Booze

As long as you don't over do it, you can treat yourself. I sometimes have a few drinks on teh weekend as well.

Intersting, I don't think everyone's body reacts the same to alcohol. When I drink it, it makes me bloated and makes me feel heavier. Plus it makes me make bad food choices. While I do not beleive in cutting out any food group I know for a fact that I gain the most weight when the extra calories I consume are from sugar- just the way my body works. I drink a few times a week, usually wine or bourbon. Sometimes vodka with soda. When I drink beer I am conscious of the fact that my pint has around 300-400 calories in it. I just cut something else out. I would cut down on the casual drinking while dietin (glass of wine with dinner) since alchohol slows your metabolism but would not give up on the weekend drinks- you have to live!

1 to 2 glasses once a week is fine, and maybe a little more once every couple of months or so is ok too, but I wouldn't do more then a couple glasses of wine a week.

Alcohol (besides having 7 calories per gram) does bad things to the way our bodies use energy, it supplants carbohydrates as the primary fuel source (and thus any digested carbs go to fat storage instead). this is all besides the other, obvious issues our body has with alcohol (our bodies regard alcohol as poison) like liver issues, reduced metabolism (alcohol is classified as a depressant), reduced inhibition, impaired reflexes, increased appetite...etc.

Which all looks like me trying to scare you away from alcohol.

I'm not, almost EVERYTHING we ingest has some amount of foreign material in it that our bodies don't like (else we wouldn't need a sphincter), alcohol infrequently and at reasonable amounts is fine, just don't overdo it, it CAN inhibit weight loss if imbibed in excess.

I've been drinking while doing this and have still lost weight. I usually drink wine...or straight vodka on the rocks. 4 oz. or so. Skinny Girl Margaritas are good to: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=622395
This site is good anyways, it has recipes and then also has the nutrition info right there!!!!

It's not so bad in moderation as long as you make up for it elsewhere like everyone else has said already. As long as it isn't putting you over your calorie limits.

im a red wine lover too!!! BUT for me, i have noticed that it does inhibit my weight loss efforts.

#1- when drinking i ALWAYS give in to high cal salty greasy foods!!! :grumble: :noway:

#2 - a personal trainer once told me that when you consume alcohol (even a little) it takes 3 days for your body to be able to burn fat again. I have never researched it to verify, but thats a pretty big cringe factor!

Nevertheless, while i dont drink on a regular basis, i am not willing to give it up for good. i drink probably 1 weekend day out of the month and im happy with that :drinker:

#2 - a personal trainer once told me that when you consume alcohol (even a little) it takes 3 days for your body to be able to burn fat again. I have never researched it to verify, but thats a pretty big cringe factor!

I don't think this is accurate (I'd have to look around more to be sure but...), I have done quite a bit of research on Alcohol metabolism and never heard anything that lends credence to this, but while there is alcohol in the system, you probably won't burn much, if any, fat.

yeah id be interested to learn more about it.

My favorite low cal drink is Sprite Zero and a shot of vodka...keeping in mind that a shot of vodka is about 100 calories, every drink is 100 calories (I try to keep it to 3 drinks, reminding myself that every 100 calories is about 15 minutes on the treadmill lol...YUCK!) I have also tried Crystal Light and vodka, it's not too bad either! Now my favorite hard drink is Jack and Coke, so I tried Coke Zero and Jack...BLLLEEECCCHHH!!!! I don't know what the deal with that was-the taste was fine-but my goal that night was to get drunk and loud (hey everyone needs a night like that sometimes!!) and I barely caught a buzz after 4-5 drinks :grumble: (mind you I mix my jack and coke with lots of jack and a shot of coke for color). So I don't recommend that one lol!!:laugh:

Hungry-girl.com has some YUMMY drink recipes. I am also a huge wine lover myself , and I think it was mentioned above that a glass of white wine has less calories than a glass of juice.

You're doing fine drinking when you do...I do the same. An occasional, rare glass with dinner, and on the weekends maybe have a couple (adding them into the daily calorie count of course) and make sure to exercise a bit more/harder that day and make better eating choices. I rarely get drunk anymore so I probably drink 1-2 weekends out of the month, and only one night, not both. Seems to work out well!

One word of warning: Do not use diet soda in mixed drinks.

While it seems like a great way to cut calories and still enjoy alcohol, it can drive your blood sugar dangerously low. Several girls died or were hospitalized when I was in college from doing this.

Really, I don't think it is dangerous if you are just having a 1 or 2 drinks. I've been known to drink a couple Vodka and Crystal Lights.... But if you are going to make a night of it and you only use an artificially sweetened mixer, you can end up hypoglycemic. Bottom line: you're probably going to need to comsume some calories if you're drinking, just add them into your calorie count for the day.

One word of warning: Do not use diet soda in mixed drinks.

While it seems like a great way to cut calories and still enjoy alcohol, it can drive your blood sugar dangerously low. Several girls died or were hospitalized when I was in college from doing this.

Really, I don't think it is dangerous if you are just having a 1 or 2 drinks. I've been known to drink a couple Vodka and Crystal Lights.... But if you are going to make a night of it and you only use an artificially sweetened mixer, you can end up hypoglycemic. Bottom line: you're probably going to need to comsume some calories if you're drinking, just add them into your calorie count for the day.

This is what i found about hypoglycemia and alcohol:

"Alcohol (ethanol) can lead to hypoglycemia when the liver is depleted of glycogen and will typically develop 6-24 hours after a moderate to heavy intake of ethanol in a person that has had an insufficient intake of food for 1 or 2 days. This can have a compounding effect and make the individual appear intoxicated when in fact the person’s actual blood alcohol concentration (BAC) may be well below the legal limit. Ethanol can also potentiate the hypoglycemic action of certain classes of drugs like sulfonylurea and insulin. "

and hypoglycemia and diet soda:
"DIET SODA--One of the most common sweeteners used in diet drinks is Aspartame, which contains the amino acid phenylanine, a chemical known to produce a higher insulin response. This response can be extremely pronounced in endocrine-compromised individuals. Studies in the medical literature have shown this response to be 101%--103% greater than with a similar beverage containing a carbohydrate sweetener. Drinking diet soda alone or in combination with ethanol could only serve to enhance a state of low blood sugar."

What diet soda does is increase the absorbtion of alcohol into your system. Since large quanitiies of alcohol can cause hypoglycemia on it's own, diet soda can increase the probability with less alcohol.
It seemed like everything about hypoglycemia and alcohol involved under eating , EXTREME binge drink (even without mixing with diet soda) or in cases of people with prior blood sugar problems (i.e. diabetes).

I don't think it should be a problem if you are healthy, eating normally, and not drinking excessively. IMHO.

website about the effects of alcohol and diet soda:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1712877/diet_soda_and_alcohol_is_it_more_intoxicating.html
website about the causes of hypoglycemia :
http://www.medtoxinfo.com/news19.html

that article you pulled up was very helpful. I kinda thought it had to do with excessive/binge drinking. Thanks!

Well, there's nothing wrong with drinking. There's more calories in a glass of juice than a glass of white wine. Just know that if you're going to pack the calories on in one area, maybe skim them off somewhere else. If you're drinking Mojitos tonight, (like I probably will be) know that they're about 150 cals each, so maybe have a light lunch (300 cal salad instead of a 500 cal sandwich or entree) ... or work out an extra 150 cals when you go for a walk or the gym or whatever.

Also, when drinking alcohol, remember to stay hydrated. Drink as much water as you drink alcohol. Being dehydrated makes you retain water.

Best weight loss tip I ever heard: Moderation, Not Deprivation

Hope this helps.

I like the photo of your cute cat. Looks kinda like my cat Loki.... I miss him. he passed away this year.

I'm 22 and love to go out drinking with friends on the weekend. I pretty much know that it is one of the contributing factors to my plateau, but sometimes it's too much fun to give up. I have cut down though, and tend to drink lower cal drinks and that seems to help. :drinker: