Alcohol, calories and your gym goals
A few drinks on the weekend can quietly undo a week's deficit and blunt your recovery. Here's what alcohol actually costs, and how to fit it in if you want to.
Nobody needs a lecture about alcohol. But if you’re putting in the work at the gym and logging your food, it’s worth knowing exactly what a big Saturday costs.
The calories add up quickly
Pure alcohol has about 7 calories per gram, nearly as much as fat. An Australian standard drink contains 10 g of alcohol, so that’s roughly 70 calories from the alcohol alone, before any sugar or mixer.
Rough numbers for common drinks:
| Drink | Standard drinks | Calories (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Schooner of full strength beer, 425 ml | 1.6 | 170 to 180 |
| Pint of full strength beer, 570 ml | 2.2 | 230 to 250 |
| Glass of wine, 150 ml | 1.4 to 1.6 | 120 to 130 |
| Spirit and regular soft drink | 1 to 1.5 | 150 to 200 |
| Premixed bourbon and cola can, 375 ml | 1.5 to 2.1 | 230 to 280 |
Six schooners on a Saturday is over 1,000 calories. If you’re running a 500 calorie daily deficit, that’s two days of progress gone, and that’s before the kebab.
It gets in the way of recovery
In a 2014 study, trained men did a hard session of weights and cardio, then drank alcohol at a level similar to a big night out. Even when they also had protein, their rate of muscle protein synthesis afterwards was markedly lower than when they had protein without alcohol.
Alcohol also tends to:
- Disrupt sleep quality, even when you sleep for long enough
- Increase appetite and lower your resistance to late night food
- Leave you flat for training the next day
The Australian guidelines
The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends that healthy adults drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 on any one day to reduce the risk of harm. The less you drink, the lower the risk.
If you’re going to drink
You don’t have to quit to make progress. Some practical moves:
- Plan it into your week. Eat a little lighter on carbs and fat that day, and keep protein high.
- Choose lower calorie options. Light beer, spirits with soda water or diet mixers, and smaller glasses.
- Alternate with water. It slows you down and helps the next morning.
- Eat a proper meal first. Ideally one high in protein.
- Don’t drink straight after training. Give your recovery a head start.
- Log it. Not to feel guilty, but because the drinks you don’t log are the ones that stall your progress.
With Logpulse you can just say “four schooners and a pizza” and it’s logged. Then you can see how the weekend fits into your week.
This is general information drawn from published research, not personal medical or dietary advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, or have a history of disordered eating, speak to your GP or an Accredited Practising Dietitian first. For support with eating concerns, the Butterfly Foundation helpline is 1800 33 4673.
Sources
- National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol. 2020.
- Parr EB, Camera DM, Areta JL, et al. Alcohol ingestion impairs maximal post exercise rates of myofibrillar protein synthesis following a single bout of concurrent training. PLoS One. 2014;9(2):e88384.
- Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. Standard drinks guide.