Wine

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mamnavarro
mamnavarro Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Has anyone noticed a significant increase in weight loss after decreasing their wine intake?

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  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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    I did cut it out when I first started and until I was close to goal. However, during maintenance, I've tried cutting it and having it, and saw no difference in my weight. I also wasn't logging my food at that time. I'm not really sure if I ate less to compensate or what. 🤷‍♀️
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,838 Member
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    When I'm logging (as I've been doing for 5 years now), I notice no difference in weight whether my calorie-appropriate eating/drinking includes wine, or not. If I drink too much wine, or too often, my energy level and ambition can suffer. I'm sure that if I kept it up, my resulting inactivity would result in lower calorie expenditure, and slowed weight loss. No idea whether that's true for others, or not.
  • mamnavarro
    mamnavarro Posts: 7 Member
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    Thank you all.
  • leannehathaway1
    leannehathaway1 Posts: 72 Member
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    I’ve been wondering this too. If I stay within my calorie goal it shouldn’t matter what I’m consuming right? I just worry about the sugar and how our body metabolizes alcohol vs food.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,987 Member
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    leannehathaway1 wrote: »
    I’ve been wondering this too. If I stay within my calorie goal it shouldn’t matter what I’m consuming right? I just worry about the sugar and how our body metabolizes alcohol vs food.

    Calories are all that matter for weight loss...it doesn't matter where those calories come from. Some people do see a gain in water weight after consuming alcohol, but that's temporary.

    Of course, you still need to get proper nutrition, so it wouldn't be too healthy if your wine calories crowded out actual food.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    I did cut it out when I first started and until I was close to goal. However, during maintenance, I've tried cutting it and having it, and saw no difference in my weight. I also wasn't logging my food at that time. I'm not really sure if I ate less to compensate or what. 🤷‍♀️

    I definitely eat more when I cut out wine. I also echo the thoughts that (1) as long as my calories are at goal, my weight follows accordingly no matter how much wine I have, and (2) too much wine and I stop caring about the calorie goal.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,838 Member
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    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    leannehathaway1 wrote: »
    I’ve been wondering this too. If I stay within my calorie goal it shouldn’t matter what I’m consuming right? I just worry about the sugar and how our body metabolizes alcohol vs food.

    Calories are all that matter for weight loss...it doesn't matter where those calories come from. Some people do see a gain in water weight after consuming alcohol, but that's temporary.

    Of course, you still need to get proper nutrition, so it wouldn't be too healthy if your wine calories crowded out actual food.

    It can be unhealthy even if it doesn't crowd out essential nutrition. (That's an unlikely scenario, but can occur in someone with a higher calorie allowance, or a willingness to gain.)

    Alcohol is really not that great for us in any amount, health-wise, realistically . . . and i say this as a person who consumes alcoholic drinks myself sometime during an average week. People cite the health benefits of red wine in particular, but there's reason to believe grape juice would have pretty similar benefits.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,838 Member
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    leannehathaway1 wrote: »
    I’ve been wondering this too. If I stay within my calorie goal it shouldn’t matter what I’m consuming right? I just worry about the sugar and how our body metabolizes alcohol vs food.

    I'd suggest people would be best served (health wise) by prioritizing really good nutrition, and putting alcohol in the "treats after nutrition" category. If you're in a calorie deficit, you'll lose fat even with alcohol, but that's not really the only consideration IMO. YMMV.

    Think of the metabolization as putting the harvesting of food calories on hold, until the alcohol calories are processed. (Cartoon version, but close enough.) If there's an overall calorie deficit, the energy's got to come from somewhere, and the answer is almost always going to be that it comes from stored body fat.

    Sugar is not the devil. If you read the text that goes with recommendations (for added sugar) from bodies like USDA and WHO, the reasons for limiting tend to be
    (1) It's easy to consume too many calories when eating lots of added sugar, if simultaneously getting adequate nutrition;
    (2) It's easy to get inadequate nutrition when eating lots of added sugar, if simultaneously sticking with sensible calories; and
    (3) More sugar increases risk of things like dental cavities.

    In an otherwise healthy person (not diabetic or insulin resistant, for example), the modern nonsense about the destructive horrors of insulin spikes is mostly just trendy nonsense. If the sugar's consumed with other nutrients, the effects are moderated, anyway.

    If you get excellent nutrition at sensible calories, and practice good dental hygiene, sugar intake is fairly meaningless, absent relevant health conditions. (There may be a little water weight. It's not fat, so meh.)
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,990 Member
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    It all depends on how much wine you were drinking before you stopped/reduced the amount you drank.

    My wine consumption has never been a significant problem for me. I consume about 250-375 cals/day in wine and/or hard liquor but I log what I drink along w/all of the food I eat daily, which allows me to maintain my weight w/o altering my alcohol consumption.

    However, before I made it my goal to lose/maintain weight, I was drinking 4-6 cans of beer AND 6-8 cans of soda that I stocked in my frig EVERYDAY. That was equal to about 500-750 cals/beer and 700-1000 cals/soda per DAY.

    Stopped drinking soda entirely (haven't had a soda in over 5 years) and only drink a beer now when I go out to eat.

    So, it was no surprise that when I stopped drinking all of that stuff that the weight rapidly came off (lost 40# in just 6 months) and kept off the weight by not drinking any soda and as much beer anymore.

    And, it would be no surprise if someone who was drinking a lot of wine previously lost weight after they reduced their comsumption of wine later.
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
    edited October 2020
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    (...) Alcohol is really not that great for us in any amount, health-wise, realistically . . . and i say this as a person who consumes alcoholic drinks myself sometime during an average week. People cite the health benefits of red wine in particular, but there's reason to believe grape juice would have pretty similar benefits.

    As someone who's sipping some brandy as he writes this... I really hate when people go "wine/beer/bottom-shelf vodka/whatever is good for you". Just fess up to drinking because you enjoy it and move on.

    Vices are for man like spices for food: too much is bad but, within limits, it's more than fine (if not particularly useful).
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
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    leannehathaway1 wrote: »
    I’ve been wondering this too. If I stay within my calorie goal it shouldn’t matter what I’m consuming right? I just worry about the sugar and how our body metabolizes alcohol vs food.

    Yes, as long as you're in a calorie deficit it's fine. I just wouldn't make 50% of your calories alcohol or something.
    I will mention, though, that the times I had a little more to drink, I was prone to binge on sweets and crunchy snacks. This is why having margaritas at a restaurant that bring free chips and salsa is a horrible idea for me. I gained a lot of weight doing stuff like that. Now I only maybe have 1 glass of alcohol at the most.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,990 Member
    edited October 2020
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    Slacker16 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    (...) Alcohol is really not that great for us in any amount, health-wise, realistically . . . and i say this as a person who consumes alcoholic drinks myself sometime during an average week. People cite the health benefits of red wine in particular, but there's reason to believe grape juice would have pretty similar benefits.

    As someone who's sipping some brandy as he writes this... I really hate when people go "wine/beer/bottom-shelf vodka/whatever is good for you". Just fess up to drinking because you enjoy it and move on.

    Vices are for man like spices for food: too much is bad but, within limits, it's more than fine (if not particularly useful).

    Here, here!!

    I'm drinking a glass of 2003 Silver Oak Cab and am smoking a Aroma de Cuba robusto cigar as I read this while sitting in my backyard enjoying the sun and listening to "oldies" on my iPod . :)

    Life is TOO short not to enjoy it as much as possible. ;)
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
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    Slacker16 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    (...) Alcohol is really not that great for us in any amount, health-wise, realistically . . . and i say this as a person who consumes alcoholic drinks myself sometime during an average week. People cite the health benefits of red wine in particular, but there's reason to believe grape juice would have pretty similar benefits.

    As someone who's sipping some brandy as he writes this... I really hate when people go "wine/beer/bottom-shelf vodka/whatever is good for you". Just fess up to drinking because you enjoy it and move on.

    Vices are for man like spices for food: too much is bad but, within limits, it's more than fine (if not particularly useful).

    Same here. I hate that about any food in general, though. I have friends who love avocados (I don’t) and constantly tell me I should eat them because they're good for me. Nah..I'll stick to other fat sources I actually enjoy, thanks.

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