Alcohol + summer = eeek!

Any suggestions on what to drink? I know alcohol is supposed to be off limits, but that's not realistic for me - especially in the hottest, funnest season of the year!

I am trying to wean myself off of beer/wine (because I know they are high in cals/carbs) and stick to flavored vodkas with club soda.

Any hints, tricks or mixes to share??

I try to stick to a glass of wine per night, or try a vodka and tonic water when you go out.  Maybe limit yourself to 3 drinks, have one, then a glass of water, then a drink, and a glass of water etc.

Bottom line is that you can either be 'luscious' or 'a lush'...    It's not just the calories in booze that make you fat, it's all the other things that alcohol does to the body.... messing up insulin levels, fluid retention, increasing the appetite, suppressing the willpower, affecting liver function.  If you're serious about losing weight, try to stick to one or two alcoholic drinks at a party and sip water the rest of the time.  And if you can stick to just one or two drinks a week you'll see much better weight-loss results. 

I've moved from Ale! to vodka and diet coke with a big wedge of lime or mojitos. Diet coke's bad for you and alcohol is bad for you but 2or3 at a party or barbecue is better than drinking 1000 calories in beer or wine!

Original Post by a80r:

I try to stick to a glass of wine per night, or try a vodka and tonic water when you go out.  Maybe limit yourself to 3 drinks, have one, then a glass of water, then a drink, and a glass of water etc.

Tonic water has nearly as many calories as a regular soda.  Go for club soda (0 calories) and a twist of lime, lemon, orange...whatever fruit you fancy.  Much less caloric.  ;)

serious weight loss should not include alcohol however if you absolutely must have alcohol. 

I have a friend who likes to drink but always sips the drinks slowly.  He does mostly beer and wine.   But does not do it at all gatherings.  He has had several virgin all natural fruit juice drinks as well and they look like they have alcohol in them.

Image or taste..is your choice.

Weight loss is mine so I do not do alcohol until I reach my ideal weight this May 31st.

Good luck

DO NOT DRINK TONIC!  You might as well have a real drink, bc tonic has lots of calories considering it is clear bubble water!  :)  Also, flavored vodkas have extra crap in them.  I do vodka, club soda or diet sprite, and a piece of fruit (a lime, an orange, a couple of cherries)... A shot of vodka is 55 cals, a serving of club soda is 0, and obviously a lime slice isn't gonna have much impact on your daily count!  :)  You can still lose weight and have fun, just realize that if you've had a night out you have to be extra careful the next couple of days and drink tons of water.  I've heard alcohol slows metabolism, too, so try to limit it to once a week or so if you can.  Have fun this summer!

I'm pretty sure than an ounce of any kind of liquor is going to be around 60-70 cals, and a shot is 1.5 ounces, meaning probably closer to 90-100 cals. Not to mention some places mix with a heavy hand, which is how I like it haha. So even if you are mixing with 0 calorie mixers the count per drink can still creep up there to similar to that of a light beer.

As long as you drink in moderation and don't go nuts every weekend of the summer it shouldn't matter that much. Choose sensible drinks and have one or two and your weightloss shouldn't suffer too much.

Happy summer!

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/Coll egeStudents/calculator/alcoholcalc.aspx

While I do not try to kid myself that I will ever stop drinking beer, here is a link to an alcohol calorie calculator.  My taste if I were going for a non beer drink would be gin and sprite zero.  I have been known to bring my own mixer as Sprite Zero is rarely available at pubs near me.  You may get questioned but when I explain that it is for diet and that they do not have it and that I am still paying for the gin, there is usually no issue.  Just make sure it is sealed, as an open container might be a problem.

I switched from highly caloric beer and wine to drinking TALL vodka and soda (water) with a twist of lime. A tall drink is usually has twice as much mixer as in a regular mixed drink. So a tall vodka soda is often served in a pint glass, has only one shot of vodka, and the rest is soda.

There are several great things about this drink: (i) it has a lot of bubbly (non-caloric) water in it, so you stay hydrated, and because of this, you minimize hangovers, (ii) it is very refershing, (iii) it is very low in calories (maybe 70 cals a pint), and (iv) you get to constantly drink something, which is mainly my problem--I just like to sip on something all night (ex-smoker here, so maybe that's part of the obsession), and I don't want to have to worry about ordering a tall glass of water in between each alcoholic drink, etc. 

Why would anyone cut beer out? it's just whole grains, veggies, and water (with a little yeast).  What's not to love?

I also need to have a couple drinks once and a while, especially while hanging out at the river on a hot day!

I started drinking lime Bacardi rum, or Lime Smirnoff with water. Sometimes I use lime crystal light, which is even better! But even if you just put a couple slices of fresh lime/lemon into it.... tastes soooo good.. Honest!

As a student obviously the whole not-drinking doesn't come into it..if your out your drinking. I found it difficult in the beginning but I succesfuly managed to lose a lot of weight whilst still enjoying the student lifestyle. 

I allow myself one big night out a week where I can drink and I stick too vodka and diet coke...the rest of the week i drink nothing-you don't need alcohol to have fun. I am also strict with myself when it comes to food, if im starving after my night out i don't opt for takeaway, i wait till i get home-drink water and if im still hungry ill have 2 slices of toast. 

I guess it's just everything in moderation-if you allow for alcohol calories into your calorie count for the day. besides i think moderation is the key to success...the more we forbid certain things the more tempting they seem.

As well as diet coke and vodka i sometimes drink wine and soda water...

Thanks all! It looks like I'll be experimenting with vodka this summer.

Tonic lovers don't forget there's diet tonic, and special thanks to Jiggle for the link.

HAPPY SUMMER!

Be careful switching from beer to liquor.  Mixed drinks have a higher percentage of alcohol than beer.  I know liquor is "mean juice" for me if I drink it at the same pace as I would beer.  Just a friendly public service announcement!

My favorite in Captain Morgans spiced rum and Diet Coke. Really good.

Honestly I would recommend staying away from it if you really want to loose weight. Alcohol is part of the reason that i gained 30 pounds last year. I know it's hard but I'm giving it up so its not impossible! good luck!

i like gin with club soda and a wedge of lime.

i also kind of created my own whiskey sour recipe.  i made a sort of homemade lemonade with water, lemon juice and splenda (im sure any of those calorie-free sugar substitutes would work)

pretty much any un-flavoured clear alcohol mixed with either diet pop or low calorie juice like Crystal Light is probably your best bet.

AH summer and drinking. I had me a couple of beers out in the sun today :(

Raspberry Stoli and soda would be the better choice, but I end up chugging down too many if I'm not careful

When I'm keeping my wits about me I just drink the soda water with some lemon or lime and pretend it's a real drink