Anyone have solid advice on how much cardio to do a week where they can maintain a healthy weight and still eat out, drink some booze, and not have to be extremely strict with diet?

I know this varies by genetics, etc but just wondering what people find reasonable in terms of cardio per week. I work a desk job and have found maintaining a healthy weight difficult if i dont do cardio and watch what I eat.

My goal is to maintain a bmi of say 22-25 and be healthy. Currently i'm overweight and carry body fat super poorly (5'8 175-180 lbs). my only goal is to get down to say 155-160 and be able to eat out and drink without having to worry about gaining weight.

Zero.

The problem is that "eat out, drink some booze" could represent a vast array of binging and drinking volumes. It is entirely within possibility to be lean and have a few drinks one night a week and have two dinners out per week without having to do cardio. But as soon as you double the drinking frequency to two nights a week or the dinners to four per week, it becomes harder. Likewise, if the one night of a few drinks morphs into an 18-hour bender where a case of beer is consumed, or one of the dinners out is a total 5000 calorie blowout, it becomes harder to maintain a healthy weight.

The bottom line is that being a healthy person is about keeping these vices reasonably in check. Even when healthy people eat "cheat meals", they still eat very well compared to how a fat person would, making more sensible choices at the restaurant. They still have a good time and enjoy great food, but save a ton of calories in comparison.

One of the most ripped posters on this board doesn't eat at home basically ever. It isn't hard to be a normal person and eat out. Just don't eat literally everything you possibly can.

Thanks for thoughts. I feel I don't eat a ton and drink a decent amount but not crazy (maybe like 3-6 drinks 2 times a week if that lately). Feel my desk job kills me as I never put on weight when I in high school/ college bc I played tennis prolly an hr a day and didn't sit at a desk all day.

I've been eating salads when I go out lately. It seems like the calories in food eating g out are insane. I've seen a menu of T.G.I. Friday's (not place I eat at normally bc I like nicer places) but everything seems to have like 1k-2k Calories.

I just wanted to ask to see what amount of cardio people do here? I find it comical when one poster said none. Bull ****. You can't eat well if you do no exercise. I'd consider lifting to be at least a form of cardio in a way.

Yep, those snatch pulls are basically running a marathon.