Drinking is killing my diet

So I'm a 27 year old woman whose typical social outtings (trying to keep it to only 1x per week) revolve entirely around drinking.  So naturally it's completely sabotaging my diet efforts (I'll do AWESOME during the week and then blow it by +2000 calories or more over my target on a night of beers and then high fat hangover food to keep from getting sick the morning after). 

Anyone else battling this problem too?  I hate to not go out, but also (sadly) don't want to be sober sally around my friends at the bar all the time.  At what point do you sacrifice good times for a diet?  Arggghhh...

here's some advice:

1) try lower calorie drinks (i love diet soda w/vodka)

2) drink slowlyyy

3) BEWARE OF DRUNK MUNCHIES. this is my biggest downfall. i'll eat really well, will drink within my calorie limit, but then go way overboard when i get home and eat everything.

I totally hear you. I don't like to get wasted, but even a couple drinks add up fast. All I can say is on the nights I go out, I try and eat really filling but low cal food -- oatmeal, big spinach salad, celery and hummus, popcorn, etc. and try and keep the cals low. I also make sure I work out that day if possible. If I can stick to all that, then I have a high burn and will still have a small deficit--even after the drinks.I don't do the late-night eating thing and that definitely helps ,though!

People like to say this counting calorie thing should be a lifestyle you can live with. For single people (I'm 31 and single and in NYC a lot to visit my boyfriend) going to bars is part of the social scene. I would not and do not want to give that up! So I think it's just a project in managing the calories and exercise around the bar outings.

Original Post by stayontrack:

 I hate to not go out, but also (sadly) don't want to be sober sally around my friends at the bar all the time.  At what point do you sacrifice good times for a diet?  Arggghhh...

How does being sober equate to "sacrificing good times"?  

I'm not saying you need to go teetotaler , but would reducing the number of drinks you have be all that much of a buzzkill?  

OH sweety I totally get it!! I have tried those mgd64 not so bad and the diet soda with rum or vodka is good but yes drink slowly and I have start having a small drink of water between drinks fights hangover and keepsmy sipping which i love without the drink ya know? as far as munchies go home lay in bed for 20 minutes if you have energy or are still awake eat something light that you premake before hand I always fall asleep :)

if its a big night I will call it a cheat and get right back on track the next day dont guilt your self or you will be miserable and sticking to your plan will get harder.. best wishes

I like to drink and party.  I love it lol.  Here is what I do when/if I can:

During the week - Use the zig zag method of eating, meaning eat lower calories 3 days in a row (a deficit of 20 to 30%) and then the forth day at a higher calorie count (either no deficit or a deficit of 10%).  Then arrange it so you have a "high calorie day" on the day you go out.  This should give you about 400 more calories to eat!

During the day - save up enough calories to drink.  Short yourself by eating "volumetrically" - lots of veggies, soups, salads etc. so you are full and getting nutrition, but not as many calories.  BUt be sure you eat enough so you aren't hungry when you go out!  Have a huge cabbage stir fry before you leave!

When out at night - DO NOT eat anything.  No junk food while you are out.  If everyone is eating, see what's on the menu that's light, usually even at junk places they'll have SOMETHING even if it's not the best.  Or be sure you saved enough calories for this too.

Drinking - My favorite is vodka, club soda, splash of cranberry and a twist of lime.  OR some of the new flavored vodkas don't have added sugar (some do so experiment) and then I'll just have a flavored vodka, club soda, skip the cran and still have the twist of lime.  These are like 50 - 60 calories each.  If you saved 300 calories throughout the day, you can have 5-6 of them!  Other drinks - start with a dry dirty martini, just vodka and olives.  This will get your buzz on early and then you can "maintain" with the vodka and club soda.  Other ideas - to stretch your time at the bar, drink one vodka and soda followed by just one soda, then repeate.  It'll look like you are drinking the whole time but you can pace yourself a little better.  Also, if you are at a "higher class" place, the martinis are a good option but also wine.  A dry wine has about 100 calories a serving.  I personally can only drink 2 glasses of wine, but if I streteched it over a night maybe I could have three and still be tipsy and have a fun time with my other drunkard friends lol.  Then I'm still only having about 300 calories but I'm enjoying myself!

When you get home - skip the high fat foods, make yourself some scrambled eggs for about 150 calories.  If you've followed the above drinking plan, you'll already be better hydrated (which btw is the real cause of hangovers, so if you just drink a liter of water before bed you won't need the food anyway) and the protein and fat from the eggs might settle your stomach.

Good luck!

dovelette, how much vodka is going in those drinks with club soda? the only reason I ask is because if it's any sort of drink that would be served at a bar it has at least one shot (1.5 fluid ounces) of liquor which is closer to 100 calories than 50...

Yeh, i'm confused too- i thought a shot of vodka was closer to 200 cals..... and that a glass of wine was similar.... my numbers are looking wildly wrong here...

Sorry, I guess an oz of vodka is 64 calories, not 50 - 60.  My pours are usually an oz, not 1.5 oz (I watch the bar tenders, they are smaller drinks I think, like in maybe a 4 - 6oz glass, not a tall glass).  So a 1.5 oz pour would be about 100 calories.  I guess the bartenders I know are cheap? lol  When I mix my own drinks I only use an ounce as well, I like to make it last longer (and I'm probably cheap too).

Wine is 25 calories an oz. Typical pours are 4oz, so that's where the 100 calories come from. 

There a few elements to this.   The first is a question of motivation.  If you really want to get slim and stay slim you've just got to find a way to drink less at the weekends.   The second is a question of habit.... heavy weekend drinking and fried hangover food is probably why you're overweight in the first place so it's just a bad habit like any other.   The last one is a question of confidence.  You really don't need to drink excessively or bow to peer pressure to have a good time in a bar. 

As someone said above, no-one's asking you to go teetotal or to become a housebound hermit.  But there is a happy middle ground whereby you can simply drink less alcohol, intersperse the alcoholic drinks with mineral water and still have a good time.   But you have to want to do it, of course.  Good luck

I have this issue every weekend. During the week I work fulltime and go to college at night while eating healthy and exercising so on the weekends it's like my brain wants to rebel and have FUN! lol

And of course every weekend there is some sort of event going on, for instance this weekend is not only Valentine's Day but it's my bestfriend's 21st bday and we are getting a limo and going bar hopping in the city....oh boy. BUT the good news is that from 8am to 4pm that day I will be snowboarding so after 8 hours of snowboarding I should burn enough calories to have some drinks without feeling too guilty :)

Any other weekend though I try to get atleast an hour workout in the morning and when it comes to drinking at night I try to stick with rum or vanilla vodka with diet coke. And I try to keep a luna bar or slimfast bar in my purse so that way if I'm feeling REALLY hungry by the end of the night and I've already had dinner I can eat the protein bar without feeling too guilty. 

I didn't drink much during weight loss. I was to focused on weight loss. But I did want to give you a glimps of hope that you CAN drink once you hit maintenace :) Yay. I get to drink now. Cmonnnn Friday, get here sooner :)

There's a happy medium between not drinking at all and consuming 2000 calories worth of alcohol in a night. That's a LOT of beer! Drink slower, drink LESS, and have a glass of water inbetween drinks to help slow you down. Staying hydrated will also help to lessen the aftereffects and lower your need for 'hangover food'! When you've reached your limit, nurse a glasss of beef for an hour if you really don't want to be seen empty-handed. But nobody else should care anyway. How much you drink is your business, not theirs.

My family and social life was all about drinking too, but now ive realized that my health is more important than drinking. I mean i went drastic and cut out all forms of alcohol, but if your going to have it, just have one and savor it. Also stick with clear alcohol and non sugary additives.

Drink light beer - Miller Light, Budweiser Select and Coors Light are all about 100 calories a beer.  MGD 64 is o.k. but the alcohol content is about half what light beer has.  DONT eat the junk food - just about every bar will have a salad or something acceptable for you to order.  If you drink water and take ibuprofen before bed, you won't get a hangover.  As mentioned above, if you zig-zag your calories throughout the week, you can manage to have one higher calorie day (party night). 

Not a big drinker, but I am a sucker for X Rated Vodka. Shot of X Rated, shot of regular vodka, splash of sprite and splash of cranberry juice is just a really good time.

keep a big calorie deficit during the day: eat very few carbs (only non starchy veggies) and enough fat and protein during the day, that way you wont  get munchies in the late nite. you could also try popping a few PGX pills before you drink (it stabilizes blood sugar)

also, if ur a real party girl, u could take additional "stimulating substances" to totally keep your hunger away all nite. another plus to this is that you wont want sweet drinks: vodka and club soda all the way.

but this is dangerous and i wouldnt suggest it, but on the other hand, ur killing ur liver anyway so you might as wel indulge to the max, right?

I've definitely had some of the same issues. I'm 22, and I love to go out and drink with my friends! First of all, I now ONLY have one night of drinking all week.  Any other night, only one drink if I want it.  To stay under my cal goal though I usually don't drink at all during the week (also for school and work!).

Choose what you drink carefully! That margarita sounds awesome, but a rum and diet coke would be better.  Or light beer.  One thing I'll do to cut back on drinks sometimes is get a drink and sip on it slowly, and then do an occasional shot.  The shots give you a buzz to have fun with, but you hardly drink any mixers.  Also, if you're carrying a drink and drinking out of it, people won't try to push drinks on you or make them for you.

I've also learned that I can have a good time at parties and bars with my friends without getting drunk sometimes.  At bars I'll buy one drink and sip on it, and at parties sometime I'll bring a coffee or bottle of sparkling water.  That way I have something to sip on and carry around without getting drunk or ruining my diet.  It's actually funny to watch them, and it's nice getting up the next day and knowing your the only one who doesn't feel like crap =D. 

I've also found that when I drink less often I get drunk on less booze (ie, less calories!)! 3 light beers quickly and I'm ready to party!

It's odd, but I feel like I lose weight on the days that I drink a lot.
I think I tend to eat less on those days, not on purpose though....

do you like the hang over part? cuz if you dont, and it brings on the anti-hangover high fat binge, skip the hang over! that will cut your calories down. but i'm an old woman and out grew my need to drink every dude under the table a long time ago. plus, too much booze makes getting home a bit too dangerous at times. voice of experience. ;P  plus, i dont like to get that drunk anymore. i like living without hangovers!

figure out how many drinks you get to have in an evening, whether your criteria is calories or hangovers. then, do as people say, order a water between each drink. i tend to order a bourbon rocks with water back or vodka and lime, water back. I ask for my water in a pint glass so i dont have to harass the bar tender too much. every once in a while i'll say yes to another drink, but not every round. throughout the evening, i just go get my giant pint of water refilled. if its a busy night, i tip 5 bucks for them to keep me filled up and not be irritated. most bar tenders are really good about it.

its not bad. you can have two or three and still be hip, your still out drinking and having a good time, and without too much liquor, there is less need for all that post drinking calorie binge. you can also plan for the after hours food, have places where you know you like choices on the menu and suggest that be the spot to go. if you have other girl friends also concerned about weight and calorie intake, enlist them as your allies! 

good luck. 

I know the feeling

Eat a few pieces of fruit before you go to bed. This not only really seems to help to lessen my hangover but helps rehydrate your body and you can eat a lot of it for not too many calories.

On top of that, sometimes I just accept that I really want to eat something filling after a night out drinking and dancing, so I'll just make a big sandwich but full of healthy things - wholegrain bread, avocado, hummus (still get the fats!) loads of salad, little bit of cheese if i want it, turkey etc...so you get to eat a big filling meal, but can feel ok knowing that at least its healthy, fibrous things you are putting into your body rather than greasy take away junk food. Your body will be able to process something healthy alot easier, and you should feel less gross in the morning :D