Beer and diet

I decided to go back the gym because training at home took too much time. It was the first time i weighed myself since March this year and i was happy that i went from a 106 kg to 102 kg.
Considering my heavy drinking these last months, i have noticed that pints (alone) don't make you fat.

Perhaps i must add that my lifestyle is pretty active and i weigh what i eat, making sure it's never too much, mostly healthy and i don't eat candy and cookies and stuff. Nor do i drink soda's and i stay low o sugar. But i drink a lot of pints and the body turns alcohol into sugar and indeed they taste a lot like sweets. The craving to eat something along with it i ignore most of the time, which in a way is sort of a diet.

Like often mentioned, to lose weight you need a calorie deficit and that's it. So yes, you can get drunk and drop those pounds, long as your calorie intake is lower then your maintenance.

 

...and you are willing to take the long term health risk associated with a significant portion of your remaining calorie intake being beer (and the associated alcohol).

 

No, frankly i'm considering quiting.

 

Lots of variables. I can only speak for myself about "what works" or not for me.
Many people desire losing some weight. There are some folks that are told to gain weight by medical professionals. Then there are folks like me who need only to maintain weight. Balance. A beer in each hand!
But seriously it's about finding dietary success for yourself and shaping it to fit your lifestyle.
For instance, I'm 56 and weigh 150-160. Not big.
I fudge stripe cookies and live in a tree with La Chouffe...my state of fitness is hard won but maintainable for years to come. A realistic, maintainable and fairly inexpensive for of physical exercise: Running. Since I was a teen on sports teams. Now I am conditioned to run as much and whenever I want. It takes years to build and to have this unleashed off-the-chain freedom BUT I HAVE TO MAINTAIN IT. Discipline. The beer factor enters into my life because it is a beautiful tasting bev, it relaxes my body and it is personally fascinating. I give myself some cushion room on the weight scale so I can truly enjoy the world of beer without any walls of guilt built around me. It's okay for me to have some big beers or even copious amounts with friends at one sitting because I KNOW I'm going to run and keep the beer belly wolf away from my door. Also do not eat at bedtime, eat dark green veggies, have slightly smaller portions of rich/high fat foods. Cheers!

 

Going to revive this thread after some time. Mostly, because I want to provide an update and some of my challenges during and after COVID. Hopefully this is helpful for someone else, as I have went through some real struggles since having a kid, particularly (I think) since it coincided with COVID, shut downs, and my need to avoid public areas due to being high-risk.

I've always had some type of problem with my weight. I grew up in a household where grazing (snacking) was a thing. Always. Also in a 'good midwestern' household, which was dominated with meat, rarely veggies (almost always corn or green beans), and I remember no fresh fruit growing up beyond bananas and apples (without consistency). I was also a heavy kid - partially because of my mother's poor diet for us (which included a lot of fast food, especially after school), but also partially because I was a sick kid, and steroids early in my life caused me to gain some weight that then was exacerbated by the diet. Since becoming an adult, my diet has changed considerably, and I went from about 280 to 200ish (it fluctuates from 195-205, more on that below).

But, I still face many challenges that I haven't been able to completely fix. I travel a lot for work, and rarely do I have sit-down meals. Being away from home leads me to depression, and I often drink a little more than I "should" (which are additional calories). I have a spine condition that leaves me in constant pain, and sometimes I want to have a little bit to drink to help me fall asleep, because otherwise it can be difficult. (Much like taking any type of pain med, even motrin, this is a constant 'bad behavior begets bad behavior' circle. I have to really make sure that I don't allow myself to do this frequently, otherwise I remember that it worked and I do it more frequently, and so on.) I also work late hours; so, if I am up for 18-20 hours in a day, I tend to wait to eat more (something additional, later) than if I am just up for 16-18.

So, where am I going with this? Well, during COVID, at the start, I actually went down to about 190 in 2020. Then around winter or summer 2021, that went back up a bit. I had a hard time working out at home, and with the gyms closed (or me not feeling safe), that meant that I wasn't going to a gym for about 2 years. Learning to eat appropriately and knock off bad behaviors when you have a toddler (like finishing their plate, so it doesn't go to waste, or figuring out to cope with eating 2 hours earlier than you pretty much ever have in your life, or learning not to eat something every time they are) has had it's own learning curve.

So, here I am, 22 September 2022. I've been going back to the gym for the past 2 weeks. First time (really) since pre-covid. The only time I can go is after my daughter goes to bed, so I have to be OK with sacrificing sleep, and I am doing OK with that. I'm starting very slow, because going HAM too quickly will cause me to get hurt with my spine condition. I've changed my eating habits back to what has worked for me in the past:

• resist all snacking
• 1 Hershey kiss sized piece of chocolate or other sweet if I want it
• No baking yummy baked goods (except for special occasions)
• Chips only if part of a meal for lunch
• No fries
• Avoid cheese 80% of the time
• When I travel, get back to always making good, healthy decisions on food (both portion and type of food)
• Two beers a week
  • ideally, this is 1 if it is a 16oz BA stout, but if I have a 16oz BA stout, I want to make the second an IPA or a lager (oktoberfest anyone?) to balance it out, mostly hard-stop.
  • Get back to pre-child times where enforcing this was easier, because I had a set schedule (I only drank on the evenings before I had a day off). Harder now with a kid, because we have no childcare, and so there's never a real day-off.
  • Drink earlier, and drink slow. I've gotten into a habit with a child of waiting to drink until my daughter is asleep. Which I like, but means I may stay up later to drink, or I am more likely to want to run to food or munchies. That doesn't happen if I just have a (lighter) beer with dinner, or if I just slowly sip 4-8oz of a big BA beer over 2 or 3 hours.
  • Resist the munchies by drinking when I have just eaten or will already be eating.
• Set a plan each week for workouts, and make sure to go 3 times/week. Don't let it just 'evolve organically', because then I'll never go.
  • Remind myself that whatever else is going on, and for why I think I don't have time to go, that those obligations or responsibilities or chores will still be there later. I can go to the gym. It's important for my health (literally my spine, not just my health otherwise)
  • Remind myself that although I am in serious, sometimes excruciating pain for the first 30ish days, it gets better after that. Once I get past all the pain, after about 60 days of working out consistently and keeping the habit, my body starts to feel better. I reduce my overall daily pain, and I am also healthier, I like myself more, I have better self-image, and I have a lot more energy. -Which, for me, is key to forcing myself to go to the gym.
  • After it has become habit, it becomes less about a forced activity, and more about an enjoyable one and not wanting to lose out on gains.
• -And, most importantly, getting comfortable with being hungry. A LOT.
  • I don't know if it is genetic, but I've always been someone that seems to have a good appetite. I've never 'had no desire to eat' when sick. Depression has never made me not want to eat. When I eat, even after months of eating very appropriate, reasonable portioned meals, I still never feel full when I am done eating. If I (pretty much ever) eat until I have the feeling of no longer being hungry, I am always over-eating.

 

Wow, very detailed here. That last bullet point is key - getting through the hungry times until it's time to actually eat. During the workday I'm strict - breakfast at 7 (about 200 calories), snack at 9:30 (200 calories), lunch at noon (450-550 calories), snack at 3 (nuts usually 150 calories). The challenge is between the snack and lunch. Usually I make it but it's tough. Then dinner I have some leeway as I've only consumed about 1,100 calories at that point.

This plan keeps my weight in check and allows for some good beer drinking from Fri-Sun (when I'm considerably less strict)! Good luck

 

There are some awesome phone apps out there that let you plan workouts and track progress.

I'm currently using one called "Strong". It's on iOS and Android. I've been told it links well with Apple watches too. I mainly started using it to track my weight progression, volume, and reps over time. It allows you to create "template" workouts, then start when at the gym. I generally have a good idea of what I want to do when I get to the gym, but this has helped me focus more on quality lifts (i.e. research lifts per your target/goal at home and slowly build some templates). You may find this helps with your consistency in the gym. It also has a rest timer between sets to keep you more accountable on your rest duration, whether that may be take more or less rest.

You can also track your own weight and measurements in the app, should that help too.