Mkay, I just need to share this with you all because I know you won't judge me, and you've been there too. You also might have some ideas on how to break this cycle.

I'm a 20-something... and lately, my weekends off involve drinking, eating food I shouldn't at INSANE hours of the night, and sleeping late.

Last night, (after a full day on plan) I ended up:
- snacking on tons cereal straight out of the box
-went to a birthday party at a bar, had 4 drinks over the course of 5 hours...
-spent those entire 5 hours dancing non-stop, literally dripping with sweat
-came home at 4:30am, probably ate (in a rather binge-y fashion) about 1,500 + calories in carbs,
-Slept alllll day

I just managed to talk myself OUT of going to the gym .... and now I'm getting ready, in a leisurely fashion, for an expensive (and sure to be delicious) dinner out with girlfriends.


What. am. I. doing.

I realize that this behavior is not helping my weight loss... and yet, I also had such a fun time!! I guess I just have to figure out how to drink without always eating?! And without eating so MUCH, and right before bed, I might add.

I just love to go out and dance and smile and be worry free, but somehow, it always ends up in me overeating, being tired, and feeling bad.

I know once I get older, this phase will pass/get old.... but, in the meantime, what the **** can we do to help ourselves be a little bit less ....extreme?

Signed,
A bloated and teeny bit hung over FPSJ

Let me know when you figure it out!

I've had to DRASTICALLY reduce my social calendar because I can't be in a bar or at a party and not drink, and I can't stop eating when I do drink. It sucks.

Sounds like a fun night though!

Think this was a theme for a lot of us this past weekend... although I think I've finally learned the not-eating-crap-after-drinking part - we stopped at the gas station on the way home, boyfriend and friend got meat pies, deep fried chicken tenders etc - I had nothing...came home...looked in the fridge - realised I'd be better off just going to bed.
I think it's about finding balance somehow - but I haven't found it completely yet! 7 double shot drinks over the space of 6 hours :s

Looking over what you did, I'd say that the biggest damage factor was the binging afterwards...which is probably a mix of the typical "I've-drank-let's-EAT" feeling and your body needing to compensate. There are quite a few empty (or empty seeming) calories that, perhaps if you tweaked them, could go a lot further.

I don't know what your living situation is like, but if it's possible to do so, make your late night binge-esque food before you go out...so that when you come home, you have something already made that you can scarf down - it may not be the perfect solution, but maybe it would help you to at least reign in what happens.

While you're actually at the bar, try switching every other drink with water. If you're dancing so much, your body will appreciate it...help keep you hydrated, which will in turn help you to avoid another drink.

What are you drinking at the bar? Vodka is one of your best bets, calorie-wise...and if you use diet coke as a mixer, it doesn't add calories and goes farther than straight shots. Fruity drinks and specialty drinks are higher in calories.

So, if possible, I would eat something on-plan before I went out, even if that means spacing my daily intake differently than normal. I would also make something that caters to my usual drunken desires (for me, I crave savory, so I'd probably make a wrap with hummus or cream cheese, then pack it full of veggies and a little meat...if I wasn't so lazy, even a little bacon!).

Then, while at the bar, I'd stick to the lower calorie mixed drinks and try to have every other or every third drink be water (if you're dancing that much, your body needs and will appreciate it.

When I got some, I'd eat that wrap/whatever tasty thing I made...and if I were still "hungry", I'd probably air-pop some popcorn or a bag of light popcorn, again something savory to suit my tastes. Yours might be sweet.

I don't know what your plan is...but, if you're eating at fairly low calorie levels, all of that dancing might be burning more than you realize...while we'd like the calories in alcohol to balance that out, it doesn't work that way, and your body will crave food/more nutrients.

Good luck! It's hard to balance everything, but you'll get there! If you have to quit enjoying your life altogether, you won't stick with it, so find a happy medium!

I totally agree with you FPSJ!
I'm a student and while I didn't drink any alcohol for a whole month, I think I pretty much made up for all that this weekend

Stupid really but it's all a learning curve

AF your tips on late-night food are great will have to try that out sometime!

ha, i like articfrog's ideas... i usually try to have NO bingeable food in the house,which helps in normal times but when i'm drunk after a night out, i will normally just stop at the convenience store before going home so that doesn't help much.

i think the two big things to do are

A) reduce your social calendar. it sucks but you can't go on nights like that all the time and expect to keep losing weight. i think we have to remind ourselves that it's a temporary evil. one night a week, or even better, one night every two weeks, or every month... maybe if you tell yourself that you can have ONE big night a month, you can go crazy on that one but it'll be easier to steel yourself if you go out at another time? i dunno, haha, my theory is still a work in progress...

B) have a will of STEEL. lol. i've done it before. i've gone out with friends and not eaten at the restaurant cuz i ate before at home, and had only low cal drinks. it IS doable, it's just a lot less fun in our heads, and you need a lot of motivation. but if you remind yourself you are still having fun being out with your friends, it's all good. and even if on your night out, you end up with a tally of 2000 calories for the day cuz of your drinks, that is still fine! it's not the 4000+ that you would get if you binged after!

anyways, good luck, and i think we are all in the same boat, haha. i'm up a whole kilo after my weekend of debauchery in tokyo, eheh... it was soooooooo worth it though!

Oh FPSJ I could have made this thread haha. I'm up 6 pounds in water weight after the weekend and I'm actually having a tough time buttoning my suit jacket at work. I feel so gross that I'm actually REALLY EXCITED about detoxing this week.

I offer no advice aside from echoing what Kawaii_Candie mentioned - seeing if you can't pare down your "big night out" nights to just a couple per month and then being extra good the rest of the time.

Ahhh, thanks girls! I really appreciate all of the ideas and the support.

Luckily, I work every other weekend, so this is realistically only 1-2x/month. It just annoys me because I know it's the reason I have only lost about 2lb per month instead of at a faster rate.

Frogs makes a good point though... we have to find a middle ground, because we can't just skip out on life. That's not a habit we can maintain in the long run, and besides, life's too short to just "skip it"..

Here's to a week full of healthy eating, exercise, hydration, and staying positive!

I second the iron will idea. I cut out all drinking from my diet, but I still go out with my friends. I'm now the designated driver, and drink diet soda or water the whole night, and still have a lot of fun. I get to laugh at my silly drunken friends, dance as much as I want, and know that everyone will get home safe. It's a lot easier to resist drinking (or over-drinking, if you don't want to cut out alcohol altogether), when you know people are relying on you to drive.

I decided to cut out drinking altogether, but not the socializing aspect, because for me, at least, when I drink, I like to get tipsy, and when I get tipsy, I definitely want to munch on something (I'm sure y'all been there - late night pizza or fast food runs!). I figured that while I'm losing weight, no drinking, and when I reach my goal, I'll allow myself to in moderation :P

when i first started my plan, i stopped drinking all together. i knew if i had just one drink, i would have to keep going till i got that happy buzz, which used to take 5-6 drinks. i would still go out, but skip out on the bar stuff. i would suggest movies, bowling, live music, other stuff. now, i do occasionally have a drink, but it only takes me two drinks to get the happy feeling, if that's what i'm going for. also, i don't do the crazy mixed fruity drink. gin and club soda or tonic (diet).
as far as the food goes, if i feel like i want to eat, i eat what i'm really craving. if i get it, i usually find that i don't mindlessly binge or over eat.

I totally hear you.

Caveating my advice: I tend to be a really responsible drinker in non-food decisionmaking (in three years of partying I have never blacked out or "accidentally" hooked up with someone or done similar regrettable things), but I'm apt to late-night binge, so my priorities when I go out are to have fun and try not to sabotage either my diet or my morning-after (I get hangovers like nobody's business).

So my trick is to go completely against what all health professionals advise and NOT eat that much before I go out. I'll have a particularly light-but-filling dinner like a bit of fresh fruit and cereal, under 300 calories. Then I'll bring exactly enough money with me for a cab ride, cover, and one drink. And a water bottle.

I make sure I have a light drink (rum and diet coke or something light with vodka) approx ~100 calories or under; because I haven't eaten much, it's enough to get me a bit tipsy; I drink tons of water and dance off the calories. By 1 am when everyone else is trashed and developing munchies, I've started to sober up and skip scallion pancakes or pizza or burritos in favor of just going home. And falling asleep because DAMN I'm tired.

I think I get more cardiovascular exercise while mildly inebriated than at any other point in my week.

I've been limiting myself to 3 vodka-soda-limes when I go out. This gets me tipsy enough to enjoy myself, but not drunkenly ravenous when I get home!

I haven't felt the need to do this in this phase, but when I was going from 138 to where I am now, I would allow myself a little drunken meal that wasn't too crazy. I think my staple was using two slices of 35 cal bread and a baybell light to make a grilled cheese sandwich! Popcorn is a good idea too... and I think the Kelloggs fiber bars are awesome, so sometimes I allowed myself one of those.

This was my Saturday night! A heavy Spanish dinner with wine and dessert followed by all-you-can-drink at a bar and finished off with a McD's double cheeseburger. NOT the smartest day I've had; I kicked myself a lot about it but after calculating the caloric totals found out that it wasn't quite as terrible as I'd imagined.

If I'd eliminated the cheeseburger I would've been pretty close to my normal limit. It's things like that that remind me that I can go out, have fun and still reign it in somewhat. And even though I was all-you-can-drinking, I forewent my usual G&T and got clear booze with soda. I'm trying to slowly change my habits rather than completely restricting myself. I hope you find a solution to works for you!

If we go out and are planning on needing a designated driver, I always try to make it a point that he/she pays for nothing. You want something to eat, soda, whatever...it's taken care of, and thanks for helping to keep everyone safe.

...that can cause a problem though, considering that bar food isn't the most calorie happy.

Anyway, cheers to you!

OP: I'm glad that the main point you took away is that you need to find a balance. You've already stated that this isn't an almost-every-night sort of thing, which is already a plus - a lot of people can't control themselves at all and get swept away in that sort of lifestyle.

Life is all about balance. Sounds like you're on the right track - a misstep or two isn't aways a bad thing. At least you're recognizing that it's not an action that matches your goals, and you are taking control of your life. So plan ahead, be smart, and live your life!

Hmm.... I like this idea. I just don't know that I'd necessarily stop at 1am... I'm the gal that will keep on dancing until the sun comes up.
At which point, I am of course, famished. hahaha