The vodka IS low carb. The Doritos are not.

I'm an alcoholic who gave up booze for a while to kick-start Low Carb Induction. I fell off the wagon after a few weeks after a really, really bad day. I binged for a few weeks after that, pretty much maintaining my weight but NEVER cheated on ANY other part of the diet...not one bit, although I am in phase 2 so I'm allowing some more carbs, but never in the form of chips or crackers.

I realized I had stopped losing weight as a result..."The Stall", and in fact gained a few pounds. A body can fluctuate 4 pounds for no apparent reason but I knew my reason, I drink heavily, I dont play around. I see absolutely no purpose for one drink. Sure I can have one or two at a restaurant at lunch and stop, but now the ONLY low carb cocktail on most bar menus is fortunately my favorite; the wonderful "Dirty Vodka Martini".

I had a great exorcise in low carb eating out recently. My server helped me a lot, she knew exactly what I could have and even went to the kitchen and made sure the salad dressing and the sauce for the bun-less burger I ordered contained no sugar. I made it a 2 martini lunch! I ate low carb, drank low carb, got my belly full and a buzz at the same time! All was great.

That was at the end of my latest binge, my weight had stalled, and I'm sure it was the booze. Not because of carbs or anything, its because of what JEY100 wrote. Every 1.5oz of alcohol is approximately 100 calories. That's pure distilled spirits, not the sweet stuff like "liqueurs" (think goldschlager or ouzo, then stop, and never drink that stuff!...if you want to lose weight).

So, in my case, I can easily drink way over 12oz of booze a night. On a 2,000 calorie average diet, that leaves me only 800 calories to eat before my body wont be burning any more each day. Like JEY100 wrote, your body see's alcohol as a poison and immediately switches to burning those calories as its first priority. So, the bottom line is, yes, alcohol makes you fat when consumed in excess. It also seems to make me retain fluid and makes my belly bloat. That seems to be where most of my weight gain is when I drink, because when I stop drinking, within a couple of days I drop a few pounds.

So I have found a not so happy medium. I say not so happy because given my druthers, I would drink every night, but at my age, my body is telling me I cant do that anymore, plus its interfering with my weight loss. so I now abstain for 4 days of the week and do my drinking only on the weekends. I'll gain a couple pounds of fluid weight, then literally by Tuesday its gone and my keto weight loss kicks back in and I drop a few more. So now I have found a balance that allows me to do the drinking I love, and continue to lose weight, albeit I'm sacrificing the speed in which I lose weight for the joy I get from drinking...and I love drinking...like a best friend.

I NEVER drink beer, at least until I reach my goal, then I'll splurge here and there. Beer is just too much carb damage for the buzz it gives. I drink only the rare glass of wine. I stick to vodka, bourbon and some tequila for the really big smile. The only thing that gets mixed with them is ice and maybe a little fresh squeeze of lemon or lime, and I have a Soda Stream thing so I make my own sparkling water and drink that with vodka and a little fresh lime squeeze on ice.

You CAN NEVER eat Doritos (I love them but they are like Crack or heroin, they will suck you in and hold you) if you want to low-carb diet...and lose weight. Just dont ever do it. That's my opinion.

Alcohol is the ONLY splurge I give myself because its so important to me. But I do know I cant drink it every day and lose weight. My focus on weight loss is actually helping me reduce my drinking, which is a good thing overall. I love drinking, but it does NOT love your body unless you are one of those people who can drink one or two and stop and except for lunch at a restaurant...thats not me. I'm either on or off with the booze. I cannot count on myself to "moderate" daily drinking, I just wont do it. So I have to abstain for days to give my body the break it needs.

Folks like JEY100 are absolutely correct when they say the best thing is to not drink at all. Most of those folks do not understand the alcoholic mind. Only about 5% of people drink more than about 7 alcoholic beverage a week. Most people dont drink at all and will never understand the heavy drinker. I have accepted my fate...I'm not only an alcoholic, I'm an alcoholic who never wants to completely stop drinking. I dont have social problems and have never been arrested or gotten a DUI and dont do crazy stuff when I drink and I dont drink heavily in public, only at home.

So, while others will helpfully and correctly say, "put the bottle down". I say, "Cheers!", and then put the bottle down for a pacing and moderation period...but never...EVER pick that bag of Doritos up again. Never buy them and NEVER have anything like that in the house if you can avoid it. I may have strength to not eat the crackers and other carbs my wife wife allows herself, but not everyone has that strength, plus she's on the zero-sugar diet and is losing weight WITH the carbs! Aaarrrg!

Go ahead and tip it up, liquor only. Then stop for a while and never cheat on any useless carbs like chips. That's whats working for me right now.

Here's a good page on keto drinking, but dont believe him on the liquor. There is more than 64 calories per 1.5oz of most, its more like 100:

http://nobunplease.com/alcohol-on-a-low-carb-keto-diet/