How many beer lovers on here think drinking once a week is perfectly ok?

I recently started counting calories and have been visiting the gym atleast 5 days a week. I started at 217 on August 1st of this year and am currently at 208. I used to drink the regular Budweiser all the time but due to this site and my weight loss journey, I have now switched to the lightest beer I could find which is MGD Lite which has like 64 calories per bottle. Reading some other posts here regarding beer, I am confused as to continue drinking beer in moderation (and by moderation I mean about 4-5 bottles every Friday evening ) atleast once a week or discontinue it. I wonder how many of you calorie counters drink beer atleast once a week?

I drink beer on Sundays haha. I generally do MGD light as well, since it's so low in cals.

but i DO drink on other days as well, and have wine. It's the best for weight loss...as told to me by someone and when I was really trying to lose I cut beer out and replaced with the wine.

It still comes down to calories in vs calories out...moderation of beers on a friday night is just fine if you ask me. I just suggest having that be your cheat meal or free day or wahtever you call it, cuz you dont want to restrict cals all day just for the beer; otherwise you get super hungry, get the drunk munchies and want to eat a lot! haha

and now i'll move over and give room for everyone to say it's not ok to have beer haha

I drink beer once a week when I'm bowling.  I just make sure to workout a little harder either the day before or the day of... and I am extra careful of what I eat that day.  It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. 

I like to have a few beers myself.  I feel that this is your diet your life.  You can work in anything you want.  If you need to exercise a littl extra on the days you drink then do it.  If you want to call it a maintance day then do it.  If you totally deprive yourself of the things you like there is no way a person could stay with it.  I usually have a few over the weekends.  I do count them and I try to make up the calories by working out.

That's just my opinion.  I know I would never stay with it if I can't have the things I love.  I know that I can't eat or drink the way I was, but I can have anything in moderation and I am still counting.

One beer is about 95 calories.  You can fit that in somewhere Right?

I think its fine - until this past weekend I'd have 4-5 drinks friday AND saturday nights. I steadily lost 1-2 per week, but monday-wednesday I'd be up 5 lbs due to water retention.

However, I'm quitting smoking so I have to quit drinking so I won't smoke!

Without drinking this weekend, I am up a pound today (instead of 5). Probably from all the painting I did (i am sore!!).

Regardless of the water retention, I would still be down as far as weekly averages go because I'd stay under my maintenance calories. But I have to say that today does feel better without the bloating!!

Original Post by crazydiamondchrysalis:

I think its fine - until this past weekend I'd have 4-5 drinks friday AND saturday nights. I steadily lost 1-2 per week, but monday-wednesday I'd be up 5 lbs due to water retention.

However, I'm quitting smoking so I have to quit drinking so I won't smoke!

Without drinking this weekend, I am up a pound today (instead of 5). Probably from all the painting I did (i am sore!!).

Regardless of the water retention, I would still be down as far as weekly averages go because I'd stay under my maintenance calories. But I have to say that today does feel better without the bloating!!

 

 I recently quit smoking.  I have found that as long as I don't have more than 1-2 beers I don't feel the urge to smoke when drinking...

The other thing I find myself doing when I'm drinking beer is guzzling water in between to help with water retention.

When I was really trying to lose weight I only drank the light beers (becks light is 64 cals). It worked for me and I drank maybe once or twice a week. It was more the eating afterwards that caused the problems...Now that I am at the end of my weightloss journey I let myself have really good beer from time to time. It tastes sooo much better after being away from it for so long!

So basically, I think its ok just be careful about what you eat after. I got into a habit of having microwave popcorn (the light kind) when I would get home. Instead of pizza, fries..etc. 

Original Post by wyogirl:

I like to have a few beers myself.  I feel that this is your diet your life.  You can work in anything you want.  If you need to exercise a littl extra on the days you drink then do it.  If you want to call it a maintance day then do it.  If you totally deprive yourself of the things you like there is no way a person could stay with it.  I usually have a few over the weekends.  I do count them and I try to make up the calories by working out.

That's just my opinion.  I know I would never stay with it if I can't have the things I love.  I know that I can't eat or drink the way I was, but I can have anything in moderation and I am still counting.

One beer is about 95 calories.  You can fit that in somewhere Right?

 wyogirl...my point exactly. If I deprive myself of it, I would probably not be able to stick to the weight loss routine. I feel much better about myself drinking beer now :)

Definitely, one can enjoy a few cold ones once a week and not gain weight.  Yes, maybe a bit of extra exercise or a few less calories the next two days could enter in, but I doubt it.  It would depend on what you ate while drinking the brewskies.

For two years or so before I went on my exercise/diet routine of the last 5-6 months, I was a connoisseur of Imperial Stouts and Imperial Porters.  I would order these high alc. (7 to 15%) and high calorie stouts (150-320 calories per 12 oz bottle) and rate them on my family group site and on a couple of other now defunct MSN Group site. 

I do know this.  If I had continued to drink those stouts as often as I used to, I could not have lost weight unless I ate no food except for the calories in the stouts.

I think even some regular beers if you research on the Web how many calories they have can be drunk once a week and not make you gain weight for the week.  Since I have tried that theory out several times--but not eaten a bunch of baby back ribs, fried chicken, prime rib, rib steak, and lasagna while drinking them, I can guarantee that a person can maintain his/her weight and still enjoy a cold beer on occasion.

This is something I have thought about since I started CC. What I've noticed when I drink are the foods that tend to come along with it ... and feeling lethargic for up to a few days after. I am not sure if it's really worth it for me.

One more thing I have noticed is after drinking beer on a Friday evening, I usually get pretty lazy in the gym on Saturdays. I almost start yawning in between the bench presses so I just gave up on working out the next day and call it my rest day. 

Ummmm *raises hand* can you really consider yourself a "beer lover" if you drink Budweiser?

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Ummmm *raises hand* can you really consider yourself a "beer lover" if you drink Budweiser?

 Ha Ha...Now I can. I USED to drink Budweiser.

I'm not sure MGD 64 improves your status.

Sorry - I'm marrying a beer snob, and it's rubbed off on me.

Sorry...but No!  (Just kidding.  Just MPO)

One thing I am a bit "saddened" about is that in the USA, the last 15 years have seen such a great evolution and mushrooming of micro-breweries but I have pretty much given up drinking all beers, with an occasional exception.  For a long time 4 or 5 gigantic breweries controlled the rather generic beers we were drinking.  Again, just MPO, but now there are hundreds of beers in this country that have character and creativity and are just plain fun to drink--if one follows "moderation in all things."

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

Sorry...but No!  (Just kidding.  Just MPO)

One thing I am a bit "saddened" about is that in the USA, the last 15 years have seen such a great evolution and mushrooming of micro-breweries but I have pretty much given up drinking all beers, with an occasional exception.  For a long time 4 or 5 gigantic breweries controlled the rather generic beers we were drinking.  Again, just MPO, but now there are hundreds of beers in this country that have character and creativity and are just plain fun to drink--if one follows "moderation in all things."

 Totally agree with your statement pilgrimdude..."moderation in all things". For 5 beers = 5 X 64 = 320 extra calories a week should be moderate enough for anyone. 

Drinking beer is the only habit that has remained unchanged during my weight loss journey.  I eat healthy and now exercise, but still drink about the same amount of beer as I did before.  I can drink a lot too lol.  Some weekends I may drink 30 beers.  One thing I don't do anymore though, is stop by Jack in the Box and mow 8 tacos after drinking.

I've lost 38 pounds since April 11th, and I'm only two pounds away from my initial goal of 200 lbs by September 1st.  I most certainly would have reached my goal by now if I didn't drink all that beer, but what the hell, I'm still losing weight.  I remind myself, it's a marathon not a sprint. 

I like to go out dancing and drinking.  I figure two hours of dancing burns 600 cals.  my new favorite beer Sam Adams Summer Ale has 160 cals per bottle.  so I can drink 4 GOOD beers and only net 60 cals.  Plus I walk to and from the bar for safety's sake, so drinking nights are full of exercise.  It is difficult though when I get home to stay away from the munchies.

I also enjoy the occasional glass of wine with dinner.  I just make sure to budget the calories and usually skip my evening snack if I've had wine.

Sure, if you're making this diet a part of your life, you have to work out ways to figure in what you really consume (or want to). I’m losing plenty of weight since I started counting my calories, but I’m also not eating much different than I did when I ballooned up to 243 pounds (at 6’2”).

Step 1. Cut soda intake: I used to drink 2-4 cans of Pepsi/Coke a day (averaging about 20-24 cans per week), which is well over 3000 calories. I cut it down to 2 cans per day, only one weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) – net reduction of more than 2200 calories per week.

Step 2. Add exercise: When I was younger I was very active and athletic, then I got older, started working in an office and forgot about exercise. Now I vary it a bit; walk for an hour one night, ride the mountain bike for an hour the next, strap on the rollerblades the next, work out on the weight machine the next…whatever I do, it doesn’t matter as long as I find something to do each night except for my rest nights (the night after a really hard workout) - net reduction of around 1800 calories.

Step 3. Portion control: Visualizing the size of my stomach as being the size of my fist helps me maintain control of my portions. Instead of using the large dinner plates for meals, I’m able to use the small side-dish/saucer plates. Instead of eating 203 hot dogs, I eat 1. Instead of eating a 1/4lb burger, and super-sized fries, I eat the burger and skip the fries unless I have the extra calories to spend that day. I eat more salad, filling a soup bowl for one meal each day with veggies and whatever dressing I want (I switch the dressings up to keep from getting bored). I basically cut the size of my meals in half over the course of about 3-4 months. I was consuming about 4000 calories a day and burning about half or a third of that prior to step 1, now I’m down to 1600-1800 calories per day, I still eat whatever I want, only in moderation (chips, ice cream, burgers, pizza, hot dogs, steak, pasta, subs, you name it…), I burn about 1500 to 1800 calories a week in exercise and I still drink beer about once per week.

In many ways, portion control can be king, this goes for beer as well. I don’t drink light beer. I won’t drink diet soda or use low-calorie dressing just so I can use more, I’m not about to sacrifice enjoying a nice imported Belgian or other pale ale just so I can drink 6 or 7 beers. I drink 3 good, solid beers per week. 3-4 times per year, I indulge on a weaker beer like Rolling Rock at a party and drink more than my fair share. Sure, I tend to gain a bunch of weight from such a binge (I eat a ton as well, 4200 calories last time), but I go right back to where I was just by maintaining my lifestyle afterwards.

The above has gotten me down to within 2.3lbs of being under 200 for the first time since High School. Sure, it’s taken a while longer than some crash diet might have, but I’ve actually enjoyed this so-called diet. I ate a half of a pound of bacon, 2 potato skins with cheese and an English muffin for Dinner yesterday.  But I exercised harder than I would have otherwise last night.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Ummmm *raises hand* can you really consider yourself a "beer lover" if you drink Budweiser?

 haha! 

I drink beer pretty much whenever I want.  Usually that is 2-3 times a week for 1-2 beers.  Sometimes, a good happy hour happens or a long night with friends and other times a week or two goes by before I have one

I used to drink 3-5 bottles of high alcohol beers (belgian and dutch) a day and it was a major reason for my weight gain (aside from the total lack of moving around :p)

luckily i have good genes so it didnt become too horrible, but i decided the amount of alcohol was not going to be sustainable in the long run and simply bad for me both mentally and physically so i started counting my alcohol intake. That;s how i got the idea of doing the same with food and losing those pounds that my lovely beers gave to me :)

I really do love beer and good wine, and the occasional liquor in my coffee, so i'm not going to give it up completely but lately i have found that the urge/desire for beer or wine has greatly diminished. i assume it is because of my much healthier diet, frequent meals and increased activity and exercise.

So all in all, i'm drinking 3-4 days a week instead of 7, and only a couple of bottles instead of a freakin sixpack :p