Wine and weight loss!

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noaddedsugarx
noaddedsugarx Posts: 169 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This question has probably been asked a million times before but will drinking wine massively hinder my progress? I average around 2 glasses a night a few times a week and measure these out at 150ml each.. myfitnesspal estimates this at 240cals and I nearly always fit it into my calorie allowance. My goal is 1200 cals a day but I can be at 1400ish on the nights that I drink. I've read information about alcohol having no nutritional value and having the effect of slowing down metabolism so should I really be cutting down or is it fine if I fit it into my calories?

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  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
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    If it fits my calories/macros I eat/drink it. My wine even had protein in it...blew my mind :laugh:
  • noaddedsugarx
    noaddedsugarx Posts: 169 Member
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    Haha sounds good!

    Also I was wondering if my alcohol consumption has any affect on where my weight is distributed. Is there such a thing as the 'beer belly' or is it genetics?
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
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    Not sure, I don't drink enough to have even considered it. I should ask my FL many of them I am sure have an opinion on this.
  • bugaboo_sue
    bugaboo_sue Posts: 552 Member
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    2 glasses a night? Amateur! :laugh:

    Booze is my downfall, more so in the summer BUT if it fits into your calories then drink up!:drinker:

    In all seriousness though any kind of booze is empty calories. My downfall really is wine. I loves me my wine at night and I do notice a stall in weight loss when I imbibe more. I took a month off of drinking and it was noticeable the effects that booze had on my body and the way it looked vs. the month that I abstained.

    But I enjoy it too much to completely give it up so I try to make it fit in my daily calories.
  • love8383
    love8383 Posts: 169
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    I think it's like 100 calories a glass for red wine, which doesn't sound too bad until you see how much they consider a glass (its like 1/4 of a wine glass)
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    This question has probably been asked a million times before but will drinking wine massively hinder my progress? I average around 2 glasses a night a few times a week and measure these out at 150ml each.. myfitnesspal estimates this at 240cals and I nearly always fit it into my calorie allowance. My goal is 1200 cals a day but I can be at 1400ish on the nights that I drink. I've read information about alcohol having no nutritional value and having the effect of slowing down metabolism so should I really be cutting down or is it fine if I fit it into my calories?

    Will it massively hinder your weight loss? Well, it will hinder it by about 240 calories compared to if you had not drank the wine. Up to you to decide if that is worth it or not, no one else can make that decision.
  • noaddedsugarx
    noaddedsugarx Posts: 169 Member
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    Will it massively hinder your weight loss? Well, it will hinder it by about 240 calories compared to if you had not drank the wine. Up to you to decide if that is worth it or not, no one else can make that decision.

    I see what you're saying but I've seen so many people on here recommending not to go under so many calories but does it matter where I'm getting those calories from? Using the TDEE method I should be consuming 1450 calories.. I know alcohol is not gonna be good for me in a nutritional sense but what I was asking was would my weight loss be slower if I was consuming 240 cals of alcohol compared to 240cals in healthy food for instance..
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
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    This question has probably been asked a million times before but will drinking wine massively hinder my progress? I average around 2 glasses a night a few times a week and measure these out at 150ml each.. myfitnesspal estimates this at 240cals and I nearly always fit it into my calorie allowance. My goal is 1200 cals a day but I can be at 1400ish on the nights that I drink. I've read information about alcohol having no nutritional value and having the effect of slowing down metabolism so should I really be cutting down or is it fine if I fit it into my calories?

    It's not so much that it slows down your metabolism as that when the alcohol is converted to acetate, your body will use that for energy rather than the food you ate. What you ate gets stored as fat.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    This question has probably been asked a million times before but will drinking wine massively hinder my progress? I average around 2 glasses a night a few times a week and measure these out at 150ml each.. myfitnesspal estimates this at 240cals and I nearly always fit it into my calorie allowance. My goal is 1200 cals a day but I can be at 1400ish on the nights that I drink. I've read information about alcohol having no nutritional value and having the effect of slowing down metabolism so should I really be cutting down or is it fine if I fit it into my calories?

    It's not so much that it slows down your metabolism as that when the alcohol is converted to acetate, your body will use that for energy rather than the food you ate. What you ate gets stored as fat.
    This is a little misleading. Everything you eat that is not needed for energy gets stored as fat. Yes, your body will focus on burning alcohol calories first, but it doesn't just stop when it's done burning up your wine.

    Here's a very very basic guide to the common myths (and sad truths) about drinking and weight loss. The long and short of it is that alcohol does make your body less efficient. However, in moderation, while making sure you're getting ample nutrients, there is no reason that alcohol should prevent weight loss.
  • noaddedsugarx
    noaddedsugarx Posts: 169 Member
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    Nevermind I know the answer to this.. I've put on 2lb since last week.. No more wine for me!
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Here's a very very basic guide to the common myths (and sad truths) about drinking and weight loss

    Link, please!!
  • Jdigs88
    Jdigs88 Posts: 71 Member
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    Red wine can have benefits for the heart in small quantities, so a 6oz glass a couple times a week isn't too detrimental, as long as it fits in your calories. If you're looking to drink a lot, vodka and diet tonic with lime or gin and diet tonic with lime are good options, and white wine is the least caloric.

    Generally, though, 1) alcohol has sugar, and so if you've cut back on sugar in many other ways, you could be backpedaling by keeping alcohol in your diet, and 2) you may feel more sluggish the next day, which would impact your workouts. It really just depends on your plan and body's response to booze!
  • rugrat1mi
    rugrat1mi Posts: 23 Member
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    This question has probably been asked a million times before but will drinking wine massively hinder my progress?

    Drinking wine (or anything else besides water) massively will hinder your progress. <G> But drinking wine will not massively hinder your progress if it fits into your target calories.

    P.S. 1200 calories is not enough nutrition, especially if 240 of that is wine. At least go 1200 + wine calories. And then when you feel like quitting because you are hungry all the time, try 1400 + wine calories.
  • Amitysk
    Amitysk Posts: 705 Member
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    Nevermind I know the answer to this.. I've put on 2lb since last week.. No more wine for me!

    And I lost 3lbs this week because I haven't had wine... :sad: . I should be happy I know, but nothing like a 3lb loss to demonstrate I may have been doing it wrong!

    OP, I think that if you are logging accurately (weighing and measuring your foods) and you can truly fit it in your day, you can enjoy in moderation. If you slack off a little bit too much, those 240 calories will get you!

    Best of luck!
  • missdibs1
    missdibs1 Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I think ANYTHING in moderaton is the key

    Every night is not a good idea as (we are talking alcohol here) this can promote tolerance and dependency?

    Why the need to drink everyday? (I am not judging just asking)
  • joolywooly33
    joolywooly33 Posts: 421 Member
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    I was able to trot along nicely losing weight and getting fit whilst drinking wine and I have now stalled with about 14 lb to go...I am a healthy weight and am happy with how I look and feel, but those last few vanity lbs wont drop off. I am at the stage now that I only lose the weeks I abstain....Even nailing my exercise and factoring in the cals it wont budge.....so it might work for you to a point, but I think most people who have reached their goal on MFP hardly drink!
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
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    I believe everything I've read says alcohol is the devil, in terms of weight loss. It's absolutely my own biggest hurdle, way more so than sweets or fast food or whatever. In the past, I've even eaten under 1200 calories in a day, so I could drink heavily that night. Yeah, recipe for success....

    Anyway, I'm pretty sure that, in addition to being terribly high in calories, alcohol itself prevents your body from processing fat until all of the alcohol has left your system. I could be wrong on that one, but I'm fairly certain it's true. In terms of calories, if you can keep it to one or two glasses per night, I'm sure you can stay in your calorie goals.
  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
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    I have enjoyed my adult beverages pretty much this entire time (been at it daily since January 13), and have enjoyed a pretty decent loss.

    Would it have gone faster had I not had the alcohol? I don't know. Maybe? BUT...I would have felt like I was depriving myself of something I enjoyed, and THAT wouldn't be sustainable. ;)

    Maybe do a trial and error-thing and see, without wine for a week or so, and see if it makes a difference, then you can make the decision based on that.
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
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    2 glasses a night? Amateur! :laugh:

    Booze is my downfall, more so in the summer BUT if it fits into your calories then drink up!:drinker:

    In all seriousness though any kind of booze is empty calories. My downfall really is wine. I loves me my wine at night and I do notice a stall in weight loss when I imbibe more. I took a month off of drinking and it was noticeable the effects that booze had on my body and the way it looked vs. the month that I abstained.

    But I enjoy it too much to completely give it up so I try to make it fit in my daily calories.

    We could be drinking twins :drinker: ^^^What she said :smile:

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