Alcohol & Weight?

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  • Skinny Girl makes some pre-made cocktails... dunno if you can get them at the store yet, but I saw them on the menu at Buffalo Wild Wings
  • My trainer recently told me that the problem with drinking alcohol is not just the calories in the drinks (b/c you can cut some out from your food) - but when you drink, it can take your body up to 8 hours to get just one drink out of your system - in the meantime, your body cannot burn any fat, etc - so just 3 drinks means that for 24 hours, anything you eat will be stored and pretty much end up as fat. I spent 5 years drinking 5-6 days a week and of course, the times when i drank a ton, I would eat the crappiest food ever (which evidently never got burned and just kept getting added on). No wonder I kept gaining weight faster and faster - downward spiral.

    I know that on South Beach diet you can have wine and still lose weight, if you are sticking to whole grains and mainly lean meats/veggies. The Paleo diet lets you have tequila b/c its low in sugar. In the past when I followed those kinds of eating plans, I could still lose weight while drinking alcohol - but eventually I stopped caring what I ate whenever I got drunk - so not sure if I re-gained weight b/c of all the alcohol calories, the crappy food i ate when I was hungover, the slowed metabolism, or all of the above.

    Here are some websites with info:
    http://muscleevo.net/alcohol-weight-loss/


    http://www.ajcn.org/content/70/5/791.full

    http://graemethomasonline.com/beach-body-or-beer-belly-alcohol-and-your-physique/

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html
  • epmck11
    epmck11 Posts: 159 Member
    I still drink, usually just on the weekends, but there's no doubt that cutting my alcohol consumption has been a big part of the success of my diet, and my excessive alcohol consumption contributed to me getting fatter last year . There's really no alcohol that will save you from putting weight on if you drink enough. I drank whiskey straight because it has less calories than beer, which helps some, but even whiskey straight adds up pretty fast if you consider there's ~70 calories in one ounce of it, and nobody ever just drinks one ounce of whiskey.
  • LittleNicci
    LittleNicci Posts: 284 Member
    Alcohol, especially the super sweetened kind, beers, etc. can really ruin your fat loss goals.

    If you want to keep your calories down, try drinking straight liquor (on the rocks, shots, whatever), or mixing with diet soda.
    Just don't go too crazy! Check the calorie content of various liquors on MFP.

    Alternatively, you can drink whatever you want and just run 10 miles a day to make up for it - lol.

    There's a guy that runs in my neighborhood that wears a sweat band that says "I run so I can drink" lol!
  • LittleNicci
    LittleNicci Posts: 284 Member
    My trainer recently told me that the problem with drinking alcohol is not just the calories in the drinks (b/c you can cut some out from your food) - but when you drink, it can take your body up to 8 hours to get just one drink out of your system - in the meantime, your body cannot burn any fat, etc - so just 3 drinks means that for 24 hours, anything you eat will be stored and pretty much end up as fat. I spent 5 years drinking 5-6 days a week and of course, the times when i drank a ton, I would eat the crappiest food ever (which evidently never got burned and just kept getting added on). No wonder I kept gaining weight faster and faster - downward spiral.

    I know that on South Beach diet you can have wine and still lose weight, if you are sticking to whole grains and mainly lean meats/veggies. The Paleo diet lets you have tequila b/c its low in sugar. In the past when I followed those kinds of eating plans, I could still lose weight while drinking alcohol - but eventually I stopped caring what I ate whenever I got drunk - so not sure if I re-gained weight b/c of all the alcohol calories, the crappy food i ate when I was hungover, the slowed metabolism, or all of the above.

    Here are some websites with info:
    http://muscleevo.net/alcohol-weight-loss/


    http://www.ajcn.org/content/70/5/791.full

    http://graemethomasonline.com/beach-body-or-beer-belly-alcohol-and-your-physique/

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html

    bump to read later!
  • Moniqua1
    Moniqua1 Posts: 195 Member
    Club soda and vodka only has like, 68 cal per drink, add mio to get your sweetness without adding calories. There are no calories in club soda and the fewest in vodka. I wasn't a fan of vodka until I found out that I could mask it with Mio and be guilt free. :)