The Calorie Conundrum

What people need to understand, which they probably never will, is that the majority of calories in beer come from alcohol (7 kcal/gram). Sure there are calories from carbohydrates, but certainly less than a piece of bread. The reason why the calories in beer are irrelevant is that your body cannot store alcohol, it just simply burns it off. However, your body will prioritize burning off the alcohol before anything else so anything you eat (especially calorie dense junk food) will be stored as fat for the most part to be burned later. It's what you eat while you're drinking that makes you fat, not beer. Bottom line: Drink good beer

 

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought you were supporting a ketogenic lifestyle not diet. I completely agree with what you stated and I too think a ketogenic diet is effective for weight loss. I am just not convinced it is feasible as a way of eating throughout your life from a health standpoint.

 

I feel like that's the biggest misunderstanding people have when it comes to weight loss and nutrition in general. People don't realize that losing/gaining weight is only a function of caloric intake regardless of what you choose to eat, but that doesn't necessarily lead to a healthy lifestyle. What you eat dictates your body composition and overall health.

 

I've been into fitness for 35 years. I've been into beer for less than 1.
Anyone who truly appreciates the flavor inherent in a fine beer, doesn't care about the calorie penalty vs. MBC light crappola- I'd rather drink ONE Pliny at 320 calories than 4 Michelob Ultras at 80 calories.
That being said (and, as a TRUE fitness devotee), I've definitely had to increase my cardio workouts as I've increased my beer consumption. But, it's worth it...

 

I have been on a diet since the mid summer. I'm down 35 pounds thus far. Went from 270 to 235 in a couple months. Still working out regularly, and want to get to around 200. I have still managed to drink beer while loosing the weight. It's all about choices. The other stuff on that list I would never drink. 1600 calories for a shake? Insane. I cut out fast food, and eat way more whole grains and veggies than I was. I don't worry about beer.

 

Hanzo, please look at the evidence. Lite BMC drinkers by a huge margin do not choose "Lite" anything because of the calories. Obviously it's price and probably ( this is my own opinion) the fact that "Lite" beers don't taste much like beer. In other words they choose "Lite" BMC because it's cheap and has almost no flavor.

 

Since you're into intermittent fasting, you might find this article on how to get away with drinking as much as you want and not sabotaging your diet. Granted beer has carbs in it so it may not work AS well, but it should still be sufficient if kept to once per week.

http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html

 

Already do that every Saturday . I have never had any issues with the carbs in beer causing it to make it not work.

 

The Calorie Wars are more of a detriment than a blessing. Think about it this way: you can eat a salad and bland white chicken meat, but then you'll be craving sugar afterwards and reaching for the desserts! Wouldn't it be smarter to get your calories from whole foods that actually meet your hunger requirements? (In other words, ask not how many calories, but how many micro-nutrients per calorie; an empty calorie counts as a negative.) I know that I'm trailing off topic, but this is ANOTHER damn example of why this fallacy is ruining things. People want to get into better beer, but craft beer has too many calories!

 

I don't bother doing it. I need carbs if I'm drinking. I can't go out drinking if all I've eaten is lean protein and vegetables.

 

Lagunitas new Day Time comes to mind, extremely tasty and low ABV (calories).

 

Meh, i eat 3,000- 4,000+ calories a day, and stay around 175 pounds.(6'1")

I drink a lot of beer.

bicycles are like magic machines.

 

Assuming your point is to still convince craft brewers to market more light beers, it's been pretty much determined that it's not a viable or smart business sense to tackle with this angle.

People who buy those light beers, buy them due to marketing, not because of any informed or logical decision. Also, this is a bit of a tangent, but with a blind taste test, most people could not identify correctly their indicated beer of choice (This was about the big market beers).

Put this all aside, Craft brewing is a growing market because it ISN'T chasing after the big boys. Figure out your demographic who drink those light beers and then crunch the numbers. (This demographic won't change). Marketing "light craft brews" isn't going to boost their market share, being different and better is what boosts their market share and what HAS been boosting their market share.

Respectfully submitted.

 

lot's of walking has a similar affect too.

 

I'm a runner. I burned 2,300 calories on my saturday morning 20-mile run. Do I care about calories? Hell, beer keeps me alive, it helps keep my body from eating itself ....

 

Had to look to see who brought this one back from the dead . The OP . Figures . I don't think that craft brewers give a crap about mainstream light beer drinkers . And that's how it should be .

 

I find most of the "Eat This, Not That" content very misleading. "Taste" is never a factor so the replacements are way off. Obviously with the beer they are clueless and should have found a less caloric pale ale or "craft beer". It all reenforces the thought of if you have one or a few "light" substitutes it will help you in the long run when it really comes down to portion control and not about eating/drinking diet food/drinks

 

Congrats on the awesome progress! Now replace the whole grains with more veggies and lean protein and you'll be to 200 in no time!

 

thanks! yeah i meant to put lean protein in there too. chicken breast and tuna.