Advice Please on Alcohol

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would it help if I excersise after i have drunk wine to get the body burning fat.....I run 5K+ every morning (well excluding sundays) and walk the dog for at least 30 minutes every evening - would that help get my body burning fat not procesing alcohol?

Staying below caloric needs will help in this area....

Ultimately you need to make sure that calories in is less than calories needed in order to lose weight/fat....

So like I said, make sure you measure out and count your calories.....

This is the most depression Debbie downer filled thread about alcohol I've seen in a while.

Calories are calories. If you measure your wine accurately and track your other stuff accurately you'll lose weight. If you don't lose weight over time (im not talking you had wine Saturday and don't lose on Sunday because that's way to small a window to get an actual same from, but you are stalled out for a few weeks) then you've fudged up the math somewhere.


Simple.

Agree a billion times. People and their alcohol myths drive me batty.

It's like if they don't give up things they enjoy they can't lose weight.

Sigh. More alcohol for us I guess. :drinker:

Include the calories from alcohol in your totals.

You can drink every day and still lose weight if your calories input is less than your calorie usage.

If you stop drinking alcohol and don't replace those calories by consumingsomething else, then you'll lose weight faster.

But if at some timein thefuture you want to resume consumingalcohol, then you may as well incorporate it into your diet from the start s. Maybe reduce the amount you drink.

That's what I've done, I have wine with dinner every night. If you just can't lose weight no matter what you do then you have backup ofreserve of the nuclear option of dropping the alcohol.

Its a choice Some people treat themselves to candy or ice cream - if your treat is a glass of wine, there's no difference, and wine is much heathier than icecream or candy.

Just count the calories - every calorie - andthis site is great for that, and go for a walk and enjoy your drink.

I can and if its the weekend and I'm meeting my friends for drinks I'll save the cals for wine, I still lose the problem and correct me if I am wrong but are you on about 2 glasses everyday? that in itself is very bad for you purely on the units you are consuming.

x

so if you don't eat all day and use your calorie allowance on alcohol what affect would this have?

Nice straw man. That's a case of very bad macros

I've had nice weight loss without alcohol. I've had a cold and don't want to mix it with medications.
But that's not the point … I'm just one of those personalities … I don't want some wine, I want all the wine!. I can start with a reasonable glass but then I top it up … and again …
I'm sure measuring would help.
I'm feeling better today and don't plan on using as much medication as I have since Sunday. I'm not sure if I'll go buy wine today or abstain until I finish my 10 lb challenge. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to hold off entirely for the 13 week contest I'm in at work.
But I should measure carefully.

Read this by Lyle McDonald if you get a chance.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/nutrient-intake-nutrient-storage-and-nutrient-oxidation.html

Alcohol
And, finally, as noted above, there is absolutely no store of alcohol in the body. None whatsoever. Effectively, alcohol is seen as a sort of metabolic ‘toxin’ or ‘poison’ to the body. And this means that alcohol oxidation is 100% perfect, that is, the body will effectively do everything in its power to get rid of the alcohol increasing alcohol oxidation to maximum (which means decreasing the oxidation of other nutrients consumed with that alcohol) so that the alcohol can be gotten rid of.

I’m going to ask readers not to read anything into the above paragraph, don’t infer or try to draw conclusions about how alcohol might or mightn’t fit into the diet in terms of anything. As it turns out, alcohol is an oddity among nutrients with seemingly contradictory effects on things. I’m going to address that in detail in a forthcoming article and, for now, just take the above as some much needed background information.

I'm aware of this. I think though, were talking about a glass or two of wine or 1 or 2 beers on occasion. In the actual practical world of realism, in an otherwise healthy diet when the calories are adhered to, and macros are nailed, it won't matter.

It would also be more intellectually honest to post the follow up and final conclusions. But this is MFP . . .

It's no different from other calories in that sense, but may affect your ability to choose healthy foods afterwards, and may exacerbate cravings for salty and fatty foods. But if that all fits into your calories for the week then go for it.

I agree - had 1 "day off" on saturday and ate fatty food, chocolate, drank alcohol and it took me two days to actually "recover" and get back on track and choose healthy options for my meals.

I just kept eating cos I couldn't shake off the hunger and cravings.

i don't know why - maybe it had something to do with the one day off I gave myself after eating really well for over a week.

x

It's no different from other calories in that sense, but may affect your ability to choose healthy foods afterwards, and may exacerbate cravings for salty and fatty foods. But if that all fits into your calories for the week then go for it.

I agree - had 1 "day off" on saturday and ate fatty food, chocolate, drank alcohol and it took me two days to actually "recover" and get back on track and choose healthy options for my meals.

I just kept eating cos I couldn't shake off the hunger and cravings.

i don't know why - maybe it had something to do with the one day off I gave myself after eating really well for over a week.

x

I'd put my money on a low calorie goal combined with the mental toll of a restrictive diet where your arbitrarily label things healthy and unhealthy rather than "calorie dense" and "not calorie dense" or "nutrient dense" and "not nutrient dense" and that this lead to a binge.

But. I'm just spitballing here. I get all sorts of weird idea when I don't sleep.

Setting aside just one day out of the week or whatever time period where you're allowed chocolate and alcohol? It practically screams "set up for disaster."

I'm staying dry for January and I'm definitely finding the weight is coming off easier. Before I'd always be 1 or 2 lbs heavier on a Monday morning than I was on the previous Friday if I drank a two or three bottles of wine over the weekend. I've not had any gains at all this month, might just carry on through February!

*sigh*
Being over 1 or 2 lbs doesn't mean anything. Water retention. It's not actual weight. You did not gain 2 lbs over the weekend. Lol.

Yeah, well it takes me all week to lose that 2lbs again hence I can go weeks without losing an ounce, I've now lost 4lbs in 2 weeks. As for water retention I drink on average 6 to 8 glasses of water a day, I can only do that because my office is next door to the toilet! :drinker:

I joined My Fitness Pal last June. My tracker is incorrect by the way, I am at goal since December after losing 21lbs. I wanted to lose weight but not drastically change my lifestyle as I needed to find a way to eat, drink and exercise in a way that I can sustain this for life. I lost weight while still drinking wine, etc. I exercised more if I wanted to have a drink while my 1200 cals a day were used on good, non processed food. I also do not eat more when I drink. I hope this helps but everyone is different

^This. If you remove "diet" from the equation and remember this is supposed to be a sustainable lifestyle then this makes sense.

:drinker:

I'm staying dry for January and I'm definitely finding the weight is coming off easier. Before I'd always be 1 or 2 lbs heavier on a Monday morning than I was on the previous Friday if I drank a two or three bottles of wine over the weekend. I've not had any gains at all this month, might just carry on through February!

*sigh*
Being over 1 or 2 lbs doesn't mean anything. Water retention. It's not actual weight. You did not gain 2 lbs over the weekend. Lol.

Yeah, well it takes me all week to lose that 2lbs again hence I can go weeks without losing an ounce, I've now lost 4lbs in 2 weeks. As for water retention I drink on average 6 to 8 glasses of water a day, I can only do that because my office is next door to the toilet! :drinker:

Wut? It takes me 3-4 weeks to lose 2 pounds and yet the fact remains that if I'm randomly up 2 pounds and didn't over eat/over drink that it's not fat gain. Because math and logic and science.

My friend works for a drinks compnay and has quoted this to me before. I am doing Dryathlete to raise money for cancer research uk, which means I have no alcohol during January. I have lost 22lbs since just before Christmas - I have the same again to lose, but this is amazing for me. I had a very boozy December, due to my 40th birthday, so was drinking more than I should. However, starting back to exercise and no alcohol has made me feel a dam sight better, i want to exercise now, I am losing the weight, which motivates me no end. I used to include the alcohol in my calories, now and again is fine, but for most of us, it wouldn't work on a bigger scale.

here is another good article regarding the calorie count per macro....

So posting just for info, so I don't get my head taken off.....

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/calories-nutrients-or-food.html