Goal Weight: Don’t Count on an Alcohol-Free Month for Drastic Changes on the Scale
Dry January Has Its Ups but Find Reasons Other Than Your Diet to Join In
By Mary MacVean
Dry January is coming to a close. I took part, not so much sober-curious as calorie-curious, and I’m a few Negronis and pounds lighter than I was at the start of the year.
Is there a diet article that doesn’t suggest cutting down or eliminating alcohol consumption to lose weight? I doubt it. The “experts” always talk as much about wild drunken overeating as they do about the actual calories in alcohol. (I am ignoring here whatever calories might be included in a cocktail from juices or other mixers, but of course they count.)
There are a small number of calorie sources: fats at 9 calories a gram, carbohydrates and proteins at 4 calories a gram, and alcohol at 7 calories a gram.
Eliminating that last category seems logical for people trying to lose weight. For the calories in the gin or wine, sure. And for the way so many people eat when they drink. That is, with abandon. Determination? Out the window. Discernment? Out the window.
After a couple of glasses of wine, people who eat one square of dark chocolate after dinner find themselves wondering how the whole candy bar got finished. People who’ve made dinner for friends (pre-Covid, perhaps) find themselves eating too many of the leftovers as they clean up. Those who can eat one handful of chips normally are pouring out the last crumbs directly into their mouths.
At least that can be me. So I thought a month without alcohol would surely move the scale, even if that was the only effort I put in this month. I “cheated” twice, once with a glass of champagne to toast a major life event for the husband. And once with a cocktail when out with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. (Excuses, excuses.)
My mostly-dry January was easier and harder, thanks to Covid. Like so many people, I spent a lot more time at home than I normally do. We are not eating inside restaurants, and even in Southern California it’s not so inviting to eat outside on a dark, chilly winter night. At the same time, like so many people, it’s been much easier than usual to pour a glass of wine and sit on the couch to watch a movie or Succession or the Great British Baking Show.
I hope I haven’t buried the lead, but I lost four pounds in January. I changed the drinking and tried not to worry too very much about what I ate. That should not suggest that alcohol is the dieter’s magic bean. For one thing, alcohol calories do not equal kale calories — a calorie is not a calorie all the time.
You can find plenty of testimonies about the amazing effects of a dry month — clarity, flat bellies, more energy. Whatever, that was not me. I felt the same as usual all month long. My insomnia is with me. My occasional headaches are with me. And flat belly? After two kids and menopause, a month just didn’t cut it.
It’s apparent that the questions around drinking alcohol are not only weight-related, and an occasional cocktail or (1.5 ounces of gin and several other liquors is around 100 calories) glass of beer (150 calories for 12 ounces) is just fine for most dieters. But the U.S. government has suggestions about alcohol that are related to overall health. In the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the recommendations are two or fewer drinks a day for men and one or fewer for women. I am sure they don’t mean seven drinks on a Saturday is OK. It’s also not OK to fast all day to save calories for Margaritas at night.
I honestly was not sure how the month would go. I like wine, and there are a couple of cocktails I’m partial to. But it was OK. Sparkling water, herbal tea and kombucha were my go-to substitutes. They were fine, for a finite period.
Would I do it again? Maybe. There’s a good feeling in abstaining for a bit, as if you are cleaning out your system. And four pounds is on track with many weight-loss recommendations. Better than a poke in the eye, as my dad used to say.
Mary MacVean writes about food and diets, among some other topics. She also bakes and is learning about birds.