Wine and Calories

[ufo]

First the confession;
I got the idea from the Starforum but I think it is an important topic and really wonder what you guys think about it.
So, we all love drinking wine, that's all fine but how much, lets say per week and how do you deal with the extra calories gained or how do you control the associated weight gain ? I hear some saying bugger the weight gain!

[Bick]

My weight gain is limited by my budget. If I could afford more good wine, I'd be fatter.

[ufo]

I'd better answer first.
I drink 3-4 bottles a week, try to do it evenly in an effort to avoid binging but some times on the weekends it does happen. Have been constantly putting on weight since I established my cellar 7 years ago. Put on roughly 10 kilos and trying to loose some of it or at least stop it buy daily half an hour walks. No results yet.

[ross67]

Lucky for me i have been blessed with a very fast metabolism.....so therefore no weight gain in sight for me.
But really i only drink on average 1-2 btls/week anyway

Is anyone else in this category?

ross

[Craig(NZ)]

I love to climb big hills and mountains and take pictures of the scenery http://www.peakbagging.co.nz is my new best friend...you can guess my username on the forum there quite easily. Already climbed Ngarauhoe, Tongariro and Hikurangi this year as well as other 10-14 hour day hikes and smaller peaks

Now training to walk 100km in 24 hours in April entering the Oxfam trail walk. Have a look on link below and of course feel free to sponsor our team

http://www.oxfam.org.nz/events/teams.asp?a=show_team_pages&eventid=23&teamid=3513

Although I love wine I usually only drink one or two nights a week. Mon to Thurs I pretty much never drink unless there is a special occassion. I work on the calories in vs out thing. Burn heaps and it allows you to eat/ drink a bit more without guilt. Cheese is my big weakness - almost an addiction

[dkw]

Not a big drinker, maybe share 3 bottles/week with my partner. We did have a bit of a binge over Christmas though - three dozen in three weeks! I ride a bike to stay fit, and could probably ride a bit faster if I didn't drink the night before... a fast metabolism helps me too, maybe like Ross.

The other observation (and this is a long term commitment if you go down this path) is that having little children around somehow keeps you skinny!

Cheers,

Dave.

[Roscoe]

I work on the calories in vs out thing. Burn heaps and it allows you to eat/ drink a bit more without guilt.

Sage advice. Calories in vs calories out is what it all comes back to. Cutting calories in seems to be more effective in clinical trials than increasing calories out (i.e exercise, activity), but of course both work together.

[monghead]

Never really considered this...

How many calories in a bottle of wine???

Does it differ significantly between a dry white and a red? I'd imagine the wines with a higher alcohol content and residual sugar would have more calories??

For wifey and I, 3-4 bottles a week seems to be an average.

Can't say we are actively trying to lose weight though...

Cheers,

Monghead.

[ufo]

[quote="monghead"]Never really considered this...

How many calories in a bottle of wine???

Does it differ significantly between a dry white and a red? I'd imagine the wines with a higher alcohol content and residual sugar would have more calories??

For wifey and I, 3-4 bottles a week seems to be an average.

Can't say we are actively trying to lose weight though...

Cheers,


Here is what they say about calories in wine

750mls x 15% alcohol = 112.5ml of alcohol.

Alcohol has 6.5 cals per ml.

112.5 x 6.5 = 731 calories

You can calculate exact calories of the wine you are drinking depending on the alcohol level this way.

[griff]

Never really considered this...

How many calories in a bottle of wine???

Does it differ significantly between a dry white and a red? I'd imagine the wines with a higher alcohol content and residual sugar would have more calories??

For wifey and I, 3-4 bottles a week seems to be an average.

Can't say we are actively trying to lose weight though...

Cheers,


Here is what they say about calories in wine

750mls x 15% alcohol = 112.5ml of alcohol.

Alcohol has 6.5 cals per ml.

112.5 x 6.5 = 731 calories

You can calculate exact calories of the wine you are drinking depending on the alcohol level this way.

Don't forget residual sugar and assorted extras. The former can ratchet up the calories around dessert time

cheers

Carl

[ufo]

Never really considered this...

How many calories in a bottle of wine???

Does it differ significantly between a dry white and a red? I'd imagine the wines with a higher alcohol content and residual sugar would have more calories??

For wifey and I, 3-4 bottles a week seems to be an average.

Can't say we are actively trying to lose weight though...

Cheers,


Here is what they say about calories in wine

750mls x 15% alcohol = 112.5ml of alcohol.

Alcohol has 6.5 cals per ml.

112.5 x 6.5 = 731 calories

You can calculate exact calories of the wine you are drinking depending on the alcohol level this way.

Don't forget residual sugar and assorted extras. The former can ratchet up the calories around dessert time

cheers

Carl

Well I was assuming it was dry table wine so that's why I didn't mention sugar. If you are consuming heaps of sweet stuff too, you gotta definitely watch the sugar. What the heck are other extras ?

[orpheus]

If you feel that your wine consumption is increasing your daily intake of calories beyond an acceptable level, simply cut down the amount of fresh fruit and cereals you are consuming

[monghead]

If you feel that your wine consumption is increasing your daily intake of calories beyond an acceptable level, simply cut down the amount of fresh fruit and cereals you are consuming

Why stop there, take up smoking too, to decrease your appetite.

This of course would bode well with the other thread re: cancer risk...

[rooman]

This has actually become a major problem for me. As we have been forced to stay at home with two wee kids (4&2), our wine consumption went through the roof as did my weight. Now trying to drop 10 kg, the big push for the last 12 months has been to limit wine to a couple of bottles a week. I have at least 3 friends who have currently gone dry trying to lose weight. Major associated problem, I am still buying at the old rate if not a bit more now that I can't drink as much.

[griff]

Never really considered this...

How many calories in a bottle of wine???

Does it differ significantly between a dry white and a red? I'd imagine the wines with a higher alcohol content and residual sugar would have more calories??

For wifey and I, 3-4 bottles a week seems to be an average.

Can't say we are actively trying to lose weight though...

Cheers,


Here is what they say about calories in wine

750mls x 15% alcohol = 112.5ml of alcohol.

Alcohol has 6.5 cals per ml.

112.5 x 6.5 = 731 calories

You can calculate exact calories of the wine you are drinking depending on the alcohol level this way.

Don't forget residual sugar and assorted extras. The former can ratchet up the calories around dessert time

cheers

Carl

Well I was assuming it was dry table wine so that's why I didn't mention sugar. If you are consuming heaps of sweet stuff too, you gotta definitely watch the sugar. What the heck are other extras ?

Trace protein and unfermentable carbohydrate. Not really significant but I thought I would add it in when mentioning sugar

cheers

Carl

[Daryl Douglas]

My weight has rarely varied out a range of 64-70kg, averages about 65kg, though I think it did get up to about 72kg for a while some years ago. It's always been within recommended weight for age/height paramaters and I drink a shitload of wine. I think when it went up I was probably drinking more beer than usual. But then I usually eat large meals either, don't seem to need to watch closely what I eat.

daz

[Lee]

There are conflicting ideas around about alcohol intake and weight gain - most weight gain seems to be from bar snacks and extra food consumed whilst drinking...... You don't see very many overweight alcoholics, some of them are consuming enormous amounts of calories in alcohol, and are usually skin and bones....

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Alcoho ... eight.html

so drink away.....

[orpheus]

There are conflicting ideas around about alcohol intake and weight gain - most weight gain seems to be from bar snacks and extra food consumed whilst drinking...... You don't see very many overweight alcoholics, some of them are consuming enormous amounts of calories in alcohol, and are usually skin and bones....

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Alcoho ... eight.html

so drink away.....

Clear support for the approach I advocated; cut down on fresh fruit and cereal.

Probably support for the theory that if you drink enough, you will cut down on fresh fruit, cereal, and other nourishment without even trying.

[Roscoe]

Probably support for the theory that if you drink enough, you will cut down on fresh fruit, cereal, and other nourishment without even trying.

Maybe it is also a clue as to why alcohol is associated with cancer. Certainly intake of fruit and vegetables is negatively associated with cancer. If you drink more alcohol, maybe you eat less vegies and fruit and thus alcohol increase your risk of cancer via an indirect route? I don't know if the epidemiological studies have corrected for this or not.

[malliemcg]

-18kg since drinking wine regularly, also associated with more healthy living. Somewhat stabilised with about 30kg needing to be dropped still.

The biggest temptation is the cheese/antipasto platters w/ a decadent drop.

[orpheus]

Probably support for the theory that if you drink enough, you will cut down on fresh fruit, cereal, and other nourishment without even trying.

Maybe it is also a clue as to why alcohol is associated with cancer. Certainly intake of fruit and vegetables is negatively associated with cancer. If you drink more alcohol, maybe you eat less vegies and fruit and thus alcohol increase your risk of cancer via an indirect route? I don't know if the epidemiological studies have corrected for this or not.

Excellent thought. I will now follow a rule of one extra serving of fresh vegetables or fruit for each standard drink.

Should get me into less trouble than my 1 extra mile of running for each standard drink, which left me exhausted.

[Paradox]

There are conflicting ideas around about alcohol intake and weight gain - most weight gain seems to be from bar snacks and extra food consumed whilst drinking...... You don't see very many overweight alcoholics, some of them are consuming enormous amounts of calories in alcohol, and are usually skin and bones....

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Alcoho ... eight.html

so drink away.....

That article is misleading and is mainly based on 1 study which suggested that people who drink 1 drink most days and seldom more (ie quite controlled) have lower mean weights than non-drinkers. For all other drinkers however, regular consumption of >2-3U of alcohol in a day is associated with obesity, even if it only occurs once or twice weekly.

The other problem is that the body uses alcohol preferentially as an energy source. If you follow your alcohol consumption with a fatty meal, the body will use the alcohol as fuel while it stores the fat, usually centrally, around the abdomen.

Many, if not most, alcoholics are overweight; the skinny alcoholics you see don't actually eat anything much at all or have chronic disease causing their weight loss.

[Roscoe]

Many, if not most, alcoholics are overweight; the skinny alcoholics you see don't actually eat anything much at all or have chronic disease causing their weight loss.

I agree that many alcoholics are overweight. The stereotypic thin park bench alcoholic, who gets most of his calories from alcohol is not typical. When you develop liver disease (which is usually at a late stage), you usually start to develop generalised wasting although you may still have a big stomach due to retained fluid.