alcohol

sizco30
sizco30 Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've tried IF over the months but i really never had any luck because i would drink hard liquor on the weekend.. im reading ur body burns the alcohol before it burns ur fat which could take up to 48 hours depending how much you drink (which i was drinking alot) im going cold turkey and quitting completely. has anyone notice stopped DRINKING if it helped with weight loss? i know you have to watch the calories you consume but even then i was wondering if weight comes off slower if ur consuming alcohol?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    edited May 2019
    Just be careful going cold turkey if you've been a heavy drinker.

    It can kill you.

    https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-1/61-66.pdf
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    sizco30 wrote: »
    I've tried IF over the months but i really never had any luck because i would drink hard liquor on the weekend.. im reading ur body burns the alcohol before it burns ur fat which could take up to 48 hours depending how much you drink (which i was drinking alot) im going cold turkey and quitting completely. has anyone notice stopped DRINKING if it helped with weight loss? i know you have to watch the calories you consume but even then i was wondering if weight comes off slower if ur consuming alcohol?

    I always found that my weight came off slower even if I was including the calories in my daily quota. I think part of that was that I was just not as energetic the following day and moved a lot less over all, which affected the daily burn by a couple hundred calories. I agree with suggestions to get a professional consultation about stopping if you have been drinking heavily on the weekends, not only to ensure you stop drinking safely but also to help you live happily without the weekend drinking. You can decide after the consultation whether some kind of ongoing support will be helpful to you or not. Good luck!
  • sizco30
    sizco30 Posts: 15 Member
    Yeah, well i can drink one weekend and skip the next weekend its not like i HAVE to have it. i guess i drink out of bordom i don't see myself having a problem or having to seek help for the problem i mean i don't have withdraws or anything.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    sizco30 wrote: »
    I've tried IF over the months but i really never had any luck because i would drink hard liquor on the weekend.. im reading ur body burns the alcohol before it burns ur fat which could take up to 48 hours depending how much you drink (which i was drinking alot) im going cold turkey and quitting completely. has anyone notice stopped DRINKING if it helped with weight loss? i know you have to watch the calories you consume but even then i was wondering if weight comes off slower if ur consuming alcohol?

    To me, enough alcohol to fuel your body for 48 hours would be a lot of alcohol. Somewhere over 3000 for most people (and for some people a lot over 3000 cals). That's in the neighborhood of 50 fl. oz. of hard liquor, about a liter and a half, or close to two "fifth" bottles if you're in the U.S.-- the bottles that are about the same size as a standard wine bottle).

    I think it has an effect beyond the calories you track from the alcohol for several reasons:

    (1) If you're drinking that much, how likely is it that you're accurately remembering and recording how much you're drinking -- maybe if you're drinking alone at home and looking at the empties, but if you go out or drinking with other people, probably not.

    (2) If you're drinking that much, how likely is it that you're accurately remembering and recording how much you're eating while you're drinking?

    (3) If you're drinking that much, you're probably burning fewer calories that if you were engaged in some more active past-time for the period that you're drinking, for any extra hours you spend sleeping it off, and for the time you may feel hung-over the next day.

    (4) Even after you feel like you're roughly back to normal, maybe you're still taking it easier than you normally would.

    You say you can drink one weekend and skip the next. What does your physical activity look like on the weekends you skip, and even into the beginning of the following week, compared to the weekend you (as you say) drink "a lot"?
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    It’s true bodies use alcohol calories first, storing calories from other macros until alcohol processed, but that by itself doesn’t slow fat loss vs. no alcohol assuming total caloric intake is the same. To answer your question, OP, I have not personally noticed that I lose faster with or without alcohol for the same calories consumed— and I’ve done both ways. Comments about accuracy of intake recording and lower activity the next day are true for me, too. Plus, I’m super hungry (with low self moderation ability) following a big alcohol day. Don’t know if it is elevated ghrelin & depressed leptin associated with insufficient sleep, but it FEELS like that even when I think I sleep fine.

    I always want more in the moment, but things just go better for me when I stop after 2 (as a smallish female). I also quit drinking during the week, mostly because those were the easiest calories to cut. Everyone finds their own balance. Best to you, OP.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    ogtmama wrote: »
    Giving up alcohol put my weightloss into hyperdrive. No empty calories from the drinks, no lowered inhibitions causing extra eating, higher energy rate and natural movement the next day❤

    In fact the difference was so amazing I gave it up permanently

    This. Exactly. Except once in a blue moon. And even then, I almost always stop at one.
  • dmanakho
    dmanakho Posts: 143 Member
    Stopping drinking alcohol does help a lot. I was struggling to shed fat, but once i limited alcohol consumption to one drink every other week the fat burn accelerated greatly.
  • wannabeskinnycat
    wannabeskinnycat Posts: 205 Member
    edited May 2019
    Hi Sizco30

    As others have said, there are a lot of empty calories in alcohol with very few benefits (other than getting pished :smiley:) and these can add up scarily quickly. Then there's the extra calories you consume whilst drinking or the next day, with the potential for less activity etc.

    The liver is responsible for the metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbs and alcohol isn't any of them. The liver also breaks down alcohol as a toxin but once this starts it stops metabolising fats, proteins and carbs. Depending what was used to make the alcohol and anything it's mixed with, there's more fats, proteins and carbs to add to the list for when the liver is ready to metabolise again.

    I don't drink anymore for medical reasons but I do miss it. And I'm also a bit scared when I remember how much I could drink when I put my mind to it.

    Good luck finding your right balance x

    ETA to answer your question :smile: I also do 5:2 IF and it's easier to lose weight now than when I was drinking and 5:2 IF.
  • BeezBeez
    BeezBeez Posts: 41 Member
    I didn't think I was drinking very much, but when I cut it out completely, I debloated completely over the course of 2 or 3 weeks. My face really thinned out and the places where I was holding fat started shifting around. I'm still working on the weight loss part, but I lost the first 6 pounds pretty quickly. I've also noticed that I don't snack on as much junk food, although I do have to keep an eye on my sugar cravings.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
    Alcohol is always the first thing to get cut out of my diet when I’m trying to lose, except for occasional special occasions.

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