Beer and Dieting

Me in 2010

Last summer I was looking at myself in the mirror, I looked horrible and I felt even worse. I was depressed, I couldn't get out of bed and every job interview I had for over two years went horribly wrong. I couldn't bear with looking for jobs, because it just took so much energy out of me. I didn't know what to do, where to go, I just needed to make a change.

First, I decided to stop doing job search 40 hours per week, that was the main thing that was taking a toll on my mental health. Secondly, I changed my diet a bit. I stopped eating Hungrymans, I portioned my meals according to the suggested serving size on the packaging (also prevents overeating), I stopped drinking so much Coca Cola, drink much more water and I pushed myself to eat more consistently. I believed for much of my life that I could lose weight off of one meal per day. Of course that didn't help. Not only did I feel starved, but I also didn't lose a single pound. I also started to exercise for a minimum of 45 minutes to one hour 5-6 days per week. This consisted of weight lifting, sit ups, pushups (more like girly pushups, I've never been able to do pushups somehow), lots of walking and hoping for the best.

One thing that I didn't really change is BEER. I'll admit I've bought beer just so I could get drunk to hide my feelings of depression, but overall, I have drank almost as much beer now as I did a year ago.

This isn't your usual Beer & Dieting piece. But here ARE some facts about drinking beer while dieting provided by About.com, THV and AskMen:

• May benefit to help lower risk of cardiovascular disease
• Moderate amounts of beer can reduce stress
• May reduce blood clot 
• Lots of Vitamin B minerals
• It tastes delicious
• One guy fasted only on BEER and water for 46 days!

Well some of that may be my own bias, of course. But since I started my dieting in September, I've lost over forty pounds. That was only 5 months ago! While sure, I am still quite depressed as I'm not where I want to be in life, but thanks to losing weight, so much of my stress has disappeared.  In the past month I've cut down my beer consumption a considerable amount and it hasn't made a difference in my weight loss. However, in this case I did not cut down on beer this time because I needed to lose more weight, I just got tight on money and I'm waiting for new beers to come out.

Me in Feb 2012 - Lost 40 pounds (18KG)

Look, you can still enjoy your favourite beers while dieting. You don't NEED to drink Labatt Blue 55, Molson Canadian 67 and Sleeman Clear just so you lose more and more weight over time. Fact: Sleeman Clear is considered one of the worst beers of all time according to the folks at RateBeer.com.. and they KNOW their beer, seventh worst, in fact. (Note: Link is currently down)

So, why drink piss water just so you can lose weight? Don't do it. In 2004 to 2005, I drank low calorie beer just so I could try to lose weight. Back then it was Molson Ultra and Labatt Select, and I still remember to this very day that both beers were incredibly horrible tasting. 

I say continue drinking the beer you love, but if you can handle drinking only one beer a day, then good for you! I recommend drinking a nice unfiltered beer over any yellow lager any day of the week.

Lastly, what would you rather do, drink 6 of a low calorie lager, feeling empty still because it doesn't fill the void, or drink one or two of Unibroue Trois Pistoles or an India Pale Ale? Of course you'd likely choose Trois Pistoles/IPA! As I say: Drink less, drink better!

Five months in, beer really hasn't made a negative impact on my progress, and with that - I love to enjoy a Trois Pistoles after a long exercise. I recommend trying that too if you are looking to change something in your life. 

Cheers!