Alcohol and weight loss

Dinneepa
Dinneepa Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have read alot about not drinking your calories, but my question concerns whether or not alcohol will still effect your weight loss even when you stayed within your allowed calories. I've read some things that say it may make your metabolism function differently, i wondered if anyone has had any experience with that? I am an admitted beer geek, my husband and i love craft beer, brew beer, belong to brewers clubs, etc. etc. It's really a hobby we enjoy together and truthfully i don't want to give it up entirely. While i am not over doing it, on saturday i factored two beers into my daily plan without going over and not starving myself either! My total weight loss for the week was only three pounds. Being only week 1, I found this discouraging. I stuck to my calories every day and i have a long road ahead, but i thought week one would be five or so.

Replies

  • lovemitch125
    lovemitch125 Posts: 257 Member
    If you think like that, you will be discouraged. MFP is made to help you lose weight slowly. If you lose slowly, it is easier to keep off. The projected calories and other restraints MFP gives you is supposed to have you lose 2 lbs a week, so losing 3 lbs your first week is great! Although some people lose faster, it is not to get discouraged.

    3 lbs a week X 4 weeks is 12lbs this month is you keep it up!

    Alcohol should be fine if you're within your calories, but if you are worried about it, I'd hit the gym and do some cardio on days you'd like to have a few beers. Never give up everything, or you'll never stick with it.
  • garystidham1
    garystidham1 Posts: 30 Member
    Because your body can't store alcohol and must metabolize it right away, other metabolic processes suffer. Your body won't metabolize sugars and fats as efficiently during the metabolism of alcohol, and drinking heavily can cause your metabolism to slow. This can contribute to weight gain, as can the empty calories found in alcohol
    so when you drink instead of burring fat your body takes care of the alcohol first so even if you are under your calorie goal it can prevent your body from using the fat you want to loose
  • breebacon84
    breebacon84 Posts: 1 Member
    I don't have any input on how alcohol affects your weightloss, but I wanted to let you know that I think 3 lbs lostin the past week is GREAT. If you lost 3 lbs a week for a year that would be 156 lbs total so try not to be discoraged.
  • cole_ashleyy
    cole_ashleyy Posts: 104 Member
    I may be going a bit off topic right now but I've noticed (on several occasions) that if I drink a lot one night... even if I go over my calorie limit because of the alcohol, the next day I've lost exactly 1 pound the next morning... I dunno... I'm sure there's some reason and it's not "real" weight loss as much as some sort of a fluctuation.
  • dgraboski
    dgraboski Posts: 125 Member
    I may be going a bit off topic right now but I've noticed (on several occasions) that if I drink a lot one night... even if I go over my calorie limit because of the alcohol, the next day I've lost exactly 1 pound the next morning... I dunno... I'm sure there's some reason and it's not "real" weight loss as much as some sort of a fluctuation.

    That extra pound you see off the next morning is due to dehydration.
  • bms34b
    bms34b Posts: 401 Member
    Any alcohol related weight loss is dehydration. If you drink in moderation, it shouldn't be a problem. Try to see the success - 3 pounds is a huge deal! Even more importantly, you're starting a new habit for yourself of logging all of your food and being more active (I hope - didn't see anything in the post about that). Keep your routine, and learn to enjoy the process. It will help you in the long run. :)
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    I drink alcohol and still lose weight. Why are you upset about 3lbs? That is a great loss. There will be weeks that you will not lose anywhere close to that amount.

    If you are under your calories alcohol is fine as long as you are getting proper nutrients in what you are eating. Ensure when you do drink you drink enough water as well.
  • krickeyuu
    krickeyuu Posts: 344 Member
    For what it is worth, I am a wino. I love wine, I blog about wine, I sell wine part-time. Wine is part of my lifestyle. I have sucessfully lost 21 lbs in the past year drinking wine (plus the occasional beer and Margarita). Might I have lost more without it? Maybe. Do I care? No. I do my best to meet my macros for protein and fiber before adding the wine into my calories count. I use my exercise calories for my wine. I go over sometimes. I have not been losing on the scale but I am still losing inches. It can be done. Congratulations on the 3 lbs--that is a great start. To be most sucessful in this lifestyle change, you have to make it work for you and your ilfestyle. Good Luck.
  • fatgirlslimlady
    fatgirlslimlady Posts: 30 Member
    Honestly, I think it's fine, as long as you're accounting for it in your diary! Clearly, beer is an important part of your life, and it sounds like giving it up altogether would be unsustainable for you. I've always heard that the best exercise is the one that you DO. It doesn't matter how good ____ is for you if you'll never do ____. I figure this applies to my food as well! The best healthy choices for me are the ones that I can make for my whole life. Sure, I could be super healthy and only eat chicken, vegetable, and yogurt (clearly, I'm exaggerating here), but I like beer too! And chocolate! I'm not going to give them up all together, but I am going to enjoy the heck out of them when I have them!

    Also, losing 3 pounds in a week is amazing! Don't belittle it. As other posters have said, even if you only lose 1 pound a week, that's still almost 50 pounds gone by next Christmas, and that's a HUGE difference! Good luck with everything!
  • cole_ashleyy
    cole_ashleyy Posts: 104 Member
    Yeah... I figured it was something like that.
  • Gymtrainer_23
    Gymtrainer_23 Posts: 6
    I may be going a bit off topic right now but I've noticed (on several occasions) that if I drink a lot one night... even if I go over my calorie limit because of the alcohol, the next day I've lost exactly 1 pound the next morning... I dunno... I'm sure there's some reason and it's not "real" weight loss as much as some sort of a fluctuation.

    dehydration
  • RonnieLodge
    RonnieLodge Posts: 665 Member
    3 pounds off in a week is a good, sustainable achievement.

    It is not as if weight comes on at a rate of 3pounds a week so when it comes to dropping weight and keeping it off, it won't be coming off any faster.
  • Rhonnie
    Rhonnie Posts: 506 Member
    If you can't stick with your new nutrition decisions then it won't work - so drink the beer, just keep near your calorie allotment. At some point when you get closer to your goal weight you may hit plateaus and such and you might want to re-evaluate at that point which is more important to you, but you will be able to lose weight just fine while drinking moderately. As for 3lbs the first week... Excellent! Your body is adjusting to a whole bunch of new stuff and everyone's body will react differently.

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