Hi fiftygirl,

Glad you liked my post!!!

And I'm really happy for you that you have managed to cut out the beer and not miss it.

I have had those kind of phases, too, of being perfectly OK without alcohol, but at the moment I enjoy a little bit of the stuff in the evening as a wind-down ritual. I know I'm kind of psychologically addicted, but I am not in the mood for dealing with it right now!!!

amanda

I drank beer before when I did atkins about 8 years ago, I think if you cut it out initially while you focus on losing weight, then introduce in moderation and perhaps introduce more exercise to compensate you will find a balance - the sugar is going to make you go to the chippy on the way home but .

(I am also Glaswegian, I understand "going for a beer" in Scotland and the word moderation don't always go together)

Thanks, everyone, and Amanda in particular.
I have cut down quite a lot on my beer drinking... I used to be out at least 5 nights a week... I am down to 2 nights now, so drinking a lot less beer than I used to!
Drinking halves instead of pints is definitely in my plan, as is going out later in the evening... my partner normally goes out at 4pm on a Saturday & Sunday. I plan to go out and meet him later.... like 7 or 8. Less time out means less beer consumed!

Hi traceyblue,

Glad you liked my post!!! WAY TO GO, GIRL!!!

I think you're doing the right thing by cutting down. Going out and drinking beer for five nights a week is not really a lifestyle that you can keep up with forever. Well, at least, you could, but you wouldn't be doing your overall health much good.

Anyway, keep us posted as to how you get on!

Funnily enough, I have had a couple of beer-free weeks - during which I drank half a glass or maybe a whole glass of wine in the evenings - and my weight did actually go down a tad, not much, but enough to make one pair of trousers a more comfy fit.

However, I don't rightly know if it was the lack of beer or another factor, too, which is that I have been using progesterone cream, which can also have a positive effect on your weight. Whatever it was, I'm not unhappy, as it is nice to be able to wear this particular pair of jeans again.

But I think you'll have to make this lifestyle change a permanent thing in the long run, because, beer being what it is, if you cut down now, lose weight, and then return to your old ways, all the weight - and probably then some - will go back on.

Good luck,

amanda

Nice comment!!!

amanda

I'm glad you're making the adjustment to moderation, alas for me from prior experience I know I have to go cold turkey on alcohol if I want to lose weight.

I did consider going for something like Beck's premium light as it's very low carb but I decided not to in the end, what was the point? I love rich flavoured real ales and that stuff is like weak p**s! Anyway good luck!

I like a beer too. But one beer on a Friday night and two on a Saturday stall me. What I did is I went a weekend without beer and noticed a loss, it made me consider beer free weekends more frequently.

Low carb beer is what I drink, but I think the alcohol is what makes the impact- not sure of the science tho.

Good luck

How about drinking wine the first night and beer the next ?

It'll still stall you, IMHO.

I go to the pub on average once a week and drink about three pints of strong lager. I don't intend to change that - if fat loss takes longer, so be it. I believe a communal relaxtion is a fairly primeval pursuit and isn't that part of what we are trying to get back to ? No doubt our stone age ancestors may have had some other sort of communal intoxicant, possibly slightly injurious to health in large quantites but made up for in it's social terms.

...on the other hand I could see that overdoing it might beg the question: "Are we slightly more intelligent than the median by low carbing, and therefore our natural peer group wouldn't or shouldn't consist of pub regulars ?" I enjoy the pub, a max of twice a week and happily go weeks without bothering....

Exactly! (I'm a real ale drinker too).

justr move on to whiskey or vodka 0 carbs but mix with diet soda good luck

I hope I am wrong, but it sounds like you're saying that people who frequent pubs are less than intelligent.

For what it's worth, in my regular group of friends that I drink with, there is a geography teacher with 30 years experience, a deputy procurator fiscal, 2 physics PhDs, a senior town planner with 2 masters degrees, a former college lecturer, as well as a couple of uneducated oiks like myself who have forged decent lives/careers for themselves against the perceived odds.

Hi traceyblue,

I can't work out at all what he's trying to say. Must be too intelligent for me to understand.

Amanda
BA Hons, Dip Trans