Alcohol is a taboo subject for those on a weight loss diet. Can you have an occasional drink and still lose fat? Yes! It all comes down to tracking alcohol macros appropriately and a little moderation.
Alcohol is technically the shadowy “4th macro,” as it provides your body with 7 calories per gram, but because it isn’t essential for survival it’s not typically mentioned alongside protein, fat, and carbs.
It’s very important to keep in mind that alcohol has value as energy, but no nutritional value such as vitamins, minerals, or fiber. It’s very similar to consuming “empty carbs” like gas station candy or table sugar. So how does one go about fitting alcohol into your macros?
Here’s the best way to track alcohol macros and stay on track with your progress!
You can either count your alcohol as a substitute for carbs, fat, or a mix of both depending on what your macro plan for the day is.
Take the total calorie content of your drink and divide it by 4 if you’re going to count it towards your carbs, and divide by 9 if you’re going to count it towards your fat. This is because carbs have 4 calories per gram and fats have 9… Simple as that.
As an example, let’s take a look at a 5-ounce glass of red wine – we’re not even going to worry about the macro content at all, just the total calories. You’d do the same for hard liquors, beer, or any mixed drink as they are almost universally NOT going to have protein or fat content.
Five ounces of red wine has 125 calories. If we decide to fit it into our carbs, we’ll divide the calories by 4; so it counts as “31g carbs.” If we wanted to plug the wine into our fat allotment, we’d divide by 9 and count it as “14g fat.” This can take a few minutes of figuring out the math, or you can use the Alcohol Tracker feature in Avatar’s food tracking app. With that, you can quickly adjust how many carbs or fat you want to put toward that glass of wine, and you’re all set in seconds!
Tracking alcohol macros as carbs or fat will keep you in the right energy balance. You may miss out on some of the health benefits that fats or nutrient-dense carbs have to offer, but at least you won’t put your body composition in jeopardy!
Alcohol Macros Cheat Sheet
You will likely have a hard time finding the caloric value of most wines, beers, and alcohols. That is because alcohol is regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau who doesn’t require nutrition information to be placed on the packaging. To help, we created this cheat sheet so you can track accordingly!
Make sure to keep serving sizes in mind when tracking alcohol macros! The standard for most mixed drinks is 1oz of alcohol, while a serving size of wine is only 5oz. You can get more bang for your buck by choosing a light beer or hard cider. If you can’t plan ahead, try using the High/Low Day feature within the Avatar app and have your macros adjusted so you remain compliant for the week!
It’s probably not a good idea to have a majority of your daily energy coming from booze as this could lead to a wide array of issues that extend beyond body composition, but if you enjoy your drinks it is possible to fit it into alcohol macro targets and keep your progress going.
Plan ahead, designate a driver, and don’t think that flexible dieting means that you have to sacrifice your social life!
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