Even with the most carefully measured nutrition plan, progress can struggle when it comes to not tracking alcohol correctly. Alcohol is separate form protein, carbs, fats (it’s really a 4th macronutrient) and needs to be tracked differently.
So it’s going to require a bit of math since the macros aren’t listed on the nutrition label. Basically, you have two options, you can either take the total calories of your drink and divide by 4 (if tracking as a carb, that’s how I do it) OR take the total calories of your drink and divide by 9 (if tracking as a fat).
To enter in MyFitnessPal, start by “creating a food” in MFP and call it “alcohol” make it 100 calories, and 25g of carbs. Then each time you drink alcohol, you will need to know how many calories you drink(s) contains.
So let’s say you drink 2 beers that are 125 calories. You would log 2.5 servings of alcohol (because 125×2 = 250 and 2.5 servings of 100 = 250). You can see how this might add up quickly and take away from your “macro budget” – possibly leaving you hungry. So as always, alcohol should be consumed moderation, but I don’t see why it’s not OK to have a drink from time to time if that’s yo thing.
Enjoy your week!
Coach Natalie Adair 