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How To Lose Weight By Drinking Less Alcohol

drinking less alcohol One of the easiest ways to boost your weight loss is to curb your alcohol intake.

Not only do alcoholic drinks contain calories, they also tend to increase your appetite and reduce your will-power: a very diet-unfriendly combination!

Even if your social life doesn't revolve around bars and clubs, don't assume it'll be easy for you to drink less: that post-work glass of wine, or the beers on a lazy Sunday afternoon, can be just as hard to give up.

But if your weight loss has slowed recently, cutting down on the booze could be just what you need.

Afterall, Just one beer a day adds up to 17,000 Calories over the course of a year!

Alcohol Calories

Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram.

That's 50 calories in a single (25ml) measure of spirits - before you add sugary lemonade or cola.
There are about 100 calories in a small (125ml) glass of wine.
A can of beer is around 200 calories (though this can varies according to type and strength).

5 Alternatives to Alcohol

There are plenty of non-alcoholic drinks, ranging from sophisticated bottles which would be perfectly at home on a posh dinner table, to fun teen-friendly fizz.

If you're out, many bars have non-alcoholic cocktails: ideal if you want the party factor but not the alcohol content. These will also save you a good few dollars on the price of a regular cocktail.
Your local supermarket likely stocks a range of non-alcoholic wines in glass bottles; here in the UK, Amé and Shloer are favorites.
When you're hosting a barbeque, why not serve something other than plain orange juice or soda for the non-drinkers
Try some more unusual fruit juices, mixed with sparkling water. Innocent Drinks do a fabulous range using only natural ingredients - guaranteed to be a hit with sophisticated neighbors or your fashion-conscious kids.
Sugar-free energy drinks can give you a nice caffeine buzz but without the alcohol and calories.

Good Excuses for Not Drinking

In an ideal world, friends and family would mind their own business, and none of us would ever need to justify our food and drink choices.

But sometimes you might not want the hassle of explaining that you're on a diet - especially if you know the response will be "Oh, you're not fat ... just one won't hurt."

These explanations are less likely to encourage your friends to try to persuade you into having a drink:

"I can't have alcohol, I'm afraid, I'm on antibiotics."
"I'm driving."
"I'm trying to budget this month." (Particularly good for students, new parents or downsizers.)
"I've got a really early start tomorrow."
"I'm not drinking during Lent." (This one only works during part of the year!)
"I'm on a Detox Diet"

Committing Yourself

Of course, having something nice and non-alcoholic to drink and having a good excuse helps - but it's only half the battle won. You need to change your habits so that your good intentions will stick.

One way is to start by making small changes: enjoy that post-work glass of wine, but make it a small one. Or have one or two beers on a Sunday afternoon instead of three or four.
Getting alcohol addiction counseling goes a long way in helping you curb or eliminate your alcohol intake, which in turn will help you with your efforts to lose weight.
Sometimes, it's easiest to commit to a set period of time - maybe not drinking at all for a month (or for a period such as Lent). The advantage of this is that you'll retrain yourself to think differently about alcohol: you'll realize that you don't need it in order to relax or to enjoy yourself.
Many people find it easiest to honor a commitment that they've made to someone else. If this works for you, tell your spouse, best friend or colleagues that you're cutting down on alcohol.

Have you cut down on your alcohol intake in order to lose weight? Do you have any great tips on what to drink, how to cope with the reaction from friends, or how not to feel deprived?

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55 Comments

Luc

Great Blog!
I agree that lowering the alcohol level to minimal or even NONE would make a huge diference in weight and not to mention health...

I don't drink myself but Great Blog for those that do

Thanks

Mark

All good common sense advice fizzy drinks can be a thing that is overlooked, that are in abundance that we just tend to have when it's not necessary.

Katie

You shouldn't have to be making excuses to your friends or giving them reasons for those sorts of decisions. The best thing you can say is simply, "I just don't want one." Friends should be perfectly fine with that.

Spectra

I was just thinking that too, Katie. Why should you have to make an excuse for NOT drinking booze? What's wrong with saying something like "I'll just stick to water, thanks". None of my friends would really care and if your friends DO care about that stuff, maybe they aren't good friends.

Andrea

As a response to these comments, I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself accurately, but here goes: Realistically, some friends/family are pushy and opinionated people. It's perfectly OK to plan a simple excuse for yourself if you feel it will minimize the questions or comments. Some people have friends with their own problems. No need to push the idealistic 'they're not real friends' argument. Just because some of your friends are not perfect doesnt mean that they're not good people. It's OK to have a simple plan as to what to say.

SR Hannah

I agree that friends "should" be accomodating and understanding, but the truth is most people will always "insist" that you join them or enjoy this. Honestly, most friends will most likely refute the evidence that shows that too much alcohol and weight loss are counter-productive. Maybe ALL of your friends won't be so pushy, but Andrea is simply putting out a few fixer phrases to help people who need to stress to others "No, thank you". Geesh!

Anon

I'm in my early 20's so my social life tends to involve A LOT of alcohol and happy hours. My trick is to limit drinking to a set number of days per week. If I set the number at two or three nights, I'll be more motivated to stay sober at a happy hour and save my "alcohol days" for the weekend.

Another trick is to become a beer snob. If you start drinking good beer, the stuff in the keg is much less tempting.

Jim

I do the opposite, I find the cheapest beer on the shelf, or brew up a batch myself (and it's fair at best) it makes me really want one bad before I bust out a frosty.

Spectra

Jim, that's my husband's strategy when he wants to cut back on his beer consumption for a while. He'll buy a case of Mountain Creek beer ($7.50/case!) and keeps it in the fridge. He'll drink it, but it's definitely not as tempting as good beer would be, lol!

Barry

The best reason to avoid alcohol when your goal is fat loss is that your body preferentially burns calories from alcohol so any fat loss that might be in progress is immediately halted until the alcohol is burned off.

I can't believe that wasn't mentioned in this article.

Bert

EVERYBODY! Please read Barry's comment:)

Becka

Great comment, Barry - you have no idea how helpful that was.

Trent

There do seem to be some benefits to *moderate* alcohol consumption:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alcohol/SC00024

Anonymous, please

I'm a recovering alcoholic, and when I first stopped drinking, I was amazed at how much more I had to eat in order to not lose weight. (I'm on the low end of "normal" weight and am also recovering from an eating disorder. I know, I'm a mess.) I didn't realize how many calories I was getting from just alcohol (never used mixers like coke or juice).
However, it should be noted that I was drinking WAY more than a "social drinker" would.
When people offer me an alcoholic drink, I just say "No thanks." If they ask why I don't drink, I say "I just don't care to." (I think it's extremely rude when people ask why I don't drink, but that's a different rant.)I agree with Katie; no one should have to justify not drinking, to friends or to anyone else.

anonymous

This is a really good comment. I thought I was just a moderate drinker until I started actually measuring how much I was drinking. I was having the equivalent of 6 standard drinks before dinner and then maybe two or three with dinner. A standard drink is not a glass. Spirits usually contain two standard drinks. A glass of wine is often 2 standard drinks. Easy to clock up the calories.

The best thing is to just say to yourself "I am not going to drink ever again". Of course, maybe in a year's time you can moderate it, but for now you just make that commitment. I found trying to cut back did not work for me. It soon ramped up again.

Once I did stop drinking the kilos just fell off. It was amazing.

As for people who offer alcohol you can fob them off with "No thanks, I'm fighting the good fight" and leave it at that. That seems to work for me. Most people aren't pushy about it.

Fit Bottomed Girls

Really, alcohol is the only drink I have that ever has calories in it, and I try to do it only in moderation. However, I will splurge on a margarita now and then...but then I know I'll also be consuming an entire Mexican meal. Gotta watch that.

CityChick

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Kristy

That has nothing to do with the subject dummy!

zig

HaHaHa! There's always one!

Like Barry's comment, too.

Dana

I think that cutting down on alcohol intake is a great way to help along the weight loss process. My most successful attempts at fitness have definitely been where I limit drinking to modestly on the weekends or none at all. I think your advice is good, however, swapping wine for soda in my opinion is not a good idea. Soft drinks are filled with so much crap (high fructose corn syrup for one) that make your sensitivity to sugar go crazy (diet drinks are just as bad) that I think it would be better to spice up your water or drink a green tea.

I have also found it hard (being in my early 20's) to explain to friends that I'm not drinking, but I found it best to say, "I'm trying to save money."

Thanks for the post, love the blog!

Talli van Sunder, DPT

At a party, one way to not overdrink is carry the same one drink with you throughout the party. Instead of gulping it down you "nurse" it for many hours. Therefore, no one bothers you about not drinking and you also don't consume a lot of alcohol that way.

GA BOY

This works perfectly. I have been doing it for years.

NeoVitin

Cutting back on alcohol seems sensible when it comes to weight loss. I don't think that you have to completely cut out alcohol, but I think as is the case with everything we eat or drink, moderation is key. You don't have to drink every time you go out, or you don't have to drink excessive amounts either. Just being mindful that alcohol can have adverse effects on weight will help with self-control.

e2v

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholCaloriesAndWeight.html

blah

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/77/5/1312

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/4/368

Charles G

This (above link provided by e2v) is an interesting article but I wondered who funds the site. I found this information on the site:
"The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc. provided an unrestricted grant that was used to fund this web site, for which funding also was received from other sources."

lila

It's so true... kicking booze, even a few glasses of wine a week makes such a big difference.

Steve Parker, M.D.

In case you did not click on e2v's link, you might want to. The article states that alcohol does not contribute to overweight or obesity. Scientific journal articles are referenced.

On the other hand, if you drink alcohol and want to lose weight, cutting the alcohol might help. Do you have time to search for evidence at Pubmed.gov? That's more helpful than anecdotes.

-Steve

cereal

The site he linked to is called "Alcohol Problems and Solutions" ,and unless you take your advice from a site obviously trying to make alcohol seem healthy, than there's no point to your argument.

Alcohol obviously does far more damage than just weight gain, and while moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages has shown health benefits it isn't a solid fact.

You even contradict yourself in your own post with: "On the other hand, if you drink alcohol and want to lose weight, cutting the alcohol might help." Really,it's obvious that cutting superfluous calories will help you lose weight.

If your trying to downplay the effects of alcohol consumption on the human body than I understand your argument, but otherwise you just seem to be aggravated that someone has used an anecdote.

P.S. Where's the anecdote

ann

I drink everyday. I do not eat a lot but i am about 30 pounds overweight for my height. How do I quit drinking? I lost my job 8-1-08 after 18 years.I feel that now I am out of control with my drinking. What now?

Shateebaby1

It is difficult to deal with change in life, especially the loss of a job after 18 years. What we do becomes such a part of who we are so try not to minimize its impact and don't let others make you feel bad about it. The way you choose to handle this change is the real issue. I too drink when I feel stressed. It is a coping mechanism, albeit not a good one. You might try taking a walk or calling a friend instead or get on the internet and get support from others :) We have all been there so don't feel alone.
L

onedayatatime

You need to attend AA or at least get the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous then really consider attending the meetings. No one can help you at this point not even yourself because alcohol has become greater than you and your life. There also is no miracle way to stop drinking it's a struggle each and everyday and drinking will never get better for an alcoholic only worse. Get help while you still can!

Steve Parker, M.D.

Correction: substitute "anecdotal evidence" for "anecdotes."

-Steve

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