Alcohol doesn’t stop fat loss on its own — but uncounted drinks and the eating that comes with them often do. Answer 5 questions to see roughly how much of your calorie deficit your drinking is using up.
A US standard drink contains 14 g of pure alcohol. At 7 kcal per gram, that’s close to 100 kcal before anything else in the glass — and most real pours are bigger than a standard drink. A large glass of wine or a pint of strong beer can be closer to two.
The bigger blind spot is what happens around the drinks. When researchers pooled experiments that gave people alcohol or a non-alcoholic drink before or with a meal, the alcohol groups ate about 82 kcal more food on average, and their total intake including the drinks was around 256 kcal higher. Add next-day eating after a heavy night, and the effect on a weekly deficit can be larger than the drinks themselves.
This assumes the drinks aren’t already counted in your daily intake. If you log every drink, your deficit already accounts for them — the knock-on eating is what to watch.
Can you lose weight while drinking alcohol?
Yes, if your total intake — drinks included — stays below what you burn. A standard drink contains about 14 g of alcohol, which provides roughly 100 kcal before any mixer, so one or two counted drinks rarely stop progress. The problems come from uncounted drinks, sugary mixers and the extra eating that often follows.
How many calories are in common drinks?
Roughly 100 kcal for a standard shot of spirits with a zero-calorie mixer, about 125 kcal for a 5 oz (150 ml) glass of wine, about 150 kcal for a 12 oz (355 ml) regular beer, and 200 kcal or more for many cocktails. Larger pours and stronger drinks contain more.
Does alcohol make you eat more?
On average, yes. A 2019 meta-analysis of experimental studies in the British Journal of Nutrition found people ate about 343 kJ (roughly 82 kcal) more food after alcohol than after a non-alcoholic drink, and their total energy intake including the drinks was about 1,072 kJ (roughly 256 kcal) higher.
Is it better to save my drinks for the weekend?
For weight, the weekly total matters more than the timing. For health, spreading drinks out is better: having 4 or more drinks (women) or 5 or more (men) in about two hours counts as binge drinking, and big sessions also tend to bring bigger knock-on eating the next day.
What is the lowest-calorie alcoholic drink?
A single measure of spirits with soda water or a diet mixer is usually lowest, at about 100 kcal. Light beers and hard seltzers are close behind. Cocktails with juice, syrups or cream are typically the highest.