Alcohol....

Log it and eat less if you reach your limit, but generally try to avoid it.

Save some each day if you anticpate an evening out, and/or exercise and use those spare calories. Alcohol VERY high so you must count them.

Not had a glass of wine since 30th dec, trying to be healthier and hope to continue jan and feb, but have deal with 11 year old daughter, each day i dont have glass of wine, she has to try an new vegetable, been working very well. she has tried loads of new things and even liked some of them. Mange tout tonight!

So being a student, this is the hardest part of losing weight. Just wondering what everyone else does, do you count the calories from your drink as extra, or do you factor them into your day and eat a lot less if you know your going out? Its a friends birthday today so i have included the drinks im going to have, but this means i have hardly any calories left to eat.

That's life.

We must decide what's important.
If the fleeting pleasures of drinking and eating are more of a priority than your fitness goals, then so be it.
Alcohol is nothing but empty calories.

Try this.
Drink soda with lime. Nobody will notice, and just relax, have fun and don't drink.
Dance and log that in as exercise.

You'd be surprised at how much fun a person can have going and not drinking. You could volunteer to be the designated driver - whatever.

Again, it boils down to how bad you really want to reach your goals.

one of my main reasons for starting this was to get a grip on my alchohol consumption... it's working so far... but I'm not stopping altogether... life is about balance... ;-)

Exactly - this is not a quick fi, this is a change of attitude to food and exercise for life.

You are not going to live the rest of your life never having another drink, or another bar of chocolate, but you are also not going to live the rest of your life drinking every day, or eating chocolate every day, so you need to still have these things, but incorporate them into a healthier lifestyle, not have them excessively.

For binge drinking (student special) you can try to cut down here and there, and try to do it sensibly, but one way or another unless you starve yourself all day you will go WAY over on calories.

Edit: I should be keen to point out that im not suggesting you do starve yourself all day! The bravado of saying "eating's cheating" will lead to a messy night and a poorly morning!

Drink choice will go a long way to help:
Each pint of lager is circa 200cals so avoid pints like the plague! (you will feel better the next morning too)
Spirits will be better, especially with diet mixers. A double Smirnoff and diet coke is only about 115cals.
Double Jack Daniels and diet coke is not much more than Vodka (about 130cals) but maybe a bit pricey for a student night.
If you go for jagerbombs (you know you want to!), ask if they have diet "energy drink", a lot of pubs do nowadays. If they don't, then consider having your jager with diet coke instead.

But lets face it, if you're a typical UK student, you're going to forget about all of that after your first few drinks and just go wild, so just remember that when you go WAY over your calorie limit on the day, make up for it the rest of the week. Eat well and workout a lot. According to what a lot of people on here say, to lose weight you need a weekly deficit of around 3500calories. Just make sure you don't go so far over on your drinking day that you mess up the rest of the week.

Another edit: Not to encourage binge drinking (!) but shots could be a way to get drunk without as many calories haha!

I've got to a point where I have 1 alcoholic drink per month if that. That's from having one most nights. As I've got healthier I just didn't want to waste the calories and now it never even enters my mind to have one, even though my partner does most nights. In the last year I've had 2 blow out nights with the girls, but I did one water, one alcohol. Something I'd never do before. It worked well I got tipsy, but not stupidly drunk, had a giggle, lasted all night and got no hang over. Also a good way to cut calories X

So this isn't a healthy or responsible reply, but it's an honest one.... S

Perhaos I shouldve put that warning on mine too, haha!

if I know I have to go to a party or dining out .. I always make sure I workout that day to make it up ..

this is good advice, and a great way to not feel bad when going to a party with food.

If you know you are gonna drink alcohol then try to cut down on food

this is a great way to wind up in an emergency room

When I am dieting I just dont drink it at all! Alcohol converts to sugar - sugar spikes insluline responce = fat storage - try not to drink to much

Honestly when i was your age, i drank eneough for both of us!!

Log it in and count it and try to offest it with more fibrous veggies in your diet

Get on the dancefloor all night - none of this sultry slinky stuff, throw your hands in the air and moooooove!

Yep, alcohol counts (obviously).

I've ditched alcohol this year, not for the calories but because its just not a good health choice... and its expensive these days.

Best drink to have if dieting is probably diet soda and vodka. I've noted though that alcohol free drinks tend to be pretty low calorie which is handy.

This is my problem too b/c we always have friends over EVERY Friday and Saturday night! I have been limiting myself to shots mostly b/c they are less calories and more effective. So far, it's worked!

Good luck!

Totally!!! .. I was a beer lover earlier but since they are so high calorie I have now switched to Tequila shots or whiskey on the rocks .. less calories but much more effective :bigsmile:

I would count the calories, but if you are drinking so much you can't eat then that can't be healthy. But I wouldn't just not count them because those empty calories add up and fast...I found this article about what they call not eating in order to drink...they call it drunkorexia...heres the article:

http://uwire.com/2010/09/16/drunkorexia-the-dangers-of-an-alcohol-based-diet/