Can You Drink Alcohol And Still Lose Weight?

Can You Drink Alcohol And Still Lose Weight?

Last updated Apr 28, 2022 by Michael Fouts

Estimated reading time: 7 min

I’ll get right to the answer with this one: Yes, it’s possible. That being said I recommend you don’t over-do it, moderation is key here.

Simply put in order to lose weight you need to put your body into an energy deficit. This will force your body to use its stored forms of energy, one of them being fat. This can be achieved through a reduced caloric intake from consuming less calories (dieting – eating and drinking less), increased energy expenditure (exercise), or both (best method). This is the foundation of all weight loss, if anyone else tells you otherwise they’re wrong.

This means you can eat donuts, drink alcohol, etc. as long as you’re in a caloric deficit. That being said you’re better off eating healthier when looking to lose weight, for many reasons that I won’t get into in this post, mainly to avoid the psychological battle of feeling hungry. Further, the poorer your food and drink choices the poorer the optimization of nutrition becomes (less vitamins and minerals, etc.).

So, to circle back to the initial question and topic of discussion: you can drink alcohol and still lose weight as long as you can still create an energy deficit (less input than demand).

Seems simple, but it gets tricky when you are having more than 1-2 drinks – especially more than once per week. Let’s put some numbers to all of this.

1 standard drink contains 14 grams of alcohol. 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories. Examples:

1.5 oz. hard alcohol
12 fl. oz. of beer
5 fl. oz wine
8-9 fl oz of malt liquor

You’d think that each of the above has 14 grams of alcohol, therefore 14 x 7 = 98 calories. Not quite. Each of the above “standard” drinks has different caloric totals due to the addition of different sugars and flavouring agents:

12-ounce glass of beer has on average about 150 calories, 98 calories from the alcohol and another 52 calories from sugars in the beer.
5-ounce glass of red wine has about 125 calories, once again 98 calories from the alcohol and another 27 calories from “other”.

If you want the flexiblity (flexibility is a good thing for overall enjoyment and long-term adherence) of still being able to drink alcohol while focusing on weight/fat loss, here are my tips:

1. Limit your alcohol intake. Obvious, but I had to state this; 5 Drinks is better than 10, and 1 is better than 5. If you’re drinking more than 10 drinks per week than losing weight is likely going to be challenging for you and you might need to reassess your priorities.

2. Have a well-balanced (Carbs, Fats, Protein) before drinking. Don’t have a “liquid diet” (getting your calories just from alcohol, otherwise known as drunkorexia) and instead have a well-balanced meal beforehand. Believe it or not most of the over-consumption of calories while drinking actually comes from the food you eat or snack on while/after drinking.

3. Keep your drinks simple. This is more in reference to spirits or mixed drinks. Choose a low calorie or calorie-less mix with your alcohol, like diet and club sodas (not tonic water). Also, use dry alcohols like: cognac, gin, rum, scotch, tequila, vodka and whiskey. Avoid liqueurs (my personal favourites/guilty pleasures is Disaronno and Kahlua), as they have added sugars that aren’t alcohol.

An example of a “lower calorie mix”, is to press your drinks (pressing your drinks means adding water to them, eg. little bit of water and a little bit of pepsi/coke/etc.)

4. Drink “Hard.” 1 standard drink of standard alcohol has ~ 98 calories. Provided you mix these hard alcohols (gin, rum, vodka, whiskey or tequila) with calorie-less mixes, these don’t add up too quickly. One Caveat: Volume. Having something like a beer that has more volume might:

Cause you to drink less due to the feeling of being full, which therefore will result in less calories being consumed overall.
You might be less prone to snacking or eating due to the volume of liquid in your stomach (the stretch receptors in your stomach triggers your brain to give you a sensation that you are full).

5. Beware the hangover sugar and serotonin crash. In the morning your blood sugars are likely low, which triggers hunger. Also, if you drank a little too much you’ve likely depleted some of your serotonin levels – a feel good neurotransmitter in your brain. The combination of these two events will cause you to seek food, in particular tasty food. Some things to focus on with your morning meal, whether eating at home or out:

Ensure you’re hydrated: drink some water in the morning. Doing so will help you get hydrated again; this might also help slightly to promote more appropriate satiation (fullness) signals to your brain when you start eating food.
Load up on the protein and vegetable options at breakfast – eggs, ham, tomatoes, etc.

6. Beef up your protein intake. On days you’re having some drinks, in particular in excess of 2 drinks, loading up on protein can help. Alcohol and protein are poor precursors for de-novo lipogenesis (fat production/storage in the body). Alcohol is not stored as fat, rather your body diverts all metabolism to it when it enters the body. This in turn suppresses fat oxidation (use of fat for energy), so fat that you eat will likely not be used and diverted to fat storage. For the time being, at least. Fat storage and oxidation is a dynamic process that is being used in different ways throughout the day. The biggest indicator for fat storage: caloric surplus for the day.

Another reason for having more protein: this will help you feel fuller longer, and less likely to snack on high-sugar, high-fat snack options during or after.

7. Plan regular diet breaks. This is something I do with clients where we plan forward, usually at the start of the month, and assess their “social calendar.” We decide which weeks will be fat/weight loss weeks and which ones will be weight maintenance or muscle building weeks. Doing so prevents the psychological association of chronic dieting (I have to diet for the next 6 weeks…) and allows them to be more focused during fat/weight loss weeks; they have more mental stamina, and are have to have delayed onset gratification because they know they can enjoy “insert food” later.

If you have the casual drink from time-to-time, that’s fine. If you’re drinking 5+ drinks per week, 5 standard drinks that is and not 5 standard drinks in 1 drink, then you need to be a little more conscious about what you’re doing.

Fun side note for females: there are studies (Flechtner-Mors et al., 2004. Wang, 2010.) that suggest a positive weight loss effect for middle-aged and older women who drank moderately. The reason for this, without getting into too much detail, is that moderate consumption positively affects insulin sensitivity (Davies et. al, 2002) – improving glycemic control – and decreases triglyceride concentrations. Unfortunately for males, most of the research shows either a neutral or negative effect.

If you’re serious about fat/weight loss, it’s best to minimize, or cut out, your alcohol intake. If you choose to drink, be conscious about the caloric intakes from the drinks you’re having because they can have a significant impact; don’t be mad that you didn’t lose weight in a given week if you drank 5+ margaritas.

Managing your weight is similar to managing your finances, when you’re looking to lose fat/weight you want to “spend your calories” wisely; alcohol is not a great way to do this.

Till next time,

-Mike

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