Alcohol
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bennyg1973
Posts: 40 Member
So I was wondering how much alcohol prevents you from losing fat? Like if you have 2-3 beers a day? Would quitting that (obviously good to do) make weight loss easier?
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Yep. 3 beers is in the neighborhood of 400 calories, for bottle beer, pints would be more. Adequate protein and putting some resistance against our muscle mass increases muscle protein synthesis, which helps build muscle and in a deficit will minimally help to maintain our overall lean mass which translates, on a percentage basis, to more fat lose. cheers.1
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Ive read that alcohol can stop fat burning for 12-36 hours?0
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On an individual basis it's not going to be possible to quantify exactly how much difference - if any - it makes over (say) the same calories in actual food, but 2-3 drinks daily is marginally excessive regardless - and especially if they are high alcohol per volume, craft beers/ales or pints. Not only do the calories add up but it leads to poor food choices during and usually after drinking. It just makes it harder.
There is really no downside to stopping drinking or at least limiting it to the recommended guidelines, regardless of weight loss.3 -
Alcohol is the primary source of energy when you ingest it - overall it's still about the total amount of calories though.
Found this article about it:
https://dirt-to-dinner.com/does-alcohol-stop-us-from-burning-fat/
I find alcohol is terrible for my exercise performance, so I limit it as much as possible (I didn't drink much before, once every few weeks, even less now)1 -
If you drink while trying to lose fat Vodka is low in calories as long as you mix it with a zero calorie soda.
Regardless, alcohol has calories and no nutritional value and as calories get low it gets to be more problematic plus alcohol is a poison to the body so best just to stay away from it4 -
Ive read that alcohol can stop fat burning for 12-36 hours?
It will generally stop fat burning until your body uses up the alcohol calories, as your body doesn't have a mechanism to store it, so it will preferentially rely on the alcohol.
In the long run, the effect on fat storage is determined by calories consumed and expended.4 -
Guinness is the exception to the rule, it's a meal lol..Cheers3
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »Ive read that alcohol can stop fat burning for 12-36 hours?
It will generally stop fat burning until your body uses up the alcohol calories, as your body doesn't have a mechanism to store it, so it will preferentially rely on the alcohol.
In the long run, the effect on fat storage is determined by calories consumed and expended.
Yep, exactly this. Because alcohol is a toxin, your body prioritizes getting it processed and through your system, and minimizes processing anything else until the alcohol is processed.2 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Ive read that alcohol can stop fat burning for 12-36 hours?
It will generally stop fat burning until your body uses up the alcohol calories, as your body doesn't have a mechanism to store it, so it will preferentially rely on the alcohol.
In the long run, the effect on fat storage is determined by calories consumed and expended.
Anything you consume will stop fat burning for the most part. Recently consumed calories are burned before fat. We are alway burning a combo of some recent calories and to a lesser extent stored fat however its the newest, unburned calories that go first.
As mentioned above it will always be about calorie balance in the long run1 -
Weight management and fitness are both way easier when you cut back or cut out alcohol in my experience...actually pretty much everything in life is easier without alcohol. Not to say that bug doesn't get me from time to time though.4
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If alcohol fits into your daily calories and you’re getting adequate nutrition from the rest of your calories and it’s that important to you to have 2-3 beers, go for it. But…
What if you didn’t have those beers and lost an extra few pounds a month? Is it still important to you?
What if you could have an ice cream sundae every day instead? Is beer still worth it?
No judgment here. It’s all about choices. Figure out what you want the most. I was an every-day wine drinker. It was habit more than desire for me, and I had to break that habit. I still drink sometimes, just not every day.3 -
I consumed some alcohol during weight loss, and somewhat more now in maintenance.
From a weight loss perspective, the calories behave just like any other calories in the big picture - no matter in what order they're burned off, if you're in a true calorie deficit overall, fat is going to be burned sooner or later to make up that deficit.
Health wise, alcohol is strictly speaking a poison (if a subjectively maybe-fun one), and it makes zero positive health or nutrition contribution. When we're eating fewer calories, so it's already a bit harder to fit in optimal nutrition, that may matter extra much.
On top of that, alcohol can:
* impair our food logging accuracy (so hinder weight loss in that way if calorie counting),
* lower our impulse control (so we're more likely to fall for tempting high-calorie/low-nutrition treat foods),
* cause sluggishness later if even mildly over-consumed (so we drag through our day burning fewer calories than we would otherwise),
* and more.
Generally, alcohol doesn't improve the odds of successful weight loss, and may reduce those odds. Whether to consume some or not will remain an individual decision.2 -
Thank you for all your helpful information and comments!3
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I consumed some alcohol during weight loss, and somewhat more now in maintenance.
From a weight loss perspective, the calories behave just like any other calories in the big picture - no matter in what order they're burned off, if you're in a true calorie deficit overall, fat is going to be burned sooner or later to make up that deficit.
Health wise, alcohol is strictly speaking a poison (if a subjectively maybe-fun one), and it makes zero positive health or nutrition contribution. When we're eating fewer calories, so it's already a bit harder to fit in optimal nutrition, that may matter extra much.
On top of that, alcohol can:
* impair our food logging accuracy (so hinder weight loss in that way if calorie counting),
* lower our impulse control (so we're more likely to fall for tempting high-calorie/low-nutrition treat foods),
* cause sluggishness later if even mildly over-consumed (so we drag through our day burning fewer calories than we would otherwise),
* and more.
Generally, alcohol doesn't improve the odds of successful weight loss, and may reduce those odds. Whether to consume some or not will remain an individual decision.
All of the bolded was certainly true for me. I now drink just on rare special occasions, out of the house.2 -
The way i think about it is this; My liver will processes alcohol before anything else.. and that means fat. So.. when I drink I'm aware i am not burning fat. If i do drink while i'm eating.. say at dinner.. wine coctails that kind of thing. I eat low fat.. like shrimp cocktail...because it won't put weight on me. If i was eating fries and burger.. yup.. i'd gain or not lose for sure.2
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elisa123gal wrote: »The way i think about it is this; My liver will processes alcohol before anything else.. and that means fat. So.. when I drink I'm aware i am not burning fat. If i do drink while i'm eating.. say at dinner.. wine coctails that kind of thing. I eat low fat.. like shrimp cocktail...because it won't put weight on me. If i was eating fries and burger.. yup.. i'd gain or not lose for sure.
I don't think that's how it works.10 -
you aren’t burning fat regardless of the alcohol. You burn recently ingested food first. Fat is burned when there is no immediate energy available. That can be food or alcohol.elisa123gal wrote: »The way i think about it is this; My liver will processes alcohol before anything else.. and that means fat. So.. when I drink I'm aware i am not burning fat. If i do drink while i'm eating.. say at dinner.. wine coctails that kind of thing. I eat low fat.. like shrimp cocktail...because it won't put weight on me. If i was eating fries and burger.. yup.. i'd gain or not lose for sure.
What won’t put weight on you is not taking in more weekly calories than you burn.
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I think IF is a good way to burn fat.1
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tomcustombuilder wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »Ive read that alcohol can stop fat burning for 12-36 hours?
It will generally stop fat burning until your body uses up the alcohol calories, as your body doesn't have a mechanism to store it, so it will preferentially rely on the alcohol.
In the long run, the effect on fat storage is determined by calories consumed and expended.
Anything you consume will stop fat burning for the most part. Recently consumed calories are burned before fat. We are alway burning a combo of some recent calories and to a lesser extent stored fat however its the newest, unburned calories that go first.
As mentioned above it will always be about calorie balance in the long run
Yes, but if you ate pretzels or peanuts or nachos or sliders or whatever constitutes bar food in your neighborhood with all the alcohol, your body is going to preferentially rely on the alcohol for energy as opposed to carbs, fat, and protein you consumed at the same time.0 -
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