Alcohol
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and then you’ll burn the fats and carb. All before stored fat so it doesn’t matter. No weekly calorie deficit, no Fatloss.lynn_glenmont wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »Ive read that alcohol can stop fat burning for 12-36 hours?
It will generally stop fat burning until your body uses up the alcohol calories, as your body doesn't have a mechanism to store it, so it will preferentially rely on the alcohol.
In the long run, the effect on fat storage is determined by calories consumed and expended.
Anything you consume will stop fat burning for the most part. Recently consumed calories are burned before fat. We are alway burning a combo of some recent calories and to a lesser extent stored fat however its the newest, unburned calories that go first.
As mentioned above it will always be about calorie balance in the long run
Yes, but if you ate pretzels or peanuts or nachos or sliders or whatever constitutes bar food in your neighborhood with all the alcohol, your body is going to preferentially rely on the alcohol for energy as opposed to carbs, fat, and protein you consumed at the same time.
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You process no carb or fat calories while you have alcohol to be metabolized in your system. Worse time to have alcohol is before you sleep since you burn more stored body fat at rest than any other time.
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You process no carb or fat calories while you have alcohol to be metabolized in your system. Worse time to have alcohol is before you sleep since you burn more stored body fat at rest than any other time.
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I still don't understand why it matters, arithmetically and (mostly) practically.
Yes, during rest/sleep, a higher percentage of calories burned come from stored body fat, at least if there isn't recent intake somehow getting in the way of metabolizing that fat.
But two things:
(1) It's a big percentage of a small number of calories, because we burn relatively few calories per hour when resting/sleeping. We can actually burn more fat (in numbers of calories per time unit) when exercising, even exercising up around anaerobic threshold - again, if not recent intake supplying immediate needs - versus when sleeping/resting.
(2) But mostly, wouldn't t be true that if there's an overall calorie deficit, body fat is going to be burned sooner or later to make up that deficit, up to the limit of our body's ability to metabolize body fat, after which presumably it'll burn lean tissue of some type? Why do we care when that body fat burn happens, in the course of our day, as long as it does happen?
I feel like the "alcohol inhibits weight loss because it's burned in preference to other calories" argument is analogous to arguments like we shouldn't eat before bed, or we need to exercise in the fat-burning zone, and that sort of thing.
I'm not saying alcohol consumption is a great thing in general or for weight loss specifically. It's not. (Upthread I listed a bunch of reasons I won't repeat again.) I don't think any of the purely calorie arguments hold up, though, at least within the realm of moderate-ish alcohol intake. (Someone who's truly alcoholic, getting a large fraction of daily calories from alcohol, may have some weird physical effects from that, I dunno.)
P.S. When I was young, resilient, and foolish, I would sometimes exercise after drinking, before bed; and perceived that that reduced hangover symptoms in the AM to some extent. These days, my body doesn't like working out on those calories (recovery issues, blah blah blah) . . . probably always had been true, but my aging body doesn't handle the insult as smoothly at 67 as it did at 20. That's all subjective/speculative stuff, though.3 -
Rockmama1111 wrote: »If alcohol fits into your daily calories and you’re getting adequate nutrition from the rest of your calories and it’s that important to you to have 2-3 beers, go for it. But…
What if you didn’t have those beers and lost an extra few pounds a month? Is it still important to you?
What if you could have an ice cream sundae every day instead? Is beer still worth it?
No judgment here. It’s all about choices. Figure out what you want the most. I was an every-day wine drinker. It was habit more than desire for me, and I had to break that habit. I still drink sometimes, just not every day.
Beer > ice cream sundae IMO.
3 or 4 light beers over an hour or 2 vs ice cream sundae that is gone in 5-10 minutes for the same calories or less..0 -
it’s really the same as eating before bed. It doesn’t matter in the big picture of overall weekly calories. The big bummer is how it compromises REM sleep. Being tired the next day can reduce activity and that is how it screws up your diet/training program.You process no carb or fat calories while you have alcohol to be metabolized in your system. Worse time to have alcohol is before you sleep since you burn more stored body fat at rest than any other time.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Ive read this too.
Shuts down your metabolic pathways to metabolise alcohol apparently, for up to 36hrs
How accurate it is i dont know, they may be some truth in it. I dont really drink.. Maybe once or twice a year if theres a occasion0 -
Beers are a no-no. If you have alcohol addiction (I know I have), just go with stronger spirits like whiskey, gin, etc. Take in moderation!0
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Oh yes, it's overall calories that do matter. But from a competitive standpoint, I couldn't have alcohol anytime before a contest while prepping because it did matter how much fat I had to burn off. Even with calories in check, alchohol would inhibit that last few pounds of fat to be shredded for a contest. I learned this the hard way when I started substituting alcohol for some carbs because the alcohol helped me to stay satiated more........or I fell asleepYou process no carb or fat calories while you have alcohol to be metabolized in your system. Worse time to have alcohol is before you sleep since you burn more stored body fat at rest than any other time.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I still don't understand why it matters, arithmetically and (mostly) practically.
Yes, during rest/sleep, a higher percentage of calories burned come from stored body fat, at least if there isn't recent intake somehow getting in the way of metabolizing that fat.
But two things:
(1) It's a big percentage of a small number of calories, because we burn relatively few calories per hour when resting/sleeping. We can actually burn more fat (in numbers of calories per time unit) when exercising, even exercising up around anaerobic threshold - again, if not recent intake supplying immediate needs - versus when sleeping/resting.
(2) But mostly, wouldn't t be true that if there's an overall calorie deficit, body fat is going to be burned sooner or later to make up that deficit, up to the limit of our body's ability to metabolize body fat, after which presumably it'll burn lean tissue of some type? Why do we care when that body fat burn happens, in the course of our day, as long as it does happen?
I feel like the "alcohol inhibits weight loss because it's burned in preference to other calories" argument is analogous to arguments like we shouldn't eat before bed, or we need to exercise in the fat-burning zone, and that sort of thing.
I'm not saying alcohol consumption is a great thing in general or for weight loss specifically. It's not. (Upthread I listed a bunch of reasons I won't repeat again.) I don't think any of the purely calorie arguments hold up, though, at least within the realm of moderate-ish alcohol intake. (Someone who's truly alcoholic, getting a large fraction of daily calories from alcohol, may have some weird physical effects from that, I dunno.)
P.S. When I was young, resilient, and foolish, I would sometimes exercise after drinking, before bed; and perceived that that reduced hangover symptoms in the AM to some extent. These days, my body doesn't like working out on those calories (recovery issues, blah blah blah) . . . probably always had been true, but my aging body doesn't handle the insult as smoothly at 67 as it did at 20. That's all subjective/speculative stuff, though.
.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Beers are a no-no. If you have alcohol addiction (I know I have), just go with stronger spirits like whiskey, gin, etc. Take in moderation!
Why is that? Hard liquor is a bad plan for someone with "alcohol addiction"...I guess you're saying that if you don't use mixers with it then it's fewer calories for the buzz? I think anyone with a drinking problem probably needs to worry about solving the drinking problem and worry about weight loss somewhere down the road.
Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic comes to mind.
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tomcustombuilder wrote: »
and then you’ll burn the fats and carb. All before stored fat so it doesn’t matter. No weekly calorie deficit, no Fatloss.lynn_glenmont wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »Ive read that alcohol can stop fat burning for 12-36 hours?
It will generally stop fat burning until your body uses up the alcohol calories, as your body doesn't have a mechanism to store it, so it will preferentially rely on the alcohol.
In the long run, the effect on fat storage is determined by calories consumed and expended.
Anything you consume will stop fat burning for the most part. Recently consumed calories are burned before fat. We are alway burning a combo of some recent calories and to a lesser extent stored fat however its the newest, unburned calories that go first.
As mentioned above it will always be about calorie balance in the long run
Yes, but if you ate pretzels or peanuts or nachos or sliders or whatever constitutes bar food in your neighborhood with all the alcohol, your body is going to preferentially rely on the alcohol for energy as opposed to carbs, fat, and protein you consumed at the same time.
Which is what I said in the first post you responded to, so I don't know why you're quoting me as though you're correcting me.0 -
Ive read this too.
Shuts down your metabolic pathways to metabolise alcohol apparently, for up to 36hrs
How accurate it is i dont know, they may be some truth in it. I dont really drink.. Maybe once or twice a year if theres a occasion
I would think drinking sufficient alcohol to fuel your body for 36 hours would kill most people.0 -
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Beers are a no-no. If you have alcohol addiction (I know I have), just go with stronger spirits like whiskey, gin, etc. Take in moderation!
In all my time going to 12 step meetings, I only knew one person who had serious negative consequences from beer. The best addicts I met all drank the hard stuff.
I'm not saying this to minimize the issues abusing beer can cause. This particular beer drinker died before she turned 60. However, encouraging problem beer drinkers to switch to spirits is simply terrible advice.2 -
It's way easier to overdrink hard liquor than beer, especially something like vodka which mixes well and has a lesser hangover than other alcoholskshama2001 wrote: »Beers are a no-no. If you have alcohol addiction (I know I have), just go with stronger spirits like whiskey, gin, etc. Take in moderation!
In all my time going to 12 step meetings, I only knew one person who had serious negative consequences from beer. The best addicts I met all drank the hard stuff.
I'm not saying this to minimize the issues abusing beer can cause. This particular beer drinker died before she turned 60. However, encouraging problem beer drinkers to switch to spirits is simply terrible advice.
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I’m convinced it stalls my weight loss. I’m trying to cut it out quickly, I don’t drink daily, very rarely during the week actually… but have had a few weddings & holidays recently & have noticed high weights on the Monday and then it flys off for a few days, basically just a waste of 4-5 days!1
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weddings and holidays also mean extra eating and mostly carbs so you’ve gained water hence the higher weight on Monday and the extra calorie’s definitely will negate a weeks worth of dieting if the extra weekend calories were higher than the caloric deficit on the other 5.charlieaulert wrote: »I’m convinced it stalls my weight loss. I’m trying to cut it out quickly, I don’t drink daily, very rarely during the week actually… but have had a few weddings & holidays recently & have noticed high weights on the Monday and then it flys off for a few days, basically just a waste of 4-5 days!
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I have found over time that I can lose consistently if I limit my days with alcohol to no more than 3 days per week and stay within my calorie goal. If I indulge more than that, even managing calories, the weight just doesn’t come off as quickly. May vary with everybody. What will work for you is what you can adhere to long term. So, if you like beers or want to keep the social activity, just plan to do it in moderation, not daily or as regularly as when you added the weight.1
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I wonder about like low carb options. (On occasion.) Like vodka, etc.0
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bennyg1973 wrote: »I wonder about like low carb options. (On occasion.) Like vodka, etc.
If you're an "occasional drinker" I think you can drink what you want/like.
A drink or two a couple times a month (of whatever drink you like) can easily be fit in to a weight-loss plan.
It's your original first post that generated all this discussion:bennyg1973 wrote: »So I was wondering how much alcohol prevents you from losing fat? Like if you have 2-3 beers a day? Would quitting that (obviously good to do) make weight loss easier?
So, it doesn't really matter whether it's lower carb or not. Two or three drinks a day? Or a couple drinks a month? Big difference.2 -
bennyg1973 wrote: »I wonder about like low carb options. (On occasion.) Like vodka, etc.
There's nothing magic about low carb eating generally, unless diabetic/insulin resistant (or similar), or if a person happens to be one who finds that carbs spike their appetite. Whether the carbs are or aren't consumed with alcohol doesn't much matter, as far as I know. It's the calories that matter for weight loss.
So, sure, something like vodka has fewer calories per unit of alcohol than beer or wine, because it's pretty much just alcohol. Alcohol proper has about 7 calories per gram. Your body will prioritize burning off alcohol calories first, before calories from other macronutrient sources (because it's poison, basically - and I say that as someone who drinks some alcohol sometimes).
Drink too much alcohol, many of us start losing track of our food intake alongside, plus it can weaken our resistance to eating excess food, cause fatigue, interfere (calorically) with getting good nutrition, etc., as noted above.
If you want to drink alcohol, sure, there are some "benefits" to choosing lower-calorie drinks when trying to lose weight. It's still empty calories (or worse) and not good for health.
If you want to drink some, drink some. But don't lie to yourself about it. That would be my advice, and it's my perspective on my own alcohol intake, too.0
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