Thoughts on weekday vs. weekend drinking?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

kpr121

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
3,117
Reaction score
138
Location
Pittsburgh
So I’ve recently made a decision to try to stop drinking during the week. Its more for weight loss than anything, but having a 3 week old baby at the house has its effects.

Im probably averaging 1-2 pints a night on week nights, 3-4 on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 on Sundays. Those are what I would call truthful averages, some nights I wouldn’t drink any and others I would drink more than I want to say.

So that averages out to around 17 pints of beer per week… WOW! That’s 3500 calories (nearly one pound) per week if they were all mid-ABV beers (200 calories per 16 oz).

With that being said, I’d like to hear other’s viewpoints on if/how they approach drinking during the week vs. the weekend. I’d like to think that by cutting out weekday drinking I will be cutting out +40% of my consumption, but I have a feeling that my weekend consumption will probably increase.

Also have to factor in the mental health considerations, since coming home and drinking a homebrew with my wife is about my fourth favorite thing to do with/to her.
 
The amount of weekday drinking is directly proportional to how good my beer is on tap at the time.

I have my favorite beer I've ever made right now, and I'd probably opt for a second pint of that during the week vs one of my other beers.
 
never been in the habit of drinking during the week. i am a college student so dinner is usually on campus. if i cooked i might do it more, but i'm usually very busy, and one beer always kinda makes me not sleep as well for some reason.

my intake has actually dropped significantly, and it makes it hard to go threw homebrew now. i haven't brewed a batch in a while, and i am sick of everything i have in bottles, but i still have 100+
 
There are plenty of studies that suggest drinking a glass of alcohol (including beer) a night has health benefits, but that binge drinking on weekends only does nothing for you.

I drink when I feel like drinking. For me that means not on weekdays as I typically go to the gym after work and don't feel like dehydrating my body any further. Weekends I'll have a few (more than a few if my buddies are over).

It's personal preference. Do what makes you happy.
 
I limited my drinking to 3 nights per week and started riding an exercise bike for 25 min per day 5 days a week. Weight loss was a steady 2 pounds per month for 11 months (then december hit and all bets were off). Weight has been slowly coming back (about a pound per month). one of these weeks I'll get back on the exercise routine again. Already cut back the booze intake to 3 nights per week.
 
I think it all depends on what works for you. Some nights when I am brewing or bottling I will drink 5 or 6 beers and some nights nothing at all. Some weekends I do not drink at all and others I drink tons. I do not fashion my life around drinking but will drink when life allows it.
 
I think that if you honestly think your weekend consumption will increase because you eliminated the weekday drinks then you are probably better off just having your daily beer or two and consider incorporating some sort of aerobic exercise into your routine so you can burn off the calories.

I know that having children can pose constraints, I've got 3 but they are older now but I had been there and done that!

Even a good brisk walk in the evening can do a body good!
 
I think that if you honestly think your weekend consumption will increase because you eliminated the weekday drinks then you are probably better off just having your daily beer or two and consider incorporating some sort of aerobic exercise into your routine so you can burn off the calories.

I know that having children can pose constraints, I've got 3 but they are older now but I had been there and done that!

Even a good brisk walk in the evening can do a body good!

I play 1 ½ hrs of pickup basketball 3-4 times a week. I can already see this is going to be difficult to keep pace with the baby, so I might have to start working in some sort of half-hour aerobics exercising I can do at home daily.

I can understand AgentHubCap’s point, since I have been making more and better beers, it’s very difficult to just stop at one pint with dinner.

I guess it just comes down to discipline, which I can admit at this point I do not have much of, with over 30+ gallons of homebrew on hand. But I’m going to make a conscience effort to work on it. My body and family deserves it.

My dad told me that my uncle had a drinking rule that he lived by religiously – For every beer he drank, he had to run a mile. Didn’t matter if that mile happened the next day, or the next week, he kept a tally of his ‘plus-minus’, sort of like counting cards in blackjack. He said sometimes he would rack himself up to 30+ miles and knock it all out over a couple days. He was in great shape. I can’t stand running, so I would have to do something different, maybe 50 pushups and 50 crunches for each beer?
 
I like the beer/mile ratio idea...that's getting added to my training log immediately!
 
I've been fighting this drinking too much during the week for 20 years now and usually get a KO in the first round at every fight...:(

This year I'm doing better than years past but it's a VERY difficult challenge if it's something you've done for a long time.

I excersize regularly and do a lot of cycling but still want 2-4 beers a night every night and more on weekends....:mad:
 
I was a 3 to 4 a night guy and then I started to go the gym and I am not drinking on those nights about three days a week. On the week end it varies on what I have going on as to how much I drink.
 
Funny this thread would pop up. I've been trying to drop some weight too and I find beer is a big portion of my calories per week. I would have at least 2 every night but I've since cut back. I might have one a couple nights during the week and once a week during the weekend I do whatever but not too overboard. I've even substituted beer some nights for a glass of brandy or a tequila and tonic to try and keep the Kcal's down. It's tough but there's a fine middle ground to work with where you can drink and still be relatively healthy.
 
My work schedule makes weekdays/weekends meaningless. But it also means that usually there are 3-5 days a week I can't drink because of work. I look at that as a good thing.
 
I typically have a beer while cooking dinner, and then might have one afterwards depending upon the evening.

I personally find that I'd rather cut out other simple carbs like sugar/rice/bread and still enjoy my daily brew. Remember, those calories are basically as empty as your beer's calories, and it is all a matter of calories-in vs calories-out.

I say keep the beer, and lose any sugar/bread. If you are truly trying to lose weight, then definitely cut out both.
 
Back
Top