donoman

I have colleagues and we have beer about once a week. I am not willing to give up this comraderie in the name of health and fitness so I am posing this question: how can I make my body process that beer in the most efficient manner possible? Ride before, after, the next day... ride hard, ride long, do intervals etc. Should I skip dinner after boozing (many times I don't feel hungry but eat anyway so I won't starve later)...

Beer is an important part of our lives (we are physicists) but I fear that it will hold back my performance because I drink about 1 pitcher a week... Then again, before I sold my cars and started commuting on bicycle, I got pretty much NO exercise everyday.

Thanks & Cheers

tlc

I really don't think a few beers once a week is going to do you any harm. Don't skip dinner, drink plenty of water afterwards/the next day. I'm partial to a bottle of wine now and again and don't really notice any difference the morning after. Must be my industrial-grade Irish liver...

cyclezealot

have your brew after a ride. You deserve it. Just realize a whole pitcher might interfere with tomorrow's ride. Maybe have your beer the day before your rest day. Our club. We have almost one bottle after every ride. One bottle can't hurt. But, then our goal is not racing.

Valpo Hawkeye

Seperate each beer with a glass of water or juice.

Jarery

Drink Guinness

Enthalpic

A little beer is good for you.

donoman

wow guys, i'm surprised by these responses! I literally (myself) drink the entire pitcher... I thought this might be excessive. Thanks for the advice, more advice appreciated!

vtjim

Yeah... Good beer is good for you. Guinness especially. Just don't drink, y'know, 20 at once. I don't need the competition.

Enthalpic

Well that is a little excessive but it’s unlikely to hurt you if you only do it once per week.

Rule of thumb: No more than 15 drinks per week and with no more than 8 in a single session. Plus you can’t fail the CAGE questionnaire on top of that.

Are you Concerned about how much you drink?

Have you ever been Annoyed by others commenting about how much you drink? (Some use Avoided social situations in order to drink).

Have you ever felt Guilty about how much you drink.

Have you ever had an Eye-opener drink in the morning?

dmotoguy

I drink a beer after many a ride.. its just more enjoyable than other recovery drinks.

Redrom

Eat a giant salad before boozing, drink water before during and after, & eat a nice piece of fruit before bed if still hungry.

Chiro69

Have one for me enjoy!!

hotwheels

Drink up. America needs its physicist' to be happy.

manual_overide

if i had to drink beer one day a week my weeks would be VERY short!

ericgu

Well, it's excessive to me, but I don't have more than a couple of drinks per month. Mostly that's because my system doesn't tolerate it very well.

A pitcher is pretty close to a 6-pack, and that's quite a bit. Even if you drink water, you will definitely be fairly dehydrated in the morning, and it will probably affect your performance for at least a day.

Eatadonut

It depends highly upon your body (size, type, etc), how you prepare and repair (pre and rehydration), and how much you drink on a regular basis/how well your body handles it.

Used to be a time I could down a 6-pack, get a mild buzz, wake up in the morning, have a glass of water, and not notice my night's antics at all that day. I also drink upwards of 150oz of water daily.

These days, it's just the same, except instead of a 6-pack it's one beer happily, not the party boy I was 2 years ago.

I find that if you regularly drink enough water to have to pee every 45 minutes, getting beer bladder doesn't really cause your system trouble, as long as you're still replacing fluids.

heresy

Here is a re-cap of this weekend.

Friday evening: 22 oz. bottle of Stone Double Bastard Ale and plenty of water
Saturday morning: 55 mi. ride
Saturday evening: 22 oz. bottle of Moylan's IPA and plenty of water
Sunday morning: 50 mi. ride
Sunday evening: 22 oz. bottle of Pizza Port Wipeout IPA and plenty of water

This is a typical weekend for me. For what it is worth, I am 5'8" and 150 lbs. The point being, a few beers probably won't hurt your riding.

mwrobe1

If I had to...



Fat Tire Ale of course!

I absolutely love the stuff...when I have to travel on business I LOVE going to a Southwest location...warm weather and Fat Tire beer!

Actually...a steak and a Fat Tire would taste really good right now.

DScott

Yay, Beer! Not just for breakfast anymore!

PatD

Eat a lot before drinking if possible. Drink high quality beer of course. Sweat is the body's most efficient way to detox. So...next morning, take a ride or a run and sweat it out!

CyLowe97

mw, go to a local Jewel. 22 oz Fat Tire bottles have been available in the Chicago area for a year now and I'm seeing it on tap in quite a few bars.

6-packs, not yet for some strange reason or another. Weird.

NickDavid

un-tuck your sack... it's just a beer.

drink easy, eat light and you won't "need" to work the beer off... as long as you're not slammin down a case, don't worry about it.

mwrobe1

I got 2 kids in diapers...so my days in a bar are long since passed.

Next time I peruse da Jewelz...I'll have to give the liquor aisle a long hard gander.

PatD

He says he drinks a pitcher by himself. That's a lotta beer, esp. if its the good stuff. You don't HAVE to work it off, but why wouldn't you?

asuperstar103

Just make sure you eat. Men have a 50% chance, women 35% chance of damaging their liver by drinking and not eating. Drinking makes you lose your apetite, but eat anyway. Try eating before you start drinking if this makes you lose your apetite. It's very impt. to not make a habit out of drinking and not eating. If you eat this food then will suck up a lot of the alcohol you consume making it less likely to damage your liver in the long run. I was just listening to talk radio this morning and heard the %s I just stated. Now I like to drink on Sat. a little bit while working around my house, but not too much because I like to get up on Sundays early and ride 30 miles first thing in the morning while still cool out, and this is not fun if hung over!! I know from experience, so eating also helps you to feel better the next day because it helps to soak up the alcohol while your sleeping.