The Liquid Diet
I was walking out of the elevator in my building one recent afternoon when I heard two girls behind me talking about the cake that they’d just swiped from someone’s birthday party in a nearby conference room.
“I can only have a little bit,” one of the girls said to the other. “I need to save all my calories for drinking tonight.” Although not surprised to hear of this diet mechanism being prevalent among young women in New York City, the food lover in me was a little disgusted.
Typically, when a colleague has a birthday in my office, it means one of two things: Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake or Crumbs Cupcakes. As much as I’d like to dive face-first into a chocolate chip cookie cake at just about any given moment on any given day, there are times that I’ll skip it. Whether it’s because I dont’ want to undo the work I did at the gym that morning or I know I’m going out for a large dinner (that may or may not include more than one cocktail) I’ll say no, thank you and I pass the plate on to the next person.
Don’t get me wrong. We all know I’m no saint when it comes to cookies.
Even so, I’ve never considered alcohol as something you could exchange for food - or vice versa. Granted, there were days in college when I knew I’d be consuming extra calories by way of Wednesday night $1 beer specials when I hit the town with friends. On those days, I would eat smaller meals throughout the day, maybe skipping the cheese on my sandwich and opting for a side salad instead of fries, but never have I substituted food for booze.
Not to mention the fact that despite my Irish last name, I’m not built to drink on an empty stomach. If I tried to skip dinner to beat margarita-induced weight gain I’d probably defeat the purpose of my fast by scarfing down half a plate of nachos or something equally delicious-but-not-so-good-for-you after two sips of my second drink.
I understand I’m probably overanalyzing a simple hallway overheard. When you pick up bits and pieces of a conversation, even if you were accidentally eavesdropping, it’s not uncommon to misinterpret the things you hear. As a twenty-five year old female, I have had friends refuse dinner because they didn’t want it to get in the way of their drinking and I’ve seen girls nibble at one mozzarella stick so that they could drink without being too concerned that their dinner would wind up on their hips. Even though eating patterns such as these might be common, I can’t imagine that it’s behavior dietician would endorse.
Have I ever gone to happy hour and skipped dinner? Sure, I’m human. But those nights almost always end in late night grilled cheese - probably not the worst nutritious choice but not the best either.
Despite the obesity epidemic that seems to populate headlines, is our culture so body conscious that we’d trade food and nutrients for empty alcohol calories? I like a margarita or four just as much as the next person but I don’t know that those margaritas alone could sustain me with the nutrients I need to keep my body healthy.
When you drink alcohol socially have you ever been tempted to skip a meal to compensate? Do you feel better or worse the next day? If you choose to drink socially, how do you work the occasional happy hour into an otherwise healthy diet?
May 13th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
That thought has NEVER crossed my mind. In fact, it is kind of mind boggling. I will admit, however, that I have skipped meals so I could get drunk faster (only in college…). On working the occassional happy hour into an otherwise healthy diet? I will meet up with a girlfriend a cook dinner together, then go out for drinks, or have the drinks first then cook dinner together after. Or I order food while I am drinking.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I have never ever thought about substituting booze for a meal. But then again I’m a dude, so I guess that comes with the territory.
May 13th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
There is NO WAY ON GODS GREEN EARTH I would subsidise food for drink - what a load of crap! I know I’m trying to tone up but that doesn’t mean I can stop eating because I love food too much. Besides, if those girls didn’t eat and then drank they would only puke anyway so what’s the point?!
May 13th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Never in a billion years.
But then again, I also don’t drink. So maybe.. just maybe.. that has something to do with it.
But maybe they’re “Skinny Bitches”?
I heard that term bandied about.
May 13th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
No WAY! Skipping food for alcohol, as you said, always leads to more eating at the end of the night. I can’t stay away so why fight it.
May 13th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
“is our culture so body conscious that we’d trade food and nutrients for empty alcohol calories?”
That’s not being body conscious, that’s being an idiot! Trust a fitness freak (who likes his drink too, but not INSTEAD of food)
May 13th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
wow you guys are being really harsh…personally, I don’t think those girls meant not eating the whole day just to drink at night. No matter how weight-conscious someone is, I can’t imagine drinking on an empty stomach and then not eating food afterward…I know I usually lose my resolve if I’ve had one too many and end up eating a slice of pizza (or IHOP or Denny’s) at 2 in the morning.
These girls were referring to a slice of cake! And even then, she said she could still have a little bit. I guess I just don’t see how skipping out on cake turned into skipping an entire meal…
May 13th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I’ve never done that. . .but then again, I’ve never thought about how many calories I consume in a day, much less how many are in my beer. . .
May 13th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Erika - I hear you. But the girls weren’t necessarily the focus of the story. As I said, for all I know, they went home and ate double cheeseburgers. Or maybe thye were kidding - I have no idea and that isn’t the point. We never know what anyone does behind closed doors.
Hearing that comment made me think of the fact that there are people out there who deprive themselves of nutrition so they can have empty calories (like alcoholic beverages) - which as you pointed out is just a bad idea!
May 13th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
I don’t really even think about the calories in drinks. Generally, I don’t count calories, but when I am dieting, I just leave my drinking to one night a week instead of trying to budget it into a normal healthy day.
May 13th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I couldn’t possibly imagine going out for drinks WITHOUT eating…you’d simply get drunk faster. Why not line your stomach with carbs first, so you can drink a bit more?
Then again, I don’t watch what I eat and count calories (beyond common sense along the lines of “okay, already had sweets, no more for the rest of that day”), so this is possibly irrelevant to my lifestyle.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I can’t imagine skipping meals to drink. If I am that worried about the calories or fat count of what I am drinking I just won’t drink. I will admit that I know if I will be eating out and drinking a lot over the weekend I’ll make a point to hit the gym at least one extra time. It usually ends up making me feel better anyways.
Besides, I love food….why would I want to miss out on that?
May 14th, 2009 at 4:51 am
I can’t imagine skipping meals to drink. If I am that worried about the calories or fat count of what I am drinking I just won’t drink. I will admit that I know if I will be eating out and drinking a lot over the weekend I’ll make a point to hit the gym at least one extra time. It usually ends up making me feel better anyways.
Besides, I love food….why would I want to miss out on that?
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
May 15th, 2009 at 7:12 am
You’ve reminded me of something I ‘overheard’ on Facebook: I couldn’t believe my eyes:
http://blueskies2day.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/get-a-grip/
May 15th, 2009 at 9:34 am
You know, I’ve heard people say things like this before but for my friends and I, the opposite was always true. In college, prior to a night out we’d make sure we had something to eat before hand so that we COULD make it a few hours on a few drinks without getting too drunk too early, sick, etc.
May 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I wouldn’t say I do it consciously but fairly often when I’m out drinking I do forget to eat. Sometimes this results in me having something greasy and fried from the chip shop on the way home, but more often than not I’m too drunk, go home and pass out and feel not only hungover but completely weak the next day., As in, I can barely move without getting out of breath and need to lie down to recover after every little thing I do. Not good!
May 19th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Is it wrong that I don’t count booze as calories?!
June 11th, 2009 at 12:52 am
I heart food too much. The problem with this method is that the person is more likely to over-drink and/or black out from a lack of nutrients and the booze.