Booze!
 

What does everyone think about drinking liquor?

I have been sticking under my calorie goal but have been having a cocktail or 2 on most nights (usually a vodka soda and nothing with sugar). And right now I am stuck, stuck stuck on a plateau despite working my butt off and counting my calories obsessively.

Wondering if anyone else has insight.

Thanks!

LC

I have 1-2 glasses of wine a week at MAX. Usually I don't have anything. I can't afford to spend my calories on alcohol. If I do I don't have enough for vitamins and protein.

One could argue from a nutritional standpoint that alcohol is wasted/empty calories. One could argue that calories are calories and it doesn't matter the source.

I'm not sure there is anything from a nutritional standpoint for your body to process or break down that is particular useful, but there are studies that wine is good for the heart. I don't know what vodka is good for. :)

There is the argument that, at its basest form, it is sugar. Some argue that is isn't sugar, but your body thinks it is. It has low to no carbs? I recall being able to drink on a low carb diet, so maybe not so great on a calorie counting diet but ok on a low carb diet?

Alcohol can cause bloating and retaining of water, so ... weight "gain" or weight "retain?"

You don't say how long you've been stuck, stuck, stuck. It could be a fluke. From your ticker you've lost 12 pounds...maybe your body is just readjusting.

Only you can decide if the drinks are worth consuming or not.

Food for thought.

Ah, a thread close to my liquor-loving heart! :)

I've had to severely cut back on the whiskey, which upsets me more than having had to cut back on the pizza, in all honesty! Haha. I'm already eating a fairly low amount of calories. I found I couldn't give my body all it needs nutritionally when I routinely sacrificed an additional couple of hundred calories to Jack Daniels. Plus, like already mentioned, there's the bloating issue and the alcohol = increased hunger issue. Blah. It's tough, vodka-buddy :( I still drink occasionally, but it's probably twice a month now.

Re: your plateau...you mention you're a calorie counter -- are you totally sure you're counting the calories in the alcohol correctly? I only mention this because, a couple of months ago, I found myself in the same boat you're describing: I had lost some weight, was working out a lot, and, I thought, keeping an accurate list of my calories...when, suddenly, there I was, "mysteriously" plateaued. Yeah, totally the alcohol.

So I've always heard that, typically, hard liquor is about 70 calories per shot; however, I didn't stop to consider that my shot glass, like a lot of shot glasses, holds about a shot and a half. Really silly mistake that had me hugely underestimating my calories and, therefore, maintaining, rather than losing, for about a solid month. If you're anything like me, you could easily be taking in nearly 300 calories with those two cocktails, which, if not factored correctly into daily totals, could result in what seems like a plateau.

I literally woke up this morning thinking that I smelled pizza in my appartment! It was not there....

After this weekend where I have some big stuff planned I am going to cut out the liquor for a few days and see what happens. I have been at this weight for about 2 weeks. And have been working out 1-2 times a day and counting calories.

I think I have been measuring the alcohol correctly. But maybe my body is not reacting well to it. I'll give it a shot.

Bleh, I am getting really impatient!

Wino, here..
 

Another booze-lover here, :D LOL

I'm finding it more difficult to incorporate a glass of wine (or two) into my daily calories, mostly because when I drink I want to eat! I'll be on track all day and then happy hour comes along and before you know it I'm scarfing down a quesadilla along with my chardonnay. :o Obviously not a good idea and something I need to seriously work on.

Women should not have more than 1 alcoholic drink per day - as for nothing with sugar - alcohol is nothing but sugar alcohols.

Actually, vodka may be just as good for you! Numerous studies have actually shown that it doesn't matter the type of alcohol - they all have cardiovascular benefits. People who drink moderately (1-2 drinks/day for women (some sites stress 1, others say 1-2) and 2-4 for men) actually tend to live longer than those who abstain or drink heavily. A serving of vodka has the same benefits as a glass of wine, the difference being however that there are more antioxidants in wine (although that's not proven to be more beneficial at preventing heart disease... it's the alcohol not the antioxidants). Alcohol increases good levels of your good cholesterol, which is important in heart health and moderate comsumption of alcohol has also been linked to a decreased incidence of gall stones and type 2 diabetes in some studies.

Anyways, it's not all cut and dry, and it's a personal choice, but there may be quite a bit of value in a drink or two a day.. it's a matter of weighing the risks to the benefits and seeing where you fit into the equation.


Now, as far as alcohol and weight loss, I've seen a number of different answers.. some say that moderate drinkers weigh the same of less than those who abstain - the trick being not to take advantage of the "munchies" that may come along with drinking. I dunno -there's lot of cool research out there that say yes and no to the question. a lot of it comes down to the AMOUNT of alcohol consumed. For me, I like my adult beverages!


Here are a few articles:

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholAndHealth.html

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritio...ory/index.html

http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/...ch/alcohol.htm

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Alc...AndWeight.html

Great post, thank you! I agree, I like my adult beverages, too, and see no reason they can't be part of a healthy lifestyle..in moderation. Though I want to be fit & healthy, I also know that life is too darned short not to revel in the things you enjoy. If enjoying my chardonnay means I have to do an extra lap around the park today, so be it. :D