Alcohol...

evalenap

I cut out alcohol completely 2 days ago. I'm wondering have any of you seen a significant weight loss from cutting out alcohol completely?

Kimberly_Harper

In that it significantly reduced the amount of calories I was consuming - yes. But now if I have eaten right during the day I can afford a glass or two of wine or a cocktail or something.

chandanista

No; I've drank twice in the last year+, I used to have 2-3 every weekend. I also have teetotaling relatives who have never consumed alcohol and carry extra pounds. They got their calories somewhere else.

75poundgoal

I tend to see a greater weight loss when cutting out alcohol partly because of the calories in the drinks but also because I tend to want to eat more after a few drinks. I still enjoy a cocktail now and then but if I want to lose weight I have to avoid it.

imjustme84

Whenever I drink 2-3 glasses of wine or alcohol my body holds on to excess weight even if I don't go over my calories during the day before the drink. It always makes me bloated so I just stay away from it now.

quiksylver296

I haven't had any alcohol since Thanksgiving. I deliberately cut it out to assist in my weight loss. With the calories of the alcohol itself, and the mindless munchies I get after drinking, it cut significantly into my calorie deficits.

I plan on drinking alcohol again in the future, but not nearly as often as I used to.

Morglez

I have been much more successful without drinking alcohol. There are a couple reasons for that. A... I usually drink super sweet drinks that tend to pack a HUGE amount of calories per drink. B... When I get tipsy or drunk my will power bottoms out and I eat ALL the things, lol. Not too mention that I am overall feeling a ton better while not drinking. Tons more energy, my moods are SO much better and no more brain fog. I would consider myself a pretty heavy drinker when I was drinking though, so in my case, cutting out alcohol is a pretty big factor. This might not be the case for others.

Ruatine

evalenap wrote: »

I cut out alcohol completely 2 days ago. I'm wondering have any of you seen a significant weight loss from cutting out alcohol completely?

It entirely depends on how much you drink. If you drink often, choosing to eliminate the calories from those drinks (and not replace them with something else) will definitely help your calorie deficit for losing weight. For someone like me who has 1-2 glasses of wine once every three months, it really doesn't make a difference.

evalenap

I'd love to hear how many pounds were lost. I've worked out hard and counted calories in the past and the most I've lost was 10 lbs which I've nearly gained back. I'm hoping that by cutting our alcohol I can l lose a total of 20.

dottiestlottiest2015

I've cut it out and I've seen greater weight loss but I think that's to do with the lack of drunk munchies than the wine calories!

SisterSueGetsFit

I cut out all alcohol at the beginning of the year and have lost 16 pounds by calorie counting and walking 3 days a week. I was a fairly heavy drinker though, so for me it has made a big difference. Everybody is different. Try going 30 days and see if it makes a significant difference for you.

joeross155

Yes , I've cut out beer every day and I can tell a difference. I still drink a few on weekends

callsitlikeiseeit

ive lost 80 and drink like a sailor

however, i dont do the high calorie mixed drinks. i do shots with zero cal soda (coke zero or sprite zero) or light beer.

i also dont associate drinking with food, like a lot of people seem to do. ill eat before i drink, but just my normal dinner.

everyone is different...

SingingSingleTracker

evalenap wrote: »

I cut out alcohol completely 2 days ago. I'm wondering have any of you seen a significant weight loss from cutting out alcohol completely?

As long as one includes it in their calorie count and gets the CICO equation right (deficit) for losing, it doesn't matter. I've been dropping weight since Thanksgiving with a glass or two every night.

Mystical64

alcohol does slow down your metabolism.

FiNnY22

I haven't drunk since New Years Eve and I'm down 20 pounds. Alcohol is calories but as people have said here everybody is different. I will drink again soon as i find life too boring without the odd drink, ill just drink in moderation and be aware of the calories.

SingingSingleTracker

Mystical64 wrote: »

alcohol does slow down your metabolism.

http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20670897,00.html

binabodu

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

ive lost 80 and drink like a sailor

however, i dont do the high calorie mixed drinks. i do shots with zero cal soda (coke zero or sprite zero) or light beer.

i also dont associate drinking with food, like a lot of people seem to do. ill eat before i drink, but just my normal dinner.

everyone is different...

I'm so happy to read this. I really don't want to quit drinking. I only drink on the weekends and have switched to red wine or vodka water. I run a calorie deficit all week to fit it in.

Jessika29669

I still drink and have been losing consistently. I only drink liquor like vodka or tequila, about 3 to 6 oz dependent on how many calories I have left for the day on Fri, Sat, or Sunday-- and it just varies on how many calories I have left on how many oz. I drink. I am a big margarita fan so I will take fresh lime juice & zest and stevia and mix with the tequila, sometimes with a little sprite zero but usually just water. And same for vodka, just with lemon to make better alternatives to the sweet stuff I used to drink. Still tastes great! I'm pretty sure I will slow down/abstain one day as my fitness levels get higher and my weight gets lower to see how my body may change, but today is not that day

Sweet_Heresy

6 months sober (recovering alcoholic), and lost 26 pounds...but I think it's more correlation than causation.

snowflake930

You lose weight by cutting calories and eating/drinking less calories than you burn. Your choice on how you want to spend those calories.
I was never a big drinker, and could probably count on one hand the number of glasses of wine or Bailey's I have had in the past 4 years.

deluxmary2000

dottiestlottiest2015 wrote: »

I've cut it out and I've seen greater weight loss but I think that's to do with the lack of drunk munchies than the wine calories!

This is the biggest issue for me. I haven't given up drinking - I fit it in when possible. But it is SO HARD not to eat an entire bag of chips once I have a few drinks in me

dottiestlottiest2015

deluxmary2000 wrote: »

dottiestlottiest2015 wrote: »

I've cut it out and I've seen greater weight loss but I think that's to do with the lack of drunk munchies than the wine calories!

This is the biggest issue for me. I haven't given up drinking - I fit it in when possible. But it is SO HARD not to eat an entire bag of chips once I have a few drinks in me

Or the pizza!

2fastasleep

binabodu wrote: »

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

ive lost 80 and drink like a sailor

however, i dont do the high calorie mixed drinks. i do shots with zero cal soda (coke zero or sprite zero) or light beer.

i also dont associate drinking with food, like a lot of people seem to do. ill eat before i drink, but just my normal dinner.

everyone is different...

I'm so happy to read this. I really don't want to quit drinking. I only drink on the weekends and have switched to red wine or vodka water. I run a calorie deficit all week to fit it in.

Sigh , That's 100 cal per day (or 2) leaving only 1100 (or less) for food. That's hard. But so is giving up the firewater which is so nice to drink

callsitlikeiseeit

binabodu wrote: »

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

ive lost 80 and drink like a sailor

however, i dont do the high calorie mixed drinks. i do shots with zero cal soda (coke zero or sprite zero) or light beer.

i also dont associate drinking with food, like a lot of people seem to do. ill eat before i drink, but just my normal dinner.

everyone is different...

I'm so happy to read this. I really don't want to quit drinking. I only drink on the weekends and have switched to red wine or vodka water. I run a calorie deficit all week to fit it in.

my current infatuation is firefly and sprite zero.

but jack and coke (zero) will always be my first love lol

Savanna2015mfp

Always eat less without alcohol because I like food along with beer or wine..

shrcpr

Well I gained all my extra weight from alcohol so cutting it mostly out has been a critical part of my weight loss so far. 18 pounds down. It's taken me a while, though. If I could manage to cut it out completely I'm sure it would go faster.

Somebody_Loved

I did Dry January and lost 7.6 pounds (although, I attribute a lot of that to water weight from the holidays).

I've lost 2.5 more in February since adding it back. It's all about CICO... it's easier for me to maintain a deficit when I'm not drinking, but I love my wine so I find a way to fit it in. I will say, going dry for a month really helped me learn to moderate when adding it back.

chriskangell

I've lost 50+ pounds, and it was made possible by not drinking alcohol.

MrsLMKing

Over the past 6 years, I have gained 50 pounds. I know that it was from a) drinking too much alcohol and b) not being as active as I was before. (I changed from living in the city (where I walked everywhere) and working as a waitress 12 hours a day/6 days a week to working from home on the computer and living in the country, where I drive everywhere).

I'm pretty sure it has very little to do with what I eat because for the past five days, I've avoided alcohol but have tracked every bite of food here on MFP. I've hit right around my calorie goal for 2lbs/wk weight loss while eating the same foods that I always eat. I have added a daily walking workout for the past few days, which has taken me under my calorie goal.

Unfortunately, I have been a very heavy drinker for quite a while, and I've drank things that were LOADED with calories. For example, I didn't realize that the lemonade-flavored Four Lokos that I love so much had 660 calories a piece. I was drinking 2-4 of those a night, 3-4 nights a week. On the nights that I didn't drink those, I was drinking sweet drinks like Tequila Sunrise or was drinking sweet wine by the bottle.

Before, I was drinking just as much, but I was active all day long, so I think it helped keep the weight off. I was slightly overweight but was in good shape and was nowhere near as overweight (actually, obese...I have to get used to admitting that!) as I am now.

For me, I'm definitely thinking that simply cutting out alcohol and working out are going to help me lose weight. I think it really has to do with just how much you were drinking before or whether or not your drinking caused you to eat more, especially unhealthy foods.

Unfortunately, it's not so easy to stop drinking when I'm so used to really throwing them back every night!

Fatrick011

I wasn't giving up beer so I switched to Mich Ultra. I figure it in my log in place of my former biscuits and gravy and I'm down 65 lbs since last July.
(Your results may vary)