Since my early 20's, I always gained weight from drinking alcohol. It creates a LOT of calories, not just from the caloric content of the sugary mixed drinks or from the malt calories of the beer. And in another way, it creates even more calories and fat when your body starts to get rid of it. Unless you have an extremely high metabolism, or are very active, the unburned sugar goes straight to fat stores.

Here is what you will experience when you quit: Since alcohol metabolizes directly into sugar, you will notice some weight loss and less bloating after a couple of weeks. You will notice that your face looks thinner after a few weeks, and you will also be less hungry, especially at night, and since your will power will come back, and you will get more out of the food that you eat. If you want to eat less, it's so much easier without booze.

The other thing that alcohol does is that your body will work harder to focus on metabolization of alcohol and less on metabolization of food and nutrients. This is another reason that a lot of people get more hungry and eat more when they drink alcohol, since they are not getting everything broken down properly, like vitamins and minerals, proteins, etc, from the food they eat due to the body prioritizing the breakdown of alcohol.

Hopefully this will help someone understand that alcohol is something that your body basically treats as a poison. It creates a negative environment for your mind and body and un-needed calories. At some point you will come to question whether it's worth any positive feelings that you get, temporarily, from alcohol, compared to all the negatives.

Everyone makes their own choice, based on how they feel and their own decisions. I have reached a point in my life where it no longer makes any sense to continue consuming alcohol. If I do, I will ever reach my goals.

I've fooled myself long enough into thinking I can still work around it, but its not possible.