Any way of not giving up the drink and still getting lean?

liamdunne81

Just wondering if there is any way of getting lean without cutting out alcohol quite alot or completely? Using the gym regularly for last 7 months and have seen some positive changes in my body shape but I'm not entirely satisfied with the results. Finding it hard to cut out the alcohol (generally stick to wine instead of beer). I'm 6' 1" and 15st 5lb

Edwardius

Moved to health and fitness. Rubadub is more likely to see it here :P

liamdunne81

thanks

Chancer3001

dude from leangains.com recommends diet 7up/sprite zero n vodka...roughly 80/90 calories per one of those...

guinness 200 roughly, heineken n bud the same.

Captain Chaos

I lost 3st in 3 months and did not give up the drink. I'm 6ft and went from 16st and I'm now 12.5st. I'd have at least 6 pints per week and sometimes 12. All I did was cut out soft drinks and change my diet. I generally just have one meal a day though. So I guess the pints at the weekends make up the balance. No gym involved just pure diet change.

subway

Yeah, Burn more calories than you take in.
Work out what you drink and burn it.

Tommy87

Some great advice from my grandmother "Keep back from the table"

ebixa82

Wine is one of the worst alcoholic drinks for calories.

Vodka and diet coke or whatever

nice_guy80

no

Doug Cartel

liamdunne81 wrote: »

Just wondering if there is any way of getting lean without cutting out alcohol quite alot or completely?

What does "quite a lot" mean to you? How much do you drink at the moment, and how much would you be willing to reduce it?

leggit

I'd say yes, just need to work harder than you would if you gave it up. Just make sure the rest of your diet is flawless

btkm8unsl0w5r4

At the end of the day alcohol is just a food, its surgery water. Like any food if its taken in moderation and your in calorific deficit then you will loose weight.

HOWEVER, for me alcohol has two problems that other foods doesn't
1. You eat crap when your drunk, chips kebabs etc...if removes you ability to stick to your diet.
2. You feel crap the next day, sleep in too long, and it stops you training the following day, or as I get older the next few days, when you do go back your wrecked.

So for me in a cutting plan at the minute alcohol is a no no, when I am in maintenance I will have alcohol but only on special occasions. I do love a beer BTW, but I hate the belly more.

Col_Loki

Having alcohol makes it more difficult but it is definitely possible. As it has been said it is adding to your calorie intake and to lose weight you need to be burning more than you are taking in.

I enjoy my beers, i tend to have some on Friday & Saturday and stay healthy the rest of the week. If i am trying to lose weight i will either increase my cardio to offset the extra kcals from beer or take one day off food (24hour fast).
Fasting gets easier after the first one and it helps to have better control over when you eat etc....plus it is quite good for you.

Obviously a clean food Diet is essential too.


Also try to avoid the kebabs etc after a night out, have some food when you get home.....eggs/porridge/whatever healthier option. Break the habit.
Difficult as it may be to get up and exercise the next day you feel a tonne better after a short run/jog. (Sometimes this is easier said than done).

BraziliaNZ

Yes I think so. The calories in beer etc for some reason don't seem to work the same way as food. I've got pretty ripped in the past while consuming more alcohol per week than most people. If I was consuming the alleged calories in alcohol that I do via food, I'd be clinically obese at this stage. So something is amiss with alcohol!

Max Power1

Drink Guinness

It (and a large part of the calories) flows out of ya the next morning!:p

Chancer3001

Man, id love a pint of Guinness now. Damn this thread!!

rubadub

Chancer3001 wrote: »

dude from leangains.com recommends diet 7up/sprite zero n vodka...roughly 80/90 calories per one of those...

guinness 200 roughly, heineken n bud the same.

You could similarly say switch to mini mars bars instead of full size yorkies. A typical shot of spirits only has half the alcohol as a pint of beer. Guinness is 170kcal per 500ml which is lower than most other beers, yet it often is wrongly presumed to make you fatter. -Though I would advise diet spirits & unsweetened spirits, though its expensive in pubs.

Leonel Drab Pajamas wrote: »

HOWEVER, for me alcohol has two problems that other foods doesn't
1. You eat crap when your drunk, chips kebabs etc...if removes you ability to stick to your diet.

+1, most beer bellies should be called chipper bellies.

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

If I was consuming the alleged calories in alcohol that I do via food, I'd be clinically obese at this stage. So something is amiss with alcohol!

Same here, they do not add up, studies were done and people drinking 500kcal of sugar water extra per day got fatter than those on 500kcal of alcohol extra. Calories applied to heating water are an exact science, but they are far from an exact science with humans, only an estimate of what might happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_and_weight

Pace2008

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Yes I think so. The calories in beer etc for some reason don't seem to work the same way as food. I've got pretty ripped in the past while consuming more alcohol per week than most people. If I was consuming the alleged calories in alcohol that I do via food, I'd be clinically obese at this stage. So something is amiss with alcohol!

I agree completely with this. There is no way I could possibly lose weight if I were to replace alcohol with proper food of an equivalent energy content. Yet I continue to drink pretty heavily when I'm on a cut and the fat drops off steadily once my diet's in check during the week.

I'm also at my most ripped when I wake up dehydrated after a heavy night's boozing. Always motivates me to get back on track.

bradknowell

I drink a hella lot more than I should and although I wouldnt have a super dooper ripped body , its not to bad considering the amount I drink.
Good genes I suppose.
No point stopping or cutting down one thing if you're not going to substitute it with something good, I presume.

BraziliaNZ

Pace2008 wrote: »

I'm also at my most ripped when I wake up dehydrated after a heavy night's boozing. Always motivates me to get back on track.

lol, yeah, horrible hangover then you look in the mirror when you stumble to the bathroom and are greeted by a dehydrated adonis

Glitter

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Yes I think so. The calories in beer etc for some reason don't seem to work the same way as food. I've got pretty ripped in the past while consuming more alcohol per week than most people. If I was consuming the alleged calories in alcohol that I do via food, I'd be clinically obese at this stage. So something is amiss with alcohol!

This seems to be true for me too - I had a wedding and an insane dinner party's worth of drinking in the last seven days that led me to be 2000 cals over for my weekly target but I'd still lost 0.5lbs this morning when I stepped on the scales. :cool:

ebixa82

Glitter wrote: »

This seems to be true for me too - I had a wedding and an insane dinner party's worth of drinking in the last seven days that led me to be 2000 cals over for my weekly target but I'd still lost 0.5lbs this morning when I stepped on the scales. :cool:

Dehydration from all the alcohol perhaps?

Glitter

ebixa82 wrote: »

Dehydration from all the alcohol perhaps?

Nah, the drinking occurred on the Wednesday and Sunday of the week so had Monday and Tuesday to fully rehydrate before stepping on the scales on the Wednesday morning for my weigh-in.

Ant11

Interesting part in this link about drink.

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

Chancer3001

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

wonton

Leonel Drab Pajamas wrote: »

At the end of the day alcohol is just a food, its surgery water. Like any food if its taken in moderation and your in calorific deficit then you will loose weight.

HOWEVER, for me alcohol has two problems that other foods doesn't
1. You eat crap when your drunk, chips kebabs etc...if removes you ability to stick to your diet.
2. You feel crap the next day, sleep in too long, and it stops you training the following day, or as I get older the next few days, when you do go back your wrecked.

So for me in a cutting plan at the minute alcohol is a no no, when I am in maintenance I will have alcohol but only on special occasions. I do love a beer BTW, but I hate the belly more.

I'm odd in that I lost weight by drinking more, my overeating always happened when I was at home, just sitting watching tv and constantly eating, part of my diet was to just go for a few pints most nights of the week.

I also sleep better and wake up grand when I have drink on me.

jos360

You can drink and still loose fat up to about 14-12% bf I find. Probably varies from person to person. But if your looking to hit the 8-7%, designated driver time!