Weight Loss after Drinking

TrefG
TrefG Posts: 112 Member
edited October 6 in Health and Weight Loss
This is really strange.

I'm around 281 lbs and am eating 1200 calories per day. Also work out 3-4 times a week. My weight loss has always been a fairly consistant 2-3lb a week.

However on 25th November I went on a big night out and consumed around 3000 calories in alcohol. Next day i was expecting to see a big gain, but to my surprise I'd lost almost 3lb overnight. I assumed this would come straight back and put it down to dehydration - but it never did.

So I put it down as a one-off fluke.

Fast forward to this weekend, I was 281 on Friday, went out drinking on Saturday night and again consumed 3000+ calories in alcohol, Sunday morning I am down to 277 llbs. It's now late morning Monday, and I'm still 277 lbs.

What's going on here? I can't work out why a) I'm not gaining weight and b) Why such a large alcohol/calorie binge seems to lead to a very large (almost overnight) weight loss which doesnt then jump back up ??

I must say I AM NOT complaining :laugh: but it's really odd.

Any reasonable explainations?

Replies

  • QueenStromba
    QueenStromba Posts: 57 Member
    Alcohol seems to speed up the metabolic rate enough to pretty much cover the calories you get from it. As long as you aren't drinking beer or mixing your spirits with anything that has sugar in it (including fruit juice), you're probably not getting nearly as many calories from it as you think.

    http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholCaloriesAndWeight.html
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    Alcohol seems to speed up the metabolic rate enough to pretty much cover the calories you get from it. As long as you aren't drinking beer or mixing your spirits with anything that has sugar in it (including fruit juice), you're probably not getting nearly as many calories from it as you think.

    http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholCaloriesAndWeight.html
    Best. News. Ever! And I have to say it seems to hold true for me. When I'm on a health kick and drop booze altogether, I don't do as well as during moderate drinking weeks.
  • TrefG
    TrefG Posts: 112 Member
    I had a couple of bottles of cider, but generally I was on the shots all night.

    Good news if that's true though !
  • lessac
    lessac Posts: 105 Member
    As good metabolic boost as it may be, alcohol is a strong diuretic hence the move on the scale. Make sure you don't dehydrate yourself.
  • kykykenna
    kykykenna Posts: 656 Member
    Funny you asked this question......I ALWAYS weigh less after a night of a few drinks........beer, even! AWW HELL YEAH!!!:bigsmile:
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    unfortunately, alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant, I.E. it does NOT in any way boost the metabolism.

    As to why you suddenly lost weight overnight, 99% of the time this has to do with water weight. My guess would probably be the high liquid volumes helped flush out some of the excess sodium in your body, causing you to dramatically drop some water weight. Mind you, that's just a guess, you gave us little information to go on so I can't do any more than that.
  • Lotte34
    Lotte34 Posts: 429 Member
    Snap! I have usually lost about 2lb by the morning after. I as Lessac suggests, always thought this was a dehydration thing but it would appear not. I prefer the idea that it speeds up your metabolism. This is officially my excuse for one too many christmas Sherrys
  • linnapee
    linnapee Posts: 14 Member
    i thought it was just me! but yes, this happens all the time. i do generally try to have sugarfree mixers or just soda water, but i used to just put it down to the workout i get from walking around in heels all night and the amount of dancing that occurs! haha
  • leannemr
    leannemr Posts: 48
    Same has happened to me this weekend! I was 3lbs lighter on Sunday than I was on Friday! I didn't eat much though as most of it was drinking and dancing so that's probably why. I am fully expecting it to be back on by the end of the week as I resume normal routine of healthy eating and exercise!
  • TrefG
    TrefG Posts: 112 Member
    I'm not stupid enough to believe it's actual weight loss. I know it's not.

    Has to be something to do with dehydration/water retention.

    Just odd that it doesn't go back on in the days following.
  • monkeymouse74
    monkeymouse74 Posts: 288
    This happened to me this week. I had a glass of red wine on saturday night, lost 1kg 2.2Lb overnight. I thought it was just me, I dont usually drink much, and 1 glass of wine is about all I can manage without getting ratted. Cheep date..Lol:blushing:
  • lessac
    lessac Posts: 105 Member
    I'm not stupid enough to believe it's actual weight loss. I know it's not.

    Has to be something to do with dehydration/water retention.

    Just odd that it doesn't go back on in the days following.

    Sorry if I sounded offensive, didn't mean it :smile: It usually take a few days for tissues to be hydrated back unless you shed some excess water, depending on the climate and your activity rate as well as your water and electrolyte intake.

    I'm not saying all of the weight loss is just water by the way, but it's more noticeable especially with females (thanks to hormones we bloat like no tomorrow) hence it's almost always mostly water unless you do some crazy dancing :wink:
  • TrefG
    TrefG Posts: 112 Member
    No, no offence taken at all :laugh:

    I'm pretty sure it IS water related. Just trying to get to the bottom of why it happens, and why I don't seem to see a weight gain in the following few days.
  • kyle4jem
    kyle4jem Posts: 1,400 Member
    I still drink and have seen consistent weight loss week-on-week even on the weekends/days when I've had a few sherbets more than I'd planned.

    Then again, I find that spiking (going over calorie budget) has not resulted in any weight gain and only once did I stay the same. :happy:
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