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While alcohol may help a few people fall asleep, it can also cause insomnia. This is why after weighing yourself on Monday, your weight may have skyrocketed up a handful of pounds but a couple of days later is back down to its normal weight once you get back on your diet. In addition, your body may not be able to absorb nutrients properly.
Alcohol lowers inhibitions, and most people don’t make the wisest food choices when drinking (5). This is why we call Pizza Hut at 11 PM for an extra-large pepperoni pizza. By Malia Frey, M.A., ACE-CHC, CPT
Malia Frey is a weight loss expert, certified health coach, weight management specialist, personal trainer, and fitness nutrition specialist. Getting adequate, restful sleep can also help with body composition goals. Sleep gives our bodies time to rest, regenerate, and process foods. Get your recommended hours of sleep to keep your body moving and refreshed.
Drinking Alcohol and Weight Loss… Can you do both?
Alcohol can break down your intestinal walls leading to leaky gut and other health issues (9). And this will have a more significant impact on you gaining weight from alcohol rather than just the calories the alcohol contains. It may be helpful to have a response ready when friends or co-workers pressure you to drink during abstinence. You may also want to be prepared to explain why you’re not drinking before going to parties or events to navigate similar social pressures gracefully. You can also make your mocktails at home by adding flavored bitters to sparkling water. There are also brands, such as Seedlip, that make non-alcoholic spirits and some that sell booze-free cocktails, such as Curious Elixirs.
This, especially if consumed in addition to many other high-sugar food and drinks, can lead to excessive calorie intake in a day and, ultimately, excess visceral fat (8). While moderate alcohol intake is not considered harmful, heavy drinking may increase your risk of developing liver issues and certain diseases. Although there is evidence to suggest that frequent alcohol intake may predispose to weight gain or obesity over the long-term, this effect is not strongly reflected in the recent research. First, it has been found that alcohol intake increases energy expenditure, likely due in part to the fact that it has a high thermogenic effect [53].
How To Lose Weight
We limit drinking beyond moderation (more than two drinks) to once a month, usually less. We never drink mindlessly, and it’s always a positive drinking experience. They would derail our work activities, healthy meals, and exercise routine, preventing us from having an enjoyable next day (or two).
- Eat more protein when consuming alcohol instead of carbs and sugars.
- Also use intermittent fasting combined with C8-MCTs to promote additional fat-burning.
- You could be doing everything right to lose weight but one tiny mistake could make it difficult for you to see the desired results.
- If a drinking activity is unavoidable, empower yourself, and say, “I am not the type of person that drinks beer during the workweek.” I recently did this in our hiking group.
- It’s important to seek help from a qualified professional if you are struggling with addiction or obesity.
In this article, we describe how alcohol can cause a bloated appearance in the stomach. We also look into how long alcohol-related bloating lasts and how to get rid of it. This may does alcohol cause you to gain weight all sound as if alcohol is ruining your chances of that beach body. But fear not — watching your weight doesn’t necessarily mean having to cut alcohol entirely out of your diet.
Consider Tracking Calories
Furthermore, factors that may explain the conflicting findings in this research area are discussed. Finally, recommendations for future research are provided to promote a better understanding of the possible obesity-promoting effects of energy intake from alcohol. Most heavy drinkers will develop a hefty beer gut or wine tummy.
There were no significant changes in weight for normal weight participants over the four-week intervention study. They however noted that about half of the obese participants gained weight, with the largest weight gain being 1.8 kg [48]. In a randomized crossover study, Cordain et al. [49] found that drinking two glasses of red wine (270 mL) with dinner daily for six weeks did not lead to changes in weight or body fat percentage in 14 men.
If the drinker compensates for the calories in alcohol by decreasing calorie intake from food, this would explain the lack of weight change with moderate drinking. In several studies, volunteers were given, unknown to them, either an alcoholic beverage or a similarly tasting but alcohol-free beverage before a meal and then allowed to eat what they wished. The volunteers ate the same amount of food each time; the effect of ingesting calories in the alcohol beverage had no effect on how much they ate subsequently. This is one reason why those on a diet are warned that the calories in a cocktail or two before dinner would not decrease their appetite. The alcohol calories (like the cost of the cocktails) would be added to the total calories from the meal. Alcohol and drugs may play a role in becoming obese, but alcohol is not an independent cause of obesity.
In many, many ways, one being that you’ll have more energy and motivation to work out and prepare healthy meals. Alcohol may have various effects on your health that link to weight gain. Alcohol is high in empty calories and may affect hormones that signal appetite, hunger, and stress. “If you enjoy a moderate amount of alcohol and it is something that is important to you, I don’t recommend restricting yourself to try to lose weight,” she says. That’s approximately 12% of the daily recommended calorie intake for men or about 15% of the daily recommended calorie intake for women. Moreover, the additives and mixers added to many alcoholic beverages contain extra calories, carbs, and sugar.