Can you put on 1.7 lbs from alcohol?

nygr8guy

Last night I was at a neighbors party and I refrained from alcohol until a few hours into the party. I had 2 vodka drinks mixed with grapefruit juice. I didn't eat anything at the party.
I got on the scale this morning and I was up 1.7 lbs. Could this be just water retention? I was amazed that I can be up so much just by drinking 2 drinks. Usually the drinks would make me eat mindlessly but this was not the case last night.
Has this happened to anyone else?

D_squareG

I want to follow this thread. I drink almost daily and am not seeing the weight loss I want, even though I'm at or under my net calories. Let's see what the smart people say.

_Zardoz_

A normal daily fluctuation your weight can fluctuate up to 4-5 pounds a day. Tomorrow it will probably be back down again

MaggieLoo79

I don't know the answer, but I too, always seem to gain a little over a pound after a night of drinking. It comes back off pretty quickly though.

ImpishVanity

It's probably normal. If I drink quite a bit dehydration will bring my scale down, but if I only have a couple then my weight goes up. It's pretty normal. I wouldn't worry about it.

arl1286

Normal daily fluctuation, water retention (you probably didn't drink water while at the party).

There are 3500 calories (approximately) in a pound. Unless you were drinking some VERY dense mixers, it is unlikely that you drank enough to gain 1.7 pounds from alcohol.

JesterMFP

They would have to be 2 big vodka drinks. To gain that much fat, you're talking about roughly 6000 calories, that's over and above not your MFP calorie goal, but over and above your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) which, if you are trying to lose weight, is a larger number than you MFP goal.

According to your diary, you had 450 calories worth of vodka, and were within your daily calorie goal. If that is accurate, then no. You did not gain fat from drinking that alcohol.

Weight fluctuates for lots of reasons, and alcohol can certainly be one of those reasons. Personally, I usually drop a pound or two overnight after drinking (dehydration I presume) but others notice a temporary gain. Could be all sorts of other reasons for it too.

Kilo321

Your body also process alcohol as a sugar. Not that one night will add weight like others have said but excess sugar causes body to store rather than burn.

wyattj99

Enjoy a cheat night but NEVER weigh yourself after. Give yourself the next or two to recoup and get your eating and workout under control. It will go back down.

edwardkim85

I've put on 10 lbs from a two night bender.

Gone in a week.

JesterMFP

Your body also process alcohol as a sugar. Not that one night will add weight like others have said but excess sugar causes body to store rather than burn.

Excess energy is stored as fat, regardless of where that energy comes from.

kschlap

Vodka is usually pretty decent for alcohol but I'd be worried about the grapefruit juice. A lot of juices have a ton of calories in them. Combining that with slowing down your metabolism from alcohol can be a bit of a downer the next morning. I usually will do Vodka and diet Coke.