Beer
Im not a big drinker, buy I definitely enjoy a cold microbrew now and again. How big of an impact on day to day training is the occasional beverage? Measurable? Im probably gonna have them anyway, but a training partner once indicated alcohol somehow impact glucoses metabolism and therefore reduces one's exercise potential. Of course she was die hard, and I am generally not, but curious.
DS
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Knocking back a few every night would be an issue.
If you are trying to drop weight, that beer does have carbs and are empty calories.
Alcohol is definitely not good for you in quantity and the impacts last far longer than it takes to where off. A beer or two on a day is not going to have a real measurable effect. The positives are its Taste, it is Cold and a Carbonated beverage that cuts through the exercise funk. Also, it is definitely not strawberry mango frosting!
I'm a big fan of it, in just about every form or flavor (except the Big Three and their watered-down junk). I tell people I train so I can drink what I want (not true, but it satisfies most people's curiosity).
See my profile pic? That's me at the finish line of IMCDA 2008 with a Guinness in my hand - that's my tradition!
But, unfortunately, as Jonathan said above, it's pretty empty calories - and some beers have a LOT of calories!
When I'm trying to drop weight, pre-"A"-race, I stop drinking all alcohol for a month. For short races, like the sprint I had last weekend, I'll have a big beer the night before for stress relief (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).
Remember, if you enjoy a beer, then have a beer. It's better than binge eating on brownies. We are here to have fun and enjoy what we are doing. Plus it's a great time to tell fish stories.
No. Soda is poison. Stop drinking it. Diet or regular... (unless you're in the 2nd half of an IM marathon, then it's okay...)
Coffee, yes. Soda, never. I didn't grow up with it, so to speak, so I pretty much never think to have one.
That said, few things taste better than an ice cold Coke mid-way through a day of climbing. Free the bottle and carry it in your jersey.
As for beer, when I'm on my game I see it largely as empty calories. Nothing harmful, per se, but the calories are counter to what I'm trying to achieve with body composition.
That said...ice cold Blue Moon in a frozen glass with a hefty orange wedge is an excellent post ride treat
. At the end of pretty much every ride I do on the weekends we roll by a pub with 70+ beers on tap. For a while we had a pretty regular routine where we'd climb for 4hrs, drop in at 11:30, have lunch + a beer(s), and then I could coast about 1mi home, all downhill 