Hey y'all. Is there anyone out there that's as big a barfly as I am?

I checked my FitDay and apparently I average just over 400 calories a day from alcohol...average. I drink Amstel Light. YIKES!

I live in NYC. Its just not *normal* to hang out at home...because my apartment is the size of my brother's bathroom (he lives upstate.) There's no where else to go after the library closes except the bar. Most of my friends are bar friends and my husband and I, usually when we hang out and talk we do it like Norm in Cheers at the local pub.

Any other barflys have any tips on keeping the alcohol calories to a minimum?
Last night I tried alternating a bottle of beer, a glass of water...
I still had 4...of EACH!

Oh yeah, I smoke like a chimney too. Which probably won't derail my diet, it will just prematurely destroy my lungs. I want to quit, but a diet/exercise/quitting booze/quitting smokes seems like a lot at once.

I think you may need to just change your overall habits.

If you insist on frequenting a bar regularly (which sounds expensive both to your waistline and wallet), then try for things like club soda with a little lime. No calories there.

How about going to the gym instead? Or reading a book? Or taking a walk even?

Or how about more active places like a pool hall? Or bowling?

I agree with Nelie. I know plenty of New Yorkers who don't hang out in bars, so I'm skeptical about the idea that it's the only place to go to be social.

If you choose to continue to hang out in bars, then it's going to have to be up to you to have enough self control to not drink alcohol (or to drink less alcohol) while you're there.

Like Nelie said, club soda with lime is a good option. I often order Diet Coke with lime as well. Looks like a Cuba Libre, but no calories.

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Hey Nod,

I can completely sympathize! Hanging out in bars can be killer on a diet (not to mention your health in general). But giving up your social life is hardly a solution.

Maybe you could try:
A) Drinking two glasses of water for every beer.
B) Don't drink at all on some nights--instead, rock out seltzer water with lemon/lime like it's no body's business.
C) Give up the pub some nights, but not your social life! Go see a movie (skip the candy at the counter, obviously), go see a show, just wander around NYC with your husband doing all the awesome NYC things that those of us who live in the woods are totally jealous of

Good luck with everything, and props for recording your calories in Fitday!

I'm with Nelie - you're going to have a hard time staying OP when you drink that often. For one thing, drinking lowers ones resistance to off-plan foods, so you tend to eat more when you drink. For another, alcohol in and of itself has a whole lot of calories with little to no nutritional value.

So you have a few choices, as Nelie said. You can explore other options available at night in NYC, or you can stay in the bars and not drink. Finding new spots will be easier, but you can choose not to drink in bars and still spend time with your husband/friends. Just go with club soda and lime, or a diet soda, or water. Leave the alcohol to special occasions.

I'm one of those freaks of nature who was able to give up smoking, drinking and unhealthy eating within a small period of time. The mega saving in cash alone has been phenomenal. Seriously, giving up smoking and "bar" drinking can save you enough money to rent a larger nicer apartment. You say you average 4 beers a night. Say $4.00 a beer plus a pack of smokes/day @ $5.00. The savings would be (approx. $21.00 a day...$147 a week...$588 a MONTH. ) I'm calculating on the low end, according to prices in Nebraska, it is probably much higher in NYC. If your husband is doing the same as you, you are spending almost $1200 a MONTH on alcohol and cigarettes. An additional $1200 a month could afford you a much larger apt. where you could entertain and cook healthy at home. Besides that drinkers and smokers age MUCH more quickly. Think of all the botox and face lifts you'll save on, (if you live that long.)

>There's no where else to go after the library closes except the bar.

I bet the gym is still open.

I go to the bar. I just drink diet soda. My father was a traveling salesman. He said in some parts of the country they wanted to see you drink, and he couldn't see five customers a day and drink with each. He would call ahead and say to the bartender "I'm John Smith, I'll order my usual, please give me club soda with a twist of lime." Folks thought he was drinking.

The issue isn't the bar, it is what you do (or drink) at the bar.

There's a gym I can drink in FRIEDGREEN?....tell me more

Yep, water!!Bottoms up!

Ok. I actually left the bar last night. Yes...it took me three beers to do it. But I left. So that's a start.

I went to the gym.

I think it has more to do with the fact that all my friends hang out in bars. Which is kind of sad. The club soda idea sounds good.

But wow do I love alcohol. My doctor said I can have one a day. Two a day...and she'll give the *look* but she won't yell at me. But I'm gonna try to get it to one a day.

I loved it too! I loved it so much that I had to give it up entirely--it was ruling my world--everything revolved around when, where, and how much.

Trying for one a day is good--if you can stick with it. Some people only drink on weekends. And some don't drink at all. You'll have to see what works for you.

Jay

Sometimes we either have to change our habits or modify them somehow. You may have to make the decision sometime on whether you love your waistline more or alcohol. Sometimes we have drinking buddies, sometimes we have eating buddies. I used to have an eating buddy myself. We may have to change what we do with our friends or we have to change our friends or we just don't change at all.