Alcohol

[Ozzie65]

Good Evening. I've been on a weight loss journey for a little over a year. I am fairly new to Fitbit, but have been a loyal MyFitnessPal user. I am a runner and also try to lift weights at least 1-2 times per week. When I started , I was at my heaviest, around 202 pounds. I am currently 164, give or take. So, here's the question, I have completely changed the way I eat. I have cut out most fast food and am very strict about logging my food into MyFitnessPal. What I have not done is cut out my 1 to 2 drinks/glasses of wine per night. Like I said, I am currently in the 164 range. My goal weight is 155. I am really stuck. Although I am very active and sticking to my calorie intake, I am having trouble with these last few pounds. Could it be the alcohol? Thanks in advance
~Ozzie

[TreyMoran]

Reading about all the bad things that artificial sweetners and sodas in general do your health should be enough of a deterrent to get off them. It was for me. I was a Coke/Diet Coke addict for most of my life.  It wasn't uncommon for me to drink an entire 2 liter bottle of soda in an evening. Once i decided I needed to ne be a little more healthy I started reading on soda, sweeteners, sugar,etc... I quit cold turkey. I had quit before but it was more for the caffiene break than anything. This time it was for good. I don't crave them. I don't want them. I urge more people to stop drinking them. I feel so much better without them. 

[divedragon]

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@mackmiller wrote:

@divedragon...I've been doing the 16:8 for several weeks now and love it! However, I combine that with the bulletproof coffee with MCT oil that Dave Asprey talks about. So can I call that a complete fast? Not sure--Probably not. I feel awesome in the morning and since I cut out almost all sugars (except wine), my "sugar belly" has gone down and I just feel better. I even ran 4 miles today on just 1 cup of butter coffee this morning and felt great.

I'm interested to hear stories from others if they too are doing the butter coffee in the a.m.

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@mackmillersorry for the slow response time.  The sort of "key" element to determine if you're fasting or not is the calorie count. If your bullet proof coffee comes in under 50 calories, you're still fasting.  More than that you break the fast.  If you also practice Ketogenic diet, it will not kick you out of ketosis, but may slow your stored fat loss.

I have done the bullentproof coffee thing for about two weeks.  I personally didn't see a benefit from it, so I stopped.  I fast for many more reason than fat loss.  I do it for health reason and prefer not to consume ANY calories during the fasting period.  While all fasting is beneficial, the longer the fasting period, the faster you see the benefits.  I am currently doing 3 - ~36 hour fasts per week.  I eat normally, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  This is a recent change and seems to have helped.

I just did a canoe trip this past weekend where I paddled continuously for 3 hours.  I expected to be so sore as not to be able to lift my arms, but the only soreness I am actually experiencing is right by my shoulder blades.  Only very minor soarness in the arms and shoulders - guess those exercise bands do some good after all. 

Good luck on your fasting!

[Hellfreedumb]

the last few pounds (darn them), they are tough to lose. to lose those last few pounds one needs to shock his body to lose those last few pounds. To shock it one need to do exercises the body is not  accustomed to (not your usual running). Switch it up. do heavier weights, elliptical, biking, stair master, kick boxing. One also need to up the intensity of your work outs. While changing up the work out and increasing the intensity there also needs to be more caloric deficit maybe 200 kcals/day.

[rfc1995]

@mackmiller I know a lot of cyclists and ultra type folk who do butter coffee, and swear by it.  Personally, it seems a lot of "gear" for a cup of coffee to me, but if it works, more power (pun intended) to everyone.  I do black coffee in the morning before a workout, and that works fine for me.  I've been lengthening my intermittent fasts, in line with @divedragon 's helpful posts.  

At first I was a bit lethargic, but it's now pretty easy to fast for longer.  I've found the keys, for me, are 1) drinking a lot of water (helps for obvious reasons, plus satiates hunger some) and 2) when i break the fast, I make sure some of the liquid is stock, because of the electrolytes etc.  Like gatorade but without the sugar.  

I know some people drink pickle juice, but I'm not sure of the nutritional breakdown of that?

Happy BPC, though!

[rfc1995]

@Hellfreedumb good advice.  I agree that shocking the body can be very useful.  Whenever I hear that phrase, I think back to Arnold, who touted it, and hear it in his accent...

[SunsetRunner]

I would definitely shake it up and try different exercises, sticking to the same thing all the time can cause a plateau.  Something else I have done is cut out alcohol during the week.  It's unrealistic for me to give it up completely, but I keep it to Fri-Sat-Sun, instead.  Good luck!

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Howard,

I'm also a Fitbit user and do a lot of the same things that you do. I am also a certified beer judge, (yes there is such a thing), and like you I like a little drink during the week. 

I have personally found that when I am having alcohol during the week it is much harder for me to get the weight to come off. I had lost over 40 pounds and was on the last 5 pounds to get to my goal. I found those last few to be the hardest and, like you, I was having a few drinks during the week. Subsequently a suffered an injury and am just now coming back from it having gained back a few pounds. 

I have read articles on Men's Health that say the "gotcha" with alcohol is that your body sees it as a poison and reacts by processing the alcohol immediately. When you have a glass of wine for dinner, let's say, the alcohol is absorbed first and the dinner is stored as fat, (at least some of it). You can probably find this article on the Men's Health web site if you'd like to investigate further?

I'm limiting myself to Saturday for my indulgence of a few beers. I've found that, along with the healthy eating is working pretty well. Good luck getting to that goal and congratulations for your progress thus far! Way to go bud!

Best regards,

Dan

[Heybales]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

I have read articles on Men's Health that say the "gotcha" with alcohol is that your body sees it as a poison and reacts by processing the alcohol immediately. When you have a glass of wine for dinner, let's say, the alcohol is absorbed first and the dinner is stored as fat, (at least some of it). You can probably find this article on the Men's Health web site if you'd like to investigate further?

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it would be interesting if they have actual references to that comment - or just saying stuff.

Because that's not really an accurate way of putting it - and the effect is not correct either.

The fat is still stored as fat as it would have been otherwise. The other macro's are held in waiting - no conversion to fat is going on - as mentioned - body is busy getting rid of the toxin - not wasting time/energy on converting protein to carbs and then carbs to fat.

Unless the wine makes you eat way over what you should be - but then that's not a problem of the reactions but the effect of alcohol on eating portions.

Might look through this for some science based comments regarding the matter.

http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html

https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/muscleheads-guide-to-alcohol

[Beanpole]

Ozzie65.  The short answer is no.  Your body is like any thermodynamic engine.  Stored energy = Energy in minus (work done plus heat out).  Though alcohol calories may be easier to metabolize compared to say, fat and a few less calories are lost in digestion, the difference is not significant.  Besides, most medicos recommend  a glass or two of wine daily because it helps in so many other ways.  Skoal!

[AtavistAnimus]

Cut all alcohol for the 30 days. Most weight loss programs (especially those that focus on shedding belly fat) will recommend 30-day abstinence from alcohol. I use to drink to intoxication every week and still lost a considerable amount of weight (343ish-270ish in about 4-5 months) and I imagine what kind of progress I could have made if I didn't drink so heavily.

Personally, I don't touch the stuff period. But that's more due to a bigger issue I have with alcohol. I balooned back up to about 320 when I switched shifts at work to a very early morning shift and I would use every excuse in the book not to work out after I was done at 2:30pm. Combine that with antidepressant medication, a terrible diet and boom. Back over 300. 

I'm seeing slow, but consistent progress. I'm still above 300, but I can feel progress in my day to day activities. Sorry for going on and on about myself. But that's what I recommend when it comes to alcohol. 

[StealthNinja]

Good luck with the change.  Generally no matter what alcohol has twice the energy content of an equivalent amount of carbs or sugar by weight.  Choice of beverage plays a very big role in total energy consumption and weight loss success.

[Heyann]

As for quitting diet cola, have you tried flavored setlzer? That's what helped me cut way down on soda, but still get the refreshing, bubbly drink I was craving.

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

I do agree considering all the "bad" stuff I have read about in the diet colas.  So, goodbye diet cola drinking.  Any encouragement will be helpful as soda has been in my family since I was a young child (family managed an arcade; junk was at my disposal).  

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[josephz2va]

It also depends on the potency of the wine and whether or not you're actually drinking 2 glasses and the delierious effects that comes with alcohol. According to this poster, a full bottle is 750 calories for wine. But your body is not able to absorb that much wine without the effects that come with it. Nor beer because the alcohol plus bad foods transfers to fat percentage. Knowing me I was drinking wine one time, and I know the amount I drank was 12 servings of wine based on this poster. So I know I really need to cut back.

I'm drinking the michelob ultra, but I definitely know I really need to quit because I drank 6 bottles of 100 calorie beer. 600 calories total is bad. Plus in total of 40 carbs transfers to a lot of fat.

[grannyjannieme]

I like your approach.  Have you lost weight this way and are you male or female ?

[tamado]

Well, for what it's worth, I probably drink 2oz (or 3) of whiskey a day.  I drink it straight on the rocks - no pop.  The calorie numbers are high but ethyl alcohol is seen as a poison not a nutrient and not retained by the body.  Some of my reading has indicated that it can slow or stop fat burning but I have lost 100lbs in 10 months and never really stopped having my drink (I just killed the mix - no pop since Sep 27th).  It's pretty much all I drink other than water and one coffee in the morning.  Now that I have reached my goal, I have a couple of beers a week but I don't make that a regular habit.  I don't have the science, but I have my own story as an example.

[A_Lurker]

Like @tamado I tend to drink either straight up single malt or bourbon.  Occasionally I will make a low-cal cooler with vodka a sugar-free grapefruit soda.  Less of this as I tend to avoid artificial sweeteners.  Now, at most I drink once a week, but I just count the calories in.  I'm down just over 65 pounds since Feb so I don't think a little booze has inhibited my loss.

[tamado]

Just came across this article, it's pretty much what I've fine and it's working for me.
http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2016/08/30/ultimate-guide-carbs-in-alcohol/

[A_Lurker]

I've always been a straight up kind of gal.  Between drinks I'll take water and/or soda water.  The thing I find most interesting is that my heart rate stays higher those nights, even when I'm sleeping.

[rfc1995]

Agree on all counts!


Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[loudow]

1-2 glasses can vary a great deal. The glasses I use are large and one pour seems harmless enough but it's bigger than I think. It might be an idea to measure out those glassses of wine. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but women metabolize sugars differently as they age so often see weight gain around their middle if they consume even a seemingly innocent amount of alcohol. Still, you have to have some pleasures in life and there's little point cutting out something you really like to meet a goal weight when you'll likely reintroduce it in the future.