Alcohol

reginastiffler
reginastiffler Posts: 75 Member
edited November 14 in Food and Nutrition
So, usually when I'm dieting, I refrain from drinking because it's just empty calories (and alcohol usually doesn't affect me either). Crown Apple just tastes too good though. While I was doing Weight Watchers, they insisted that Alcohol is different from regular foods and they make up a whole separate formula.
So, what I'm wondering is say hypothetically I had only 1400 calories worth of Crown Apple in a day. Would I lose the same amount of weight as if I had 1400 calories of steak? (Yes, I realize these are extreme.) Pretty much, discounting the protein fat and other macro nutrients, does a calorie of alcohol actually equal a calorie of steak?
(Weight Watchers really made it seem like drinking at all would derail your whole weight loss plan because the body treats alcohol differently...)
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Replies

  • Unknown
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  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I think alcohol calories are the same as any other calorie. Just log the drink in your diary and fit it into your day
  • reginastiffler
    reginastiffler Posts: 75 Member
    MrM27, I realize that 1400 calories of only alcohol would signify a problem and would not be meeting all of the macronutrients. I'm sorry you didn't understand what I was trying to post. I guess I will do more research.
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  • verapal
    verapal Posts: 38 Member
    Interesting question. I wish we had a wine diet...lol
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    Strictly in terms of the numbers game, yes it would work. I question the whole bit of alcohol bringing the use of other calories to a grinding halt... this seems like it would be thoroughly exploited by people trying to gain weight if it worked that way. A better comparison would probably be candy bars and booze though, apparently some argue that alcohol is a type of carb but with higher calorie density and both have near zero nutritional content.
  • Marianne802
    Marianne802 Posts: 91 Member
    Here is an interesting article relating to your question.

    http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/10/cocktail-science-do-alcohol-calories-count-digesting-spirits.html
  • tuck1218
    tuck1218 Posts: 1 Member
    1400 calories of alcohol a day? Forget weight loss. Say good bye to your liver.
  • beccam83
    beccam83 Posts: 51 Member
    Everyone here's all judging like you're actually going to drink 1400kcal of alcohol a day even though you said hypothetically smh.. The link Marianne posted is spot on :)
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    My SIL is an alcoholic. She's really thin. She can easily drink 1400 calories of wine. Luckily she's in rehab now.

    I think drinking occasionally so long as you're within your calories is fine, but obviously drinking too often isn't healthy, within calories or not.

    I drank a lot when I was at university. I'm British, and going to the uni bar every evening is just part of our student culture. I spent my third year of university in France, and there was a big crowd of foreign students, and we all hung out together, so I drank a lot that year. Every year of university I got thinner and thinner. Had I been having big meals every evening instead of wine, martini, cocktails etc, I'm not sure I'd have ended up thinner!
  • Marianne802
    Marianne802 Posts: 91 Member
    I also know a few alcoholics and they are all thin. Though I have noticed that none of them eat when they are on a drinking binge (I call it "on a mission").

    I personnaly can't do that. If I drink I need to nibble. When I was young this was not the case. I went clubbing, drank lots and danced all night. Now a drinking session involves sitting around at a BBQ in front of a plate of nibblies. So maybe it isn't the alcohol.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    So. Basically what I gather from that article is if you drink several drinks really fast, only the first one counts for your calories! Lol

    Not really, I would not over complicate this. I'd just log your drinks as normal.
  • Marianne802
    Marianne802 Posts: 91 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    So. Basically what I gather from that article is if you drink several drinks really fast, only the first one counts for your calories! Lol

    Not really, I would not over complicate this. I'd just log your drinks as normal.

    haha. As I said, the alcoholic friends I know binge and don't eat and they are not over weight. Can't speculate on what other health problems they have though.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    edited March 2015
    MrM27 wrote: »

    I'm not sure how you can say strictly a numbers game it's the same. You can't look at it in terms of just a numbers game. You are comparing alcohol which the body will do everything it can to get rid of and at the same time it's stops metabilozing all the other macronutrients to what it would do to a steak. It is completely different. How long will it take her body to get rid of 1400 calories in alcohol?

    In terms of pure weight loss vs. weight gain (which is all she is asking about) it is a numbers game. If you intake fewer calories than you burn over a given period of time, you will lose weight. If you intake more, you'll gain weight. She stated in her OP that she understands the macronutrient component will not be comparable in 1400 of whatever drink vs 1400 calories of steak.

    In terms of overall health of course it is better intake those calories in the form of food, but as far as losing weight goes, it is the same thing.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I definitely seem to lose weight faster when I'm not drinking even when I log every single drink and calorie. I have MFP set up for me to lose .5 pounds a week and when I drink I loose the .5 pounds a week.... But when I don't drink in a week, I loose 1 pound (sometimes more).... But ohhhhhhh I love my wine so much I'll take my slow weight lose.
  • NEWMEKELLIB
    NEWMEKELLIB Posts: 49 Member
    edited March 2015
    For me, I like social drinking....but when I am truely being on my game calorie counting I dont waste it on alcohol...
    I also am not the type to have one or two drinks more like 5-8 and get bombed...I dont have that tipsy filter so maybe thats my problem...but when I find my self drinking once a week like that I loose focus a few days after ...eat the wrong food for my diets and boom! there goes the 5 pounds I stuggled so hard to lose! goes right back where it came from....
    Also Alcohol dehydrates your body...for me I feel so puffy after... I do firmly believe in CICO..but alcohol henders me from every angle.
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    That hypothetical makes no sense at all. First of all you did drink that much every day then you should be concerned about your drinking habits and seek professional help. To ask if it would result in the same weight loss isn't a comparable example. 1400 calories in alcohol does not provide you with the nutrition you need at all. No fat, no protein, no micronutrients. You would be extremely unhealthy due to lack of nutrition not to mention the bunch of alcohol you're drinking.

    And in case you were not aware, while the body is metabolizing alcohol it's stop metabolizing all macronutrients.

    I think you totally missed the point. The OP already admitted that alcohol has no macro or micronutrients.

    Have we received a good answer yet? I'm totally curious as well. In terms of weight loss, does a calorie of alcohol equal a calorie of any other food?

  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    I have heard that the body stops metabolizing fat while dealing with alcohol, so binge drinking prevents weight loss from happening until your body is rid of it.
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  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    tuck1218 wrote: »
    1400 calories of alcohol a day? Forget weight loss. Say good bye to your liver.

    Ehh... That isn't hard for me to do. I have no trouble hanging out at my local brewpub for a couple hours and knock back 3-4 large beers in that time. 1500 calories easy. And usually over enough time that I don't even get past a buzz.
  • Ohwhynot
    Ohwhynot Posts: 356 Member
    ITT: everyone thinks OP is gonna quit eating and become a raging alcoholic
  • klkateri
    klkateri Posts: 432 Member
    From what I've learned is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, be it from a carrot a steak a pizza or a beer. I log all my drinks when I go out but I do have a cheat sheet on my phone of what spirits are lowest calorie and pair them with ice, water or diet soda/red bull. I've also learned that dark beers generally have less calories than lighter beers (Think Guinness v. Coors) with the added bonus that Coors you can pound (Higher calorie intake) while if you do that with a Guinness you will feel like you ate a loaf of bread (lower calorie intake) in a sitting!! So you sip a dark beer and therefore, generally take in fewer calories than if you spend a night pounding down the light beers.

    Also, I notice if I go out and drink I'm generally up and talking, walking around, playing pool or darts, dancing... I don't tend to just sit and drink, even at a BBQ.
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    HAS anyone said it's clear calorie vs. calorie? That's what I want to know.
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    JustinAnimal wrote: »
    HAS anyone said it's clear calorie vs. calorie? That's what I want to know.

    The serious eats link above suggests that perhaps in this particular case a calorie of alcohol might not actually be a calorie in terms of metabolic effect. True or not, I can't say, but the article is at least worth a read and some thought.
  • tinascar2015
    tinascar2015 Posts: 413 Member
    The OP said in her original question that it was only hypothetical. She isn't thinking of having 1400 calories worth of an alcoholic drink. She wants to know if there would be a metabolic difference between consuming just alcohol or just food. I don't know, but I do think the nutritional aspect is very important.

    I rarely drank even before I began this diet, but I used to drink more often and it always impaired my judgement about food. Some former smokers want to smoke when they drink. I wanted to eat burgers and onion rings.
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  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    JustinAnimal wrote: »
    MrM27 wrote: »
    JustinAnimal wrote: »
    MrM27 wrote: »
    That hypothetical makes no sense at all. First of all you did drink that much every day then you should be concerned about your drinking habits and seek professional help. To ask if it would result in the same weight loss isn't a comparable example. 1400 calories in alcohol does not provide you with the nutrition you need at all. No fat, no protein, no micronutrients. You would be extremely unhealthy due to lack of nutrition not to mention the bunch of alcohol you're drinking.

    And in case you were not aware, while the body is metabolizing alcohol it's stop metabolizing all macronutrients.

    I think you totally missed the point. The OP already admitted that alcohol has no macro or micronutrients.

    Have we received a good answer yet? I'm totally curious as well. In terms of weight loss, does a calorie of alcohol equal a calorie of any other food?

    Alcohol by many people is considered the 4th or 5th macronutrient.

    I would then ask someone in this thread that say it is clear cut calorie vs calorie, how long would the OP's body take to remove 1400 calories of alcohol from her body? During that time what is it doing with stored body fat or glycogen? Is any of it burned off?

    No one's claiming anything. We're asking. Again, I think you're missing the point, although you have a terrific urge to argue about it.

    No i'm not missing the point. I'm looking at it from the angle from which the body breaks down those calories and the functions it's performing meanwhile.

    Why don't you answer my questions?

    Do you think the two calorie counts are just calories vs calories?

    Dude, I don't know how to make it any more clear. I'm saying I don't know. I'm asking and I'd like a clear answer. I'm not arguing, I'm asking.
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    glevinso wrote: »
    JustinAnimal wrote: »
    HAS anyone said it's clear calorie vs. calorie? That's what I want to know.

    The serious eats link above suggests that perhaps in this particular case a calorie of alcohol might not actually be a calorie in terms of metabolic effect. True or not, I can't say, but the article is at least worth a read and some thought.

    Thanks! I didn't see the link above and will check that out.
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    I could be wrong (as I sped through the article), but I think it says you can't gain as much weight if you are pounding shots. Your liver won't have time to digest it and get all of the energy, so you pee it out.

    In short: weekend plans confirmed.
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