Although the thought of trying to gain weight makes me more than a little nervous, I can accept that there are lucky ladies out there who naturally resemble sticks.

So I’m going to put aside my jealousy and tell you the secret to packing on the pounds. If you’re looking to lose ten pounds, do the opposite. It’s as simple as that.

Case Study:

One very thin New Yorker (5’8, 105 lbs) was tired of looking like a model and vowed to bulk up. When her buddy told her that he lost 10 pounds after giving up his two-beer-a-day habit, she started drinking two beers a day.

“Unlike Ensure, beer is tolerable to me, has loads of carbs and is low in sugar,” she says. “I’ve been swigging everything from monk-made ales to fruity lambics.” She raves about the quick results. Keep her words in mind you beer pong lovers. If you notice your pants are a little tight, maybe it’s time to cut out the sauce.

According to Sharon Akabas, a nutritionist at Columbia University Medical Center, a consistent daily increase of 300-500 calories should be enough to help someone put on ten pounds in 6 months. With 12 oz of beer ranging from about 110 calories (Bud Light) to 210 calories (Anchor Porter), it’s easy to see why drinking can help you gain weight. If each game of beer pong requires about…let’s say 4 beers. That’s about 440 calories if you’re using Keystone Light. Read More »

Before I ventured out of the filthy frat basement, the sun burning my retinas, my new flats soaked with Keystone light, perhaps the slight taste of boot in my mouth, maybe lacking a little dignity and my memory for the last six hours, I just sort of assumed that Friday night would forever consist of me blacked out with pong paddle in hand. That is, until I found myself in NYC for an internship.

The free booze had dried up, there wasn’t a basement in sight, and everyone looked older than me. After deciding not to be huge sketchfest by breaking into Columbia in search of other Ivy League drinkers, I figured that the closest thing to a frat was a dive bar during happy-hour. That’s when I learned a few things about drinking outside the basement.

1. Perhaps it’s appropriate to be wasted in an actual bar, but beware of the consequences. I had this insight about when I found myself in the coat closet of some random bar with a lawyer named Hugo- oh he was about thirty, sucking on my nipples. Only after I sobered up, did I realize that perhaps I shouldn’t share this story with anyone else. Oops. Read More »