Is WINE a no no?

Calories are calories. You will have no problem losing weight if you have a few glasses of wine here and there.

Drink up! :drinker:

Well not quite. Alcohol inhibits fat loss until it's burned up. So drinking quite a bit of alcohol while trying to lose body fat may be delayed.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Very interesting ninerbuff, so I guess a calorie is not a calorie then?

Not at all. It just happens to occupy a favored metabolic pathway and until it is exhausted, your body will not turn to other sources for conversion to ATP.

Very interesting...body hanging onto fat whilst different foods being broken down via "favored metabolic pathways"...sounds like a calorie is not a calorie to me.

Calories are calories. You will have no problem losing weight if you have a few glasses of wine here and there.

Drink up! :drinker:

Well not quite. Alcohol inhibits fat loss until it's burned up. So drinking quite a bit of alcohol while trying to lose body fat may be delayed.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Very interesting ninerbuff, so I guess a calorie is not a calorie then?

Not at all. It just happens to occupy a favored metabolic pathway and until it is exhausted, your body will not turn to other sources for conversion to ATP.

Very interesting...body hanging onto fat whilst different foods being broken down via "favored metabolic pathways"...sounds like a calorie is not a calorie to me.

Let's look at this objectively: what is the first energy source that the body burns when doing a physical activity? That would by glycogen. Why not fat? Because metabolically, that's how the body works.
When you sleep, what is the energy source? Glycogen? Nope, that would be 100% fat. Why? Because metabolically, that's how the body works.
Alcohol is one of the few sources of "energy" that the body will turn to first if it's in the body at all and continues to use it till it's burned up. It supercedes any source of energy till it's gone.
But 100 calories of alcohol= 100 calories of fat= 100 calories of carbs= 100 calories of protein.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Calories are calories. You will have no problem losing weight if you have a few glasses of wine here and there.

Drink up! :drinker:

I would argue that alcohol is the exception to the "calories are calories" rule- carbs and fat and protein all do things for your body- alcohol is 7 cal/g that actually does nothing for your body in a nutritional sense.

That said, there's no problem with saving a few calories on the weekends for a couple drinks you like- and wine even has some positive antioxidants, so it's ok.

UNLESS you can't stop drinking once you start or it causes you to binge eat or it leads to depression feelings the next day- then you should probably abstain.

I was under the impression that alcohol had carbohydrates in it, as the caloric value doesn't come from fats or proteins. Where do the calories come from, or is it your contention that carbohydrates do "nothing for your body in a nutritional sense"?

Also, as has been noted before, you don't get extra credit for exceeding your target numbers for nutrients. If you like the nutrient foods, great, but once you've hit your nutrition goals, there's no reason to skip the wine purely based on its nutritional value or lack thereof.

Alcohol itself is a 4th macro- it has 7cal/g. Most alcoholic beverages also have carbs- like beer and wine have sugars- but plain vodka, for example, has no carbohydrates, fat, or protein but still has calories- the calories are from the alcohol itself. \

Alcohol is a form of a carbohydrate if you look at the chemical structure but it's not a carbohydrate in the way your body digests it, thus it's considered it's own separate macro.

Source for this, please?

It doesn't need a source, it's basic nutrition. You can look it up in literally any nutrition textbook if you like.

You can look at the MFP standard entry (no asterisk) for vodka for a sanity check if you like- it has calories with zero carbs, zero protein, zero fat. Those calories come from the alcohol content.

I've personally never found "it doesn't need a source" to be true in citations. Perhaps your experience is different. Good luck.

Wine a no no?


No, Never, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! :bigsmile: :drinker:

I have a glass most nights before bed, as long as I'm not going over my calories, it has never been an issue. Drink up and enjoy!

My take:
Don't make anything "forbidden" or you'll crave it and go crazy. Alcohol is pretty much a non-issue for me as I'm not much of a drinker but we usually have some alcohol for New Year's. This year it was a purchased 6 pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade Blood Orange flavor. Have had 3 of them in the intervening time and still lost 2 pounds this week.

The answer is moderation and activity. If it fits my calories for the day and I want one, I have one...ONE. :drinker:

I wouldn't say your body is oxidizing alcohol so much for energy as much as it is oxidizing it purely to get it out of your system.....
As mentioned by ninerbuff all other forms of oxidation will stop until the alcohol has been used up....
Thus the reason people get the spare tire....
Cause while they are drinking there alcohol they are eating things like nuts, which are high in fat, so if they are over their TDEE, that fat will never be burnt, but stored.

This is a good article to read on the issue
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/nutrient-intake-nutrient-storage-and-nutrient-oxidation.html

I personally don't drink, never have.....
But that is just me.