Alcohol!

Just wondering if anyone has found a way to work alcohol into their diet? I am able to abstain completely, but hear it is okay to have a drink every once in a while. Any suggestions, stories, or opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

General concensus is that if you are going to have a little bit, red wine is pretty much the best thing you can have as far as alcohol goes, and actually has some health benefits when consumed in moderation.

There are quite a few threads on this topic if you want some more info.

How do you mean "work it into their diet"?  If I want a beer, I add it to my calories to the day, and it counts in my total.  If I'm being strict with myself, then no beer if I ate the rest of my calories that day.  If I'm having a cheat day, then it doesn't matter.

And yes, wine is likely better for you.  And something like vodka in a diet soda is probably the least calories you'd get in an alcoholic drink.

Clint

I allot the calories and am a little thriftier through the day.

I wish I could still drink red wine. :( It triggers my migraines.

But a jagerbomb is 100 cals, (1/2 can of Sugar free red bull + 1 shot jager) - can't remember what red bull is sweetened with but if its aspartame its not enough to trigger my migraines, thank god.

I'll switch up with a seabreeze - 1/2cup each light cran and light grapefruit + shot of vodka = 150

OR I will just drink on my maintenance day, depending on the week.

I work it into my cals, diet code and rum for me=64 cals in a shot of rum so each drink doesn' hit me to hard. But I think that rather then burning body fat when you drink ur body works to burn the alcohol first.  I would check that before goin off of it too, its just somethin I had floating around in my head.

Well, I enjoy beer and wine, so I make it a habit to add some treadmill time if I have too much fun one night.  Keep in mind that there are 64 calorie beers (Miller 64 and Becks 64).  Also keep in mind that wine and beer are GREAT for the SOUL!

I just count my alcohol into my calories for the day. If I'm going out and I'm going to drink a lot, I won't eat much until dinner. Of course that isn't very healthy, but I can't get on board with clean eating. Life is short. Clean eating might add years to your life, and the mentality that food is just fuel might make it easier to eat the right ammount of calories and have maximum health, but to me it's not worth it. Life is to be enjoyed. Life is short. I don't actively go seeking to make it shorter, or take major risks; I don't smoke, I don't binge drink, I don't drink every day, I don't live on fast food, and I try to balance my diet. But having a drink, having delicious foods, never saying that some particular food is entirely off limits, matters to me--and I think it matters a lot to people, even to people who profess that it no longer does. Living life to the fullest means allowing yourself the things you like, within reason, without undue risk. So raise your glass of wine or vodka or even something obnoxiously sweet like Smirnoff Ice, and skip the peanut butter and jelly at lunch to make up for you. Take an extra walk or session on the eliptical. Once in a while isn't going to kill you.

It is true that your body works to burn the alcohol before workign to burn fat, so even if you are counting the calories in the alcohol you consume, you still need to do extra work that day in order to compensate for the time your body spends not burning fat.  The good news is that alcohol tends to make people more active, so you will burn through more when you are drinking, but that alone isnt' enough.  You also have to be careful that you don't over-eat while drinking as most people tend to crave fatty/greasy foods when drinking and that is where the trouble builds up.