Alcohol and Weight Loss

Alcohol does not make you gain fat on its own, but it makes a calorie surplus much easier to reach. The NHS notes that alcohol carries 7 calories per gram, almost as many as fat, and that mixers such as cola or tonic add more. A few drinks can add several hundred calories to an evening without feeling like food, and the late-night snack or the heavier breakfast that often follows adds more.

That is why a 12 week body transformation counts drinks inside the week’s calories rather than ignoring them. The target is a weekly average, so an evening with clients is planned for instead of treated as a failure.

The NHS gives these figures for common drinks. They are upper values for the strengths shown, so a weaker drink carries fewer calories and a stronger one more.

• Pint of 5% beer or lager: up to 222kcal
• Standard 175ml glass of 12% wine: up to 158kcal
• Double measure (50ml) of 40% spirits: 100kcal, before any mixer
• Large 75ml measure of 17.5% fortified wine: 102kcal

Calories in a pint of lager

A pint of 5% lager can carry up to 222kcal, so three pints after work is roughly the calories of a substantial meal. Lower-strength lagers carry fewer, because much of a drink’s energy comes from the alcohol itself.

Calories in a glass of wine

A standard 175ml glass of 12% red or white wine can carry up to 158kcal. A large 250ml glass holds about a third as much again, and a bottle poured across a long client dinner adds up quickly because glasses are topped up rather than counted.

The NHS advises men and women not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, spread over 3 or more days, with several drink-free days each week. It puts 14 units at about 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine. Its unit figures for common drinks are:

• Single 25ml measure of 40% spirits: 1 unit
• Small 125ml glass of 12% wine: 1.5 units
• Standard 175ml glass of 12% wine: 2.1 units
• Large 250ml glass of 12% wine: 3 units
• Pint of 3.6% lager: 2 units; pint of 5.2% lager: 3 units

To work out any drink, multiply its strength (ABV) by its volume in millilitres and divide by 1,000. Units measure health risk rather than calories, but the two move together, so a week inside the guideline is usually a week that is easier to keep on track.

The drinks with the fewest calories are the ones with the least alcohol and the lightest mixer. A single measure of a spirit with a diet mixer or soda water is usually lower than a pint of beer or a large glass of wine, because a double measure of 40% spirits is 100kcal before the mixer and a pint of 5% beer is up to 222kcal. A sugary mixer closes that gap quickly.

The NHS tips for cutting down work just as well for calories: choose a smaller glass or a bottle instead of a pint, swap to a lower-strength drink, eat before you drink, and alternate alcoholic drinks with water or soft drinks. At a client dinner, deciding the number of drinks before you arrive is easier than deciding at the table.

The NHS says that although drinking can help some people fall asleep quickly, it can disrupt sleep patterns and stop you sleeping deeply. For a training block that matters twice: a poor night makes the next session harder, and a tired day is usually a hungrier one. That is why a dinner and an early heavy session the next morning rarely sit well together, and why a coach moves the session rather than asking you to push through it.

Heavy drinking after training appears to blunt the muscle-building response. In a 2014 study published in PLoS One, Parr and colleagues found that alcohol taken after a hard training session reduced muscle protein synthesis, even when protein was eaten alongside it. The amount drinkers took in that study was large, a binge rather than a glass of wine with dinner, and a single study is not the last word. The practical point is simple: on training days, keep drinking light, and put the heavy session on a day that is not followed by a big night.

A hangover is a poor day for heavy lifting: sleep was short, you are likely to be dehydrated and your coordination is not at its best. A walk, some light movement and plenty of water are reasonable. A heavy session is better moved to another day. If you are still over the drink-drive limit in the morning, you are not in a state to train with heavy weights either.

Blocks arranged through this site plan around this in advance. The session before a known dinner is the heavy one, and the morning after is either a rest day or a light one.

The approach that survives a City diary is to plan around client entertaining rather than ban it. At the start of the block you and your coach mark the dinners, drinks and leaving parties you can already see, set the week’s calories as an average, and build the other days to leave room. On the night, eat a proper meal, choose your drinks in advance and alternate them with water. The high protein lunch ideas guide covers the meals you do control on the days around it.

Body Transformation City of London connects people who work in the City with independent coaches at UNTIL Liverpool Street, 280 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4RB, open from 06:00 on weekdays. Coaches who train clients there and publish their rates charge about £100 to £130 a session. Your coach sets the week’s targets around the dinners in your diary. Talk to a coach and UNTIL Health Concierge will reply to arrange an assessment.

If you are worried about how much you drink, the NHS alcohol support pages and your GP are the right first step, before any training plan.