Drinking and losing weight

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Grimmerick
Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys just want to pick your brains about drinking and losing weight. I like to have 2 glasses of wine a few (in other words more than I probably should) nights a week. As long as I stay within my calorie budget is there any other things (besides my liver) that could be impacted by drinking moderately a few evenings a week. For example, If I eat a meal after drinking does my meal not get burned off as quickly or stored differently if my body is busy breaking down the alcohol? Or working out, If I drink after a workout does that halt any good things I have going from the workout. etc etc. Just trying to see this from all angles. Thanks!

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  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    You're an omnivore. You can handle it. Stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight. Get out of the calorie deficit and you don't lose weight. It's really simple that way.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,988 Member
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    emmydoodles83 wrote: »
    Hey guys just want to pick your brains about drinking and losing weight. I like to have 2 glasses of wine a few (in other words more than I probably should) nights a week. As long as I stay within my calorie budget is there any other things (besides my liver) that could be impacted by drinking moderately a few evenings a week. For example, If I eat a meal after drinking does my meal not get burned off as quickly or stored differently if my body is busy breaking down the alcohol? Or working out, If I drink after a workout does that halt any good things I have going from the workout. etc etc. Just trying to see this from all angles. Thanks!


    Sure, in the very short term. Just like if you have a three-course meal, your body might still be working on using the calories from the appetizer while you're dumping dessert on top it. In the slightly-longer short term (like 5 or 6 hours), it really doesn't matter. It's what you eat over time, compared to the calories your body uses over that same period of time, that matters. Don't get obsessed over your caloric balance in a two or three hour time span.

    You're overthinking it. You're missing the forest for the trees.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
    edited July 2017
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    You're an omnivore. You can handle it. Stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight. Get out of the calorie deficit and you don't lose weight. It's really simple that way.

    Jerome, you gotta work on the way you reply to people man, It's the second time you have commented on a post of mine and came off like you were talking down to me or asking a question but not actually answering mine, I imagine you do so to others as well and maybe you don't realize it, well I hope you don't realize it. You can say your being straightforward but lets be honest with ourselves....you really aren't. I understand calories in calories out, I know I will lose weight. I wanted to know what impact alcohol has on your body as far as before eating or after working out etc. I was hoping for something a little more scientific.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    emmydoodles83 wrote: »
    Hey guys just want to pick your brains about drinking and losing weight. I like to have 2 glasses of wine a few (in other words more than I probably should) nights a week. As long as I stay within my calorie budget is there any other things (besides my liver) that could be impacted by drinking moderately a few evenings a week. For example, If I eat a meal after drinking does my meal not get burned off as quickly or stored differently if my body is busy breaking down the alcohol? Or working out, If I drink after a workout does that halt any good things I have going from the workout. etc etc. Just trying to see this from all angles. Thanks!


    Sure, in the very short term. Just like if you have a three-course meal, your body might still be working on using the calories from the appetizer while you're dumping dessert on top it. In the slightly-longer short term (like 5 or 6 hours), it really doesn't matter. It's what you eat over time, compared to the calories your body uses over that same period of time, that matters. Don't get obsessed over your caloric balance in a two or three hour time span.

    You're overthinking it. You're missing the forest for the trees.

    Thank you this is a little more what I was looking for
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I have no idea if I would be in *better* shape if I cut out drinking, but I drink most nights of the week and I never thought it slowed down my weight loss or made it harder to maintain. My body seems to handle the calories in alcohol just like other calories.
  • futuresize8
    futuresize8 Posts: 476 Member
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    I tend to lose more weight consistently and make better choices (aka not having extra/yummy bites of cheese before dinner) when I'm not drinking alcohol. I am not sure if it slows your metabolism, but in my mind (I'm not a scientist and I know this) if my body is taxing my liver to process booze, it can't be doing as good of a job of burning fat. I hear about fatty liver and leaky gut and I think these are both linked to alcohol. That said, if you're only having a little, like a glass here and there, you're probably fine. But if it's a daily thing over a long term, I think that it might not be a good plan for weight loss. I am sure other people will have their own opinions...or maybe even facts that are more science based than my experience. :)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    futuresize8 wrote: »
    I tend to lose more weight consistently and make better choices (aka not having extra/yummy bites of cheese before dinner) when I'm not drinking alcohol. I am not sure if it slows your metabolism, but in my mind (I'm not a scientist and I know this) if my body is taxing my liver to process booze, it can't be doing as good of a job of burning fat. I hear about fatty liver and leaky gut and I think these are both linked to alcohol. That said, if you're only having a little, like a glass here and there, you're probably fine. But if it's a daily thing over a long term, I think that it might not be a good plan for weight loss. I am sure other people will have their own opinions...or maybe even facts that are more science based than my experience. :)

    Leaky Gut Syndrome (as opposed to increased permeability of the intestine) hasn't even been proven to be a real thing yet, so I think it's jumping the gun to blame alcohol for it. Fatty Liver, as it relates to alcohol, is related to chronic alcoholism, not just alcohol consumption.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
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    Yea since I drink more often I try to limit it to two servings. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that when you drink your body takes over breaking down the alcohol first and other things are put off for later. But I wasn't sure.
  • MossiO
    MossiO Posts: 164 Member
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    emmydoodles83 wrote: »
    I thought I remembered reading somewhere that when you drink your body takes over breaking down the alcohol first and other things are put off for later. But I wasn't sure.

    Yes, when you drink alcohol, your body processes it first, before any calories from food.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
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    emmydoodles83 wrote: »
    Yea since I drink more often I try to limit it to two servings. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that when you drink your body takes over breaking down the alcohol first and other things are put off for later. But I wasn't sure.

    yes, but the difference this makes in an overall calorie deficit is minimal, like most meal timing and macro timing, it has little effect for most of us. if you're having 200 calories of wine with a 600 calorie meal, does it matter if the 200 get processed first in an overall deficit? not so much.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    emmydoodles83 wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    You're an omnivore. You can handle it. Stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight. Get out of the calorie deficit and you don't lose weight. It's really simple that way.

    Jerome, you gotta work on the way you reply to people man, It's the second time you have commented on a post of mine and came off like you were talking down to me or asking a question but not actually answering mine, I imagine you do so to others as well and maybe you don't realize it, well I hope you don't realize it. You can say your being straightforward but lets be honest with ourselves....you really aren't. I understand calories in calories out, I know I will lose weight. I wanted to know what impact alcohol has on your body as far as before eating or after working out etc. I was hoping for something a little more scientific.

    Here you go:

    https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=alcohol+consumption+weight+loss&btnG=&as_sdt=1,44&as_sdtp=
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    edited July 2017
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    emmydoodles83 wrote: »
    Hey guys just want to pick your brains about drinking and losing weight. I like to have 2 glasses of wine a few (in other words more than I probably should) nights a week. As long as I stay within my calorie budget is there any other things (besides my liver) that could be impacted by drinking moderately a few evenings a week. For example, If I eat a meal after drinking does my meal not get burned off as quickly or stored differently if my body is busy breaking down the alcohol? Or working out, If I drink after a workout does that halt any good things I have going from the workout. etc etc. Just trying to see this from all angles. Thanks!

    Short answer - little to no effect. Check my diary - I'm a craft beer lover and just incorporate this into my budget.

    Long answer - alcohol is processed through a different metabolic pathway and prioritized higher. What this means in terms of actual output? Perhaps 1-10 calories. It's so low it is not detectable with instrumentation and generally meaningless.

    Note what many experience is lowered inhibitions and say after a few drinks compliment this will additional snacks that blow the budget.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
    edited July 2017
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    emmydoodles83 wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    You're an omnivore. You can handle it. Stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight. Get out of the calorie deficit and you don't lose weight. It's really simple that way.

    Jerome, you gotta work on the way you reply to people man, It's the second time you have commented on a post of mine and came off like you were talking down to me or asking a question but not actually answering mine, I imagine you do so to others as well and maybe you don't realize it, well I hope you don't realize it. You can say your being straightforward but lets be honest with ourselves....you really aren't. I understand calories in calories out, I know I will lose weight. I wanted to know what impact alcohol has on your body as far as before eating or after working out etc. I was hoping for something a little more scientific.

    Here you go:

    https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=alcohol+consumption+weight+loss&btnG=&as_sdt=1,44&as_sdtp=

    ah now that is much better, still not really on the topic of my question but interesting none the less and I appreciate you trying!

  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
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    Moderate wine drinking has been linked to feelings of contentment and has been known to pair extremely well with very healthy delicious food...salads, fish, light pasta dinners, etc.

    Moderate wine drinking also feels amazing after a great workout.

    In most ways, drinking wine is a calorie bomb but really no different than if you indulged in ice cream or whatever. The other thing to be careful with any alcohol is that it can lower your ability to say no to things like dessert or an extra serving of food.

    Just enjoy your moderate wine drinking like a responsible adult.

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