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  #1   ^
Old Mon, Jul-07-03, 15:13
dirty-c dirty-c is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 46
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 155/155/155 Male 5'7"
BF:
Progress:
Location: columbus, ohio
Default College kids attempting LC (who realize drinking is a problem)?

I have enough willpower for 10 people when it comes to making sure I eat the foods I'm supposed to and none of the ones I'm not, with one possible fatal exception: alcohol.

As a college student actively involved in the social scene, there is one thing that is absolutely undeniable: alcohol is ever present and unavoidable. For starters, I'm not one of those kids who thinks the weekend starts on wednesday. Between work and classes, it is impossible for me to drink during the week. I pretty much only drink on Friday and Saturday nights. However, I have read that once you have a day where you go above 40 carbs (which I do just in drinking), it can take you up to a couple days to get back into ketosis. What this means is that I won't recover from the weekend until Tuesday. On Friday, the cycle usually starts up again, so that really only gives me 3 good days of ketosis, which is not enough for real progress.

I know there are many who will say "give up drinking" but its just not that simple. THis may be hard to accept for some of you adults (especially those that weren't big drinkers in college). For us, drinking is a big part of college. And contrary to popular belief, it is possible to get drunk on weekends and not be a "screw-up". I'll be graduating in a few months with an engineering degree from Ohio State University (and I had a LOT of fun along the way).

This drinking issue is the only problem I face with the LC lifestyle. I was just wondering how some of you others handled it and what you think.

All opinions are welcome.
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  #2   ^
Old Mon, Jul-07-03, 15:27
cc48510 cc48510 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 2,018
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 320/220/195 Male 6'0"
BF:
Progress: 80%
Location: Pensacola, FL
Default

Not all drinks have alot of carbs. Regular Beer is high in carbs. Light Beers are lower. Most hard liquors (Rum, Vodka, etc...) are virtually carb-free. Alcohol will stop fat burning...but, only as long as there is alcohol in your system. Once you are sober, you start burning fat again. I just looked at your stats (155/155/155)...and it appears you aren't on this for weight loss...So, I wqouldn't worry about ketosis. Just keep your carbs at as level where you neither gain nor lose and you should be fine.
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  #3   ^
Old Mon, Jul-07-03, 17:29
EvenLower's Avatar
EvenLower EvenLower is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 327
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 230/165/165 Male 72
BF:some
Progress: 100%
Location: utah
Default

I drank heavily when I satarted this diet...just drink shots of rum or somethin...michelobe ultra light also only has 2.6 carbs a beer if your a beer drinker
search this forum for low carb cocktails and you'll see all sorts of things you can drink
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  #4   ^
Old Mon, Jul-07-03, 22:10
LadyBelle's Avatar
LadyBelle LadyBelle is offline
Resident Loud Mouth
Posts: 8,495
 
Plan: Retrying
Stats: 239.2/150.6/120 Female 5'2"
BF:
Progress: 74%
Location: Wyoming
Default

There are drinks without carbs. Your body will burn alcohol before it burns fat though, and anything eaten will be stored on the body as fat for later use.

Now for the college = drinking. There is no truth in that at all, I am a college students as is my SO. There are a ton of college parties, including frat or sorority ones where many of the guests choose to drink diet soda instead of alcohol. No one ever has to drink, it is a personal choice you make. I do occasionaly drink, but I know how to limit myself. When you've done LC for a while you will notice it takes less alcohol to make you drunk and the effects are alot nastier in the morning. There is no reason you can't control drinking. If you can't control it, then yes there is a problem even if it's not to the point that it's effecting your classes and work. Choose to have no carb spirits and mix them with club soda, diet soda, and other non carb mixers. If at a bar a vodka and diet coke is easy to order. If at a party then I seriously doubt anyone will object to you brining your own bottle, that just means more for them.
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  #5   ^
Old Mon, Jul-07-03, 22:12
LadyBelle's Avatar
LadyBelle LadyBelle is offline
Resident Loud Mouth
Posts: 8,495
 
Plan: Retrying
Stats: 239.2/150.6/120 Female 5'2"
BF:
Progress: 74%
Location: Wyoming
Default

I just saw your stats too. If you are not losing weight, you should not be in ketosis. At goal you should be upping your carbs to your tolerence level and enjoying a wide variety of healthy foods. Don't worry about ketosis, slowly up your carbs until the point you gain, then back off a little to maintain. Read through the OWL and maintanance chapters in Dr. Atkins book, or on the web site.
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  #6   ^
Old Tue, Jul-08-03, 01:29
Elixia's Avatar
Elixia Elixia is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 86
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 178/147/130 Female 157.5cm (5'2")
BF:
Progress: 65%
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
Default

I am out of that scene now, but this post takes me back - a couple of years ago - look out! It was not uncommon for me to drink most of a 1125ml (spirits) or a 24 pack of stubbies (beer) by myself over the space of a "night" - 24 hour period and I was not the worst of my friends either. I was likely a binge alcoholic - like many other Students at Otago!! (BTW - despite these weekends I graduated with an A average)

However - I don't drink much these days - have kicked the binging- but what I have learned from those days and the remote times when I wanted to drink a little, not a lot - was to drink vodka, lime and water - For some reason the hangovers are significantly less, the drink tastes great and the real secret - you can have a lime and water whenever you want and nobody but you knows the difference! Every pub will have it (though not all will have SF lime syrup - you can just ask for real lime juice - which makes each drink about 1g C )
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  #7   ^
Old Tue, Jul-08-03, 06:36
dirty-c dirty-c is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 46
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 155/155/155 Male 5'7"
BF:
Progress:
Location: columbus, ohio
Default

Elixia, I hear ya on the '24 every 24' thing. Some of my buddies were waaaay worse too! We've all kinda slowed down though.

cc48510, yeah I forgot to mention that I'm not really doing LC for weightloss. I've read that it often helps inflammatory conditions and I'm hoping it will help my tendonitis.

As for the ketosis thing, here is my current understanding about our bodies' energy production. First, our bodies can, for the most part, only use glucose or ketones at any given time for energy production. If carbohydrate consumption exceeds 40gms, then the body will attempt to use glucose. This will mean that if I continue to eat large quantities of fat (because I think I'm still low carb), that this fat can easily be stored as body fat due to the insulin response from the carbs (very BAD)!

So, if I drink, I'll try to drink no carb spirits. At least that way, I'll still be using ketones for energy (even if they are from alcohol). I realize that I won't burn any of the food I eat while under the influence, but atleast I won't have to go through a 1-2 day waiting period to get by body back on using ketones instead of glucose (which I would have to do if I drank 12 beers X 5 gms carbs = 60 gms).

Does that sound about right?
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