can alcohol make me gain 4 pounds?

FaryRochester

i'm not much of a drinker but this week I've been having 1-2 shots of vodka every night. the calorie content of vodka can't be why I've gained 4 pounds because my daily total calorie has not changed.

usually I would be sure the 4 pounds are due to water weight from the alcohol but I know I've been pretty dehydrated already this week. so my question is can the alcohol make me even more dehydrated and lead to more water weight gain? or have I somehow put on actual weight?

pamfgil

Alcohol can lead to dehydration, which can lead to constipation, so some of that weight could be because the food you've eaten hasn't all come out yet, try drinking extra water this week and see what happens

trogalicious

it's water weight. just roll on and don't stress about it.

sijomial

Alcohol causes me to bloat and retain water.
Give it a few days and see what happens.

TavistockToad

Yep

nowine4me

Do you head to Taco Bell after your vodka shots? That's what gets me every time -- not the calories from drinking, but what comes after. Cheers!

victorious55

YES.....it can make you gain weight . It is not food.
http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/advice/a2451/alcohol-calories-does-drinking-cause-weight-gain-410239/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2822446/The-shocking-ways-alcohol-contributes-weight-gain.html
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/body_weight/alcohol-effect.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/256382-calories-in-vodka-wine/

gamerbabe14

Drink some water, weigh daily, stick with your routine. Your calories will fall off.

amtyrell

Dehydration can be an issue too. Drink more water

CharlieBeansmomTracey

victorious55 wrote: »

YES.....it can make you gain weight . It is not food.
http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/advice/a2451/alcohol-calories-does-drinking-cause-weight-gain-410239/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2822446/The-shocking-ways-alcohol-contributes-weight-gain.html
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/body_weight/alcohol-effect.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/256382-calories-in-vodka-wine/

nope and it started out as food. and for the person to gain 4 lbs they would have had to consumes 14.000 calories over their maintenance calories for it to be actual weight.The body is going to try and process the alcohol and burn it off before it will anything else consumed.

DharmainHeels

I can't drink without gaining weight. You have 2 shots every night? That doesn't sound like "not much of a drinker" to me LOL. Not judging but anything daily is pretty much drinking! My husband drinks daily at night as well. I used to and stopped because of the weight gain!

Hypsibius

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

victorious55 wrote: »

YES.....it can make you gain weight . It is not food.
http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/advice/a2451/alcohol-calories-does-drinking-cause-weight-gain-410239/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2822446/The-shocking-ways-alcohol-contributes-weight-gain.html
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/body_weight/alcohol-effect.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/256382-calories-in-vodka-wine/

nope and it started out as food. and for the person to gain 4 lbs they would have had to consumes 14.000 calories over their maintenance calories for it to be actual weight.The body is going to try and process the alcohol and burn it off before it will anything else consumed.

Right on. Body handles alcohol a little differently than the other macros (as I am starting to understand). But you're still getting calories from it. 1-2 shots of vodka though is just 194 calories.

Now alcohol can absolutely make you gain weight. I have the evidence from my 20s...

CharlieBeansmomTracey

Hypsibius wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

victorious55 wrote: »

YES.....it can make you gain weight . It is not food.
http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/advice/a2451/alcohol-calories-does-drinking-cause-weight-gain-410239/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2822446/The-shocking-ways-alcohol-contributes-weight-gain.html
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/body_weight/alcohol-effect.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/256382-calories-in-vodka-wine/

nope and it started out as food. and for the person to gain 4 lbs they would have had to consumes 14.000 calories over their maintenance calories for it to be actual weight.The body is going to try and process the alcohol and burn it off before it will anything else consumed.

Right on. Body handles alcohol a little differently than the other macros (as I am starting to understand). But you're still getting calories from it. 1-2 shots of vodka though is just 194 calories.

Now alcohol can absolutely make you gain weight. I have the evidence from my 20s...

im not saying it doesnt have calories but it wont make you gain weight unless it puts you into a suplus of calories. otherwise its not real weight/fat gain.

trogalicious

victorious55 wrote: »

YES.....it can make you gain weight . It is not food.
http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/advice/a2451/alcohol-calories-does-drinking-cause-weight-gain-410239/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2822446/The-shocking-ways-alcohol-contributes-weight-gain.html
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/body_weight/alcohol-effect.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/256382-calories-in-vodka-wine/

snickerscharlie

The beard never lies.

californiagirl2012

It does have a higher energy value compared to regular carbs though...

Carb grams x 4 = kcal (or Calories)
Fat grams x 9 = kcal (or Calories)
Protein grams x 4 = kcal (or Calories)
Alcohol grams x 7 = kcal (or Calories)

Each macro total Calories divided by the total Calories for the day gives you the % like in those pie charts you see in MFP

See it all adds up.

Slimpossible007

yes it can make you gain if it puts you over your maintenance calories
no it can't make you gain if you eat a little less to stay within maintenance calories

I drink alcohol and I am losing 1lb a week because I consume less calories than my body needs to maintain my current weight.

TavistockToad

Slimpossible007 wrote: »

yes it can make you gain if it puts you over your maintenance calories
no it can't make you gain if you eat a little less to stay within maintenance calories

It wont necessarily make you gain fat, but it can make you gain water calorie deficit or no....

STEVE142142

To gain 4 lb means you'd have to consume approximately 15000 calories over your limit. A shot of vodka has about a hundred calories. Unless you had 150 shots of vodka in a week it's not from the calories of the vodka.

In 2016 I went on vacation 3 times once when I was losing weight and twice when I was in the maintenance phase already. During the weight loss phase I did gain a couple pounds but that probably disappeared within two weeks. In the maintenance phase I went twice ate too much drank way too much. Put on a couple pounds but that basically disappeared within 2 weeks.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Alcohol is fairly high in calories (7kcals per g, as noted, second only to fat). But, two normal shots of vodka would be about 200kcals. It could be possible to fit that in your diet. Also, some people think its fine for men to have two drinks a day and women to have one.

As for why you're a few pounds up, there are many possible reasons. Too much food comes to mind!

Maybe it will be gone in a few days.

atjays

I was "up" 7 lbs after my fun Saturday night. Clearly I didn't ingest 20k+ calories to physically gain that weight. Lots of bloating, water retention (despite being dehydrated). it's all pretty normal. Clean up your diet and hit your water goals the next few days and it'll fall back off.

big_jon_1988

Yes, but this is just water weight. Booze can indeed make you gain weight though, it has calories....