The Truth About Alcohol & Your Weight

Have you ever noticed that almost everyone who quits drinking for an extended period of time seems to lose weight (and look really healthy and great, might I add)? Even people who were not overweight to begin with…

Me too. But I didn’t understand this phenomenon until it happened to me.

Up until fall of 2024, I spent the last 15 years frustrated that no matter how often I exercised, what kinds of workouts I did, or even how much I restricted what I ate, I always had anywhere from 5 to 20 stubborn extra pounds I just couldn’t shed.

Then something incredible and completely unexpected happened.

I quit drinking for reasons that had nothing to do with my weight, and slowly but surely, those pesky pounds melted right off of my body—even as I became much more lenient with my food choices.

I didn’t intentionally plan on eating worse as some sort of a swap for alcohol. It was just that quitting drinking was very challenging for me at first, and I didn’t want to set myself up to fail. So, at times when I desperately craved a drink, I opted for a sweet treat or a slice of greasy pizza instead.

And yet… about 6 months into abstinence from alcohol, my body had become unrecognizable, even to me. My stomach was the flattest it had ever been. My arms (previously not my favorite) were tiny. My face had become much more slender. My friends and even a few of my neighbors commented that I looked different, in a good way.

I can see now that some of it was the result of reduced inflammation throughout my body, which is a wonderful thing. But there’s more to it than that.

I was truly shocked at my new alcohol-free physique because I didn’t think I had been drinking enough to be hanging on to excess weight from alcohol. I wasn’t a daily drinker by the time I quit, far from it. I had even been taking 2 or 3 week breaks from drinking at a time. And yet every time I drank, I was restarting the clock on my body being able to heal from the damage caused by alcohol.

Here’s what I know now, that I didn’t understand back then: consuming alcohol affects our body composition and our brain systems, which makes us hold on to extra fat for a number of reasons that are far more complicated than extra calories consumed.

I highly recommend reading a very helpful book called Alcohol Explained by William Porter if you’d like to learn about the science of alcohol and how it affects our bodies and brains further.

But here are the highlights of what you need to know when it comes to alcohol and your weight:

1. Alcohol is a hormone disrupter.

Testosterone:
Regular alcohol consumption in ANY quantity diminishes testosterone levels, in both men and women. This results in a decreased ability to put on muscle 💪🏻, and muscle burns fat. This explains why after an extended period of abstinence, I suddenly was able to see muscle definition in places it had never been visible before! (I’m obsessed.)

Estrogen:
Alcohol also increases estrogen levels in both men and women, which can cause our bodies to hang on to excess fat. (This is also one of the reasons alcohol increases cancer risk.)

Prolactin:
Chronic alcohol use is associated with increased prolactin levels, which can interfere with other reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone, potentially leading to infertility.

2. Alcohol (a neurotoxin) disrupts our brain’s ability to tell us when we are full.

This is not just when we are drinking, but all the time. (YIKES!) Alcohol disrupts your body’s appetite regulation by suppressing the breakdown of fatty acids, increasing calorie burn, interfering with hunger hormones, and activating brain pathways linked to starvation - often making you feel hungry even after eating.

By the way, the myth that greasy food “soaks up” alcohol is false—while eating before and during drinking can help metabolize alcohol, high-fat, high-sodium foods may actually make you feel worse.

3. Our body prioritizes alcohol metabolism, which means everything else we eat gets put on the back burner.

When you consume alcohol, your body prioritizes metabolizing it for energy, which can lead to a decrease in fat burning and contribute to weight gain.

4. The presence of alcohol in our gut messes up our microbiome, preventing our body from properly absorbing certain vitamins and nutrients.

This results in increased appetite as well as vitamin deficiencies. Drinkers are often deficient in Vitamin B; I had a B Vitamin deficiency before I quit drinking, but not anymore.

Before & After quitting drinking

5. Alcohol is highly caloric (even when served neat or on the rocks), and even more so if you’re a wine or beer drinker.

And you’ll consume even more empty calories if you mix alcohol with juice, soft drinks or other sugary mixers.

6. Regular alcohol consumption lowers our inhibitions and increases impulsivity, both when we are drinking and when we are not.

This results in poorer food choices, especially while intoxicated or hungover.

7. It is so much easier to stay consistent with an exercise routine when you are a non-drinker.

I’m speaking from experience, as someone who has done it both ways. I always exercised, even all those years that I drank, but my workouts since going alcohol-free are so much more fulfilling. Moving your body feels different when everything is working the way it should, instead of being in a constant state of recovering from and trying to process a harsh toxin.

If you’re saying “This isn’t true for me,” because you did dry January and didn’t shed any weight, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but a 1 month break isn’t enough time to recalibrate these bodily systems.

If you’re wrapping up a break from drinking and feeling pissed that you haven’t lost a pound, keep going!

It took at least 100+ days alcohol-free before I started shedding ANY weight and I saw a significant difference at the 6 month mark. 🐢 not 🐇

Rooting for you always,
Coach Gretchen
xx