The holiday season is here, and there are plenty of opportunities to drink with friends. That’s great — life’s meant to be enjoyed. But if you’re not careful, the drinks can cause you to gain a lot of unnecessary fat.

Here’s how to minimize fat gain when drinking.

First, alcohol doesn't cause fat gain directly, but...

1. Consuming more calories than you need makes you fat. Under normal circumstances, you store the fat you eat as body fat.
2. You cannot store the calories from alcohol as fat, but alcohol calories are preferentially burned. This is because the by-product of alcohol metabolism, acetate, is toxic.
3. Drinking can easily push you over your daily calorie budget. This will cause some or all of the dietary fat you eat on this day to be stored as body fat.

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👉 So, if you eat 100 g of fat in a day (900 kcal) and you consume 500 calories over your maintenance calorie needs (whether from food or alcohol), you will store 500 calories of body fat.

👉 If you eat 100 g of fat in a day (900 kcal) and you consume 900 calories over your maintenance calorie needs, you will store 900 calories of body fat.

👉 If you eat 100 g of fat in a day (900 kcal) and you consume more than 900 calories over your maintenance calorie needs, you will store the 900 calories of body fat and possibly a little more.

I say "possibly a little more" because it's tough for the body to convert excess protein to fat, and only regular overfeeding causes the body to convert excess carbs into fat.

Therefore...

1. On days you'll consume modest amounts...

Reduce your calorie intake from food to accommodate the alcohol.

So, if you have a couple of large whiskeys (~400 kcal), reduce your food calories by 400 kcal.

"Modest amounts" means an amount where it is possible to reduce your food intake to accommodate the calories.

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2. On days you'll consume a lot...

You're going to blow through your calorie budget.

(2 whiskeys and 5 pints at ~200 kcal per pint is 1400 kcal. You have no realistic hope of reducing your food intake by this much. And even if you manage it, there will be terrible knock-on effects for hunger the next day.)

Keep your fat intake low. This will help minimize fat gain.

But know that if you do this too often, your body will find a way to store the excess calories as fat. This is a trick to be used occasionally, not every weekend, and twice during the week.

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3. Avoid the drunken munchies.

The crucial point is not to let the lowered inhibitions cause you to catch a case of the drunken munchies. Don't be the man who wakes up with a pizza box beside the bed, wondering who ordered it.

👉 Remove temptations. Don’t keep junk food lying around "just in case." Delete the apps from your phone if you know that's been a problem in the past.

👉 Set boundaries. Before you go out, remind yourself why you’re doing this. Consider whether a few minutes of indulgence is worth the setback.

Drinking itself often isn’t the issue — it’s what you do after.

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4. Don’t panic over the scale.

The scale might spike the next day, but most of that weight isn’t fat. It’s water retention, gut content, and glycogen storage.

You’d need to eat 3,500 kcal above maintenance to gain a pound of fat. Even with drinks and some food, that’s unlikely in one night. The key is to avoid turning one night into a week-long binge.

The weight spike is temporary. Stick to your plan, drink plenty of water, and it will normalize in a few days.

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5. Know when to stop

Look, you don’t need to drink to excess to have fun. The more you drink, the harder it is to control your choices, and that’s when things go off the rails.

👉 Stick to two or three drinks if you can.

👉 Sip slowly and alternate with water to stay hydrated.

👉 Avoid fruity cocktails that have a lot of added sugar calories.

This isn’t about being boring or skipping the fun — it’s about keeping control so you don’t undo your hard work.

The Bottom Line

Enjoy yourself, but don’t let the holidays become an excuse for careless decisions. If you drink smart, plan ahead, and keep your goals in mind, you’ll make it through without sabotaging your progress.

And if you slip up, don’t let that spiral into a bad decision-making cascade. Get back on track the next day and move on.

Cheers! 🍻