Life Lessons – The Beer Diet

Notions of a Beer Diet

So after meeting my friend Evo Terra told me all about how he loses 20 pounds every October consuming nothing but beer and sausage, I knew I had to try it for myself. Evo, the inventor of the beer diet, even has written a book about the diet, called The Beer Diet A Brew Story.  On a flight home from Miami I finished the hilarious book and decided I had to at least try it.  That next week, Evo and I met for beers and I told him I was going to do it for a week. Evo kind of scoffed at only doing 7 days and convinced me to do at least 10. After all, he does the full month of 31 days! I relented and the next day being October 1st I was on my way. I found it both very challenging and very rewarding.  I was amazed how I could feel full off of so little food if that was my only option. The hardest part was not snacking, and my trip to Costco one day and saying no to all the free samples was the purest of horrors I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy. 

beer diet

Beer Diet Results

Overall I did the beer and sausage diet for 10 days and lost 8 pounds. I’m pretty proud of that as all I ate was fat filled processed sausage and empty-calorific beer. To be fair I did allow myself a cup of coffee each day and one other exception was if the sausage was served in its natural environment of a bun with peppers that was OK too. These were exceptions I learned from the book (my bible for 10 days) so I felt OK about it as I knew that at least 95% of my calories were coming from beer and sausage. People often ask me how this diet could possibly work.  I tell them the reason the diet works is simple mathematics as you see in my food consumption data below . Everyday I ate between 1700 and 2000 calories. My body is used to eating 2500 calories minimum. Additionally, I did my regular workouts at the gym along with a mix of dodgeball, biking, and running. Basically, I was short roughly 800 calories per day and over 10 days this made a significant change on my body.
Now a few lessons.

Lesson 1 – Snacks Count!

The biggest thing I learned is that every calorie counts. Whereas before whenever I would pass through my kitchen I would grab a pretzel and maybe even slather peanut butter on it not thinking that there was any type of calories addition by that activity. Now I knew I was wrong in not thinking those calories added up. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing with eating snacks, its just that I now know to remember that these calories do indeed count.

Lesson 2 – Portion Control!

The other big thing I realized was portion control. During the 10 day diet I ate such small meals (sausages) and enjoyed them thoroughly! I remember cutting up a slice of sausage and eating it small bite by small bite for over an hour. These were some of the most delicious and thought out meals I’ve had in a long time and it was just because I took the time to enjoy every small bite. It really made me realize that I don’t need to eat everything in my plate especially when considering the size of dinners they serve at restaurants these days.
Now the question is, will I keep it off! Well I’ll tell you that I have not slowed down on drinking beer and I am still enjoying amazing bratwurst (it is October afterall).  I have returned to light snacking so we’ll just have to see. Either way it was a fun diet and I’m glad to have tried something challenging for the experience.

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The Data

Note that all beers have been estimated at 200 calories.

Weight 10/1/2014 at 630am. 194 lbs. 

Day 1

– cheddarworst at noon (200 cal). 6pm cheddarworst 2 (200 cal). Dinner sausage pepper medley. (400 cal)
1. Banana Bread Wells
2. SN Oktoberfest
3. SN Pale Ale
4. Bud Light
5. SA – Summer Ale
800+1000= 1,800 calories
Day  2
– sausage pepper medley at noon and at 3:30pm (600 cal total). Portillos hot dog at 5pm (400 cal). Half sausage at 9pm. (125 cal).
1. Big Blue Van
2. Fresh Squeezed IPA Deschutes.
3. Vanilla porter
4. Grand canyon black ipa.
1125+800= 1,925 calories
Day 3
– Half sausage before gym (125). Cheddarworst at lunch (200 cal). Half pork sausage before event at 5. (125). Brat from Sunup (650).
– 1. SA Oktoberfest
– 2. Orange tangerine wheat
– 3. SA Pale
– 4. Crispin Apple
– 5. Dia de los muertos (Tecate) – blonde
– 6. Ddlm – hefe
– 7. Hefe – unknown (Eric left card at bar)
– 8. Light rail cream ale – sunup
1100+1600= 2,700 calories
Day 4
– 1/2 brat at 1pm from Chicago Burger. Second half at 6pm. Chorizo bowl at 11pm. 600+250=850.
– 1. Shiner Bock
– 2. Sam Adams Noble Pils
– 3. Heineken
– 4. Heineken
– 5. Sierra Nevada
– 6. Strong IPA (Unidentifed)
850+1200= 2,050

Day 5
– Turkey sausage (ate all day, about 70%) 450 calories plus 200 calories of peppers and pickles. Roughly 650 calories.
-1. Anchor California lager
– 2. SN Flipside IPA
– 3. Tragos Frescos – mandarin and tamarindo.
– 4. Sam Smith’s strawberry ale.
– 5. Marble brewery IPA

650+1000=1,650

Day 6
– 1 cheddarworst at noon (200). 1 cheddarworst  at 4pm. 2 sausages at Haus Murphy’s, 300 each. 1100 total with vegetables.
1 – October fest beer at Haus
2 – Hefe at Haus
3 – Redds strawberry ale.

1100+600=1,700

Day 7
– Costco polish sausage with kraut (600) bacon wrapped dog with beans and peppers (400)
– 1. SA Oktoberfest
– 2. SN Vienna
– 3. SN Pale Ale
– 4. SN Tumblr
– 5. shocktop vanilla porter
– 6. SN Pale Ale

1000+1200= 2,200

Day 8
– rest of Turkey sausage and peppers at 130pm (250 cal.). Half sausage at 4pm (100 cal.). Full brat at 6:30pm (600 cal.).
– 1. Sierra Nevada Vienna
– 2. Sam Adams Boston Lager
– 3. Tamarind Beer

950+600= 1,550
Day 9
–  1 sausage with peppers at 1pm (250 calories). Sausage platter from Angels Trumpet at 7pm (800 calories).
– 1. Sam Adams Boston lager
– 2. Sierra Nevada Torpedo
– 3. Strong IPA (Unidentified)
– 4. Pear Cider (Unidentified)
– 5. Modelo
– 6. Tecate
– 7. Pacifico
1050+1400= 2,450
Day 10
– 1 sausage with peppers at 1pm (250 calories). Half sausage at 4pm (100 calories).  1 full foot long sausage in a bun with peppers at 7pm (700 calories).
– 1. Angry Orchard
– 2. Angry Orchard
– 3. Breckenridge Vanilla Porter
– 4. Stone IPA
– 5. Dales Pale Ale
– 6. Sierra Nevada
– 7. Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin
– 8. Sierra Nevada
1050+1600= 2,650

Weight 10/11/2014 at 8am: 186 pounds. 

The final results were I lost 8 pounds in 10 days. Most people I tell are pretty impressed (and a little mad, lol).