Does alcohol really affect weight loss
bishopjulia
Posts: 205 Member
If a person counts alcohol into their calories for the day will it affect their weight loss? Slow it down? Prevent?
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In my experience, as long as I accounted for the calories I lost weight exactly as I expected. It absolutely didn't prevent my weight loss, I lost over 40 pounds while having a glass of wine most weeknights and a cocktail or two on the weekends.7
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If everything else stayed the same and you budgeted for your alcohol calories, your weight loss would not be affected.
However, if you're like me, when you drink, you eat more the night of, sleep poorly, and the next day have less energy so move around less, and eat more due to the poor sleep resulting in decreased leptin and increased ghrelin.
I cut back to the rare special occasion.12 -
I dont know the answer to this..so im just typing so i get the updates aha I dont drink it daily only on the weekends and its usually more than one or two glasses so I dont bother logging it because i know it puts me over. I would think calories are calories and it will bloat you and if it puts you over in cals by alot will affect your weight loss for that week but...i dont know the specifics of it.1
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It’ll only slow down your fat loss if you consume more calories than you burn. I find that on days after a couple of drinks (and not eating 1200+ extra calories at the red hot ranch) I weigh the least. That’s because alcohol dehydrates, I lose weight on the scale. But my fat loss will only come from being in a calorie deficit.4
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If you count the calories as part of your calorie allotment and it doesn't turn into inebriated grazing that makes you go over your calories, it's all good. i count my alcohol calories
as far as weight loss is concerned: a calories is a calorie. carb, alcohol, steak. all the same calorie5 -
If you count the calories as part of your calorie allotment and it doesn't turn into inebriated grazing that makes you go over your calories, it's all good. i count my alcohol calories
as far as weight loss is concerned: a calories is a calorie. carb, alcohol, steak. all the same calorie
^^ this.
I don't do well trying to save calories for alcohol. Sometimes I can stick to a single drink, or one beer, but often it leads to a second and a third, and that almost guarantees to be followed by some lousy food choices.
Calories are calories - each of us has to find the optimum balance of macros within those calories. Some of us are big on protein, others are big on carbs, others like a mix of all three and the ratios vary from one to another.
Me, I like 45% carb, 25% fat and 30% protein for my satisfaction. FWIW - alcohol I count as a carb.4 -
The body will prioritize using alcohol as fuel before it will use other sources of fuel. The body will stop burning body fat in order to metabolize the alcohol. I would suggest alcohol be left to an occasional thing but if you are drinking it often you might have a harder time burning body fat. You can still lose weight drinking alcohol but during that time it’s being metabolized you’re not burning fat.16
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beatyfamily1 wrote: »The body will prioritize using alcohol as fuel before it will use other sources of fuel. The body will stop burning body fat in order to metabolize the alcohol. I would suggest alcohol be left to an occasional thing but if you are drinking it often you might have a harder time burning body fat. You can still lose weight drinking alcohol but during that time it’s being metabolized you’re not burning fat.
In the context of an overall calorie deficit, this won't be an obstacle to weight loss.
And without a calorie deficit, weight loss won't be happening even if you never drink alcohol.7 -
If you still remain in a deficit over time, no. I had my fair share of alcohol while cutting (note: I had more than enough calories to spend) and had no issues whatsoever.2
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the year i lost most of my weight (probably 100 pounds of it) I drank every weekend. I simply logged and accounted for the calories and worked out more to help cover them.3
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Drinking alcohol won't affect weight loss at all if you can keep it within your calorie intake.
Comes down to personal preference whilst cutting down. I lost weight and still drank alcohol.
But I've also hindered my weight loss as I realised drinking alcohol always makes me hungry. I ate less to make room for alcohol and with lower inhibitions my planned calorie intake would always end up going over last year so I put back on quite a bit. So this month I've cut it out. But that's just me
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Drinking has never hindered my weight loss, but there have been times that I have overeaten afterwards which can lead me to slower weight loss.0
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bishopjulia wrote: »If a person counts alcohol into their calories for the day will it affect their weight loss? Slow it down? Prevent?
no, but booze makes me retain water so it may mask some of the weight loss.0 -
If I have one glass of wine no problem but on Monday we were out and I had 3 large glasses of wine. When I got home I also had 2 gin martinis and 3 jam doughnuts as well as my dinner and other stuff which took me way over my calorie allocation. Alcohol is my diet killer so I have to be careful and not drink very often.4
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Alcohol has two problems. It is remarkably high in calories (Full corn syrup regular Coke 140 calories, equivalent calories in 100 proof vodka 992). And, if you drink 12 oz of vodka, you are probably drunk and will not keep track of calories and not make good food choices.4
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Alcohol has two problems. It is remarkably high in calories (Full corn syrup regular Coke 140 calories, equivalent calories in 100 proof vodka 992). And, if you drink 12 oz of vodka, you are probably drunk and will not keep track of calories and not make good food choices.
If you're drinking 992 calories of vodka at once, that's potentially the sign of a real problem. Many people who are drinking are keeping it in the 2-4 ounce range, where the calories are going to be much more reasonable.
Like with anything, calorie density itself isn't an inherent problem. It's all about the portion size.4 -
janejellyroll wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Alcohol has two problems. It is remarkably high in calories (Full corn syrup regular Coke 140 calories, equivalent calories in 100 proof vodka 992). And, if you drink 12 oz of vodka, you are probably drunk and will not keep track of calories and not make good food choices.
If you're drinking 992 calories of vodka at once, that's potentially the sign of a real problem. Many people who are drinking are keeping it in the 2-4 ounce range, where the calories are going to be much more reasonable.
Like with anything, calorie density itself isn't an inherent problem. It's all about the portion size.
Alcohol/Portion Size....just does not compute lol Seriously, I know what you mean.1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »bishopjulia wrote: »If a person counts alcohol into their calories for the day will it affect their weight loss? Slow it down? Prevent?
no, but booze makes me retain water so it may mask some of the weight loss.
That's really interesting because alcohol has the opposite effect on me. I always figure I am very slightly dehydrated and get a small loss on the scale.1 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Alcohol has two problems. It is remarkably high in calories (Full corn syrup regular Coke 140 calories, equivalent calories in 100 proof vodka 992). And, if you drink 12 oz of vodka, you are probably drunk and will not keep track of calories and not make good food choices.
12oz?! I wouldn’t be drunk. I’d be dead.3 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Alcohol has two problems. It is remarkably high in calories (Full corn syrup regular Coke 140 calories, equivalent calories in 100 proof vodka 992). And, if you drink 12 oz of vodka, you are probably drunk and will not keep track of calories and not make good food choices.
12oz?! I wouldn’t be drunk. I’d be dead.
So would most people...2 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Alcohol has two problems. It is remarkably high in calories (Full corn syrup regular Coke 140 calories, equivalent calories in 100 proof vodka 992). And, if you drink 12 oz of vodka, you are probably drunk and will not keep track of calories and not make good food choices.
12oz?! I wouldn’t be drunk. I’d be dead.
This is why (for most people) it isn't realistic to compare alcohol to soda. It's not uncommon for someone drinking soda to toss back 12-24 ounces or more, much less common for people to do that with vodka (and if they are, the calories aren't their primary health concern).3 -
lalalacroix wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »bishopjulia wrote: »If a person counts alcohol into their calories for the day will it affect their weight loss? Slow it down? Prevent?
no, but booze makes me retain water so it may mask some of the weight loss.
That's really interesting because alcohol has the opposite effect on me. I always figure I am very slightly dehydrated and get a small loss on the scale.
When I was younger and got so drunk I got seriously hungover then I would see a loss from dehydration, but these days a couple of cocktails or glasses of prosecco adds a bit of water weight.0 -
Well, ladies, I wish you were right about portion size for alcohol. But, as a former bartender I think you would be surprised by how much people actually drink. I might have seen a lady or two waiting for a meal friends get out with 2oz of vodka, but understand that a classic martini is served in a 6-8oz glass a little more than half full.0
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Well, ladies, I wish you were right about portion size for alcohol. But, as a former bartender I think you would be surprised by how much people actually drink. I might have seen a lady or two waiting for a meal friends get out with 2oz of vodka, but understand that a classic martini is served in a 6-8oz glass a little more than half full.
Well, then it's probably something for the women you are serving to consider. But since most people here so far seem to think that 12 ounces is an awful lot of vodka, it indicates that the relative calorie density compared to Coca-Cola isn't a factor in our cases.
When I make a martini at home, I use 1.5 ounces of gin and a half an ounce of vermouth. When I'm ordering a martini out, it's still gin and I don't have several.
Again, if you're consuming 12 ounces of vodka or gin on the regular as if it is Coca-Cola, there are issues that probably should be evaluated before the impact of the calories on weight control. If someone here *is* doing that, I strongly recommend them to consider the impact that is having on their total life and health, including their weight.
You may disagree, but that's my position.4 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Well, ladies, I wish you were right about portion size for alcohol. But, as a former bartender I think you would be surprised by how much people actually drink. I might have seen a lady or two waiting for a meal friends get out with 2oz of vodka, but understand that a classic martini is served in a 6-8oz glass a little more than half full.
No doubt that people can drink 12oz of vodka. I’m hoping, in your experience, that that was the exception and not the rule. But hey, YOLO, amiright?2 -
Lyle McDonald: https://bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/a-short-history-of-beverages-and-how-our-body-treats-them-research-review.html/Alcohol is weird as it’s treated strangely in the body. It also shows a very weird relationship with body weight. Weight often goes up with alcohol intake in men but either stays the same or goes down in women. What few direct studies exist suggest that alcohol intake does not cause compensation of food intake later on. So what explains the gender difference? Most likely, men drink in addition to eating (beer and wings) while women drink instead of eating (glass of wine for dinner). Oddly, at least one piece of research suggests that regular drinkers may be more active. It may also be that drinkers under-report their true food intake. At least some work suggests that alcohol may improve insulin sensitivity. More research is needed to explain this.0
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