Alcohol Calories

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sf051
sf051 Posts: 13 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So, I;m using MFP to lose weight with the simple calculation of food in - calories burned = deficit! Simple! However, I like a drink (socially and with dinner at night). My question is, is 1500kcals from all food or 1000kcals from food and 500kcals from alcohol, is it the same???

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    For weight loss purposes, it's pretty much the same. The key thing to be aware of is that it will be difficult to meet your nutritional needs with 1,000 calories of food and 500 of alcohol (since alcohol has very few nutrients). If you're doing this for one day, no big deal. But people who do this regularly may not be getting everything they need nutritionally.

    Some people find that a night of heavier drinking leads to temporary water weight gain (while others find it actually makes them drop on the scale). So that is something to be aware of.
  • BigNate17
    BigNate17 Posts: 65 Member
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    Not exactly... alcohol provides no nutritional value except for calories and can actually have a negative effect on your metabolism because unlike proteins, carbs, and fats your body doesn't have anywhere to store alcohol and it will actually work on getting it out of your system before metabolizing other macronutrients.

    While research has shown that moderate intake of alcohol can actually provide certain health benefits, I would certainly advise against consuming 1/3 of your daily caloric requirements to alcohol.

    Short-term if tracked correctly (remember 1g alcohol = 7 calories) 1500 calories from food and 1000 from food+500 from alcohol won't make much of a difference, but in the long term can be detrimental to your diet.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    oh just open the bottle and drink! BOTTOMS UP!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    I'm a firm believer in fitting in your treats but when I'm actively trying to lose, alcohol is one of the first things to get drastically limited. I don't drink every night and when I do, I don't drink as much. Otherwise I get hungry, and after a couple of drinks I end up eating too much anyway. So I might have a beer or glass of wine with dinner once or twice a week, and a couple of times a month I go over my calories to have a couple of drinks socially.

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