Should I add Alcohol calories

You can still lose weight while enjoying the cocktails, but you have to add it to the count.

Like this question even needs to be asked? Why do count food then ignore alcohol? :yawn:


See this is why people fail at weight loss. They don't count the empty calories of alcohol and sugary beverages. Its actually quite simple.....if you put something in your mouth (that contains calories), add in the calories.

You should definitely still include your drinks- they still have calories. Try to reduce drinks other than water. I try to haveonly water or green tea except on weekends when I allow myself 1 or 2 drinks other than those mentioned above. Sometimes just kicking the habit of sugary or alcoholic drinks without changing anything else in the diet can make a big difference. Calories consumed in a beverage are often (not always) empty calories. Try to save your cals for foods that can help make you feel food or offer more nutrients. Hope this helps.

Of course you can still lose weight and drink alcohol, but only if you account for those calories. I love Vodka and I am spending the day at a winery tomorrow. It will be within my calories, but of course I have to log it.

yes! Absolutely! Every little bit counts!!

Even a chewing gum should b counted. It has 1 calorie.

You can still lose, and no one is going to tell you that you have to quit drinking, but if you are counting points, but not adding the points from drinks, who are you cheating???

I count them for sure.

This is a very interesting website that has a lot of information about alcohol calories.
http://getdrunknotfat.com/

am thankful I don't drink

A calorie is a calorie.
Why would you not count alcohol???

Calories are calories. Yes you need to count alcohol. An yes you can drink and lose weight if you do it in moderation.

This article explains why some who drink lose weight and how alcohol damages digestion and nutrient absorption.

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa22.htm

Some excerpts:

" alcohol interferes with the nutritional process by affecting digestion, storage, utilization, and excretion of nutrients"

"Alcohol inhibits the breakdown of nutrients into usable molecules by decreasing secretion of digestive enzymes from the pancreas (2). Alcohol impairs nutrient absorption by damaging the cells lining the stomach and intestines and disabling transport of some nutrients into the blood (3). In addition, nutritional deficiencies themselves may lead to further absorption problems."

"When there is no food to supply energy, stored sugar is depleted, and the products of alcohol metabolism inhibit the formation of glucose from other compounds such as amino acids. As a result, alcohol causes the brain and other body tissue to be deprived of glucose needed for energy and function."

"when alcohol is substituted for carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, subjects tend to lose weight, indicating that they derive less energy from alcohol than from food."

"The mechanisms accounting for the apparent inefficiency in converting alcohol to energy are complex and incompletely understood, but several mechanisms have been proposed. For example, chronic drinking triggers an inefficient system of alcohol metabolism, the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS). Much of the energy from MEOS-driven alcohol metabolism is lost as heat rather than used to supply the body with energy. "

One can lose weight by replacing nutritious calories with alcohol calories but it's a bad idea, long term health wise.

And may this, please, serve to give further weight to the argument that all ingested "calories" are NOT created equal. In the human body, as opposed to a bomb calorimeter, a calorie is certainly not just a calorie.