Alcohol & Weight Loss
By joining MyDry30, you’ll commit to changing your relationship with drinking. That’s a big step. You’ll be on a journey to become an improved version of yourself, to live a better, happier, healthier life. But it won’t be easy. There will be ups and downs, wins and losses.
MyDry30’s mindful drinking program will not only help you with controlling alcohol consumption, but the program also supports fitness and weight goals as well. You will learn how alcohol affects metabolism, appetite, and weight.
But despite the hard work and challenges, one benefit is already baked into the “no alcohol” equation: weight loss.
And here’s the cool part: quitting alcohol can help you lose weight and losing weight can help you quit alcohol. It’s a physical and mental positive feedback loop. Each reinforces and drives the other.
And who doesn’t want to lose at least a little weight?
The Science Behind Alcohol and Weight Gain
First, let’s look at how alcohol affects your body and makes you gain weight.
Affects Your Hormones
Drinking alcohol can impair the function of your glands that release hormones, which affects your metabolism and can lead to weight gain.
In healthy people, glands release the correct level of hormones at an exact time, which sends messages to your tissues. Those messages aid your body’s stress response and help control your energy and metabolism.
For example, your adrenal glands, which are located on top of your kidneys, secrete cortisol, a stress hormone. Cortisol helps your body respond to stress by increasing blood pressure and heart rate.
Evidence suggests that drinking may cause your adrenal glands not to regulate how much cortisol they secrete. As a result, people who drink heavily may have high cortisol levels.
Research has found that elevated cortisol levels increase abdominal weight gain. Cortisol redistributes fat tissue to your abdominal region and increases cravings for high-calorie foods.
Poor Food Choices
After a few drinks, you may be more likely to make unhealthy food choices without thinking about it. This can happen in two ways.
First, alcohol can reduce your blood sugar level, which may increase hunger. Evidence suggests that people may seek high-carb foods to satisfy their cravings if their blood sugar dips slightly.
Second, since alcohol lowers your inhibitions and disrupts good judgment, the tendency is to ignore good diet choices in favor of “high satisfaction” choices such as junk food and high fat, salt, and carb options.
When was the last time you ended a night out with a salad?
Abdominal Fat
Alcohol impacts the way your body burns fat. Your liver prioritizes breaking down alcohol rather than fat while you’re drinking. As a result, fat may accumulate in the abdominal region.
Abdominal fat is linked to several health complications, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes.
Generally, males have more fat storage in their bellies than females and are more likely to gain abdominal fat from drinking than females (sorry, guys).
Empty Calorie Impact
The calories in alcohol are "empty," meaning they contain little to no beneficial nutrients or minerals. Alcoholic beverages are often high in empty calories, with about seven per gram. In contrast, carbs and protein have four calories per gram.
Cocktails and mixed drinks often have more calories than beer and wine. Liqueur, juice, and syrup add extra calories. For example, a piña colada has as many as 500 calories per seven-ounce serving.
You need carbs and proteins rich in nutrients to support good health. Empty calories do not help build muscle, repair tissues, or support strong bones like nutrient-dense foods do.
People who consume excess food and drinks that are high in empty calories have a higher risk of being overweight or obese.
Poor Quality Sleep
Alcohol has sedative effects that may help you relax and make you sleepy after a drink. Still, research has linked excess alcohol use to poor sleep duration and quality.
Over time, sleep deprivation may cause weight gain. Some evidence suggests that sleep-deprived people eat more food and find it harder to resist tempting snacks than usual.
Why Wait? Your Weight Loss Journey Starts Now.
One month alcohol-free is the key to the change you’ve been waiting for.
Why Wait? Your Weight Loss Journey Starts Now.
One month alcohol-free is the key to the change you’ve been waiting for.
Myths About Drinking & Weight Loss
There are a lot of myths and misconceptions around alcohol, metabolism, and weight loss. MyDry30 will debunk those myths and help you make informed choices. Here are a few:
“You need to go cold turkey”
While cutting back on alcohol can be beneficial, moderate alcohol consumption doesn't necessarily lead to weight gain. It’s your choice.
“Water is the magic bullet”
Even though drinking water is essential for hydrating your body, there's little evidence that drinking water promotes weight loss.
“Alcohol is the only reason for weight gain”
Alcohol can contribute to weight gain, but other factors can also play a role. For example, mixed drinks often contain extra calories from juices, simple syrup, or liqueur.
“Alcohol completely shuts down fat-burning”
Alcohol can shut down metabolic pathways for up to 36 hours, preventing fat burning.
Staying on Track
You’re not doing this alone. MyDry30 is your resource for managing both quitting and moderating drinking, focusing on overall health and well-being, including weight loss. We guide you through 30 days without alcohol, and after that, we help you make the decision: moderation or cessation.
And you will learn how to make informed choices not only for drinking, but for diet and exercise. For example, MyDry30 even has a 21-Day Detox Plan that will help clean up your diet and promote healthier eating habits.
Staying on Track
When You Stop Drinking
We talked previously about the positive feedback loop: quitting (or reducing) alcohol can help you lose weight, and losing weight can help you quit (or reduce) alcohol.
Alcohol affects your body and mind negatively. Losing weight affects your body and mind positively.
Think of your body as this incredibly complex self-regulating machine of interconnected systems. The bottom line is that alcohol throws the system out of whack.
When you stop drinking alcohol, not only do you greatly reduce empty calories, but your bodily functions return to a more efficient, balanced state. And this helps you lose weight.
When You Stop Drinking
The Cool Part
And when you lose weight, good things start to happen to your mind and body.
Your body feels better, lighter, and more agile. You have more energy, more stamina.
Your attitude is more positive, less depressed, less anxious, less stressed.
When you experience positive changes to both your body and mind, your self-image improves. When your self-image improves, you do the positive things to keep that feeling going.
All these positive changes help decrease the desire to drink. They reinforce your goal to lead a healthier, more positive life. And ultimately, this supports your goal of staying the course.
Why Wait? Your Weight Loss Journey Starts Now.
One month alcohol-free is the key to the change you’ve been waiting for.
Why Wait? Your Weight Loss Journey Starts Now.
One month alcohol-free is the key to the change you’ve been waiting for.