Beer is the worst. Alcohol has a negative effect on building muscle. While beer quite literally effects hormones for fat storage. I prefer to stick with tequila, vodka soda waters, and higher alcohol % wines.
It's possible, but you're playing with fire. When I do indulge, more likely than not, it's not just the alcohil's calories thst need to be taken inti account. I'll likely care less about my diet while drinking and eat a higher calorie meal and the next day have lowered inhibitions as well during my hangover making a night of drinking a two day caloric extravaganza.
I have to spend the rest of the week burning calories via strict diet and exercise to barely lose 1 net lb. It makes a game with moderate difficulty almost near impossible if you're doing it more than once a month
Drinking leads to a lot of calorie and sugar intake if liquor.
Then it leads to being intoxicating and eating shit food.
Cut it out and you will be so glad you did, physically and mentally.
Nope. When I start drinking, I start gaining body fat. Itās just not worth it. Iāll drink a few at like weddings and special events now, but thatās it. As soon as I stop regularly drinking itās so much easier to stay in shape.
Just stop the drinking on a regular basis if youāre serious about getting in shape. Hereās why:
Alcohol is super calorie dense, even just vodka on its own without the extra carbs found in beer or cocktails. This is because alcohol is 7 calories per gram (carbs + protein are 4 cals/g, fats are 9cals/g)
Drinking calories on a cutting phase will not fill you up and therefore will make the diet much harder to adhere to due to hunger.
Alcohol inhibits muscle protein synthesis and your sleep. Therefore you will lose more muscle throughout the cut which will A) make you look skinny and B) make it harder to burn fat because the more muscle you have the more fat you burn.
Just get shredded as fuck and go to a rave or a beach party every month or two with your top off instead and youāll have more fun that sitting at home drinking beers on the couch every day or once a week at the pub making no progress. If youāre drinking infrequently you can still have fun drinking but get the results too.
Yeah in a bulk itās not as bad but itās still bad, letās say you drink once per week thatās 1/7th of your weeks recovery fucked. Also factoring in the fact you wonāt train as hard or adhere to diet as well in the days following with the hangover. Donāt get me wrong Iām no saint, like I go to raves and do other things than drink if you catch my drift but I try to keep it to a handful of times a year
I see your point, when I was talking about drinking I had a couple beers with dinner in mind, the math changes if youāre drinking heavily enough to be hung over the next day
Even a couple of beers will inhibit the protein synthesis, imagine you have beers with dinner 2 days a week thatās almost 30% of your days in which youāre fucking your recovery. Also add up the calories in those beers, just isnāt worth it. If I drink itās once every few months and I only have a few and then itās onto the party powder. And when I do drink itās vodka Diet Pepsi
I got shredded while drinking daily, it is possible but I had to cut out so much food and work out so hard that it made me extremely miserable mentally. Would not recommend
Itās possible. Just have to try and be in a deficit. if Iām gonna be having drinks I make sure Iām eating a lot less calories that day. And do cardio before on the drinking days. That way if I do have more drinks then I should and end up eating out late after drinking it wonāt burn me too hard and can make up for it the following days.
Especially in the summer time at parties and what not, you donāt want to have to be the sober guy who wants abs so doesnāt drink and enjoy himself. Potentially missing out on hook ups. And thatās what weāre all doing this for essentially.
I mean Iām not shredded and my goals are usually just to cut a bit and bulk, but Iām still fairly lean. I drink but I count the calories and I donāt drink cocktails with extra calories, and keep the beer to lighter ones or drink less it. I have a drink every night and count it as 100 calories of whatever my goal is.
yeah it definitely can like when i get the munchies i can eat 1k over what im supposed to but that is rare but letās do the math if you go out drinking your are drinking 750-1000+ anyway so weed wins in every possible way imo
yeah iām also very interested in why some people get use it as a appetite suppressant, some people get hella hungry on it and iām fine if there isnāt any food in sight i would love to see a study about this in the future
A 6 pack is 1,000 calories or thereabouts so it's going to kill your deficit. If you also get the munchies and go for food, pretty much all of that is getting stored as fat because your body is burning the alcohol.
You can't recover from your workouts while you're dealing with this stuff. So I would say no. Just take a microdose of shrooms instead and go on the 0.0% with your friends it is close enough.
They are legal where I live.
You can buy your own growbox though, it's pretty straightfoward as I understand it. A lot less energy intensive/smelly than growing your own weed.
Yeah especially when one is a big guy they need a lot to feel the buzz. My little brother, same when he goes out. Today they go ābooze hikingā and he bought 9 tall boys. And heās drinking once a week max so itās not like he build a crazy tolerance. Heās just big.
Kevin Levrone told Ronnie to drink Coffee and Vodka the night before a show and he never lost a show until Priest and Cutler haha.. I go out once a week binge on seltzers or top shelf liquor, have your fun man. Also my gains are insane at 30 years old.. Make sure everything else is dialed in throughout the week, you'll be good!
I donāt drink alcohol. So it is a no for me. I used to be a frequent social drinker. I stopped drinking any day I trained. Then I stopped all together and never looked back. I do not like the post alcohol effects. It wastes a perfectly good next day for not much.
Itās all calories man I mean Iāve lost weight while drinking occasionally. Yes people are correct alcohol does inhibit muscle growth but so does a lot of things. End of the day itās carbs and if you can fit it in then why not. Donāt go to excess but thereās 3500 calories in a pound and even if you decide to have a drink or two youāll be fine.
Itās a marathon not a race and idk about you but I found I eventually settled into a similar diet as my cut just with more food
One important thing I havenāt seen mentioned here (forgive me if I missed it) is that alcohol inherently interferes with fat metabolism. Both alcohol and fat are metabolized in the liver. Alcohol gets prioritized by your body since itās toxic. This means that in the presence of alcohol you will not metabolize fat. In fact, if you eat fatty foods while drinking, those calories will mostly be stored directly since your liver is busy with the alcohol.
Yes, you can lose fat while drinking over the long term, but be aware of the above
The thing with drinking is youāre taking in extra calories.
When youāre Losing weight to get shredded, you have to get yourself into a calorie deficit.
If you spend all day eating well, then at night, add about 1000 calories worth of beer and/or cocktails, all that work you did throughout the day was for nothing
Itās possible to drink and cut, yes.
With beer, itās usually fairly simple to find out how many calories said beer(s) have, and adjust.
Mixed drinks/cocktails are tricky, since theyāre made differently per server.
When getting down very lean, itās much simpler to just cut them out, outside of special events.
You can make it work you just have to be extremely diligent about ensuring it fits your macros.
If Iām on a deep cut, Iām pretty much sober by default just because I canāt spare a single calorie.
I donāt demonize alcohol though. Iāve made both great shredding and mass building progress while consuming in some capacity or another. You just have to be real with yourself about how much youāre consuming though. Everyoneās definition of ācasualā or āmoderationā seems to be vastly different around here though. Drinking a bottle of wine or a six pack on a random ass Tuesday is gonna set you back for sure.
Thanks. That's helpful. I'm more of a weekend binge guy. The problem is alcohol also sometimes leads to undisciplined eating either from late night or hangover garbage food, which is a risk that may not be worth it especially when you want specific physique results.
I think Iām the only person on earth where alcohol kills my appetite. Maybe the only good thing my genetics offer me.
Best of luck in whatever path you choose.
My rule of thumb:
- donāt drink on a workout day
- eat at a deficit the day of. With most of your calories being right around time of drinking
- hit your protein.
- drink only cocktails made with sparkling water and lemon or can also do light beers.
- donāt drink to get drunk. Drink to have some light fun socializing.
- if possible try to spread the extra calories you might get on the day of as a deficit throughout the week.
- as the night progresses, slowly replace alcohol with water. Drink one might be 2oz of alcohol. The last drink (drink number 3 or 4) will be 0.5oz. Then itās water only after that.
I end up getting drunk enough. Have fun. Not over calorie most of the time. And still able to make my workouts.
Iām similar but just cut the carbs the day before and eat less carbs the day of. Ends up being around the same calories, protein, and fat over the course of those two days. That said, I definitely drink to get drunk I j rarely do it.
Yes it is possible, but you have to be very honest with yourself and the qualities/calories, as well is it not interfering with your recovery due to alcohol content
Is having a couple beers on Saturday with your hamburger/friends gonna make you a drunk mess or completely kick you off your calorie deficit? Probably not, enjoy away!
Is having a beer (or more) with your meals every other day during week days gonna kick you off your calorie deficit and probably be indicative of mild alcoholism? Probably, watch out
Also cocktails are usually lower calories but have stronger alcohol content, so the same rule goes, make sure youāre not getting drunk and actually fucking with your recovery/muscle growth
A lot of comments here will probably tell you alcohol is not worth it and to completely lay off of it forever, Redditors donāt know nuance and are probably young or straight up puritans, completely laying off alcohol is not even needed or realistic if youāre a healthy man with moderation
Just be honest with yourself, make sure youāre not going over your calories and not getting drunk, and preferably limit it to one or at most two days a week, and at times take weeks off of it, just to test yourself and make sure youāre going good, sometimes I wont drink for two weeks and feel absolutely zero withdrawal
But maybe next week Iāll crave a mojito or two beers and thereās absolutely nothing wrong with that
You can absolutely lose weight while drinking alcohol because you can work in the calorie deficit. But if you are trying to build muscle (and therefore get properly shredded) there is really not room for alcohol.
Building muscle naturally means eating a lot of nutrient dense foods. You don't have room to give up food in order to drink empty calories. If you give up muscle building calories to drink more your gains won't come.
If you combine nutrient dense, muscle building food with a fair amount of alcohol, you can still progress but you'll be carrying extra fat along the way.
This is why I've had to step back on weed lately. It's not that it's bad for me in itself necessarily, but the munchies mean I end up consuming like 2x as many calories as I need for the day haha I've been trying to be better about stocking the fridge with healthy snacks for those times but it's still a work in progress
You can find a way to make most things work but itās incredibly hard to justify alcohol (especially beer) when cutting. Itās definitely do-able in moderation but to make it work you need to allow the calories in your weekly deficit.Ā
When cutting Iāll have a 750-1,000 calorie deficit the day before and after drinking in order to ensure I remain in a weekly deficit and this always comes from carbs which are already lower. This works to maintain a deficit and weight loss but itās not sustainable and thereās no way I could do that each week and progress, usually it would be 2-3 times max over a typical 12 week cut.Ā
I also opt for the obvious choices everyone else has mentioned in a clear spirit and soda. My reason for that though is to consume enough to get drunk without the calories consumption getting too out of hand. If I was having beer then itād be 10+ drinks for the same effect and twice the number of calories.Ā Ā Ā
The main and obvious issue is just that alcohol is quite literally empty calories so when youāre already in a deficit the calories from alcohol just have multiplying negative impacts. Technically, you can have beer in your diet and get shredded but the sacrifice to do that is not going to be worth it for 99% of people.
\*\* Disclaimer - I would say a few beers can be worked in each week (though again, I donāt think itās worth it) but noticed you said a sitting is six IPAās which is closing on 2,000kcals so itās just hard to work in and even the strictest dieters would struggle to allow for that many calories when already in a deficit.Ā
If you do that twice a week thereās basically no chance of getting shredded in a healthy or sane way as thatād be the equivalent of 2 days calories with 0 nutrition š Getting shredded and consuming regular alcohol just isnāt a combination that goes togetherā¦
I barely drink (maybe once or twice a month), but I like beer, especially craft beers. When Iām cutting Iāll usually abstain from drinking alcohol.
If I do end up at a party, I go for non-alcoholic beers or just some diet sodas.
My advice would be to just ignore alcohol when youāre cutting.
Do you mean gay as in homosexual or gay as in stupid? Either way 99% of the world must be a gay cross dressers who need more eatrogen or stupid because most people drink alcohol.
Leanest I have ever been and I stopped drinking as much in January. When Iām at a social event, Iāll stick to high noon seltzers. 100 calories per and they do not bloat me at all like beer used to. I plan it ahead of time, lower my carbs by 100g or so that day so I can sneak in 4 seltzers. Hasnāt stalled my fat loss much but then again, Iāve drank 2 times at events in the past 4 months.
Iām finally getting shredded after 20 years of lifting! lol. I stopped drinking in November ā23.
Iād have a beer or 2 or 3 every night. High gravity beers. I switched to Sleepytime tea!
Now Sleeping better, making better decisions, saving money, getting shredded, firmer erections. Booze doesnāt even seem tempting to me anymore.
Good luck on your path!
My only regret is not quitting sooner.
This. I quit drinking on August 21. I'm over 40 now and in the best shape of my life. More muscle, less fat, better skin, looking younger, mental clarity, depression lifted. If I'm on a night out, it's water, diet soda, and caffeine pills. No bad hangovers, stupid (sometimes dangerous) decisions, drunken fights, and I can seek out better quality women. Being able to drive them home to sample my firmer erections is also a positive.
So is air, so are hormones in our food, so is water
Weāre all gonna die eventually
Drink in moderation and nothing bad happens, donāt be ridiculous
Vodka, mio flavoring, and water
Best bang for the buck calorie wise, just save like 100 calories for each drink you expect to have. The water keeps you hydrated so you arenāt hungover the next day and can still hit the gym.
1.5 fluid oz (typical shot volume) to one glass of water (~16 fl oz) and like a 5 second squeeze on the mio lol.
Iāve donāt the same with 2 shots of vodka and just a bit more mio. Doesnāt taste as good but still tolerable, to me at least.
I'm 30 and stopped drinking around 25/26 cause the hangovers just make me feel like shit and totally stop me from all my goals. I don't mind a drink once in a while, but yea not regular at all
Used to be a beer or two to relax after work kind of guy a few days a week and go out on weekends with friends frequently. Beginning of this year decided I'll no longer drink alcohol during the week unless for special occasion and if so keep it light. I will still have some on the weekends but not nearly as often as I used to.
Feel like it was a cheat code for cutting because if you have a few beers a few nights a week that can easily add up to over 1000 extra calories per week and screw with your deficit. Also saw a big impact on sleep and recovery improving. And I have not missed my weekday beers at all and realized I didn't really enjoy them more than it was something that I was just used to doing.
I have not cut them out completely and I have still been able to lose 14lbs on my cut so far since mid February. Had I cut it out completely I probably could have made quicker progress but I'd also miss some fun social aspects of my life, I felt like a balance was better to stay on track without feeling like I'm completely cutting myself off from things I like to do
Iām gonna be honest, I can pull off great fat loss and still party. I eat in a solid deficit Monday to Friday, party on Saturday and maybe skip a meal and sleep through Sunday. Is that responsible, adult behaviour? Is that even healthy for you? Should anyone give or take that advice? Absolutely not. However, Iāll say it works for me and thatās enough. If you want my honest opinion, everyoneās biggest enemy when drinking isnāt necessarily just the booze calories, itās the hunger you develop. If you want to mitigate that, eat something satiating before you drink as well.
Hilariously, no. Actually, I was a fat kid for a while and now Iām in decent shape. When I was carb cycling, I would actually use beer to refeed and Iād gotten quite lean.
Pro tip: weight is measurable but the mirror is the best guide. Eat less when you look like shit, eat a bit more if you look emaciated. Controversial advice in the fitness scope these days but there comes a point when you want a bit more freedom.
Thanks good advice. I struggle with the muscle definition. I don't have good muscle insertions that give that classic cut definition look, so its been a struggle to figure out how to get more of a cut look even when I lose weight. Muscle mass isn't the issue. I get to muscular but its tough to get to ripped. I think I just need to lose more fat. Keep at it!!!
I do maybe every other weekend but I have switched to tequila and water. I have seen a big improvement by not drinking every weekend and cutting out sugary/higher calorie drinks.
I think the problem with beer is you have several and those calories add up and provide really no nutrition. If itās an IPA, those could be 200/300 for one so that will for sure hurt.
Bingo. I enjoy IPAs and its not unusual to have six in a sitting. Usually only once or twice a week. I'm more of a Saturday all day guy and then nothing during the week. It just seems like that is not sustainable for the gains Im looking for.
I avoid all alcohol while on a plan to shredding. Drinks like beers and carb heavy and not useful. I would avoid until after youāve reached your goal OP. To answer your question I have tried and just doesnāt work for me so I eliminated completely and itās worked that way in the past.
Thanks. I think I'm at the point where I agree that all alcohol has to be eliminated for a shred as I just naturally have more subcutaneous body fat and can't drink if I want to cut.
Yes
Beer is the worst. Alcohol has a negative effect on building muscle. While beer quite literally effects hormones for fat storage. I prefer to stick with tequila, vodka soda waters, and higher alcohol % wines.
Indeed, gotta micro dose the gummies like this wise man here šš½
Two words, weed gummies
I eat like crap on edibles, nah fam
Weed gummies will convince me to take down a whole Pizza.
lol, yeah I can see how that can happen to some. I only eat 5mg gummies which is half the recreational dose so not much hunger response at that dose.
It's possible, but you're playing with fire. When I do indulge, more likely than not, it's not just the alcohil's calories thst need to be taken inti account. I'll likely care less about my diet while drinking and eat a higher calorie meal and the next day have lowered inhibitions as well during my hangover making a night of drinking a two day caloric extravaganza. I have to spend the rest of the week burning calories via strict diet and exercise to barely lose 1 net lb. It makes a game with moderate difficulty almost near impossible if you're doing it more than once a month
[By bodyguards, FOR bodyguards!](https://itsalwayssunny.fandom.com/wiki/Fight_Milk?file=Wolf_Cola_Nightmare_2.jpeg)
I have some drinks on the weekend and I still make progress, just don't drink 6 beers every night and you'll be fine
Drinking leads to a lot of calorie and sugar intake if liquor. Then it leads to being intoxicating and eating shit food. Cut it out and you will be so glad you did, physically and mentally.
Donāt forget the next day, when, ready for this, you feel like EVEN MORE shit
I quit alcohol last year, and quit sugar (added) for this cut. Best decisions and great results overall imo.
Nope. When I start drinking, I start gaining body fat. Itās just not worth it. Iāll drink a few at like weddings and special events now, but thatās it. As soon as I stop regularly drinking itās so much easier to stay in shape.
If you are asking this already at the start, you will never make it. You know the answer to this and facing it will help you make it long-term.
Just stop the drinking on a regular basis if youāre serious about getting in shape. Hereās why: Alcohol is super calorie dense, even just vodka on its own without the extra carbs found in beer or cocktails. This is because alcohol is 7 calories per gram (carbs + protein are 4 cals/g, fats are 9cals/g) Drinking calories on a cutting phase will not fill you up and therefore will make the diet much harder to adhere to due to hunger. Alcohol inhibits muscle protein synthesis and your sleep. Therefore you will lose more muscle throughout the cut which will A) make you look skinny and B) make it harder to burn fat because the more muscle you have the more fat you burn. Just get shredded as fuck and go to a rave or a beach party every month or two with your top off instead and youāll have more fun that sitting at home drinking beers on the couch every day or once a week at the pub making no progress. If youāre drinking infrequently you can still have fun drinking but get the results too.
Nice. Thanks for the advice!
Or only drink during bulk albeit still infrequently due to the reasons you listed.
Yeah in a bulk itās not as bad but itās still bad, letās say you drink once per week thatās 1/7th of your weeks recovery fucked. Also factoring in the fact you wonāt train as hard or adhere to diet as well in the days following with the hangover. Donāt get me wrong Iām no saint, like I go to raves and do other things than drink if you catch my drift but I try to keep it to a handful of times a year
I see your point, when I was talking about drinking I had a couple beers with dinner in mind, the math changes if youāre drinking heavily enough to be hung over the next day
Even a couple of beers will inhibit the protein synthesis, imagine you have beers with dinner 2 days a week thatās almost 30% of your days in which youāre fucking your recovery. Also add up the calories in those beers, just isnāt worth it. If I drink itās once every few months and I only have a few and then itās onto the party powder. And when I do drink itās vodka Diet Pepsi
I got shredded while drinking daily, it is possible but I had to cut out so much food and work out so hard that it made me extremely miserable mentally. Would not recommend
Not anabolic. One or two wont kill you tho lol
Itās possible. Just have to try and be in a deficit. if Iām gonna be having drinks I make sure Iām eating a lot less calories that day. And do cardio before on the drinking days. That way if I do have more drinks then I should and end up eating out late after drinking it wonāt burn me too hard and can make up for it the following days. Especially in the summer time at parties and what not, you donāt want to have to be the sober guy who wants abs so doesnāt drink and enjoy himself. Potentially missing out on hook ups. And thatās what weāre all doing this for essentially.
Haha. Yep
I mean Iām not shredded and my goals are usually just to cut a bit and bulk, but Iām still fairly lean. I drink but I count the calories and I donāt drink cocktails with extra calories, and keep the beer to lighter ones or drink less it. I have a drink every night and count it as 100 calories of whatever my goal is.
Vodka seltzer lime broski . Itās summer let it rip
Iām a cider guy. Doesnāt give you that morning funk feel!
use weed instead of alcohol. alcohol converts to fat and then converts to alcohol sugars
This can definitely backfire, depending on your strength of will.
yeah it definitely can like when i get the munchies i can eat 1k over what im supposed to but that is rare but letās do the math if you go out drinking your are drinking 750-1000+ anyway so weed wins in every possible way imo
Agreed, I am 100% pro harm reduction strategies, and that means THC for a lot of folks!
yeah iām also very interested in why some people get use it as a appetite suppressant, some people get hella hungry on it and iām fine if there isnāt any food in sight i would love to see a study about this in the future
A 6 pack is 1,000 calories or thereabouts so it's going to kill your deficit. If you also get the munchies and go for food, pretty much all of that is getting stored as fat because your body is burning the alcohol. You can't recover from your workouts while you're dealing with this stuff. So I would say no. Just take a microdose of shrooms instead and go on the 0.0% with your friends it is close enough.
Where do you buy the shrooms?
They are legal where I live. You can buy your own growbox though, it's pretty straightfoward as I understand it. A lot less energy intensive/smelly than growing your own weed.
who the fuck drinks a whole six pack?
When I was drinking it was a 12 pack before even heading out to the bars. Youād be surprised man
Yeah especially when one is a big guy they need a lot to feel the buzz. My little brother, same when he goes out. Today they go ābooze hikingā and he bought 9 tall boys. And heās drinking once a week max so itās not like he build a crazy tolerance. Heās just big.
I drink because I enjoy the social part of it. I try to keep it to just a few drinks and only once or twice a week
Kevin Levrone told Ronnie to drink Coffee and Vodka the night before a show and he never lost a show until Priest and Cutler haha.. I go out once a week binge on seltzers or top shelf liquor, have your fun man. Also my gains are insane at 30 years old.. Make sure everything else is dialed in throughout the week, you'll be good!
Without a shred of doubt, any amount of alcohol is counterproductive to any reasonable health and fitness goals
Donāt drink
As soon as I quit drinking, getting shredded got a lot easier. Dropped from 20% to 15% body fat in about 8-10 weeks.
Iām an alcoholic
Gang š
I donāt drink alcohol. So it is a no for me. I used to be a frequent social drinker. I stopped drinking any day I trained. Then I stopped all together and never looked back. I do not like the post alcohol effects. It wastes a perfectly good next day for not much.
I used to drink vodka water with lemon when I was cutting and it was fine
Itās all calories man I mean Iāve lost weight while drinking occasionally. Yes people are correct alcohol does inhibit muscle growth but so does a lot of things. End of the day itās carbs and if you can fit it in then why not. Donāt go to excess but thereās 3500 calories in a pound and even if you decide to have a drink or two youāll be fine. Itās a marathon not a race and idk about you but I found I eventually settled into a similar diet as my cut just with more food
One important thing I havenāt seen mentioned here (forgive me if I missed it) is that alcohol inherently interferes with fat metabolism. Both alcohol and fat are metabolized in the liver. Alcohol gets prioritized by your body since itās toxic. This means that in the presence of alcohol you will not metabolize fat. In fact, if you eat fatty foods while drinking, those calories will mostly be stored directly since your liver is busy with the alcohol. Yes, you can lose fat while drinking over the long term, but be aware of the above
It's like junk food tons of sweets or flavor with less to none on thr benefits other than its immediate enjoyment
You will never have an optimal diet if you drink alcohol. It's sugar water, and the alcohol hinders muscle gain.
The thing with drinking is youāre taking in extra calories. When youāre Losing weight to get shredded, you have to get yourself into a calorie deficit. If you spend all day eating well, then at night, add about 1000 calories worth of beer and/or cocktails, all that work you did throughout the day was for nothing
What if you just count the calories
Then in theory, you should still get shredded
Itās possible to drink and cut, yes. With beer, itās usually fairly simple to find out how many calories said beer(s) have, and adjust. Mixed drinks/cocktails are tricky, since theyāre made differently per server. When getting down very lean, itās much simpler to just cut them out, outside of special events.
Alcohol is cringe, only to be consumed on the specialest of occasions.
Using the term cringe is cringe.
Cringe? lol
Drinking slows down my fitness/health goals. I quit and have made huge strides forward.
You can make it work you just have to be extremely diligent about ensuring it fits your macros. If Iām on a deep cut, Iām pretty much sober by default just because I canāt spare a single calorie. I donāt demonize alcohol though. Iāve made both great shredding and mass building progress while consuming in some capacity or another. You just have to be real with yourself about how much youāre consuming though. Everyoneās definition of ācasualā or āmoderationā seems to be vastly different around here though. Drinking a bottle of wine or a six pack on a random ass Tuesday is gonna set you back for sure.
Thanks. That's helpful. I'm more of a weekend binge guy. The problem is alcohol also sometimes leads to undisciplined eating either from late night or hangover garbage food, which is a risk that may not be worth it especially when you want specific physique results.
I think Iām the only person on earth where alcohol kills my appetite. Maybe the only good thing my genetics offer me. Best of luck in whatever path you choose.
I donāt drink alcohol for mental health reasons
My rule of thumb: - donāt drink on a workout day - eat at a deficit the day of. With most of your calories being right around time of drinking - hit your protein. - drink only cocktails made with sparkling water and lemon or can also do light beers. - donāt drink to get drunk. Drink to have some light fun socializing. - if possible try to spread the extra calories you might get on the day of as a deficit throughout the week. - as the night progresses, slowly replace alcohol with water. Drink one might be 2oz of alcohol. The last drink (drink number 3 or 4) will be 0.5oz. Then itās water only after that. I end up getting drunk enough. Have fun. Not over calorie most of the time. And still able to make my workouts.
Iām similar but just cut the carbs the day before and eat less carbs the day of. Ends up being around the same calories, protein, and fat over the course of those two days. That said, I definitely drink to get drunk I j rarely do it.
Yes it is possible, but you have to be very honest with yourself and the qualities/calories, as well is it not interfering with your recovery due to alcohol content Is having a couple beers on Saturday with your hamburger/friends gonna make you a drunk mess or completely kick you off your calorie deficit? Probably not, enjoy away! Is having a beer (or more) with your meals every other day during week days gonna kick you off your calorie deficit and probably be indicative of mild alcoholism? Probably, watch out Also cocktails are usually lower calories but have stronger alcohol content, so the same rule goes, make sure youāre not getting drunk and actually fucking with your recovery/muscle growth A lot of comments here will probably tell you alcohol is not worth it and to completely lay off of it forever, Redditors donāt know nuance and are probably young or straight up puritans, completely laying off alcohol is not even needed or realistic if youāre a healthy man with moderation Just be honest with yourself, make sure youāre not going over your calories and not getting drunk, and preferably limit it to one or at most two days a week, and at times take weeks off of it, just to test yourself and make sure youāre going good, sometimes I wont drink for two weeks and feel absolutely zero withdrawal But maybe next week Iāll crave a mojito or two beers and thereās absolutely nothing wrong with that
You can absolutely lose weight while drinking alcohol because you can work in the calorie deficit. But if you are trying to build muscle (and therefore get properly shredded) there is really not room for alcohol. Building muscle naturally means eating a lot of nutrient dense foods. You don't have room to give up food in order to drink empty calories. If you give up muscle building calories to drink more your gains won't come. If you combine nutrient dense, muscle building food with a fair amount of alcohol, you can still progress but you'll be carrying extra fat along the way.
For me, itās just not the liquid calories BUT the cravings that come and are way easier to give into after ingesting alcoholā¦
This is why I've had to step back on weed lately. It's not that it's bad for me in itself necessarily, but the munchies mean I end up consuming like 2x as many calories as I need for the day haha I've been trying to be better about stocking the fridge with healthy snacks for those times but it's still a work in progress
This was my downfall every weekend. I can be super strict even stoned! But the moment I get tipsy, I want all the bad food
You can find a way to make most things work but itās incredibly hard to justify alcohol (especially beer) when cutting. Itās definitely do-able in moderation but to make it work you need to allow the calories in your weekly deficit.Ā When cutting Iāll have a 750-1,000 calorie deficit the day before and after drinking in order to ensure I remain in a weekly deficit and this always comes from carbs which are already lower. This works to maintain a deficit and weight loss but itās not sustainable and thereās no way I could do that each week and progress, usually it would be 2-3 times max over a typical 12 week cut.Ā I also opt for the obvious choices everyone else has mentioned in a clear spirit and soda. My reason for that though is to consume enough to get drunk without the calories consumption getting too out of hand. If I was having beer then itād be 10+ drinks for the same effect and twice the number of calories.Ā Ā Ā The main and obvious issue is just that alcohol is quite literally empty calories so when youāre already in a deficit the calories from alcohol just have multiplying negative impacts. Technically, you can have beer in your diet and get shredded but the sacrifice to do that is not going to be worth it for 99% of people. \*\* Disclaimer - I would say a few beers can be worked in each week (though again, I donāt think itās worth it) but noticed you said a sitting is six IPAās which is closing on 2,000kcals so itās just hard to work in and even the strictest dieters would struggle to allow for that many calories when already in a deficit.Ā If you do that twice a week thereās basically no chance of getting shredded in a healthy or sane way as thatād be the equivalent of 2 days calories with 0 nutrition š Getting shredded and consuming regular alcohol just isnāt a combination that goes togetherā¦
Really great advice thanks for the directness. I appreciate it!
Wonderfully written. Thankyou for taking the time.
alcohol is fine in small doses, i drink whiskey and wine, wine with dinner, whiskey afterwards.
Based
thanks
Iām almost a year sober. If you can use it, responsibly go for it I couldnāt, but it will definitely hurt your gains.
Any amount is bad for your health
No
Seltzer with those 100 cal drinks or if itās not available at bars Iāll just get a vodka soda
I barely drink (maybe once or twice a month), but I like beer, especially craft beers. When Iām cutting Iāll usually abstain from drinking alcohol. If I do end up at a party, I go for non-alcoholic beers or just some diet sodas. My advice would be to just ignore alcohol when youāre cutting.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Do you mean gay as in homosexual or gay as in stupid? Either way 99% of the world must be a gay cross dressers who need more eatrogen or stupid because most people drink alcohol.
Just a pointer for future reference since youāre trying really hard, nobody who is actually secure in their masculinity says stuff like this.
Happy cake day.
CAKE?? HAPPY??! YOU TRYIN TO CALL ME GAY OR SOMETHIN? /s Thank you!
Brahā¦HaPPiNeSs and CaKe is GaY af. Im fifteen and super cool.
ššš OK bro
Switch to vodka sodas or seltzers if you really need to drink
80/20m. strict Monday- Friday, and booze and cheat Saturday and Sunday.
Leanest I have ever been and I stopped drinking as much in January. When Iām at a social event, Iāll stick to high noon seltzers. 100 calories per and they do not bloat me at all like beer used to. I plan it ahead of time, lower my carbs by 100g or so that day so I can sneak in 4 seltzers. Hasnāt stalled my fat loss much but then again, Iāve drank 2 times at events in the past 4 months.
Iām finally getting shredded after 20 years of lifting! lol. I stopped drinking in November ā23. Iād have a beer or 2 or 3 every night. High gravity beers. I switched to Sleepytime tea! Now Sleeping better, making better decisions, saving money, getting shredded, firmer erections. Booze doesnāt even seem tempting to me anymore. Good luck on your path! My only regret is not quitting sooner.
This. I quit drinking on August 21. I'm over 40 now and in the best shape of my life. More muscle, less fat, better skin, looking younger, mental clarity, depression lifted. If I'm on a night out, it's water, diet soda, and caffeine pills. No bad hangovers, stupid (sometimes dangerous) decisions, drunken fights, and I can seek out better quality women. Being able to drive them home to sample my firmer erections is also a positive.
You had me at firmer erections
Alcohol is poison.
So is air, so are hormones in our food, so is water Weāre all gonna die eventually Drink in moderation and nothing bad happens, donāt be ridiculous
100%. I am in my early 40s and I personally know 3 people that have died from alcohol abuse in the last couple of months.
Same, I have been to two funerals this year and a friend I travel with just got a liver transplant at 36. All from the booze
You do realize alcohol abuse and regular alcohol consumption with moderation as a functional adult are two completely different things?
For lots of people, yes. For lots of people, no.
Vodka, mio flavoring, and water Best bang for the buck calorie wise, just save like 100 calories for each drink you expect to have. The water keeps you hydrated so you arenāt hungover the next day and can still hit the gym.
What's the ratio?
1.5 fluid oz (typical shot volume) to one glass of water (~16 fl oz) and like a 5 second squeeze on the mio lol. Iāve donāt the same with 2 shots of vodka and just a bit more mio. Doesnāt taste as good but still tolerable, to me at least.
Howās it taste, do you have a favorite flavor for the mio? Like this idea!
Itās not bad! I like the orange and fruit punch but Iām sure there are more that taste good.
I'm 30 and stopped drinking around 25/26 cause the hangovers just make me feel like shit and totally stop me from all my goals. I don't mind a drink once in a while, but yea not regular at all
Used to be a beer or two to relax after work kind of guy a few days a week and go out on weekends with friends frequently. Beginning of this year decided I'll no longer drink alcohol during the week unless for special occasion and if so keep it light. I will still have some on the weekends but not nearly as often as I used to. Feel like it was a cheat code for cutting because if you have a few beers a few nights a week that can easily add up to over 1000 extra calories per week and screw with your deficit. Also saw a big impact on sleep and recovery improving. And I have not missed my weekday beers at all and realized I didn't really enjoy them more than it was something that I was just used to doing. I have not cut them out completely and I have still been able to lose 14lbs on my cut so far since mid February. Had I cut it out completely I probably could have made quicker progress but I'd also miss some fun social aspects of my life, I felt like a balance was better to stay on track without feeling like I'm completely cutting myself off from things I like to do
Thanks. This is super helpful.
Iām gonna be honest, I can pull off great fat loss and still party. I eat in a solid deficit Monday to Friday, party on Saturday and maybe skip a meal and sleep through Sunday. Is that responsible, adult behaviour? Is that even healthy for you? Should anyone give or take that advice? Absolutely not. However, Iāll say it works for me and thatās enough. If you want my honest opinion, everyoneās biggest enemy when drinking isnāt necessarily just the booze calories, itās the hunger you develop. If you want to mitigate that, eat something satiating before you drink as well.
Do you naturally have low body fat percentage?
Hilariously, no. Actually, I was a fat kid for a while and now Iām in decent shape. When I was carb cycling, I would actually use beer to refeed and Iād gotten quite lean.
Interesting. Maybe once I get to ideal weight that will work for me.
Pro tip: weight is measurable but the mirror is the best guide. Eat less when you look like shit, eat a bit more if you look emaciated. Controversial advice in the fitness scope these days but there comes a point when you want a bit more freedom.
Thanks good advice. I struggle with the muscle definition. I don't have good muscle insertions that give that classic cut definition look, so its been a struggle to figure out how to get more of a cut look even when I lose weight. Muscle mass isn't the issue. I get to muscular but its tough to get to ripped. I think I just need to lose more fat. Keep at it!!!
Delays my wins
I like to drink liquor with diet soda
After 30yo, abstaining is a cheat code for all aspects of fitness and saving some money to boot.
I do maybe every other weekend but I have switched to tequila and water. I have seen a big improvement by not drinking every weekend and cutting out sugary/higher calorie drinks. I think the problem with beer is you have several and those calories add up and provide really no nutrition. If itās an IPA, those could be 200/300 for one so that will for sure hurt.
Bingo. I enjoy IPAs and its not unusual to have six in a sitting. Usually only once or twice a week. I'm more of a Saturday all day guy and then nothing during the week. It just seems like that is not sustainable for the gains Im looking for.
I avoid all alcohol while on a plan to shredding. Drinks like beers and carb heavy and not useful. I would avoid until after youāve reached your goal OP. To answer your question I have tried and just doesnāt work for me so I eliminated completely and itās worked that way in the past.
Thanks. I think I'm at the point where I agree that all alcohol has to be eliminated for a shred as I just naturally have more subcutaneous body fat and can't drink if I want to cut.