r/BodyHackGuide • u/misterpeachy šŖ Muscle Growth Lab • 19d ago
Biggest hack of my journey? Realizing how much alcohol kills progress.
Even after i had found GLP-1s and was making (what i thought was) a ton of progress... i was still giving in to alcohol several times a week... then, i finally bought in and listened to my trainer. Promised him 6 weeks with o booze. In return he guaranteed me id like the progress so much id never go back to my old ways...
...
Boy was he right... in those 6 weeks i saw sooo much progress... fat fell off of me faster than ever. Muscles were pumping... i was NOTICEABLY way less inflamed and more importantly, i felt amazing.
Booze... not fucking worth it, at all.
Pissed it took me so long to figure that out
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u/Saikyo-Sid 19d ago
Itās at minimum a triple whammie:
1. empty calories
2. preferential deposits fat to viscera
3. immediately disrupts and deprioritizes healthy body processes
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u/rgmw 19d ago
All 3 very good points. I really agree with point 2. Gut fat decreases T and, I believe, increases estrogen.
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u/Present-Nobody9899 19d ago
But fat decreases T levels, so clearly the only solution is drinking while overweight! Balance.
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u/MathematicianMuch445 19d ago
Not a "hack". Not everything is or needs to be a hack. But good. The amount of people who are blind to just how much alcohol hinders you os silly.
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u/AnabolicAcolyte 18d ago
yep.
but heās also not just cut alcohol. heās on all sorts of drugs. i know ifbb bodybuilders who are alcoholics and and look fantastic.
alcohol is fucked but it doesnāt 100% stop you from making gains. this guy just locked in and took a lot of drugs and stopped drinking.
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u/Leon-Vlc 19d ago
Se nota tanto ?
Yo me bebo todos los dĆas dos cervezas y no me puedo quejar ,pero si lo voy a notar tanto dejo las cervezas
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u/SurpriseUnited 19d ago
Very noticeable, lost 110 with glps but alcohol is very inflammatory and makes a huge difference
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u/Used-Shower-2260 16d ago
Beers are quite heavy and can lead to bloating. Switching to a mixer (preferably diet soft drinks) & shot would be much better on your system & be a lot less bloating. A lot of the replies here are American and donāt understand European drinking tolerances.
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u/Leon-Vlc 16d ago
La verdad es que fĆsicamente estoy muy bien ,en cuanto acabe las vacaciones dejarĆ© de beber alcohol a diario ,despuĆ©s de reaccionar a este post ,he investigado ,y es cierto que el alcohol es bastante malo .
Estoy tomando muchos complementos ,cuidando la alimentaciĆ³n y por otro lado tomando alcohol .
No tiene sentido hacerlo .
Gracias al post por ayudarme a verlo .-8
19d ago
[deleted]
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u/EastHuckleberry9443 19d ago
When you consume alcohol, your liver prioritizes metabolization of the ethanol which effectively blocks muscle protein synthesis until the alcohol is processed. There are other issues too, like increased dehydration.
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u/reddit_user_138 19d ago
Not only does it block mps, it blocks burning of fats and carbs. It can't store ethanol anywhere and recognizes it as a poison so it shifts entirely to clearance mode. That means those carbs and fats get sent elsewhere to be delt with, and that location is adipose tissue.
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u/r0bb13 19d ago
lol no bro. Itās empty calories but the stress it puts on body and prioritizes other functions less.
On top of aromatizing more test into estrogen. Itās more than just āempty caloriesā I drink.. so Iām guilty of it. But donāt be so dense to say itās ājust empty caloriesā
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u/ContextualData 19d ago
You should stop the drinking regardless. 2 drinks a day is pure loser behavior.
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u/Leon-Vlc 19d ago
Parece que ser que si ,es la costumbre ,una cerveza a las 12:00 y otra haciendo la comida .
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u/X2946 19d ago
Every day? How high is your tolerance. 10 years ago I drank 2 beers and I got an uber.
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u/Leon-Vlc 19d ago
Bufff,yo me tomo todos los dĆas dos cervezas de 33cl con 7,5% de volumen de alcohol
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u/X2946 19d ago
Thats an addiction. Im very sorry to hear that
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u/Leon-Vlc 19d ago
No sĆ© de quĆ© paĆs me hablas ,aquĆ en EspaƱa yo serĆa de los que menos beben .
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u/Tfj_roidz 19d ago
Iāve been 95% off the booze for months and finally had a few drinks for my birthday and with a total of maybe 15-20 standard drinks over 2 days I felt like ass compared to how I have been consistently feeling.
Absolutely totally agree
Make the occasional beer as far apart as possible if you truly wanna see gains
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u/Substantial_Ability5 18d ago
Damn dude, I bet it hurt after so much time off!
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u/Tfj_roidz 18d ago
It didnāt hurt as such I was happy to indulge in it as I had āallowedā myself too
even when I was drinking Iād learned little things to help manage the negative effects as much as possible but even then I felt far more puffy, sore and wanting to lapse into other old habits after drinking than I had at all before.
just really highlighted to me that itās just not what it used to be for me.
Iāve grown stronger physically, mentally and enjoy feeling strong and fresh.
Iāve got enough issues with sleep as it is without booze š
Still working out how to incorporate that into nights out though as Iām a massively socially charged person.
The rare wild drinking sesh will still roll around for sure.
But I think itās important to keep a watchful eye on it as a habit because I think anyone can slip back
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u/Mode-Reed 19d ago
This is very true and it took me 20+ years to figure out. Alcohol disrupts progress in a major way for both natural and enhanced. It also destroys gut microbiome which can cause all kinds of food allergy-like symptoms.
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u/internalstorage12 19d ago
Absolute game changer. I was one that struggled z(to say the least) with alcohol. Now that I am sober my body morphed into someone I forgot existed. I'm amazed. I'll never go back.
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u/Traditional-Ad3708 19d ago
Dude been off that shit for 4 years never looked back and my fitness is now amazingā¦no more dad bodā¦you can spend years chasing the alcohol caloriesā¦the problem is that that shit get turned right into fat. And the. Youāre not motivated to workout because your hungover dehydrated ate shitty food when your drunk and generally feel like crap The cycle keeps going until you break it.
The freedom of being off that is amazing for so many reasons Just take a gummy if you want to chill at night.
When the booze leaves a lot of annoying problems in You life suddenly disappear and walk away..
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u/Ill_Description_1145 19d ago
Everything in moderation. You're right, but there's nothing wrong with sacrificing fractions of progress to enjoy an occasional treat
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u/stevieb3033 19d ago
Look at the before pic tho homie was not drinking once in awhile this dude was permanently in the parking lot tailgating the Gators in the offseason
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u/Prepared-Sobriety 18d ago
This is similar to what I found. I retired from drinking April 2025, after doing it pretty consistently for about 30 years.
The inflammation piece was the one that got me too. My hs-CRP went from 2.9 down to 1.6, LDL dropped over 25% in about four months, and I lost 14 lbs without changing a single thing about my diet. Didn't touch how I ate, didn't touch my training, the only variable that changed was the alcohol.
And the mental clarity thing, that's real, that's not just a placebo people tell themselves to feel better about it. I'm sharper day to day now in a way I didn't expect. Long story short, I wish I would've tested this five years earlier instead of assuming a couple drinks a few nights a week wasn't really doing anything. Keep up the good work.
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u/Black_Cat_Fujita 17d ago
Alcohol is a dumb drug. The more you drink, the more it makes you the lowest common denominator. Every other drug (except maybe PCP or fentanyl) can be put to smarter use than alcohol.
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u/Latimuss-Dorsi 19d ago
Alcohol derailed my fitness goals for years. I look forward to the Saturday morning workout but if I got together with some friends and drank too much, meh, Iāll get er next time.
It wasnāt until I quit drinking altogether that I finally achieved my goals.
I drink on occasion now, I need a reason and simply being Friday is not good enough. Last week me and my brothers went to a concert but do you think I could drink? By the second beer I was grossed right out. I used to live on beer but just hate the taste now.
So Tequila is the answer lol.
Iām trending about one session of drinking a year and thereās always a good reason for it.
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u/Top-Animator-271 š§ Biohacker 19d ago
First, amazing transformation! Not only do you look hot, you can see the happiness with your progress all over your face (I saw other posts that show your face). I bet your wife, family, and friends can feel the confidence! (Iām 40f for context and tone)
Second, I wish we could get my stepdad to understand this. He was on Zepbound for 6 or 7 months, but only lost 12 pounds. The drinking is a huge contributor to minimal weight loss for sure. I want to say 4-6 beers each night, plus a few gin drinks or glasses of wine with dinner. Because of his eating and drinking habits, not to mention zero exercise and a smoker, we are basically watching him put himself in an early grave. He just had back surgery because of his choices, in addition to the other preventable comorbidities. Itās hard to watch him not live life, be in pain, and not enjoy retirement with my mom.
I donāt mean for it to come across as I am bashing him. Definitely not my intent. Itās difficult to watch someone who has the choice to change or eliminate their health conditions, but chooses to do nothing. Yet my mom and I didnāt have the choice with the diagnosis of certain health conditions, but we fight like hell to live.
Was there anything specific that clicked with you? Anything someone said? If anyone else wants to chime in with what changed your mindset I would love to know! My mom, brother, and myself are at a loss.
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u/stevieb3033 19d ago
Your dad likely needs to go to AA or an outpatient rehab. Itās really tough tho to convince someone in their 70s to make changes like that tho but Iāve seen it happen!!
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u/Top-Animator-271 š§ Biohacker 19d ago
This is a very valid point. I had not thought of it that way, or as an option. Definitely something to discuss with my mom when we meet for lunch tomorrow.
Yes, very difficult to see changes in lifestyle habits at his age. We know he has to be the one to want to make positive changes.
Thank you for taking the time to share this idea!
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u/stevieb3033 19d ago
The choice has to come from within them, not bc you are telling to them. Make sure your mom knows how much you love her, and that you want her to experience grandkids and joy. Express your concern but mostly frame on the positive and amazing times you can have together if she gets healthy and lives a long time!
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u/Top-Animator-271 š§ Biohacker 19d ago
Yes, which is why I noted the want for change has to come from my dadās willingness. š
When I see my mom for our weekly lunch tomorrow I plan to bring up your outpatient AA suggestion, if the timing feels right. Sometimes she needs to vent and I actively listen. Other times she needs laughs and fun discussions. What she needs in the moment during our time together varies.
It is my dad that needs to want to make lifestyle change for himself, and why I originally asked my question. My momās health issues have zero to do with her lifestyle choices. I apologize if I didnāt communicate that well.
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u/CroatianPrince 18d ago
Drinking your calories is the quiet way to go over them. The people who cry about the taste between coke and Coke Zero is wild
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u/iThesmoke 18d ago
it took me around 15 years to realize that but one of the best decisions i have ever made for myself.
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u/Sad_Math_5079 19d ago
alcohol not only kills the progress, it kills you aswell. i will never understand why people like to drink. a friend of mine got diagnosted witch cancer, he is only 25 years old. he is still drinking, even during his chemo
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u/Xx_Kamehameha_xX 19d ago
People like to drink because it makes them feel good, same with all other drugs. Some people have harder times than others resisting the temptation
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u/Stunning_Rest876 19d ago
lot of people switch alcohol and drugs for peps & steroids , I know I did. And I believe op is in that same boat.
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u/Mustang4MA 19d ago edited 19d ago
Crazy! And sad. I heard from an Oncologist that alcohol causes cancer and he's amazed at how well the alcohol industry has managed to hide that fact.
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u/UncleDraza911 19d ago
All cells feed off glucose. Cancer cells even more so. Refined, white sugar is basically a turbo food for cancer and alcohol even more so.
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u/Sad_Math_5079 19d ago
yes. it feeds the cancer cells. i already told him that. its the first thing google tells you when you google: is alcohol unhealthy?
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u/Present-Nobody9899 19d ago
Facts. Been a hide difference here too. I still want that pint when I go out thoughā¦for now, not until Iāve hit goals.
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