Looking for the definitive answer on how alcohol affects weight loss? I’ll show you how to fit alcohol into your weight loss plan and still see results.

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“I love my wine too much to go on a diet.”

Somewhere in the oversaturated misinformation phase of health and fitness, the many people that resist getting their calories and macros in order are reluctant to get in shape because of the love for that daily glass of vino.

As if the health enthusiast never enjoys a casual drink.

Let’s set the record straight, I have an entire bar cabinet stocked with bourbons and fine scotches. I keep a separate wine refrigerator packed with imported wines from Italy (the undisputed king of wine, by the way … fight me if you disagree).

So to answer the biggest question that I get on a regular basis from just about every busy mom that wants to join my one on one coaching program:

Yes … you absolutely can drink a glass of wine occasionally and still lose weight. Or beer. Or any liquor of choice.

In this guide, I’m going to show you exactly how alcohol affects weight loss, why it’s okay to enjoy alcohol in moderation, how to do it, and why all those scare tactics about drinking and weight loss are just silly.

How Alcohol Affects Weight Loss

As we get started here, it’s important to refresh the memory about how weight loss works.

It all starts with the Law of Thermodynamics. Which simply states that as long as you are eating fewer calories than you burn on a regular basis, you will lose weight.

The science here is undefeated. Alcohol is not some magical substance that breaks this law. At least as long as you are enjoying the adult beverage within reason.

Which brings us to the next important point: Alcohol contains calories.

As we already covered in the excellent guide to counting macros (you can read that here), our foods and drinks can be broken down into three macronutrients––protein, carbs and fats––with alcohol stepping in as a stand in fourth macro.

The calories per macro are as follows:

• • Protein: 4 calories per gram
  • Carbs: 4 calories per gram
  • Fats: 9 calories per gram
  • Alcohol: 7 calories per gram

As you can see, alcohol does count. And it carries almost twice as many calories per gram than proteins and carbs. It is not some calorie-free substance that you can enjoy guilt-free as long as you don’t mix it with anything. This is a popular misconception.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that alcohol on its own is “fattening.” Always remember that there are no good or bad foods, just foods that carry higher or lower calories. Alcohol is no different.

Now that said, while we keep this in mind, you can absolutely manipulate your calories for the day to include some alcohol in your diet.

As long as the drink fits your macros, you are good to go.

Does alcohol get turned into fat?

No. In fact, we can set the record straight here: there is no food or drink on the planet that gets immediately turned into body fat.

The only way your body increases its fat stores is by consuming more calories than you burn on a daily basis (otherwise known as a caloric surplus). Likewise, the only way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than you burn. Again, the Law of Thermodynamics is undefeated.

You now know that alcohol is calorically dense (meaning there are a ton of calories for just a little bit of actual volume). But the problem is that there is absolutely no nutritional value in alcohol.

Those nightly glasses of bourbon provide no vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber or essential fatty acids. It’s the exact definition of empty calories.

And even though margaritas taste awesome and give you some liquid courage, the truth of the matter is that your body really has no need for this stuff and views alcohol as a toxin. Which is why when you downed five Rum and Cokes and chased them with four shots of tequila you became “intoxicated.”

Since that pint of ale is viewed as a toxin and carries no nutritional or beneficial value, the metabolism kicks into gear to rid the body of this foreign and potentially harmful substance.

Your body has a priority system for its fuel sources, with alcohol topping the list. Before any bite of protein or gram of carb or dose of fat can be burned and utilized as energy, the body must first and foremost burn off that glass of wine.

If you’ve had a big night of drinking, this is where alcohol hinders your weight loss progress. Let me explain.

You see, your body naturally creates its own source of human Growth Hormone (GH)––not the extra pharmaceutical stuff that athletes get caught taking––which is responsible for releasing fat from your body fat stores.

GH does most of this fat burning work while you sleep. It’s a wonderful situation in a properly-working setup. You go to sleep, your GH increases and burns fat while you rest.

But when you’re hammered off of too many keg stands with the bros, the priority system for fuel is thrown off. That toxic stuff must be burned off first. And since alcohol is being burned, the body doesn’t need to utilize the GH. As a result, fat loss stalls.

This is why oftentimes, you’ve been able to sober up during your sleep. The liver is going into overdrive and burning off this inefficient fuel source to detox the body.

Okay, cool. So how can I drink and still lose weight?

To reiterate: how alcohol affects weight loss will always come down to how you fit that drink into the No. 1 Rule:

Calories in versus Calories out.

Even though the energy burned from alcohol does absolutely nothing positive for the performance of the body, it still must be accounted for in your daily tracking.

For example, if a 4.5% ABV beer is 155 calories and contains 13g of carbs (52 calories) and 1g of protein (4 calories), then the 99 remaining calories are coming from alcohol. These are still calories, not some magical ferry fluids that burn off through sweat and shame.

Look to this general guide to figure out what the calorie count looks like for your favorite beverage. This is a basic rule of thumb and can vary, but it will at least give you a guideline for that next night out:

The next part of the equation are the mixers. If you’re enjoying that Rum and Coke, you must account for the macros and calories in the soda, too.

It’s a big reason why you might want to aim for the diet beverage varieties, or avoid them altogether if you’re truly on your A-game in trying to lose weight. Or even better still, just drink your liquors neat.

A few strategies to mitigate the potential damages from your night out on the town with the ladies:

Hydrate –– Water is the only substance on Earth that will actually assist the liver in detoxing the body naturally. Drink plenty of H2O before, during and after your adult beverage of choice.

A solid rule of thumb is one glass of water for every single alcoholic drink.

Plan ahead –– If you are trying to stick to your plan of weight loss and you’re tracking your macros and calories, then you should be planning ahead for the calories that come during Happy Hour.

Strategize before you even go out by punching in 2-3 drinks into your food tracking app of choice and then work around those numbers to hit your goals for the day.

The key is that once you hit those 2-3 drinks with your friends, you need to stop drinking. You don’t have to go home and call it a night, but you do need to stop making trips to the bar for another round.

Avoid drinking altogether –– Society says we have to drink with friends in order to have fun. Fuck society. It’s totally fine to give up alcohol altogether or just enjoy a night out without three rounds of IPAs.

Remember, there is zero nutritional value in alcohol, so there really is no need to drink it if you aren’t into that sort of thing.

Watch the extra calories –– Lowered inhibitions from too many glasses of Cabernet can lead to grabbing all of the carbs or gobbling down all of the nachos and apps. Be mindful of the food choices you make while out drinking.

Stick to your plan of 2-3 drinks. No feasting on excess empty calories.

So now that you know how alcohol affects weight loss, here’s the million dollar question: Will alcohol slow weight loss?

The answer is yes … and no. It all depends on how diligent you are in planning your beverage into your plan.

Remember that this stuff is still considered toxic and needs to be flushed out of the system immediately, at the expense of your body’s ability to burn fat and lose weight.

Enjoying a few drinks per week (think more like 2-3 and not 6-7) should be totally fine during a weight loss program.

But as you dip into the binge mode of drinking, that’s when you can see potentially harmful results … not only from a fat loss stage, but from a total health and wellness aspect, too.

Drink responsibly, fam.

Cheers.

Let me help you figure out how to fit alcohol into your fat loss plan … 

Now that you know exactly how alcohol affects weight loss, it’s time to make this work for you so you can still enjoy that glass of wine guilt-free. I’m here to help.

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Alcohol affects weight loss” and I’ll answer any questions you have about training.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you’d like more knowledge bombs from me. I’d be honored if you join my mailing list to get regular updates every time I post something pretty dope.