Alcohol Tips?

I used to drink a lot and it did concern me how it may effect my health. I had a scan about a year ago now (for nothing serious) and they checked my liver and kidneys, which were fine. For me right then I decided to cut down on alcohol to make sure I could stay healthy, which I cut down to just once a fortnight and now I haven't had any since February. I don't go out drinking on a night out though so that helps a lot and with meals out I just opt for non alcoholic drinks. It can be hard with other people drinking around me, but then I remind myself one drink will turn into many for me and I'll lose control of what I'm eating and totally regret it and it won't be worth it for a few hours of being drunk/tipsy.

I drink about 6 (25ml)wisky with diet coke every Saturday. I try to fit my drinks within my weekly calories goal and so far I lose as I should according to mfp.

There are lots of successful people here who drink moderately.

However, there are plenty of non-weight-related reasons to stop drinking excessively. When I was a heavy drinker I experienced the majority of the negative consequences listed here: https://www.ncadd.org/get-help/take-the-test/am-i-alcoholic-self-test

As far as losing weight goes:
- Having more than a drink or two makes me want to eat more and lowers my ability to stick to my plan
- I don't sleep well so am not up for exercise the next day
- Not sleeping well also makes me crave carbs and want to overeat in general

jadorade91 wrote: »

I've been told by a few people that it is "basically impossible" to lose weight if you drink alcohol, because it slows down your metabolism so drastically. Do you guys agree with that?

What I have heard, which could be wrong, is that the body metabolizes the alcohol first and food calories get stored. I would like to know if this is true.

Alcohol is exceptionally calorie dense. It's harder to lose weight because it takes up all your calories. But I would rather lose .5 pounds a week and be drink and happy than to lose 1 or more pounds a week and end up murdering someone.

DebSozo wrote: »

jadorade91 wrote: »

I've been told by a few people that it is "basically impossible" to lose weight if you drink alcohol, because it slows down your metabolism so drastically. Do you guys agree with that?

What I have heard, which could be wrong, is that the body metabolizes the alcohol first and food calories get stored. I would like to know if this is true.

Doesn't matter even if it were true. What "order" you digest your calories in would have no affect whatsoever on whether or not you are in a caloric deficit.

If I am 500 calories below my TDEE after having consumed 2000 calories and those calories were a mix of protein, fat, carbs and alcohol does it really matter if my body metabolized the alcohol before everything else? For anyone who believes the order matters could you explain why?


I burn 2500 calories, I injested 2000 of them 500 alcohol, 500 fat, 500 protein and 500 carbs. I digest the alcohol first then the protein then the carbs then the fat or maybe the protein then the carbs then the fat then the alcohol. The end result is the same so it doesn't matter. I'm burning more than I am taking in so what order I burn them in doesn't matter because they all get burned anyways.

The statement "your body prioritizes metabolizing alcohol first so if you drink alcohol it will prevent your weight loss" doesn't actually make any sense if you think about it. If you drink so much alcohol that you are no longer in caloric deficit sure, but that could be said about any of the macros.

The only thing special about alcohol as a macro is that it is the one macro your body doesn't require. You need some carbs, you need some fats, you need some protein...you don't need alcohol.

One thing alcohol can do is irritate the GI tract, which in turn can inhibit the adequate absorption of micronutrients, minerals, etc.

Assuming that is the true that would have the opposite effect, that would mean all other things being equal if you consumed a certain number of calories and that included alcohol you would lose weight faster than if it had not included alcohol because the alcohol would have interefered with your ability to absorb calories and therefore you would have recieved fewer effective calories as a result.

Practically speaking though drinking a lot is a pretty good way to sabatoge trying to lose weight due to both lowered inhibitions and the fact that if there is such a thing as an "empty calorie" then alcohol is definately it.

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

One thing alcohol can do is irritate the GI tract, which in turn can inhibit the adequate absorption of micronutrients, minerals, etc.

Assuming that is the true that would have the opposite effect, that would mean all other things being equal if you consumed a certain number of calories and that included alcohol...

Note that I wrote "micronutrients." For example, there is evidence that heavy drinking is linked to low uptake of vitamin B and D (though D could be also because of the more nocturnal habits). I'm not sure it has any impact on macronutrient metabolization.

You might find this useful - http://getdrunknotfat.com/

If I drank on a regular basis, I would work the calories into my goal.