Posts Tagged “Diet”

About 4 months ago I came to a big decision in my life. Staring at 3 bills (or 25 lbs shy of 300), I decided that I needed to do something to get into better shape and lose some weight. With this decision came the realization that I needed to both diet and exercise. As far as diet goes, I had not shown any pretext for being able to show will power when it came to food and drink. As far as exercise goes, I have horrible ankles and was generally sedentary and didn’t do a damn thing that might be considered physical activity, barring the occasional Wii golf game. I was a complete slob, for lack of a better way to put it. I was growing close to going up yet another size in pants and other clothing options. I refused to move to 3X shirts…that was THE final straw in a long list of final straws that led to my decision.

With that decision I had to muster self control and start eating well, or at least better. Everything I use to eat, I cut in half and I dropped fried fatty foods that are eaten too quickly to notice the sensation of being full. I cut the amount of cheese I ingested. I ate more vegetables as snacks and dropped my calorie intake to about 1500 calories per day. I also used Wii Fit to get myself into what I refer to as “gym shape”. Before starting this journey, I would get winded walking quickly to the end of my driveway to get the trash can. I needed to get into a shape that would allow me to use the cardio machines at a gym long enough to actually make them useful and not be in pain the entire time because of my knees and ankles. Through this, I discovered that carrying 272 pounds is not good for knees or bad ankles. I lost 19-20 pounds just by doing cardio and a little yoga on the Wii Fit, but hit a major plateau.

This plateau made me examine my calorie intake again. I was still drinking regularly, but moderately (2 drinks per day) and had cut back some of the frequency of that moderation. I was journaling my calorie intake and was including the beer in my calories. I was also working out between 25 and 40 minutes a day with the Wii Fit. I hit snag and for about 3 weeks, I bobbed around 255 lbs with no movement lower or higher. I needed a change. 2 things came to mind.

1. I needed a more rigorous workout routine. Jogging in place and doing step aerobics were no longer cutting it as far as what I was doing. I could burn many more calories with better equipment and a better regimen.

2. My calorie intake was too low. 1500 is good for starvation, but with calories being consumed from my daily total with alcohol, I needed better calories and more of them to keep stimulating my metabolism.

Because of these 2 things, I made 2 more decisions. I joined a gym and discovered the beauty of cycling. As well, I decided to further limit my intake of alcohol. I no longer had cheap beer just for the sake of having beer with dinner when we went out. I also cut back on the big beers that I regularly enjoyed. 2 barley wines are far more calories than 2 pale ales because of alcohol content. I looked for more sessionable beers with lower alcohol by volume, not for sessions of 4-5 beers, but for healthier drinking. Through this whole process, I came up with some discoveries for those who love beer, but want to be healthier.

1. Alcohol is not a bad thing. In moderation, its a great thing! Learn to have some self control and don’t think that because you didn’t drink 2 on Tuesday, you can have 4 on Saturday. Beers are not rollover minutes. Binge drinking is not good for your system.

2. If you do drink more than you intend, which can happen, you can work it off in the gym. It will hurt more. Alcohol naturally dehydrates, thus causing headaches and other baddies that accompany binge drinking. Because of this, drink more water than you drink alcohol and the gym won’t be as painful the next day.

3. Knowing when I am going to drink, or planning my drinking ahead of time, allows me to plan my workouts so that calories are taken care of ahead of time. I typically ride the cycle for an hour on days that I plan on meeting friends for drinks. This allows me to be more social and not be a killjoy because of my diet. Noone likes a buzzkill at a bar.

4. Taster glasses are a miracle made of glass. If you are going to have a big beer, split it with a friend in 6 oz taster glasses! If getting drunk isn’t the point, and honestly it shouldn’t be in the context of this conversation, then what does it matter if you have 6 oz instead of 12? You can enjoy the beer for taste without over-indulging.

Dieting sucks. So does exercise. The worst thing about both is that with old school methodology, the need to cut calories and become very rigid in both practices causes them to suck more and interest can be lost. If interest is lost, then its all moot and weight loss won’t happen. I had to take a step back and decide if I was going to punish myself daily and take things that I truly enjoy out of my life in the name of losing weight. I think that you can see by my blog here and if you know me, by my actions and beer-geek-speak, I enjoy beer as a hobby, a passion and as a method to be social with friends and strangers alike. None of those things are bad if done moderately.

Weight loss can be achieved while enjoying alcohol, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. By making some small changes in my life and the way I look at beer in general, I am now very close to 40 pounds lost. The key, in drinking, dieting and even exercise, has been moderation. Who judges moderation for you? I hope it’s you and I hope you do it well. There are many resources on the internet that cover what moderation is in practice both psychologically and in actual practice. I challenge you to read them before you give up something you truly enjoy. Remember that too much of a good thing is still too much!

Very soon, we will have some new reviews up and some new beer/homebrewing talk!