alcohol

[jd62]

I am in college and drinking is a way of life here. I was wondering how much is too much, i usually drink on avg 3 nights a week and depending on the night can be anywhere between 4 and 15 beers. I know this is too much and have cut back already. Also does it matter if you drink on the days you workout compared to the days you dont workout?

[BigRagu]

well i belielve alcohol effects test in your system.... im working on finding proof

[deano74]

this is the best combo if you are wanting to drink, cause you are in collge, and still dont want to put on lots of weight (at least not as quickly). out of all the different alcohol possibilities you have (highballs, beer etc).
bacardi (o carbs) / club soda (o carbs) and only 88 calories is the best choice. there is also no sugar content so it will not produce an insulin spike, which will result in body converting excess carbs into fat. obviosly, drinking any alcohlo is a negative with training, but this is best option. do not confuse club soda or soda water with tonic (this has a shitload of carbs and calories).
the drink choice you can control, but it is very hard after a night of getting hammered not to eat shit after the bar (mcdonald's denny's etc) this is also where porbs come in

[Dav_UK]

vodka and slimline tonic comes in at around the 80 calorie mark too..

Deano is right....i always end up in a curry restaurant after a heavy night on the drink....not good

[Grizzly]

There are numerous reasons why alcohol should be avoided. And, come on, don't try and act like being in college mandates alcohol consumption. I did two bodybuilding contests in college which eliminated drinking for 16 weeks. It's not like all of a sudden I didn't have any friends or anything.

With that said, I also did plenty of drinking during college(and before steroids) and still managed to get jacked. I do plenty of drinking now, too. Quite frankly, if I make it more than 3 or 4 days in a row without drinking it's rare. I like beer. What can I say.

However, just know that your waistline will be bigger than it otherwise would and it'll probably take longer to make the same gains you would otherwise without drinking.

You might also want to look into the calorie free version of alcohol like pills, GHB or doobies. You'll still be fucked up but you won't consume near as many calories.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by deano74

bacardi (o carbs) / club soda (o carbs) and only 88 calories is the best choice.

You are making the assumption that carbs are the problem with drinking. How about the fact that alcohol pretty much diverts your metabolism from burning carbs/fat for energy to burning alcohol. All these low-carb beers are for people who dont have a clue. Hey fat fuck, instead of drinking a "low-carb" beer, how about you put the beer down and push your lazy ass away from teh table for a change! Carbs arent your problem and adding alcohol will cause more issues than if you ate some carbs.

[Grizzly]

LOL Nice post, Bob. The low carb beer thing cracks me up, too. Wow, a whole 8 carbs in a beer. That accounts for a whole 32 out of 132 calories. Man, if I could only get rid of those 32 calories, I'd be a lean, mean machine. The majority of calories in alcohol comes from, wonder of wonders, ALCOHOL, which, in case you're wondering, has 7 calories in each gram.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

LOL Nice post, Bob. The low carb beer thing cracks me up, too. Wow, a whole 8 carbs in a beer. That accounts for a whole 32 out of 132 calories. Man, if I could only get rid of those 32 calories, I'd be a lean, mean machine. The majority of calories in alcohol comes from, wonder of wonders, ALCOHOL, which, in case you're wondering, has 7 calories in each gram.

Those low carb beer commercials are funny.

Only 3.2 grams of carbs, less than one gram of protein and 100 calories.

Hmm...3.2 x 4 = ~13 calories
1g protein x 4 = 4
Carbs + protein = 17 calories

100-17 = 83

Either there are 9 grams of fat in a can of beer, or people are too dumb to realize that something else makes up those 80+ calories!! 83/7 = ~12g of alcohol.

Ill just put it this way....Americans as a whole are nutrition retarded.

For all the diet books and information available EVERYWHERE on nutrition, 99.99995% of Americans dont have the slightest clue about the grub they stuff in their mouth. Granted, about the same percentage of people simply dont have a clue to begin with, so Im not sure why I seem so surprised.

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by Bob Smith

Ill just put it this way....Americans as a whole are nutrition retarded.

For all the diet books and information available EVERYWHERE on nutrition, 99.99995% of Americans dont have the slightest clue about the grub they stuff in their mouth. Granted, about the same percentage of people simply dont have a clue to begin with, so Im not sure why I seem so surprised.

Sometimes, these boards drive me nuts. One would assume that bodybuilders, of all people, would have a clue regarding nutrition, but the super simple shit that is written on the labels of EVERY SINGLE FOOD PRODUCT, not to mention taught in health class, is total news to 80% of the fucking boards. "Wow, man, I totally never knew there were 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrate. That's, like, mind-blowing, man!"

You dick, now you've got my blood pressure up.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

You dick, now you've got my blood pressure up.

After all the issues Ive had with my house this week, its about time someone else's blood pressure is up!

[greyowl]

Originally Posted by jd62

I am in college and drinking is a way of life here. I was wondering how much is too much, i usually drink on avg 3 nights a week and depending on the night can be anywhere between 4 and 15 beers. I know this is too much and have cut back already. Also does it matter if you drink on the days you workout compared to the days you dont workout?

Hate to break the news to you bud, but booze is one of the most effective ways to slash your testosterone levels. Just one night of getting blitzed raises cortisol levels and accelerates the the breakdown of testosterone for up to 24 hours ...

... Valimaki, M.J., Harkonen, M., Eriksson, C.J., & Ylikahri, R.H. (1984). Sex hormones and adrenocortical steroids in men acutely intoxicated with ethanol. Alcohol, 1, 89-93

So if you’re getting yourself shitfaced 3 nites a week you've blown about half your week of training.

The damage alcohol inflicts on testosterone is even worse when you hit the gym and lift before hitting the clubs ...

... Heikkonen, E., Ylikahri, R., Roine, R., Valimaki, M., Harkonen, M., & Salaspuro, M. (1996). The combined effect of alcohol and physical exercise on serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and cortisol in males. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 20, 711-716

So you have a choice: make drinking your way of life or make training your way of life.

It doesn't mean you can't have fun, it only means you contain the heavy drinking to maybe one night a week (but 14 beers in one night is bullshit).

Alternatively, you could ditch the gang you get plastered with and hang with people who've found other ways to amuse themselves, e.g., whitewater kayaking, skiboarding, music-making, etc.

I can guarantee you one thing: the people you'll meet by doing recreational stuff that doesn't involve continuous drinking will be ten times as interesting and fun as the people whose idea of a productive night out is getting hammered on tasteless beer. And so will you be.

[jd62]

so i guess ill just become a stoner and eat all the time. lol

[roadkill]

No, weed will screw up your hormones as well.

[greyowl]

Originally Posted by roadkill

No, weed will screw up your hormones as well.

Yup, cannabis can do almost as much damage as liquor (which pains an old pothead like me to point out).

[thick]

just dont eat any spaghetti and u can drink all the beer u want. It is all about carbs. low carb beer only though