How much will Alcohol ruin my weight loss progress?
25M, 171 lbs fasted in the AM, been on TRT for almost a year—currently taking 120mg/week, putting me at ~1100 ng/dl. I recently added HCG, which bumped my levels to 1500 ng/dl—way too high for TRT in my opinion. I’ve been dieting since March 1st and am moderately lean, but still holding onto love handles. I'm strict with diet and cardio Monday through Friday, but weekends involve staying out late (2–3am), drinking, and occasional cheat meals. Weight loss has stalled.
I'm debating whether to maintain through summer and do a hard 6-week cut after summer, like in September/October, or dial in now, push hard for a month, and enjoy August shredded. With my current TRT dose and test levels, what’s the smarter move? I'm lost—should I coast now and cut later, or lock in and go all-out now? I want to be able to enjoy my summer, but at some point in the next 6 months I want to be shredded before my winter bulk. Also concerned for muscle loss since alcohol + calorie deficit + sleep disturbance.
Here are photos of my physique now - Keep in mind this is like perfect lighting and pump. On a beach day in the sun I look pudgy.
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Alcohol can slow weight loss by adding empty calories, reducing fat-burning, increasing appetite, and affecting recovery. Occasional moderate drinking won’t ruin progress, but cutting back helps you see faster results.
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It's time to make a choice: Live the lifestyle or hang it up and go party yourself all the way to FMLville.
You should come off gear. You should not be drinking alcohol and staying up late and partying while on gear. Then go enjoy your summer and party your ass off and fuck lots of hot girls. Yes alcohol will absolutely fuck your progress, whether cutting or bulking. It’s detrimental. But you’re only in your 20s once in life so go have fun if that’s what you enjoy doing. Once you’re ready to make the commitment to stop drinking and going out then run gear.
Why you on trt at 25? That’s a terrible idea.
It's basically a dose dependent negative... Fucks your recovery, sleep, muscle growth, fat loss etc. hard to say exactly how much is too much but if I'm going to stress my liver it might as well be from adding in orals to look even better hahahaha
Not one of your forums match the pictures. Quacks like a duck
Rut roh
Not again
Your username checks out at least.
You don’t need alcohol to have fun. Do you like being dehydrated? Do you like not being 100% coherent and in control of your body? Do you like the potential damage you’re doing to your organs?
I don’t know man, maybe it’s because I’m in my 30’s, but drinking isn’t worth it to me anymore. You can loosen up naturally…
Same here bro. I couldn’t imagine a night out without a lot of booze or fishing, yard work, going to the pool/beach without a cooler full of beer until around the time I turned 34. Then I started asking myself “Why the fuck do I roll out of bed at 5:00 AM and train my ass off every day, stick to a strict diet no matter how bad I’m craving a cheat meal, put the time, effort and money into buying shit loads of lean meats and healthy, whole grain carbohydrates and spend as much as I do on gear and supplements if I’m not going to maximize the results?” It’s just not worth it anymore. I have a very handsome, fully stocked bar in my office/man cave, but for the last two years it’s been for display purposes only. I only drink water, water mixed with BCAA’s/electrolytes and if I’m really crazy and want to splurge I’ll have a 0 calorie, 0 sodium flavored San Pelligregio sparkling water (I know I fucked up the spelling. I’d have to have a can in front of me to get it right lol)
Fortunately I wasn’t a social drinker, but unfortunately when I did drink I went all out to get drunk, which usually meant I blacked out until morning.
I’m right there with you - just water and for my preworkout I’ll drink EAA’s with taurine and an electrolyte packet for flavor (EAA’s are nasty). I used to drink energy drinks a lot, but stopped for some reason.
You’re living life crazy with your San Palagrino or whatever
Props to him for already "thinking" about it in his mid 20s. Took me until mid 30s lol
Buddy - I remember you putting up one of these Alcohol questions in the past and I am pretty sure I gave you a good spit roasting over it LOL Just quit doing it pal, they don't mix in any way shape or form. You spend all this time training and eating well only to destroy it with drinking!! No more of it otherwise I'll drag your ass into the Recovery lounge Lmao.
Spit roasting
Gave the wife one of those last night
Dieting and training all week just to drink heavily and eat like shit on the weekends is like getting a new 1RM And then dropping your Lifts by 25%.
I could not have said it better myself. I sent my wife pictures of me two years ago compared to today and we were both shocked by the transformation. I pointed out. I am quoting directly “the only real difference was finding the maturity and discipline to keep shit from going off the rails on the weekend. I was training and dieting Monday through Friday just as hard as I do now, but Friday night through Saturday night we’re spent drinking away all of that fucking effort” .
I was a very heavy drinker for a long time, but now I see it in my body screams “poison!”. I no longer have the desire, because I know that the minute I crack up with a beer or sip some whiskey I will remember exactly why I used to like it so much and it will be all over.
I was never diagnosed as an alcoholic, or went through a 12 step program, but there is absolutely no doubt that I was a functional alcoholic for many years.
There is no doubt that the first 2 hours of drinking with your mates in bars on a night out is a great laugh, a great feeling and its pure escapism. But its all the shit that comes after that and with it thats the problem, and thats if you can keep it just to a night out that you drink. It consumes you and gradually over the years as the dose and % volume increases it controls your life, and in 99% of people it destroys all that was good and productive/positive about their life. Even if you just drink socially on a weekend - if you are heavily into your training then all it will do is destroy it and keep pulling you backwards. You can easily undo a full weeks work in the gym in 1 or 2 nights of drinking at the weekend, then there is the internal damage that it does to you. The thing that I notice most of all nowadays after all these years of sobriety is how much of an utter Dick alcohol turns most people into, there isn't a single thing that it does to someones personality that makes them better to be around than if they are sober.
Agreed 100%! A few years ago my marriage was in a bad place and I was drinking pretty heavily on a daily basis. It took me almost 2 years to realize, but when I finally opened my eyes to the fact that I was drinking to numb the negative emotions from my marital trouble AND that my drinking was a significant driver of the wedge that had grown between my wife and I it was a life-changing moment. I have never been in better shape in my entire life, and my marriage has never been stronger since I put the bottle down.
A lot of people don’t realize this, but most of the time if you are drinking during the week, you’re doing it to avoid addressing something else in your life.
Lol a cut after summer. Get on that treadmill and walk yourself to a summer shred cut for august then worry about whatever…. SUMMER SHRED
Find the low calorie beer or a shot of titos for 70 calories
You have to choose, that or working out. Cant do both, and stop skipping leg day lol
+1 from me, brother. I view this as a lifestyle and not a hobby.
Was a big vodka cranberry drinker up until about 6 months ago. Had one hell of a front puch to get rid of. Having to drink just to feel normal is not somewhere you want to be. Switch over to stelzers like whiteclaws if you have to drink socially. Better yet just quit while your ahead. Those love handles you don't like are definitely from alcohol. Your choice
I was a heavy Vodka and Cranberry drinker at one point especially when I was over in the States, Ocean Spray it had to be LMAO I use to say to myself that the Cranberry juice was undoing all the harm the vodka was creating HAHAHA That was still during the relatively good years before I really committed myself to alcoholism lol
Screwdrivers were another favourite, Jack D and lemonade, JD and coke, Jameson and Lemonade, Tequila Sunrises too LMAO
Beer and Wine were for pussies was my take on things LMFAO
SHIT I need a Drink - YOU'VE made me relapse Asa!!!!
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! PRESS was over here in the states!?!? Ok, buddy!
I ain't been over since I was 25 buddy, so fuck that was 20 years ago LMAO!! But yeah every few years from the age of 8 till 2005 - I had family in California matey so would stay with them. I just had to fund the cost of the Air ticket which in those days was a fair wack - but then stayed for free for like 2 to 3 weeks at a time it was awesome. Nearly emigrated there but ya know how it is bro - some Bitch pulled me back LMFAO!!!
The things we tell ourselves to justify it all is amazing isn't it? I followed in my dad's footsteps and became a member of clubs like VFW, Moose and Amvets and we would go to All three and have our cranberry vodka in a tiny glass. 2 shots of well vodka and a splash of cranberry. By the time I was done making rounds to each club, that's about 6 drinks = 12 shots of vodka in about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs timespan.
I told him when I transferred over to gear that I'm either drinking myself to death or hopping on gear to last a bit longer. Best decision i have made. Haven't felt better about myself in a long long time. Have had a couple slips during golf outtings and such but I have no wants of it anymore. I'd rather be able to take my shirt off in public and not feel like an embarrassment to my wife and kids. Not be a lethargic drunk and fall asleep while playing with my kids. I may have not had parents growing up but that does not mean that my kids deserve the same. Tren rant closed lmao
To put things into perspective, one shot of vodka is roughly 100 calories. So it adds up very fast, especially if you can drink alcoholicly
Ranger3252I still drink not like I use too, but I enjoy bourbon on the rocks. I don’t drink wine, beer or other liquor just a few bourbons several times a week. Now our summer beach vacations I will drink seltzers, margaritas and some crushes. The beach just isn’t the same with music and alcohol for me.
Alcohol is honestly one of the least compatible things for this lifestyle. It's calorie dense, will tank recovery, throw off all kinds of biological processes, and can easily lead to poor eating choices (to name just a few things). I'm not here to tell you you gotta stop drinking entirely if it's something you enjoy in your life, you do you, but it will definitely have a detrimental impact on building a physique whether cutting or bulking.
I agree completely. Thats why im at a crossroads. Do I maintain what I got now through the summer, and enjoy my summer lifestyle? or do I grow up and cut back heavy on the drinking, and lock in to get shredded for august?
Realistically, from the pics I uploaded, would it take much work to get shredded for august?
Those are questions that really only you can answer, unfortunately. It just depends on what you value more. Do you value having fun and letting a little loose for the summer, or do you value getting shredded potentially at the cost of some social fun? It doesn't necessarily have to be 100% one or the other, either. You could drink a bit less when you go out, or maybe every other weekend or something. Maybe still not absolutely optimal for physical progress, but it's good to find a balance that is sustainable for you, as well. You're young so there is something to say about having fun with friends and making memories, but like I said just got to find the right balance.
If you dialed in your weekends and continued on a cut till August you could definitely make some good progress on getting even leaner. SeeOhShow made a good post the other day about body fat and made a great point about pushing through that last little bit a the end of a cut. It's common to stop right with people start seeing abs come in, but pushing through for a bit more after that to really get down around 10-12% can be very worth it in the long run. You'd be more primed for a growth phase going into winter, as well.
Yea I literally just broke that threshold of being able to see abs. If I maintained through august then bulked in the fall I'd lose the abs fast. I want to get even leaner to have a really good point to build muscle from.
I think I will continue through July, dieting hard and having more mild nights out. Also, FWIW, is it moreso the alcohol, the drunk binge eating, or the staying up late/lack of sleep that causes the catabolism?
Also, given my bodyweight and height (5'9, 171 lbs fasted) and the pics I posted, do I look like I'm lacking muscle? All my friends tell me I'm huge/tons of muscle/etc, which is why I would not mind getting more leaner in sacrificing maybe a few lbs of muscle, but I want to ask the forum to get other perspectives. I would rather be much leaner with moderate muscle, as opposed to being a bear.
Sounds like you know what you want as far as cutting more goes. It'll just come down to if you're willing to make the sacrifices to get there.
All three aspects are going to be pretty detrimental to progress. The calories from alcohol plus any binged meals can easily offset a week of dieting, staying up late combined with the already reduced sleep quality from alcohol is going to be big, and the downstream metabolic impact of alcohol on the body is going to be impactful. Then when you combine all three it becomes a pretty awful negative synergy.
As far as if you are lacking muscle, again will depend on your goals and perspective a bit. You look good, man. You're not the size to be stepping on a stage or anything, but just living a normal life you've got a great physique. Hard to tell what your legs look like in these pics, but it looks like your calves might be lagging a little. That can largely be genetics, though, some people can't build calves no matter what they do. Something to remember about this journey is that it's really easy to never be happy with our size or leanness. I'm 6'3 255 and pretty lean, but still I have a lot of days where I don't feel happy with my physique. Body dysmorphia is very real. All this to say, if your goal is to look good with your shirt off, or similar, I think you have enough muscle that any woman is going to appreciate it.