I enjoy alcohol. Calm down, hold your knee before it jerks, reserve judgement. I live in a very challenging city, no I mean it. After working all day and commuting for three hours, when arriving home it really takes most of my restraint not to jump off the balcony, scream at husband/dog, break something or any tantrum-style combination thereof. I find A drink is a better option than the aforementioned ones.

Remain calm, don't call Betty Ford.

So clearly I have chosen to take action and change eating habits. Fine, GO GIRL!!!, I am on board. How does my nightly beverage factor into this? Clearly wine, beer and all other forms of delicious, yet booty enlarging drinks are out. OK with that. What about vodka? The skinny beautiful people (yes I hate them) in my life recommend vodka as a low calorie option. Looked it up and the interwebs indicate that a standard size American shot of vodka is 56 calories. True...thoughts?

Cheers

I agree, I think vodka has the most bang for your buck. A (skinny) friend of mine LOVES mixing vanilla vodka with diet root beer, diet cream soda, or diet orange soda.

MGD64 beer is low cal, but I'm doubtful it's good, lol.

Yes, and no. Your body metabolizes alcohol differently than it does other calories. I, personally, have to stay far away unless I want to hit stall city for several weeks. I have heard of people who have been successful while drinking vodka etc but I'm not one of them. It'll have to be something you experiment with. I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences .

Best of luck on your journey!

There are some people who do drink occasionally and include the calories in their diet plan. Personally, I think exercise, especially something like kickboxing, weights, etc are good stress relievers. Even a nice walk will help relax me. It isn't say that you can't include the calories of alcohol in your eating plan but have you tried alternatives such as physical activity?

Slayrick, I will be the last to judge because I love a cocktail, especially Vodka. I like mine mixed with some of the yummy sparkling waters. Lime is my favorite. I usually only have cocktails about 2-3x a month, but I understand where you are coming from. I think the trouble with alcohol is that is lowers our inhibitions around food. I find that it affects me in the opposite way which can be a problem too.

No, MGD64 is good. It's my beer of choice (and my gfs) if I'm having beer.

MGD64 is awful.

What I discovered about alcohol, myself and that after work beer that I love is this.

1. It's a bad habit.

2. Even though I don't feel hungry at 5 pm, I need a snack. I figured out that if I have a healthy snack it cuts the craving for that beer. I believe my blood sugar has dipped and that causes the craving.

3. Now that I've figured out how to beat the physical craving, I'm working on the "I deserve it" mentality. Because I deserve better than that.

FYI I've been eating an apple with a little peanut butter as the snack.

I still drink like a fish at weekend social events if the occasion calls, but I very rarely imbibe during the week. For regular drinks, I'd say 1 serving of vodka in Coke Zero or something could be aight.

Thanks guys!!! Excellent feedback. LoserMom hit it on the head... lowers your inhibitions about food. Exactly.

From what i've seen the experts are split on alcohol. Some studies suggest that it makes you gain weight while others show that drinking alcohol regularly can actually make you lose weight. A lot has to do with your genetics, how much your drinking, and whether alcohol encourages you to binge on foods you would not have otherwise. Since you are only drinking 1-2 cups a day you shouldn't have a problem. Such low regular alcohol consumption has been linked to a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, metabolic syndrome, gallstones, kidney disease, and osteoporosis. Red wine is considered the best for your health but research has been showing that some of the benefits also come with beer. Just don't go crazy with it and stay within your calories and you should be fine.

I think it's real important for you to find other ways to unwind and relax after a long, hard day. I mean is turning to alcohol on a daily basis really the best way to do that? Do you really want to rely on that stuff?

It may take you a while to change your habits, but it can be done and I'm certain you'll feel wonderful about the outcome.

A nice planned meal.
A nice soak in the tub.
A great book or magazine.
An invigorating workout.
Yoga, meditation, breathing.
A large mug of flavorful tea.
A little TV, computer.
Puzzles, sewing, knitting.

Slayrick, just want to say I love you're posts and I also do the 3 hour commute thing.

When I want a drink I either do vodka and crystal light. (I'm not big on soda.) or low carb mikes hard lemonade. Yeah I'm a light weight lol

Mich Utra for me...yum

I'm a tequila lover, hehe. I count a shot's worth of tequila as 100-ish calories. I use a serving size worth of light margarita mix (that I actually WAY prefer over the regular stuff). Tiny shake of salt, and a quarter of a lime. Refreshing and delicious. Guilt free margarita, hehe. I count the whole cocktail as 115cal on my caloriecount.com. I like drinking, but I generally like eating more on any given day. I'd much rather eat 115cal worth of food. But some days...weekends, social events, etc...I just want a cocktail. And of course, talking about it makes me want one. Tonight, maybe. It's bad form to drink at 8:15am, haha.

I believe Keystone Light and Natural Light are both 95 cal and have alcohol content comparable to Bud Light. Neither are the best tasting beers, but they're cheap, I'm a poor college kid, and they aren't too painful on the calorie budget, as far as alcohol goes.

Edited to add: I don't think I've ever noticed alcohol itself affecting my weight loss/maintenance. But I am absolutely guilty of lowered self control. I'm such a lightweight that after drinking one cocktail or one beer, I feel like I need drunk munchies. And drunk munchies are pizza, Taco Bell, you name it. But again, I drink so rarely that even when I do get schnockered and have a drunken binge, it still hasn't really affected my weight noticeably.

I guess my question is how bad do you want to lose weight? I also would be the last to judge I've indulged frequently along this journey, but it's at most once a week if not closer to once a month. I second alcohol lowering food inhibitions - it's a problem. It also makes me retain water.

I used to use alcohol to unwind on a daily basis, buy discovered exercise on a daily basis can do so much more. Anyway, good luck.