So I don't rob Kabot of her thread...

Does anyone else here struggle with not "binge" drinking on the weekends?

One definition states that 5 drinks for men and 4 drinks for women must be consumed on one occasion at least once in a two week period for it to be classed as binge.

I can easily drink more than 4 in a social situation. Example: I did a bike race and they gave beer at the end, I had two beers - then we went to the pool - I had two more drinks - then we watched college ball and I had four more drinks. I never got drunk either. So, I had 12 ounces of vodka and 2 beers on Saturday. Definitely a binge.

This is definitely something I struggle with in social situations. Especially football season...

How do you handle drinking and dieting?

Personally, I just pretty much stopped drinking. I had a lot of trouble when I first started this journey and trying to figure out ways to still be able to go out and drink but I came to realize that you don't need alcohol to have fun, and if I'm in a situation where I feel as if I need alcohol to have fun/or would make it more fun I take a step back and look closer at what I'm doing because its probably not something I really want to be doing if I need alcohol to enjoy it or enhance it in anyway. I save alcohol for special occasions and mini celebrations and never have more then 2 drinks and I only drink really nice wine or something, that way I can truly appreciate it and its a special treat.

Dottington - You're a better person than I am then. I dont need the booze to have fun or to enhance the experience, but I do enjoy it.

I struggle with this as well-just this week in fact. I've tried to tackle it two ways: 1) to avoid social situations where I know there will be a lot of drinking. Of course that's really no fun. So lately if I go out I just don't drink-not even one. Because one always leads to two, then three, etc. It's not the drinking so much that I worry about-it's that when I drink I eat really poorly. So I take that into account when I decide not to drink.

I will also always volunteer to be the designated driver which my friends really appreciate. So far it seems to work. I have my slip ups but no one is perfect.

I'm glad that someone feels the same as me about drinking!
This has been one of the hardest things for me. I love drinking, it's fun and brings friends together etc. But since May I have only drank properly (i.e. binge drink) about three times, and I used to be the type to do that every weekend.
I've tried to avoid situations where there will be a lot of drinking, which has killed me, but sometimes I just can't avoid it and I go along and have 2 or 3 drinks (light wine/light beer) and that of course isn't much fun either.
I'm not doing it because I know it's a killer with trying to lose weight, but once I'm on maintenance I definitely will be bringing drinking back into my weekends!

We would do well together.

i drink.

i choose carefully if and WHEN i drink,and what i do drink, but i do drink.

written from experience, if you eat well all week, and have a social gathering once a week, you will still be able to lose weight.

mind you- i am not encouraging consumption of alcohol, but you are all grown ups and should be able to make the decision. if you enjoy it, don't deprive. if you have no.... opinion of it, like if you don't want to drink, then just don't!

I posted in the Chicks in Control thread about this but I just wanted to say I'm maintaining and I still drink for drunkenness (why else would you drink, serious question) and while it ruins days productivity-wise, my waistline hasn't suffered.

Good to hear. I felt SO judged in CIC.

I can lose weight while drinking (sh*t, I've lost 106lbs and have never given up drinking) that's not my issue.

I was just curious how other people diet and drink.

It was just that one person!

Vices may make it HARDER to lose weight or get fit or whatever, but you can still do it. I'm quite comfortable with the idea that I'm a sometimes-hedonist and as a result squares and pious folk will judge me for it.

I still enjoy wine, and on rare occasions coolers, beer and cocktails. The wine is pretty much a weekly thing, at least once a week the fiancé and I have an evening which warrants some wine. If it slows my progress a bit, oh well, I have to live my life now too.

As for binge drinking, yeah I have that problem too, I inherited my father's alcohol tolerant liver and I can drink most men under the table, and have never had a hang over. The way I see it, a cheat day once in a while won't kill you, and you'd need to drink a helluva lot to go over calories. And even if you do, you shouldn't gain more than a pound or so.

Katbot24 - yes, this is also my problem. My tolerance is ridiculously high. I don't get hangovers with hard liquor (I do now with beer/wine since I started taking Synthroid for a thyroid issue, but not liquor.) I actually like the taste of alcohol, so it's very easy for me to drink large amounts.

Honestly, I tend to skip breakfast on Fridays/Saturdays because of the extra drinking calories. Some may frown on it, but I think there are enough people out there living IF that I'm not concerned about missing breakfast. I also eat for volume (veggies with fiber) on Friday nights so I don't get too tipsy and end up eating late-night! As some suggested in the other thread, I throw in the occasional diet soda into the night.

I'm not a frequent drinker, but when I drink, I tend to drink a lot. I am currently losing weight at a pretty good rate, so while I may not see as much of a loss after a weekend of drinking, I should still see a loss.

Drinking is definitely not weight loss friendly

Par example, my husband goes to the gym for HOURS each week every other day, he works out hard. He eats VERY healthy especially for a dude, lots of lentils, beans and salads.

He has only lost 5 lbs and it took like a YEAR. Why? Because he cannot give up his precious alcohol. He has been trying so hard to lose weight but the empty calorie drinks he is addicted too keep his beer belly firmly in place.

It is so annoying because I know if he significantly cut back on alcohol he would lose the weight but he won't.

Don't be like him!!!! Do what it takes now and then you can go back to drinking later. To me it's not worth it (once a month is fine but from what I've observed, weekly drinking sabatoges weight loss).

Just another opinion