Weight Loss: How Much Of A Difference Can Giving Up Alcohol Make?

People decide to try to lose weight for all sorts of different reasons — with research indicating that better looks, health concerns, social pressure, hoping to increase self-confidence, and being after higher energy levels and better performance at work are some of the more common ones. Many also go on short-term weight loss diets for a particular special event, often their wedding. 

Your own motivations for weight loss will play quite a large role in determining how you go about doing it, of course. Someone who wants to drop a dress size specifically because they want to look thinner is probably more likely to go for a crash diet that doesn't meet their nutritional needs than someone who is determined to drop pounds because they're prediabetic and have high blood pressure.  

Can you lose significant amounts of weight just by quitting alcohol?

Yes, if you are a heavy drinker. A regular (12 oz) beer contains an average of 153 calories, for instance, so if you generally have three of those a day, you'll be down 459 calories each day if you simply stop drinking without changing anything else. That will actually get you quite close to losing a pound a week!

If you recognize yourself in this random example, you're also over the moderate drinking guidelines and are a heavy drinker, so you will want to reevaluate your drinking for health reasons that go well beyond weight loss. 

People who have a beer a week, on the other hand, certainly won't lose significant amounts of weight if they just stop drinking entirely. (They may be able to do just that if they give up other vices, like daily sodas or novelty and sugar-packed coffees, but that's another story.)

Can you lose weight while staying a heavy drinker?

Also yes. If you're trying to lose weight using calorie counting (the "calories in, calories out" method), you could certainly, for instance, take those 459 beer-fueled calories into account and still end up with a calorie deficit. The problem is that doing this will make it nearly impossible for you to actually get the right balance of carbs, proteins, and fats, and even harder to hit all the vitamins and minerals you need. You can lose weight this way, but you'll be unhealthy and feel unhealthy. 

Even so, heavy drinking also messes with fat oxidation, or "burning fat", which means that people who are getting a significant portion of their total daily calories from alcohol are less likely to lose a lot of weight than those who are getting the same number of calories from other sources. 

What should people hoping to lose weight the healthy way know about alcohol?

Alcohol, which mostly represents empty calories that don't offer your body anything useful, becomes your first energy source when you drink it. It will, as such, prevent your body from using the carbs, protein, and fats you took in, and stands in the way of weight loss in this way. 

There's a reason we choose that nasty kebab when we're drunk, and not getting drunk or intoxicated is a good step towards avoiding it. 

Should you stop drinking to lose weight?

Having recently embarked on a weight loss journey myself, I know that this decision can trigger all sorts of other healthy choices — it's inspired me to say no to carb-filled pancakes that make me feel bloated and nasty afterwards, to reduce my coffee intake, to take better care of my mental health, to go to bed at a more reasonable time, and yes, to greatly cut down on my alcohol consumption. 

If your weight loss efforts do the same for you ― pretty likely, I think — you may decide to do something similar. Occasional social drinkers won't necessarily reap great health benefits if they become teetotalers, but may feel great about that choice regardless. People who realize, after taking a good, honest, look at safe drinking guidelines, that they're really drinking too much, will see a greater impact. In this case, the number on the scale will go down faster if they quit drinking, and their overall health will also thank them.