Can I drink alcohol if it fits into my calories or should I limit it to lose weight?

holly55555

I know alcohol slows weight loss but just wondering if I need to have a hard rule like only drinking once a week or if I can just fit it into my calorie budget when I want to. TIA!

tomcustombuilder

If it fits it’s ok. The problems arise when it makes you make bad food decisions and if it impacts your sleep and it causes lethargy the following day. It’s basically poison to the body.

I do enjoys some wine though. Probably better to not have any but I enjoy a glass at night.

AnnPT77

In 8+ years of calorie counting, I haven't noticed any slowing of weight loss from consuming reasonable amounts of alcohol, when I accounted for the calories. (Other people report differently, but that's my experience.)

Alcohol is devoid of nutrition (actually is poison, technically), so sticking to reduced calories but drinking alcohol can limit ability to get overall good nutrition, which is important for health.

When drinking, it's easy to lose track of food intake, which makes for slips in accurate calorie counting.

Alcohol can reduce inhibition, make it easier to give in to cravings for tempting high-calorie foods, especially in social settings where other people are eating those foods.

As Tom says, drinking can impair sleep, cause lethargy . . . and moving less will slow weight loss no matter what caused the lethargy.

Many people here report doing better with weight loss when they limit or eliminate alcohol. I didn't eliminate it, but did drink relatively infrequently during loss. I've consumed alcohol more frequently in the 7+ years of maintenance since loss, with no unexpected consequences to my body weight. With only rare exceptions, I make sure I've hit certain personal nutritional minimums, and have the calories available to allocate to the alcohol, before I drink it. YMMV.

As far as whether to limit to once a week, or have it whenever you want some, that's your call.

The one thing I'd say is that if you don't plan to give up alcohol forever, it could be a good strategy to figure out during weight loss how you're going to handle alcohol in the long term. Treating weight loss as a special project with an end date, after which things go back to normal . . . that's a recipe for yo-yo regain. Managing alcohol is part of successful weight maintenance, for those who don't choose to give it up.

Lietchi

To add onto Ann's answer: calories and nutrition are one thing. But I have noticed that alcohol impacts my recovery and performance where exercise is concerned. So while I do still drink occasionally, I keep the frequency very limited.

SarahChadwick1970

I have found that a couple of glasses of gin and slimline tonic at the weekend (calories counted) hasn't harmed my loss, but if I do have too much then I get the munchies and want crisps to I am very careful!

sollyn23l2

holly55555 wrote: »

I know alcohol slows weight loss but just wondering if I need to have a hard rule like only drinking once a week or if I can just fit it into my calorie budget when I want to. TIA!

Ultimately it depends on how well you can control it. If one drink turns into 3 or 4, especially if it happens a few times a week, that could definitely impede weight loss. Otherwise, yes, you can still lose weight as long as you maintain a calorie deficit. Also, be aware that, as we all know, you'll get drunker faster on an empty stomach (my college buddies used to do that intentionally) so just be careful of that.

age_is_just_a_number

My view — fit it into your calories.
If you are losing weight, you may start to realize that alcohol is an empty calorie, so you’ll likely want to reduce it, just like you may want to reduce sugar.

polvo71

My experience is that drinking on the weekend negates all the hard work and good choices made during the weekday. I’m a 52 year old female and am having a come to Jesus on this very issue. When I a was younger I could drink in my calorie allotment and lose weight. Now it’s really hard and just not losing any weight. I think I need to cut it out completely. It’s a hard pill to swallow but I’m going to give it a try and see if I have better results.

Kst76

I Love wine but it's not doing me any favors. The reason is I eat so much more on days that I drink. A night of drinking and eating I easily destroy a weeks' worth of calorie deficit. But that is because I can't control myself when I drink. So drinking for me has to be a rare occasion.

xbowhunter

I enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner. I try really hard to keep it to one glass but.... lol