Drinking alcohol

[se99paj]

I have been doing a little bit of research about alcohol and just wanted to ask a few questions to clear a few things up. I am only on the induction at the moment so I’m not looking to start drinking in the near future, but I just wanted to ask the questions now so I know what to look forward to.

As you probably know Britain has a bit of a drinking culture, and where I live it’s a bit more of a way of life than a culture, I have a few close friends who enjoy going out for a few drinks most weekends. I have always enjoyed going out and getting a little drunk, I am determined to lose weight so don’t mind making a few sacrifices, the only problem is going to be the temptation of going out with them in the mean time and not being able to drink anything except water, then further down the line I'll be able to drink but onlt vodka with slimline tonic.

Firstly what would happen if I did have an evening out?? Depending on how much alcohol I have drunk the alcohol will be turned to sugar and then this will need to be burnt off before fat can be lost. If I did this once or twice a month how would it affect my weight loss?? Would the weight loss plateau for a while and then drop again.

From what I have read lager is pretty much out of the question, I can’t see many bars pouring low carb beer from the tap, and either way its loaded with carbs. I could just stick to vodka but finding the mixer to go with it could be tricky, remember there are some differences between the bars in Britain and the bars in the US. Diet drinks are filled with sweeteners I did read somewhere about the diet red bull having no carbs but I thought I’d ask before drinking loads of it.

[sadie147]

I do drink socially, and I think basically what it did was slowed my weight loss, since my body would need to burn off the alcohol before it would go back to burning carbs/fats. I did drink low carb beers last summer but switch to low carb vodka coolers. I did still lose my weight, I jsut probably would have lost it a bit quicker maybe if I hadn't drank. I also tried to make sure after a night of endulging, I would make sure I hit the gym, or jogged to help my body burn off the alcohol. LOL this could be difficult depending on how much i'd enjoyed myself the night before! :yikes But believe it or not it does make you feel much better.

The only diet mix we have here at most bars is diet coke/pepsi, so i usually just stick with Rum and diet coke when out at a bar.

[Starmaker]

Vodka and club soda tall, lime squeeze. Zero guilt! heh heh heh

[not2late]

This is directly from the atkins.com site.

http://atkins.com/helpatkins/newfaq/answers/WhyCanTIConsumeAlcoholWhenIAmDoingAtkins.html

You should not drink alcohol during Induction, but you can drink moderate amounts of alcohol during the Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance phases of the Atkins Nutritional ApproachTM. When given the choice, your body will burn alcohol for energy before it burns fat. But alcohol does not act as a carbohydrate so it will not interfere with burning fat in the same way that sugars and other carbohydrates do.
Alcohol consumption may also increase yeast-related symptoms, such as bloating, gas and cravings for sweets, and can therefore interfere with weight loss. Beer, which contains yeast, probably has the most yeast-forming components of any alcohol. An occasional glass of wine or vodka is the best choice. Scotch and other grain-based spirits are more likely to promote yeast problems.

Note: Use only mixers that contain no sugar or fruit juices. Even tonic water contains carbs and regular soda is made with sugar. Seltzer, club soda, mineral water and diet sodas are better alternatives.