, the Angry Orchard wasn't so much

I drink champagne on the weekend and work into my calories. If I'm going to drink anything, I want it to be something I really enjoy.

Every time I see the title of this thread, all I think is "yes, please".

If you like beer (it's my drink of choice) I drink Michelob Ultra - 95 calories per can/bottle. I stopped drinking Monday-Thursday and only have 2 on Friday night and depending on my plans for Saturday and Sunday, I'll splurge then.

Light beer for me only on weekends.

Try to stick to drinks with less sugary mixers and be aware of portion sizes. Wine is pretty standard in calories and most restaurants will tell you how many ounces they pour. I sometimes drink mixed drinks and find many restaurants have calorie counts now. I like the Skinny Margarita from Yard House. You can also ask the bartender to make a custom drink like OJ or Pineapple juice and Vodka or Tequila. Just learn how many ounces are in your cup.