Drinks & Alcohol

[ZeroCool]

Hello -

So I had a handful of questions reading 4HB, but the biggest ones on my mind revolve around drinking... in general.

1) Yes, coffee, unsweet tea, and water are good to drink. And I can have a diet coke a day, up to 16 oz. And I can have low calorie, non sugar drinks. But what does that part mean? So far I've been drinking way more coffee than usual, as well as water. I can't stand unsweet tea. What can I drink??? I have a crap load of the crystal light individual packets for water bottles, but I'm scared to drink as they contain aspartame and he says that's bad. Also... I prefer Coke Zero to Diet Coke... is there a difference? Does Coke Zero use splenda instead (which is bad right?) Ugh.

2) I love going out and drinking with friends. Now, my cheat day is specifically geared to drinking whatever kind of alcoholic drinks I want! But what about other days... I have a very active social life... Duh - no beer. Got it. Yes - up to 2 glasses of red wine. But what about liquor??? Can I have some rum and diets?!? What about tonic water or soda water (BLEH!! But better than nothing.) Any suggestions? Anything to avoid?? Who wants to meet up at the bar!?? :p

Thanks for anyones help. I'd love to hear some creative suggestions for keeping hydrated!!

[k_alldredge]

Sorry, I don't have much insight on this but I restrict all of my drinking until cheat day. I'm not a huge drinker to begin with and I don't like red wine so that is my main reason. I do know that both coke zero and diet coke have zero calories. I probably only drink one can of diet a week, just because if I can't have the real thing, why bother? Just my opinion though. I just drink straight water throughout the day. Seems to me that if you just keep everything as simple as possible, it will be easier to stick with it.

[Michelle]

Seems to me that if you just keep everything as simple as possible, it will be easier to stick with it.

Great point!

I don't really drink either, so no advice there. I do know that 99.9% of other diets say no booze... So that might give you an idea of what you shoud do.

[Wasgo]

1) Yes, coffee, unsweet tea, and water are good to drink. And I can have a diet coke a day, up to 16 oz. And I can have low calorie, non sugar drinks. But what does that part mean? So far I've been drinking way more coffee than usual, as well as water. I can't stand unsweet tea. What can I drink??? I have a crap load of the crystal light individual packets for water bottles, but I'm scared to drink as they contain aspartame and he says that's bad. Also... I prefer Coke Zero to Diet Coke... is there a difference? Does Coke Zero use splenda instead (which is bad right?) Ugh.

By Tim's standards, all diet pops are bad, and Crystal Light would fall into that category. In general for this type of diet, the effects of having those vary from individual to individual. Diet pops haven't impacted my weight loss, but for others they have. I drink water with a bit of lemon or lime myself, as well as diet pops. Beyond that there aren't a lot of unsweetened options. Maybe try some herbal teas?


2) I love going out and drinking with friends. Now, my cheat day is specifically geared to drinking whatever kind of alcoholic drinks I want! But what about other days... I have a very active social life... Duh - no beer. Got it. Yes - up to 2 glasses of red wine. But what about liquor??? Can I have some rum and diets?!? What about tonic water or soda water (BLEH!! But better than nothing.) Any suggestions? Anything to avoid?? Who wants to meet up at the bar!?? :p

Tonic Water is out as it has sugar. Club Soda is just carbonated water so you should feel free to drink it in any quantity you desire. As for alcohol, it's probably not recommended, but you'd have to see what the results are for yourself. Hard liquors are low Carb but the body does burn off the alcohol as energy before fat. I haven't personally tried it, but you'd probably want to stick to under 2 oz a night at most.

[ARN]

I'm with you ZeroCool. I'm a huge bourbon lover, beer-drinker and homebrewer, and cannot wait to drink some nice pints on my cheat day!

I have been doing the glass of wine a night, and have been enjoying getting to know wines better, so I guess there is a plus side.

I wonder specifically about gin and vodka. They do seem dry, especially compared to some of the Cabs and Merlots I have been drinking.

[ZeroCool]

I do recall during the beginning of the "no carb" fad ... What.. Ten years ago now?... seeing ads for bacardi saying that bacardi and diet had no carbs... So maybe bacardi and soda would be ok?

Bleh... lol

[gameface]

I lost 2 lbs in one day and I drank a bottle of wine that night. I gained only 3 lbs on cheat day drinking a 6 pack of beer and having several vodka/sodas on top of all the other crap I ate. Don't drink beer except on cheat days and be smart and you'll be ok. At least my fat loss doesn't seem to be effected negatively by a bottle of wine. YMMV.

[SlowCarbFoodie]

I have the same challenge with the active social life and have tried various forms of Slow Carb/Low Carb over the years. I don't know the answer to your question, but anecdotally, I've noticed if I have a few vodka sodas with lemon or lime a few days a week, it does not seem to affect my weight loss when eating this way (though, who knows, I could be losing faster if no drinks?)

If I have more than a few on a given day, my weight loss is usually stalled though I don't seem to put on weight. I assume that's because the body stops burning fat to process the alcohol. I haven't pushed it to the level of several drinks every day or even on most days, but I'd assume that would stall my weight loss (I'm a small girl). It may depend on the person though. I assume a man with a larger frame can tolerate more and still lose.

It's worth testing, but at the same time, it's probably not a good thing or Tim would have explicitly given the green light to carb-free boozes with carb-free mixers.... and he most certainly did not. :(

[pS.Rodgers]

I've been following this diet for the past 3 weeks, and I'm a heavy Coke Zero/Diet Dr. Pepper guzzler. It didn't effect my weight loss the first week I was at home, but now that I'm back in school, I haven't been losing as much weight. But then again, it could be a wide variety of things. I've had to change what, when, and the amount of food I eat, so that could be a possible cause. Or it could be that all the heavy drinking of those diet drinks. So basically, I'm on the same boat as the op.

[Andy Glassman]

You could drink certain types of liquor, but avoid ones that have lots of sugar! So avoid any schnapps, or baileys. Wiskey, gin, and vodka would be ok. Also remember that the red wine is ok because it has a lot of antioxidants and other good stuff in it while straight alcohol does not.

As for soft drinks, you should just keep drinking unsweetened tea, you will get used to it, and eventually like it! I used to hate it but i love it now. Maybe start out with some hot tea.

[bren.stan15]

I'm not really sure about that but some people say that maximum of 2 bottles of beer every night works well for the low carb diet.... Wonder if it's true coz I personally don't drink alcohol so I have no idea. Does anyone know if it really works??

[KarenJ]

I'm not really sure about that but some people say that maximum of 2 bottles of beer every night works well for the low carb diet.... Wonder if it's true coz I personally don't drink alcohol so I have no idea. Does anyone know if it really works??

The author states that you should only have beer on cheat days. You can, however have a maximum of 2 glasses of RED wine each evening. I must be RED wine only.

[bren.stan15]

The author states that you should only have beer on cheat days. You can, however have a maximum of 2 glasses of RED wine each evening. I must be RED wine only.

Then would be more reasonable.... Thanks for that KarenJ ^^

[phantagrae]

For the unsweet tea there are lots of tea varieties you can try--take just about any kind of hot tea and ice it. Also, you can try adding a little vanilla to your unsweetened tea. I'm not sure if it's allowable on the diet (what all is in vanilla?) but it really does make tea taste good, with or without artificial sweeteners.

[AngeSuccess]

FYI: Diet Coke and Coke Zero are the same; the difference is the mareting - one is targeted at men and one at women. Both are full of crap. Tried water?! I drink still water and soda water and experiment with different herbal teas - liquorice tea is very sweet.