Getting fat

[Wolverine]

I've only been brewing for 5 months ad I've gained about a stone in weight gone up from 34 waist to 36 and feel big and heavy .
Sadly im starting to edge towards leaving home brew behind again.
I love beer and have always drank about 6 pints a night but never got fat before I'm assuming my homebrew contains more calories than pub brought beer
Have you had this problem ?
How can I make lower calorie beer ?

 

[Titch]

not sure its the beer itself but maybe the qty?

the wife has noticed since i started she has maintained weight and TBH i have lost a waist size

but i do not drink every night, have the odd glass through the week and maybe a couple on friday saturday

mood dependant

beersmith tells me how many calories seems most are around 380 or so per pint

 

[screamlead]

PMSL! ha ha

1. Move fridge further away from drinking area to facillitate more burned calories during beer refresh.

2. Always pour drinks into glasses as drinking from bottles makes you a lard too.

3. Eat less food instead.

4. Go on the Carlsberg/Sugarpuff diet - ie drink loads of beer and eat loads of sugarpuffs - teaches ye bum what its there for.

5. Lower beer intake by using time activated fridge lock allowing less bottles per hour to be opened.

6. Final assesment - if all else fails - give all your beer away to us lot on the forum!!


Have a good day! :lol: :rofl: : :thumb:

 

[Muddy Funker]

Without taking the p*ss, reduce your intake, eat healthy and take excercise.

Just because we make loads doesn't mean we have to drink loads, tough I know.

I try only to drink on days off, certainly not every day the Mrs nagging stops me lol :

 

[oldbloke]

If you used to go out to drink but now drink at home it's possible you're taking in more snackfood than you used to.

 

[WelshPaul]

I have my beer fridge in the living room right next to the sofa and Playstation. Bad idea!!!

 

[cleslie]

Could be seasonal also. If living in UK or Norway (where I am) it's likely you become less active and spend more time indoors during Autumn and winter.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

There is the likelihood you are doing less exercise.

For a start you now no longer walk to the pub and back every day. when at the pub did you stand at the bar or sit in a comfy seat. I bet you don't stand up all night drinking at home.

It is probably more down to a change in lifestyle than the difference in the beer that you are drinking.

 

[Wendy1971]

We were getting the same. We have been dieting just over 9 weeks now and we have both lost well over a stone. My advice is to fat healthy during the week and have no beer at all. Then on a Saturday have a blow out and have beer and a good nosh. We have done that since we started dieting and done really well

 

[markp]

More calories taken in than expended = weight gain.

Eat less or do more

 

[bigred]

most are around 380 or so per pint

20 minutes exercise burns:

ACTIVITY CALORIES
Leisurely walk (2mph) 59
Dancing 105
Cycling (10mph) 140
Running (5mph) 187
Aerobics 140
Weights 140
Cleaning 82
Driving 35
Swimming (leisurely) 140
Tennis 187
Rowing 200
Golf 93
Circuit Training 187
Skipping 100
Gardening 118
Skiing 160

so 40mins running will almost burn off a pint. 6 pints a night needs a 4hr (20 mile) run. Easy isn't it :shock:

Point is, exercise plays a big part in keeping you fit, looking good, healthy etc. but very little towards weight loss.

 

[micmacmoc]

I was having similar weight worries, was up to 13.5 stone from my usual 12.5. So I returned to karate after a 15 year break and did some running, Wii fit and cut out cheese (the hard bit). I'm back to around 12.5 after three months but....a word of caution...I gave myself a hernia warming up at karate...how embarassing. I realise now that I'm 46 not 26 and should take it easy on this old body. Am in for an op next week which rules out karate and brewing. I'm well pissed off and know that the weight will go back on as I sit around bored drinking ale!

Some of the easier bits with weight loss take a bit of getting used to, no sugar in your tea, no fatty crap except maybe once a week as a treat. But no cheese is a sin, I really can't do it!

 

[TheMumbler]

It is years since I did physiology but I thought part of the thing with weight loss and excercise is that increasing your metabolic rate for over 20 mins (roughly speaking) increases your Basal Metabollic Rate (BMR) for a fair period of time afterwards (couple of hours maybe, I forget) afterwards so your calorie usage will be higher than the amount that you need to simply carry out the activity. Figures like the ones you are quoting don't generally take into account the energy costs of increased BMR and repair to the body, building new muscle etc etc.

Of course you are right that it is only part of a fairly complex picture. For example I tend to drink less alcohol when I am exercising regularly, perhaps a psychological factor - I am trying to get fitter and am therefore more motivated to behave. On the other hand I tend to get more hungry and often eat a bit more.

micmacmoc - no cheese? That is rough.

 

[Dave1970]

Cheese is the devil's food :evil: (if you're trying to lose weight)

It's definitely down to lifestyle, and maybe age, I play rugby & lose weight during the season, come the school summer holidays (teacher) I eat & drink more and gain so I'm fat & out of shape for the start of the season...again. If it makes the rest of you feel better about your weight I'm currently about 19.5 stone, was 20 st 4 this time last year though!

Wolverine, no judgement here 'cos I'm more than a bit fond of a pint myself but if that's 6 pints a night every night then that's a hell of a lot of beer in a week...maybe try to introduce 1 or 2 no beer nights a week? During term time I don't drink Monday to Thursday, can't say I like it, but it's necessary

 

[Hawks]

I'd also piled on a few pounds ( well about a stone of them)...

Since started running and also stopped drinking for 3 days, Monday - Wednesday as the weekend starts on Thursday :whistle:

The running has definitely helped me drop some weight and according to my training info, I can burn around 550 calories with a 30 min, 5 k run

I also feel fitter generally which has been a great bonus :thumb:

 

[StrangeBrew]

I'm currently on a diet and lost 3 stone so far ... just had to factor in my drinking calories to the overall plan ...

Ales vary between 160 and about 400 calories a pint for the richest beers

Lagers around 200 calories a pint

The lowest calorie commercial beer is Newcastle Brown Ale at 160 calories a pint.

If your drinking 6 pints of a mid range ale at 300 calories a pint ... that's 1800 calories before you have even eaten anything a day ! Daily total should be no more than 2500 a day for a male and 2000 for a female. You can add 800 more to those allowances if you have a really physical job.

I've been sticking to between 1500 and 2000 a day total (beer and food) in order to lose the amount I have...

 

[Hollow Legs]

I started one of those new Whiskey diets...................done good so far, I lost 3 days last week :lol:

No, to be serious I've started to feel the trousers getting tighter since home brewing and probably consume around the same as you Wolverine, give or take, I used to drink the same but obviously commercial stuff and I think the home brew has more calories per pint, as do you.

I'll see over the next week or two as I've had to buy from the super market as a couple of brews have either taken longer or have been spoiled.

 

[Swazi]

If you are drinking 6 pints a night then weight gain is the least of your worries. Surely you aren't drinking that much. :nono:

 

[bigred]

It is years since I did physiology but I thought part of the thing with weight loss and excercise is that increasing your metabolic rate for over 20 mins (roughly speaking) increases your Basal Metabollic Rate (BMR) for a fair period of time afterwards (couple of hours maybe, I forget) afterwards so your calorie usage will be higher than the amount that you need to simply carry out the activity. Figures like the ones you are quoting don't generally take into account the energy costs of increased BMR and repair to the body, building new muscle etc etc.

from http://www.activelifestyle.info/index.p ... l_the_Burn

Does Exercise Change BMR?
The answer to this question requires looking at two other issues:

Does metabolism stay elevated after a single exercise bout? The good news is that after finishing a hard exercise session, your metabolic rate does remain elevated, even though you’re no longer exercising. The bad news? The increase is short-lived, and usually uses only a few calories. To estimate how long your metabolism is increased, you can monitor how long it takes your heart rate to return to normal after exercise—and the fitter you are, the shorter the time.
Does exercise increase BMR, so that even if you haven’t exercised for a day or two, you’ll still be burning calories at a higher rate than if you were inactive? Numerous studies tried to answer this question. Here’s what their results show:
Aerobic exercise does not increase BMR. However, it does increase your RMR, or your metabolic rate during a period of rest immediately following exercise, but this is short lived. (Aerobic exercise is an excellent way to burn calories and build cardiovascular fitness.)
Although the results are mixed, strength exercise may increase BMR slightly (about 5%), especially if muscle mass increases and fat decreases. The “resting” metabolic rate of muscle is not large, but it is higher than fat.
Strength training may reduce the decrease in BMR that occurs with low-calorie dieting.

The Take Home Message?
The possibility of small, but real, increases in BMR are yet another reason to add strength training to your routine. Don’t expect magic—you won’t get it. But remember that most adults gain weight very slowly throughout life, reflecting small excesses of food intake over energy expenditure. So small increases in BMR just might offset that gradual weight gain.

I can find plenty of other references that basically say the same, so even the most pro exercise sites, when they publish figures basically admit that exercise plays an insignificant part in weight loss unless you are a dedicated ultra endurance type. Of course exercise is good for you, not disputing that, and can help maintain weight, but it is highly overrated as a means of weight loss and can cause hunger and thirst pangs plus the 'reward' trigger which can have the opposite effect. ie. the quick pint after a gym session.

 

[bigred]

I'm not a big fan of the calories in/calories out diet model either as I also used to consume 6 pints daily and stopping drinking for a month made no difference to my weight.

What has worked for me

A low Carb diet does the trick for me, weight just drops off. I guess the best known of these diets are the Atkins or Dukan diets. On reading about them, I found both those had a few quirky points in them. The general Paleo (aka. Caveman) diet makes most sense to me and Primal Blueprint as described at Marks Daily Apple (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/) is well worth reading, along with links from that site to other blogs/forums/websites.

This is more of a blokes site/forum whereas most of the other diet sites seem to be full of PMS afflicted females in need of counselling before dieting.

The basic premise is to avoid sugar and wheat products plus potatoes, followed by all grains. Keeping carb intake at less than 50g per day will result in weight loss, quite rapid if you do several consecutive days.

I lost 45lbs in 15 weeks eating pork scratchings full english breakfast minus the toast, cheese omlettes with 4 eggs, salads consisting of boiled eggs, as much protein as I want (tuna, chicken bacon, ham), onions, tomato, peppers, grated cheese full fat salad dressing and a bottle of wine a day (had to stop the beer :nono: )

I've now stayed at the same weight for 6 months (still fat) because I'm back on the beer and bread, but don't gain anything because I'm still below 100g carbs on average. Blood tests say my cholesterol etc. have all improved.

It is difficult to give up bread and flour, but that's all you need to give up. Eat a Sunday dinner, just have an extra veg and skip the potatoes, have a kebab, throw away the pitta bread.