Did giving up alcohol accelerate your weight loss?

[BoozeFreeMe]

Just what the title says, really. Did giving up alcohol accelerate your weight loss and how much did you lose in what amount of time? I've quit drinking for health reasons and I'm hoping weight loss will be a positive side effect.

Yes it has and I am also only drinking no cal/very low cal drinks so sparkling water, kombucha, switzel as there are a lot of empty calories in full sugar soft drink and juice. I am dieting at the same time but I have been losing about a kg a week since new years :)

I did 5 weeks dry for Jan plus. I'm not overweight but I have an extra stone since the pandemic. No booze got a little off but tbh it wasn't anything miraculous. However I didn't police my food (no issues there, not much of a seeet tooth and mostly home made). I think no booze plus calorie counting might do it.

Nothing really, I find it easier to count calories over the week and allow myself some alcohol at the weekend

I don't have much to lose though

I don't think I could've achieved the weight loss without giving up/drastically cutting back on alcohol. I lost 3.5 stone over the course of 7 months last year and I attribute a lot of it to drinking maybe twice in this time. For me it's a waste of calories but not just that, it's the eating habits I have when hangover that totally sabotage me.
I eat through the pain
I also did dry Jan and dropped 8lbs. I should say I am mindful of my calories and I know what it takes to be consistent with a calorie deficit but dropping the alcohol helps me do that.

If you drink a fair bit then it might do, but the simple truth is that you need a calorie deficit to lose weight and alcohol is something it's pretty easy to cut out unless you are addicted.

Yes, absolutely. I gave up mid December and I most definitely have a much reduced stomach. Friends I saw this weekend noticed straight away. I've also lost both the "snack with wine" and the "carbs the morning after" munchies so also loosing weight that way.

No, I started eating more chocolate.

I give up wine and alcohol for Lent. I do it for a month or so here and there throughout the year. Afraid to say I've never lost any weight, I don't feel any better, and my skin does not improve. I'm sure it's good for me though so I'll do it again (from next week)!!

Yes, very much so. I love my 🍺 which is obviously full of empty calories, and I used to drink quite a lot of the stuff, at least 12 pints a week. When I decided to get serious about losing weight, I stopped drinking completely for 3 months and together with eating very sensibly & walking 10k steps per day was able to lose weight quite quickly.
Energy out > energy in = weight loss. It’s not rocket science. In the end, I lost 32kg in 11 months.

I definitely notice it in my face when I haven’t drank alcohol in a while. I’m a sporadic drinker so no desire or need to knock it on the head but I like a beer or two in the summer or on holiday etc and my face gets quite bloated for sure. No noticeable effects on my weight as I don’t weigh myself.

Not at all and I drank loads before. But disappointed tbh!

Stopped drinking 9 months ago and have kept 1 stone off

I was yo-yoing before and restricting through the week to compensate for the qeekend. Now I am much more balanced

I switched my 5 bottles of pinot a week habit for a 2 low cal G&T a night habit and my waist is slimmer. I also snack less when I drink less.

No because whenever I give up booze I replace it with chocolate/sugar!!

Yep. I gave up drinking in May. I've gone from a size 20 to a size 10 with healthy eating.

It's the eating through the hangover/tiredness the next day that immediately stops any intention of thoughtful eating. So yes, I have lost weight but I don't think the not drinking is the problem per se, it is more the consequent excessive eating. I am normally good at counting the calories of the wine .....!

No. For some reason giving up booze doesn't seem to have any noticeable effect on my weight. In fact, during the time of my life when I drank most, I was at my slimmest.

It helped for me, but wasn't the be & end all. I gave up drinking about 6 months before I changed my diet and started to lose weight. I've now lost a significant amount, and not drinking (2 years on) is helping me to maintain the lower weight and healthier lifestyle.

Not really

But then it'd take me a week to drink a bottle of wine, so.....

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling inspired by some of your comments, especially @BarelyLiterate – five and a bit stone in 11 months is phenomenal! It's still early days for me but it'll be interesting to see what happens. I wasn't an everyday drinker but I drank a LOT at weekends and on social occasions and already I feel less bloated, my skin is clearer and firmer and I've dropped a couple of pounds. I definitely can see the trick is not to replace the booze with other 'treats' like chocolate. I don't have a sweet tooth normally but I am craving sugar at the moment, which I suppose is my body's reaction to losing all that sugar in the booze! I just need to ride out these first few weeks.

Yes it helped me but more because I could eat more on the calorie allowance I was giving myself without having to fit in alcohol so I found it easier to stick to my diet. I also craved less hangover food the next day and my willpower was better as I was sleeping better. I did find I was craving more sweets stuff initially which I am not usually but got through that pretty quick.

Basically I think it helped but if you want to lose weight then it's only one part. Still need to have a calorie deficit.

I didn’t drink for a whole year last year, did dry January and kept going. Honestly I didn’t lose lots of weight I did lose about 4 kilo in a year but my skin looked so much better and I was less bloated.

Started dieting properly this year and am 4 kilos Down already so def need calorie. Controlled alongside for proper weight loss

I have found the opposite! Like a PP, I’ve been slimmest when I have drunk the most!

I can see I will need to track calories at some point! At the moment I'm just letting my body adjust to not drinking before I do that. I'm early 50s and have been consuming alcohol since my late teens/early twenties!

Nope!

I was a big drinker as well, most nights I’d be pissed.

Not had a single drink in two years now and did not see any difference in speed of weigh loss (lost 5 stone before I stopped drinking, 5 stone after all at the same rate).

I don’t feel any different/better for it either like everyone assumes 🤣 I didn’t feel awful when I drank heaps to be honest.

We are all different though and everything will affect everyone differently.