Drinking and weight loss?

Goldlie11

Did you drink (obviously in moderation) while you were losing weight?  Those of you who are still losing weight, do you drink?  If so, would you mind sharing your results?  I like to have wine or a couple of cocktails once a week (usually Friday or Saturday).  Am I sabotaging myself?

miguelhilary2010

I've cut alcohol out a lot for a number of reasons.  I dont feel you need to cut it out completely to lose weight.  Just account for the extra liquid calories you are consuming.  Instead of sugary cocktails, try switching to vodka and club soda w/lime, or something else simple.

Ginabean2011

You can still enjoy alcohol, just budget your calories accordingly. Some tips- light beer, wine, and diet soda or diet tonic water as mixers are lower in calories than most cocktails and mixed drinks.

miah_23_ncb

you can drink but just watch thse drinks that have a bunch of  calories.

emyinpink

I chose not to drink when I'm actively losing, but then I rarely drink anyways. I used to drink a lot in college, and then a few months after I graduated and started working just made the choice to continue to go out, but no longer to drink.

I still drink  occassionally (like our last trip to Mexico or my girlfriend's bachelorette party in Vegas this past weekend), and since it's so rare, I don't worry too much about the calories (but still try to make smart choices).

If you don't want to cut it out completely, I would limit to 1-2 drinks/week. Good options low calorie are:
Vodka sodas (vodka mixed with soda water - the flavored vodkas like absolute raspberry are particularly good, can also add a splash of cranberry)
Glass of wine, or a white wine spritzer (white wine mixed with soda water)
Light beer

If you don't cut out artificial sweeteners, another option is mixing a hard liquor with diet soda (e.g., vodka w/diet coke)

Avoid most mixed drinks, as the calories can be insane (like margaritas)

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I do, because it's a social thing for me. I go out with friends for drinks. FI and I like to have a drink when we go out, or while watching a DVD. I ONLY drink coffee, tea and water during the week. I'll have a few alcoholic beverages on the weekend. I just log them into my calories. I'll have a regular beer if it's a nice craft beer, but at a sports bar I'll have a light beer and at a nicer bar I'll sip a scotch on the rocks or something similar. Find things that are light in calories and/or that take you a while to drink!

And I DO think it would be easier to lose weight if I stopped drinking all together, but it's not something I'm willing to do just yet. If I lived by myself and didn't have friends and an FI who drank, it would definitely be easier not to!

jabeckner

I think it is the idea that while losing weight you should be making decisions that you are able to maintain. It is the idea that you are adopting a new healthier life style. So for me giving up alcohol completely wasn't somehting I can sustain. But Instead I cut back, I know just have one glass of wine while out instead of 3, or 2 beers isntead of 4 haha.

Also I have noticed that while I am so dedicated to my running now, I don't want to drink as often because it affects my runs negatively. So I just volunteer to be the DD more often, and it works out really well for me. I still drink throughout the week, maybe it's a glass of wine with dinner, or a beer here or there, but I count the calories, and I am still down 7 pounds in 5 weeks, so its not too horrible.