Alcohol

I like to drink on the weekends too. What I found works is watching the calories all week(eating less than what you can) and then you have extra for the weekends! I've lost about 20 lbs so far doing this. I can't not eat when I drink or the hangover will be horrific!

I've cut down on my drinking & try not 2 during the week..although this sometimes happens by accident!! .on days im going out I just count what drinks i have & dont really worry about it as i dont want to spoil my fun! i think during the days before i prob eat fewer cals & it all balances out over the week..you can also swop drinks..i still enjoy cider or wine but now have gin or vodka which are fewer cals..unfortunately the hangover is just as painful!! :drinker: :sick:

The only time I don’t count is when I know that I’m going to be getting inebriated. And this just includes things like weddings/bachelorette parties/birthday parties (if it’s out)/friends I don’t get to see often visiting(generally college friends)…etc. Stuff like that where I know that everyone is going to be drinking and I know that I’ll want to as well. These events don’t happen in my life every weekend so I generally just chalk up the day to a ‘cheat day’ (even though in general I don’t ‘cheat’ I just log everything) and don’t log even the food I’m eating. I figure it will even out in the long run, or I’ll be extra good about working out the week after or something.
Anyway, ‘saving’ calories by not eating as much doesn’t help…as you’ve already found out with the getting too drunk/hungover.
If I’m simply having a drink or two with a friend or with dinner or just lounging at home…I log it and try to stay within my calorie budget as normal. I love beer…and the beer I drink isn’t anything with ‘light’ in the name. I’ve had a number of beers that clock in at around 300 calories for one bottle…but I just have that one. I have to leave out a snack for the day or just shave 100 calories off of some of my meals or whatever.
I can say that I’ve cut down on drinking though. I don’t stress out about it too much….it’s supposed to relieve stress…not cause it, LOL.
It’s fun though, since I’m watching my calorie intake I’ve been prompted to make some lower calorie options for the drinks I really like….testing them out being the ‘fun’ part. =D

My two cents... I love LOVE red wine, and love having wine with dinner, and after dinner... if I'm going to drink any at all, I will end up (usually) drinking the whole bottle, since my boyfriend doesn't like to drink very much. And red wine does not keep very well, so wasting it would be a crime, right? Might as well just drink it and enjoy!

However, in the past I when I have been super committed to a weight loss goal, I have given up ALL drinking until I reach my goal, and then make adjustments with the calories when I decide it's OK to add alcohol back into my diet. That might be tough, it's not for everyone, but it's just one approach. The reason I adopted such a drastic approach, is because I get the munchies when I drink, and being drunk causes me to lose all self control, and I end up with not only the extra calories from the alcohol itself, but also about 1,000 extra calories worth of munchies too!

Well...I'm a beer lover so I have two ways of dealing with drinking. Also, it's worth noting that I am now in graduate school and have been since August of 2012 and I do not have any money, LOL. So I don't really drink as MUCH beer as I used to. When I was working full time and had the cheapest rent imaginable it would be nothing for me to be try a new beer most days of the week. Alas...

At that time, if I was going to have a beer in the evening (or a glass of wine...etc) I would count it in my log. I still ate the same things that I would normally...I'd just replace a snack with the drink or have a little less of my snack. It's not really a good idea to not eat to make up for the calories you are going to drink if you're planning on having more than ~2 drinks. Like you said, it just leads to you being hungry, more drunk, and more hungover (and possibly eating something crazy on the walk home, lol).

If there was something going on like a party (like one of the many bachelorette parties I attended....) and I knew I'd be getting drunk...I wouldn't count them. I did not regularly have a 'cheat' day, so I guess I explained it by thinking it would be like some really rare 'cheat' day.
As long as you have the self control and discipline to eat well the rest of your time, I don't think it's a big deal not to count them. I wouldn't do that every weekend though.

Now, I still drink beer (mostly homebrewed stuff...so I have no idea how many calories it is anyway) but not nearly as much. I'm poor and busy as all get out with grad school. =D

But...you can't deny yourself a good time every once in a while if that's what you enjoy.

Icehouse comes to mind... 16oz comes in at 180 calories and it's 5.5% alcohol...