Alcohol and weight gain
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tincanonastring wrote: »
Anyway, I asked about the logging because that's the first thing I would consider if someone says they hit a wall. Inaccurate logging used to cause me so much strife.
A wise presumption and yes, it's true, if you expend more than you put in, then the laws of cause and effect will kick in but I can assure you, it slowed things down significantly and was really unpleasant. The body doesn't recognise alcohol as a nutrient and so it gives priority to getting rid of it. Blood sugar goes all over the place and if you are in calorie deficit, I think the body experiences alcohol as a kind of crisis. Well, I can only tell you what happened, I'm not an expert and thanks for the explanation of the acronym, you splendid bearded person.
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tincanonastring wrote: »Leslierussell4134 wrote: »macgurlnet wrote: »
The article I posted, with references at the bottom touchscreen on this as well. States that while drinking our body wants to use the alcohol for energy, to expend it quickly, and everything else we are eating therefore has a better chance of being stored as fat.
Which sucks :-(
Your body won't store energy as fat if you're in a calorie deficit.
I don't know how many times I read about how eating a certain way, or certain foods, or at a certain time makes your body store energy as fat. What so many people fail to realize is this is ONLY if you have extra calories to store. If you are eating at a deficit there is no energy to store as fat.
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heychelsea88 wrote: »I am so so glad someone brought this topic up. I love my wine and feel like being 26, wine and craft beer is so much a part of socializing. Sometimes I love my wine too much though and am working on learning moderation. I did read yesterday that half a bottle of red can help with weight loss, lol. Not sure about that though
I know how you feel Chelsea, and you don't have to give up wine, just include it in your daily calories. You might need to cut back a bit in order to save calorie space for actual nutritious foods - I dropped from 550ml to 330ml of beer - but I got used to it, and now I don't feel like I'm on a diet at all.
As to the 'alcohol does this or that to your metabolism' argument, I don't think it matters that much in a calorie deficit. There are loads of arguments about carbs, fat, and fibre and how to 'optimize' your metabolism to favor burning fat, but in the end even if there is truth in any of the hypothesis, I think they'd only allow you to consume maybe 100 more calories a day? big deal - hardly worth the hassle. Just get on a 15-20% deficit and stick with it :-)0 -
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I my experience I can drink as long as it's within my calorie goal and as long as don't chow down on junk once I am tipsy. I am also less likely to work out the next day if I am hungover and more likely to have the "I don't cares". Which is why I have learned to keep the drinks to ONE day a week. (I do love my beers in the afternoon
) And yes, the day after I drink I can be up to 3lbs heavier, but it's nothing plenty of water and low sodium doesn't fix for the following day. The important thing is to remain at a deficit. 0 -
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Alcohol calories burn first so if your not logging alcohol that 600 calorie jog you took to burn that 600 calorie cheat meal really just burn't the 600 calories of liquor you drank the night before. In a deficit it really doesn't matter for weight loss but for muscle gain the alcohol is limiting the livers ability to use protein which supports muscle. Alcohol should dehydrate everyone my guess is all the stuff people drink with it OJ, water etc-is why there is a difference in peoples weight afterward or the 24 wings you ate but can't even remember ordering..lol..
Good news the alcohol calories are just the alcohol so a shot of Vodka is 65 alcohol calories not the 250 calories that it was mixed with to make your drink. Your liver can process about 1 shot an hour so If you drink 8 shots figure your liver can't process protein for a third of your day but your passed out so who cares dude... .. Cheers0 -
saladcrunchy wrote: »
The article repeatedly emphasizes moderation, and claims no problems with drinking 1-2 drink a couple times a week.
When the article says "Because your body sees these by-products as dangerous, it wants to use them as fuel. This means your body will significantly blunt fat-burning close to 75% after just one and a half drinks. And it will stop using carbs for energy. Therefore, although very little alcohol will be stored as fat (less than 5%), the fat and carbs you are eating have an increased risk of being stored as fat." it means the excess carbs and fats.
Then the article says "Finally, with heavy drinking, the breakdown of alcohol can occur for up to 48 hours after your last drink. This means less glucose is reaching your brain and working muscles, making you both more tired and quicker to fatigue if you do exercise. " I bolded for emphasis. The biggest problem is fatigue, not fat.
I see no proof anywhere in this article that having a few beers makes you store that day's food as fat.
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I see no proof anywhere in this article that having a few beers makes you store that day's food as fat.
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I think you are probably right but it does slow down weight loss for some folk; it definitely did for me; the reason may vary but it seems to mess with blood sugar. Perhaps it depends on who. All bodies are different and age changes how you process things.
I literally had to cut back bit by bit until the weight started to shift again. I don't fully understand why (in a physiological sense) it was just a fact that even though I was still on target with CICO and exercise, the weight loss stopped until I cut right back on alcohol. maybe there is a biologist that can explain it and I'm not the only one to experience this.
Thankfully, the weight started shifting again before I had to cut it out all together and I can drink two bottles of wine at the weekend and keep losing weight, more than that and it just won't budge unless I drop my cals to a point were the whole diet is so unpleasant that it is in danger of derailing. odd but true.
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I am a pretty firm believer in each person needs to figure out what works well for them. For some people, they can fit alcohol into their diet, others can't as well. But 2 bottles of wine could have anywhere from 1000-3000 calories. I could easily see how that would be difficult to fit into your calorie allotment and still have a deficit.0
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[quote="MissJay75;34241482 I could easily see how that would be difficult to fit into your calorie allotment and still have a deficit. [/quote]
It's not that hard if you really want to keep drinking.
Wine at 12% vol
1 bottle = 750mls = Units: 9.8 - kcals: 564 - Carbs: 6
1/2 bottle 375mls = Units: 4.9 - kcals: 282 - Carbs: 3
1/3 bottle 250mls = Units: 3.3 - kcals: 188 - Carbs: 2 (Large glass)
1/4 bottle 187mls = Units: 2.45-kcals: 141 - Carbs: 1.5
Small glass 175mls = Units: 2.0 - kcals: 132 - Carbs: 1.25
1/6 bottle 125mls = Units: 1.6 - kcals: 94 - Carbs: 1
https://drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-facts/what-is-alcohol/what-is-an-alcohol-unit
And so you see, it was an inexplicable surprise, that having allowed for the kcals, I hit a wall and after losing about 2 stone, the weight suddenly stopped shifting. There wasn't anything I could comfortably cut back on and I experimented quite a bit.
I tried spreading the wine out across the week but that didn't help and after reading about how alcohol is processed, I began to restrict it to the week end (also encouraged by the awareness that it is good to give the liver a rest and repair break). Once I did that, the weight started to shift again. And so I had to conclude that the body (my body at least) needed a clear run of alcohol free days in a row in order to keep losing weight steadily and without being overburdened.
Of course you are right, others can process it more easily and as a younger person, that may have been true for me too; perhaps it depends upon overall health and liver function. Whatever, I suspect that for those of us who find that wine interferes with weight loss, is to do with the fact that the body gives priority to getting rid of alcohol before it will process anything else also what it does to blood sugar and water retention in some people. I noticed that it began to show a bit around my ankles whilst on a diet and in a way that had never happened before.I am a pretty firm believer in each person needs to figure out what works well for them.
This is so true. And you are quite right that even though the CICO principle is a universal fact, there are other factors to consider such as age, liver function, general fitness etc. therefore how each person achieves weight loss cannot but depend upon so many variables and it has to be up to each, to figure it what is sustainable for them.
hope this helps0 -
I'm sure the calories you gave are accurate for what you were drinking, but for others reading, there is quite a range depending on what you are drinking. If you have a sweeter wine or one with a higher alcohol %, the calories will increase. A quick search yielded this:
Wine Calories From Least to Most (6 oz pours)
German Spatlese Riesling (Dr. Hermann “H” 2009): 110 calories, bottle 495 calories
Slightly Sweet Lambrusco (Lini 910) 140 calories, bottle 630 calories
Cabernet Sauvignon from France: 160 calories, bottle 720 calories
German Auclese Riesling: 160 calories, bottle 720 calories
Cabernet Sauvignon from California: 175 calories, bottle 788 calories
California 16% Zinfandel (Bob Biale): 190 calories, bottle 855 calories
Australian Shiraz (Mollydooker The Boxer): 190 calories, bottle 855 calories
Chateau Y’quem: 270 calories, bottle 1215 calories (note: standard serving size is only 2oz which is 90 calories)
Ruby Port: 310 calories, bottle 1395 calories (note: standard serving size is only 2oz which is 103 calories)
Tawny Port: 320 calories, bottle 1440 calories (note: standard serving size is only 2oz which is 106 calories)0 -
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Do you fit your alcohol into your calories for the day? I fit it in and I lose weight just fine.0
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OP explained pretty clearly that they do keep within their calories for the day when drinking alcohol. Many of us alcohol doesn't affect CI/CO but there are plenty of people here on MFP who it seems to affect poorly.0
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