anyone cut out alcohol completely to lose more weight?

asterix9

i'll have a sip or two of wine on the weekends, but once i heard about how alcohol can actually help keep the fat on because the body stores toxins like alcohol in your fat to keep them out of your system, I really tried to cut it out all together. im still drunk on life, but ive basically stop drinking! and i feel a lot healthier than when i was drinking almost every day.

michalsk

I like the way you roll! Unfortunately now that I'm in my 40's I can't roll that way anymore, kicking up the exercise used to work until a few months ago - ack! But....I LOVE beer like life itself and will not give it up.

RunFarLiveHappy

Not to lose weight but I have for the most part quit drinking alcohol. I've had 2 drinks since January.

wwwdotcr

Here's a funny thing about low-carb / keto diet... you get drunk much much faster. These days I can take 3 drinks (rum and diet) and I am "tipsy". Plan ahead in the macros and just "save" 300 calories.

kabarnes45

1 glass wine = 150 cal x 3 per night = 450 cal per day x 7 day = 3150
That's almost a pound per week. Cutting back will help a lot, but drinking is fun so I'd try to find a middle ground.

hbbeth

I'm sorry for laughing but this is to Me not to laugh. Duh, cutting out alcohol will help tremendously. It has calories plus, if you're like me, it's super easy to cheat after one or two. But lets be real!! I don't even count my alcohol. I mean, wine is grapes and Weight Watchers doesn't count fruits or veggies.....

daniellewillson3

I loooove my red wine. But since watching what I eat I've had to start cutting back since it give me the munchies which can only be satiated with Dubliner cheese.... not a good calorie combo right before bed. They are my weakness for sure. I just recently started cutting back over the last couple of weeks though so I'll have to be patient about seeing the results

christengrayson

..

IllustratedxGirl

I sure did! If rather eat my calories

heartworth9

Alcohol is a simple sugar, so it stimulates the release of insulin, a fat storing hormone. So, you are drinking at night and stimulating this process.

When you don't eat simple sugars, glycogen is a fat burning hormone that predominates. Glycogen, then by definition is where we want to be at.

Alcohol daily is hard on the liver as well.

I gave up alcohol completely in January. Decided if I am going to indulge in a simple sugar, it would be with gelato without preservatives or chemicals for example. But only rarely.

You might try a week or two without it and see what happens. Or every other day. Experiment.

heartworth9

369 of your calories via wine is a lot, given most of us on are 1200 calories a day. You might be missing macronutrients along the way as alcohol does not provide very much nutritionally. :flowerforyou:

larrodarro

I haven't drank in about 20 years. I had a bad truth telling problem that alcohol just made worse. Gave up cigars about 10 years ago. My wife was having trouble with caffeine, so I switched to decaf coffee a couple of three years ago. Other than an aspirin in the morning, I'm drug free. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I drink coffee and water. The coffee has 2 calories, the water has 0.

Larro

SuzieQNutter

Eat your calouries - don't drink them.

I didn't drink alcohol anyway. But I was having fruit juice with breakfast and cordial at teat time.

I cut them out and what a difference both to saved $$$ and my weight.

It started my weight loss and I lost 40 kgs in just over a year.

paperpudding

This thread is a year old, people - I'm sure OP has decided what to do by now.

Mykaelous

I'm cutting it for my first hundred days(currently day 31). Partially about physical health, and partially mental. I want to prove to myself that I don't need to be intoxicated to be social so the last 3 times I've gone out with friends I haven't had a lick to drink. The first time sucked, but slowly I've gotten used to being in the bar environment while sober. On the physical aspect it always seemed that I got off track after a particularly hardcore alcohol binge. I'm talking about 5k + calories of alcohol not including meals on a single night and sometimes we would do this twice in a row. So if I took in 8k calories(including food) each night and then didn't work out the next week because my system was so screwed up I was looking at a 20K calorie surplus for the week which not only would destroy my fitness goals, but my motivation to succeed. I don't really expect to have one of those nights again now that I am out of college and need to be somewhat responsible.

mtruitt01

I have not cut out alcohol all together but I do only drink it every once in a while. I think I have had a 6 pack of blue moon in the fridge for a little over a month now lol

I'll be right over!

Sabine_Stroehm

369 of your calories via wine is a lot, given most of us on are 1200 calories a day. You might be missing macronutrients along the way as alcohol does not provide very much nutritionally. :flowerforyou:

FWIW I don't think "most of us" are on 1200 calories a day. Many of the very successful "veterans" eat quite a bit more than 1200 calories a day.

Skq1979

I cut it out completely. Alcohol is a trigger for me. If I drink I want to eat, if I eat, I gain weight, If I gain weight I have to go buy new fat clothes, If I have to go buy new fat clothes I want to drink........ therefore I don't drink. Problem solved. LOLO

Skq1979

Maybe other people are asking the same question. So doesn't hurt to keep it going!

mtruitt01

I stopped drinking for almost 9 years, so I could address some problems I had through intensive group and individual counseling. What I learned was invaluable. I wouldn't be the person I am now, with the job I have now, without that time of abstinence. Not drinking helped me deal with an out-of-control teenager, too. Luckily there are plenty of free self-help, common-problem groups for whatever challenges a person might be facing.
One food group I used to go to claimed it wasn't about the food, that the food was just a symptom. I took what I needed, and left the rest, which is my motto in many situations. This helps me not blow a gasket because of all the contradictory and crazy-making information out there.
I don't see how not drinking for awhile could be bad for anyone. Maybe I know too many drunks!! There's a group for that too! : ^ }
For me, a short time of not drinking turned into a large chunk of time, and I learned to deal with problems without drinking. Now I am trying for the first time in my life to learn to be rational about food.
Hope some of this helps!

mtruitt01

I cut it out completely. Alcohol is a trigger for me. If I drink I want to eat, if I eat, I gain weight, If I gain weight I have to go buy new fat clothes, If I have to go buy new fat clothes I want to drink........ therefore I don't drink. Problem solved. LOLO

Hell surely must be a circle!

larrodarro

This thread is a year old, people - I'm sure OP has decided what to do by now.

We are just talking to ourselves.

biddypat

I found this thread very interesting, indeed I had a similar question to the op, and I am sure others will too, so no harm to keep the conversation going. I have cut out drinking , and am trying to just cut the calories, I think I just need to stitch my mouth shut, lol. However I do know that if I drink , I spend the next day snuffing around in the presses looking for something, ( usually high carbs ) to please the palate, no drinking and I am happy with fruit, or other healthy stuff, . I know a visit to the chip shop after the pub is certainly not good for weight loss, but I used to say, ah I will pick up tomorrow, but never did. So sparkling water for me for a while.

Lazz5k

i think I'm going to put a lock on my refrigerator..... I need to cut it out.

1moretimetho

I'm going to try for this month. If i do drink, it will only be a few glasses of red wine, because you know .. antioxidants.

mbcieslak87

I would never tell you to cut it out completely OP - but 3 glasses a night sounds like a bit much. I would cut it to one 6 oz glass a night of red wine and make sure you are measuring! it is so incredibly easy to pour what you think is a "normal" glass and it to really be 8-10 oz or more.

Furthermore, there are numerous double blind epidemiological studies that point out that people who drink regularly IN MODERATION actually weigh less than those who don't imbibe. However, moderation is suggested to be one glass a day for women and possibly two for men, depending on their size, so that is important to keep in mind.

I myself take part in alcohol more often than I should, according to those standards, but also am not actively trying to lose. For me, I find it best to really watch my alcohol intake during the week and possibly drink a little more on special occasions. (I sometimes mentally classify weekends as special occasions... which is my biggest problem area and I'm working on it)

Depending on your social life, cutting out alcohol completely may just not be realistic. With that said my last suggestion would be to not make any changes you can't keep - reducing your intake is easier than cutting it out completely and suffering defeat is awful, and much less likely to happen if you taper your habits rather abruptly halt them.

Good luck!

Tywhi3

I cut off alcohol completely for a while. Then I decided to partake in bourbon or tequila on ice. Now I'm back to drinking wine like it's apple juice. I don't feel like I'm losing any more or less weight because of it, though.

AllAboutThatPace

I love wine. Like, I can put down a whole bottle or two. Granted, this is something I didn't do on a regular basis. LOL. I have only had two drinks, since starting my journey 34 days ago. Hubby surprised me the first weekend with a bottle of wine and then over the past holiday weekend. I don't know if it's helped me, but I hate consuming calories in drinks, no matter how good they taste. I would rather have food!! That's just me. I think anything in moderation is okay.

iplayoutside19

I did my best losing weight when I cut out alcohol. Now I make it a reward for something. Like 1 Beer on the weekend for every 3 miles ran during the week.

MelanieRBrace

I started with a two week challenge to cut out alcohol - I did really good at losing weight and I've maintained alcohol abstinence and it has worked out really well for me. Everyone is different but it would never hurt to try.