Beer and diet

Weight loss is basically calories in vs. calories out, adjust your beer consumption accordingly

 

I add the beer calories to my food calories and make a point of not consuming more total calories in a day than I will burn off.

 

This year I decided to take charge of my health and joined the Y and Weight Watchers. WW doesn't count calories, they folllow a point system you treat like a budget. I'm budgeted at 25 points a day. They count "Regular Beer (lager types)" at 5 points for 12 oz. they count "Beer (ales and porters)" at 7 points for 12 oz. Drinking one beer would be expensive for me. My son joined WW with me. Because he's younger and taller, he's budgeted at 45 points a day! He can drink a beer a day and not exceed his budget! Argh!

 

"A beer or two every other day" is the very picture of moderation. I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

I don't find beer to be the main cause for weight gain or retention, it's really everything else. If you drink soda, try to completely stop and learn to love sparkling water. Even scale back or cut out juices and other high-carb. drinks. Eating a sensible meal with your beer is fine, but avoid drunk snacking or even snacking altogether. And of course, never eat until you're full, always stop at 80%. I know it's hard to deny food sometimes, but better that than beer!

 

As many have touched on, total calories in/out is whats mostly going to determine your dietary goal success or failure. I love beer. Period. Luckily I dont have much of a sweet tooth so I can fairly easily avoid candy, doughnuts, desserts, crap like that. Helps me a lot. Back in 2013 I was 270lbs and am now 185lbs. No BS. All dietary changes and REGULAR exercise. I dont mean walking around the block a few times a week, I mean hard work. Rowing(I have a water rower machine), running, weights, etc. Breath heavy, sweat, feel sore. Thats what has to happen.

I dont restrict carbs or any of that obnoxious "tracking" stuff either. Im pretty much 80/20 rule as in 80% of the time Im eating grains, lean protein and veggies. The other 20%, I have some fun with comfort food. But I do NOT skip workouts or make up excuses. And yes, I drink beer almost every night but its usually 1-2 and rarely ever more than that. I make it work. You can too, but ya gotta stay active regularly. Active, fit people can get away with a LOT more "cheating" than couch bums.

So, workout hard, east sensibly most of the time and enjoy your beer. It'll work.

 

I lost 70 lbs while drinking beer everyday. It can be done.

 

This is the truth as many people have indicated. I was in the same position 3 years ago and I considered myself to have a healthy diet outside of beer consumption. No processed foods I committed to running 5 days a week. I’ve lost 40 pounds slowly over the course of 3 years. I’ve increased my calorie intake to provide energy for running. I now run about 30 miles week. Not a ton but enough to get a good burn on a daily basis. I feel better in every facet of life.

 

I eat a very sensible diet (lots of vegetables and fruit, whole grains, limited lean meats) with no beer 5-6 days of the week. I will have 2-4 beers total the other 1-2 days and have lost 15 lbs this year. I have not added exercise my routine but cut my beer consumption by at least half and other sources of sugar by 75%.

 

Maybe try limiting yourself to only having a drink on a day you workout.. It's like a reward.. Plus, If you go a couple days without, you'll obviously really want a beer, but it'll also get you back in the gym

 

Lots of variables to weight loss; portion control, exercise, avoid snacking, and don't go wild on fat, sugar, and carbs. And avoid absolutes such as "never have" or "eat only", as many of these diets are unhealthy and cause cravings. This is all based on the general advice of credible doctors and dieticians, though you can find advice in favor about any diet-of-the-month fad. As others have said, one beer a day or 1-2 every-other day shouldn't hurt, particularly if lower ABV. YMMV.

 

I go to my climbing gym for a few hours every Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Also maybe make time for outdoor climbing, hopefully. It basically averages out to around 3.5 days when I'm doing something pretty active.

My weight fluctuates, but it's usually around 140-150.

I don't entirely watch what I eat, nor count calories. I do try to cut back on rice (even brown) as much as is comfortable for me (being of S.E. Asian descent, it's pretty rough) and replace with veggies.

 

Exercise. Consume less calories. Everybody's body is different.

 

The bottom line, no matter how many different ways you look at it, is calories in vs calories out. Eat wisely. Eat less. Exercise more.
For what it's worth, I lost 25 pounds just by altering my diet (cutting out snacks and ice cream, still drinking beer) and the weight has stayed off for five years.

 

Five years ago I lost 60 lbs in 3 months without giving up beer.
Granted I did cut back big time (I went almost a month without a beer when I first started) and only drank 3-4 beers a week.

What worked for me was cutting out all foods containing flour (no bread, pasta, tortilla's etc.), dairy, and soda. I did walk anywhere from 3-5 miles a day along with going to the gym.

 

I’ve lost weight with out giving up beer. Just have to account for the calories. I use Weight Watchers

 

I loved reading all of these success stories - very motivating.

You can do it. You have to have the mentality to do this (I actually gained some weight since getting married in June of 2017 and actually started back on a diet this past Sunday to get ready for the Summer). I called it a diet in my last sentence, but that is a bad term. Diets don't last. It has to be a change in lifestyle. Force yourself to workout and eat well consistently. Once you do it for a couple weeks/months, you will not want to go back. I gained weight back because I slowly started eating bad and then continued to do it. I am comfortable. This lifestyle should be uncomfortable. Force yourself to hit limits you never thought you could.

As others have said, reward yourself. Set goals and give yourself something to look forward to. Maybe reward yourself once a week with 3-4 beers and a nice cheat meal.

Your weight will fluctuate, but be consistent. Once you are in this lifestyle long enough, you will actually be able to tell when you will wake up and have lost weight or have gained weight.

Start now before it's too late.

 

This is my downfall . . . it's exactly when I'm drinking that I'm more likely to snack, especially two or three beers in.

 

I continue to drink beer while dieting, but restrict myself to Fri-Sun.

Really makes me look forward to the weekend!

 

I love beer, so I consider that my "vice" and cut out a lot of other things to combat the calories I consume from beer. I drink soda maybe a few times a year, coffee black, tea black, and a ton of water. I make sure the only calories I'm getting in from a liquid are from beer. Workout/run 4-5 days a week, average about 16,000 steps a day, and eat relatively healthy/cook all my meals. What's funny is before I got into "craft" which was about 5-6 years ago, everything else was the same as I just mentioned, but even being that health conscious-there's no question craft beer is lessening the extent of how "fit" I used to be.