Why is it okay to recommend drinking booze but not wise to recommend eating cake and cookies, drinking soda, eating cheese, and eating lots of fatty and fried foods?

Is it fair to say that the average person, or even many of us at all, is eating so close to exactly the calorie intake he needs for optimal health that we can take it for granted that an extra few hundred calories a day couldn't hurt?

Is it fair to say that someone worried about weight in the first place is benefitted by the idea that he shouldn't worry about it?

Personally, I'd bet he wouldn't even have asked the question if his diet and fitness plans were so well managed that hundreds of extra calories, even numerous times per week, made no difference.

Is it safe to guess that booze is the only problem area in the average person's diet, or in the diet of someone who is looking to trim down a bit?

I think this is too individual to call. For some people, regardless of size, not all those calories will be compensated for by exercising enough or consuming too few calories for it to matter. For others, they could be at perfect balance, or near it. Then the extra calories will be pure waste.

And that will add up over time. Say you consume 300 calories extra, four times a week. That puts you at 1200 per week and a bit over 4800 per month. How many months do you have to live life in? At the end of just one year, you've got 62,400 calories to deal with. In the long run, little things that don't seem to make much difference at the time can really add up.

My problem with drinking is that alcohol is not only a huge source of terrible calories, but the negative effects it has on an athlete's body. Drinking the day after a baseball game, especially in one that you pitched, is a nice way to busto your muscles.

It also increases your estrogen levels

Blarg,

I meant with alcohol vs. another food such as cookies or something. Not going above what you need, but just subbing in an alcoholic beverage instead of juice or whatev.

Binging on cookies will make you fat, binging on booze destroys progress and makes you fat. One is much worse than the other.

Thremp, how much/often do you drink? I'm thinking of setting a max of 15 drinks a week or something like that. I've acquired a taste for straight whiskey on the advice of this forum, but I think I need to take further steps.

Way too much. I am of weak will. Really I drink just socially and don't get super shammered anymore. The biggest problem is just that its 1000 degrees in these bars and I sweat my whole life out and end up hungover.

Is whiskey considered better than other hard liquor? Or is it better just because you're not mixing it with anything?

You could try alternating between alcoholic drinks and water. If you want it to be less conspicuous, drink something clear (LDO).

Hard liquor is better than beer. Whiskey is better to sip on than other hard liquors.

If straight, mixed is kinda a toss up. Some have more calories. If you drink like Vodka and diet sprite or like bacardi and diet coke you could be semi in the clear. But whatev. Its whack. Its like diet ice cream.

You could always just tell them that you're a recovering alcoholic, it works in Russia.

Very few people argue with medical reasons. I had liver pain (true) a couple months ago and the doctor told me not to drink. I'll keep this instruction active for a while more as the whole not drinking thing is working out for me.

Also good excuses are that you're taking antibiotics or strong painkillers.

Or just man up and say "yeah, I'm not drinking, gotta bang your mother later tonight"

Good luck. Maybe look into milk thistle or other things that help the liver.

One drink a day keeeps the grim reaper away..

I think I would be ripped if I could stop drinking beer.

Haha, I think that's probably one of the commonest problems in the history of man.

I'm training for a marathon (4 weeks to go), so I've been losing some weight over the last 14 weeks of the serious training. Don't want to drag dead weight around for 42k...

I do big mileage and I watch what I eat during the week and I do my best to avoid any booze during the working week.

However, at 4:30pm on Friday, the weekend starts and I come off the wagon. I enjoy a few beers (and I like a few glasses of wine and a shot or two or three of whisky) and if I work hard enough during the week, I will damn well enjoy a drink on the weekend.

I do a long run on the Saturday and a very long run on the Sunday, and as these runs have got longer and longer I find I'm automatically watching how much I drink the night before.

The point being, if you want to lose weight or get into shape or build muscle, and if you want to do it bad enough, you'll balance your life style to suit your needs automatically. I'm hanging for a beer right now, but I'd rather hold off until tomorrow and sink a few at the football tomorrow night. If I have to run with a hangover on Saturday, then I've got to suck it up and do the mileage anyway.

It's all about balance. No good hitting your perfect weight and bench pressing a small cow if you're denying things that you enjoy.

so is it pointless trying to lose some weight at the gym when im at uni? (i'll be heavy drinking 3-4 times a week most likely)

exercise > no exercise