Last night I had 8 beers...........

[bigdsaint]

Michelob Ultra to be exact. Total of about 21 carbs. Also, only had 2 eggs and 3 pieces of bacon to eat all day. So the carb count was in line.

I have stuck to induction like glue since 1/2/08........24 days to be exact and am down 22.5 pounds from 242 SW.

I drank about 48 ounces of water when I got home to offset the diuretic effects of the alcohol. My question........I checked my urine this morning with the Ketostix fulling expecting a big NEGATIVE. To my surprise, it read moderate and still later today it read the same thing. Can this be right?

[angelcakes]

Re: Last night I had 8 beers...........

it could be right... you didn't have too many carbs, so i could see you still be in ketosis. i know alcohol can stall people though or take them out of ketosis. so, i wouldn't recommend having 8 beers a night on a regular basis, even the "low carb" ones.

you've been doing great that - 22.5 pounds, wow!! keep up it up and stay on track!

[*Wendy*]

Re: Last night I had 8 beers...........

It's sort of both right and wrong at the same time!

Alcohol evidently can cause a "false" reading on the ketostix, and I'm not exactly sure why but I have read it before & experienced it first hand on more than a few occasions! So, it will appear you are in ketosis but you will notice a slow down in weightloss if you weigh frequently enough to notice that sort of thing.

Your body is burning that alcohol for fuel and will do so until it exhausts all of the alcohol and only then will it turn back to using stored fat again. It doesn't exactly kick you out of ketosis, but it sort of suspends it.

You are doing so great! Please be careful not to jeapordize it by binge drinking - it's dangerous territory to play in, believe me I know!

[Elizellen]

Re: Last night I had 8 beers...........

Wendy is right, the keto sticks register the acetones given off by your body while utilising the alcohol as a preferred fuel so they register the same as if you were still in ketosis and putting out ketones!!

Also while your body is busy burning that alcohol it isnt burning off the fat you are eating!

[TwitterBean]

Re: Last night I had 8 beers...........

I did this a few weeks after I started as well, and even though I was drinking o carb alcohol (whiskey etc.) I had 5 seperate drinking occasions in the month of November and I lost nothing that month. I never went above 20 carbs and I still lost nothing. It was very frustrating and completely not worth it. Also the hangover from whiskey is something I really don't want to experience again. Unfortuantely for me it's hard to get away from social drinking.............especially with the football that's been going on (My family is from Massachusetts and my b/f is a HUGE giants fan...so there's been some excitement around my parts and will be really hard when the superbowl comes) Also during the month of november I walked at least 2 miles a day 4-5 days a week and so you can imagine after working so hard to see some progress how disappointed I was.

"In addition to the calories, alcohol interferes with fat burning, something important for weight loss. Normally, the liver metabolizes fats, but when a person drinks, alcohol takes preference. The liver breaks down alcohol for energy first, causing a build-up of fatty acids. What this means is that the body uses the calories supplied from alcohol before it is able to expend the calories from fat. This characteristic is referred to as "fat sparing," meaning alcohol's presence spares the fat from being utilized for energy. Alcohol also stimulates appetite in many people. This may thwart your weight loss efforts even more."

(source: http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2253.html)

This is the bottom line, if you're drinking alcohol you won't benefit from the miraculous fat burning that atkins provides. Having said that I know that I'll be drinking when the superbowl comes around (we're having a party) and I also partied for the Giants/Cowboys game......I'm crossing my fingers that it won't hurt me too much but I know from experience that it will. It seems incredibley stupid when I look up at what I just wrote but it all depends on where your priorities are and how fast you want to lose weight. Right now my b/f has been greiving the loss of a close relative and he's just quit smoking and so I feel as though I can not say no to this party that he wants so that I can lose 3-5lbs. It doesn't seem remotely rational for me to do something like that. Even though I know I can't abstain when I'm surrounded by it. In the long run, the bigger picture, one more month will not be the end of me. Also I won't be throwing myself off the diet just stalling progress because of the alcohol. I do know that this will be the last party we throw though. I deserve to have a few month of uninterrupted weightloss and I will make sure it happens. Good luck to you!

Liz

[brandywine1241]

Re: Last night I had 8 beers...........

Having said that I know that I'll be drinking when the superbowl comes around

Twitter, maybe you could drink club soda or alternate club soda with an alcoholic drink or use more mixer than usual in your drinks in order to minimize the damage?

[TwitterBean]

Re: Last night I had 8 beers...........

Im definitely going to do that! we drink lots of club soda anyway. I think I'll stay away from really hard liquor period! :P Last time we tried Bacardi Peach Red rum (0 carbs) with diet rite (orange flavor) but I bet it would be even better with club soda. Good idea to alternate anyway because my tolerance is WAY down lately! thanks,

Liz