Wine Belly Fat? How to Get Rid of It

Do you love a good glass of wine? If so, you’re not alone, but drinking wine is also linked to the dreaded wine belly fat and could be expanding your waistline.

Drinking wine can have its health benefits, but it can also be loaded with calories and hidden sugars. Wine can be fattening by disrupting your metabolism and making it easier to store fat around the midsection. Many wonder why they suddenly have the “wine belly” and have no clue how they got it.

But you don’t have to give up your nightly glass of wine. There are still ways you can drink wine while mitigating the damage. You can enjoy wine without the belly bulge!

Here you’ll discover why and how wine causes belly fat and, more importantly, how you can still drink wine without getting belly fat. And how to get rid of it if you’ve already got wine belly fat.

Is Wine Causing Your Belly Fat?

Many of us like drinking a glass of wine or two at night to unwind. But most of us also know that drinking alcohol isn’t the best choice if you’re trying to lose weight. And it’s well known that drinking beer can cause a beer belly… but wine can cause a wine belly too!

Drinking wine does have health benefits like improved heart health, reduced risk of stroke, better brain health, and increased longevity. But if you drink too much and/or drink the wrong kinds of wine, it can lead to weight gain and belly fat.

To understand how to prevent and get rid of wine belly fat we’ll first have to know why it causes it in the first place. Here are the reasons why wine can cause belly fat…

Alcohol Is High in Calories

Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, almost double the 4 calories per gram of carbs and protein. In addition, a small 5 ounce serving of wine contains over 120 calories, more than a light beer.

3/4 of a bottle of wine contains as many calories as a Big Mac. So if you’re drinking more than a glass or two of wine per night, that’s like eating a Big Mac every night after dinner… gaining weight in the belly wouldn’t come as much of a surprise!

Alcohol is “empty calories” because it provides no nutritional value to your body. No sense of fullness comes with drinking alcohol like you would with eating protein, carbs, or fats. If anything, your body starts craving to eat more calories when drinking alcohol.

Studies have found that drinking alcohol can increase your appetite, with some people taking in 300-400 more calories a day when drinking.¹ Consuming too many calories in one sitting can add up quickly.

Wines also contain residual sugars left over from the fermentation process. The drier the wine, the fewer sugars it still has after fermentation. But some cheaper wines even add sugars to increase the flavor.

Alcohol Stops Fat Burning

Your body sees alcohol as a toxin, so it wants to prioritize metabolizing it so it can process it out of your system fast. So while your liver works to burn these alcohol calories off, it shuts down fat burning in your body.²

Instead of burning off your body fat or carbs, if you’ve eaten early, you’ll be burning off the alcohol first. So whatever you’ve consumed earlier in the day will much more likely be stored as fat, causing you to gain weight in your belly.

And this could take a while, depending on how much wine you’ve drunk. So the more you drink, the longer it’ll take to metabolize the alcohol, and then the easier it’ll be to store what you’ve eaten as body fat.

Most people drink wine with dinner in the evening, so it takes longer to process the alcohol since you aren’t up and moving around like you were earlier in the day. Sitting down while eating and watching TV reduces your caloric burn, making it even easier to store fat.

Alcohol Increases Cravings for Junk Food

Most of us know firsthand what it’s like to eat a lot of pizza or other junk foods after drinking. Alcohol makes you prone to craving high-calorie, high-fat, and high-carb foods.³

It’s a lot harder to make healthy eating choices after you’ve had a few drinks and are now starving. The “drunken munchies” often have us nibbling on cheese cubes when sipping a glass of wine.

Some studies have found alcohol can decrease the leptin hormone that lowers appetite.⁴ And alcohol has been found to stimulate neurons in the brain that activate hunger.⁵

Alcohol lowers inhibitions and makes it easier to throw your diet out the window and make poor food choices. Instead, you lower your defenses when buzzed and relaxed, making it too easy to eat unhealthy food.

Alcohol Increases Blood Sugar

Wine can increase your waist size since alcohol interrupts your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels. As you drink alcohol, your body will deplete its liver and muscle glycogen (stored carbs).

Alcohol prevents your liver from producing new glucose, which signals your body to release glycogen. Then, insulin is released from your pancreas to lower your blood sugar levels.⁶

It’s too easy for your blood sugar to drop to unhealthily low levels making it easier to crave carbs to bring it back up. So if you’ve ever craved pizza or chips when drinking alcohol, this is one reason.

Over time and in excess, this can screw your blood sugar and insulin. Alcoholics have a much higher likelihood of diabetes and pancreatitis from this.⁷

Insulin resistance and higher circulating blood sugars are driving causes of weight gain and belly fat.⁸ While small levels of alcohol have been found to improve insulin sensitivity⁹, drinking too much and making poor food choices can worsen your weight gain.

Drink Wine Without Getting an Alcohol Belly

Now that you know how wine can give you a big belly, I’ll show you how to still drink wine without gaining weight.

One study¹⁰ had people consuming 2000 calories of alcohol daily, so their total intake was 4500 calories. The funny thing is that at the end of the study, the weight gain in this alcohol group was small, if any.

But the group consuming an extra 2000 calories from chocolate ended up having a lot of weight gain from the extra calories in sugar. However, many studies are finding small to moderate drinking of red wine led to no significant weight gain.^11,12

These studies found drinking 1-2 daily glasses of wine led to NO significant changes in:

• Blood sugar levels
• Insulin levels
• Body weight
• Body fat percentage
• Blood lipids

Drinking moderate amounts of wine daily shouldn’t increase body weight or stomach fat. So you don’t have to cut out wine to reduce belly fat.

But there’s one big difference between those who gain weight from drinking wine and those who don’t…

Why Beer Is Worse for Belly Fat

Many beer-drinking men are well known to get a beer belly. While men are more likely to store excess fat in their stomach area, it’s no secret that drinking too much beer can lead to visceral fat in the belly.¹⁴

Why is this? Well, beer is generally higher in carbohydrates, and heavier beers like IPAs contain more calories. Women who drink higher-sugar wines will also increase their chances of gaining abdominal fat.

Beer can also be easier to overdrink, and before you know it, a guy can finish a whole six-pack by the end of the game you were watching. Unfortunately, drinking too much wine will cause too many calories that’ll need to be processed while everything else you just ate will be stored as fat.

In the battle of beer vs wine, wine is definitely the winner. But it’s not really the alcohol itself that’s the problem. Drinking some alcohol can be neutral or lead to weight loss when you’re doing it right.

Ultimately, it’s not really the alcohol itself, when consumed in small to moderate amounts, that makes you gain weight. Instead, increases in stomach fat are caused by the following:

• Too many calories
• Too many sugars/carbs
• Binge and excessive drinking
• Making poor food choices
• Drinking worse kinds of wine
• Not exercising or having a good diet the rest of the time

Wine contains polyphenols, plant-based compounds packed with antioxidants and health-boosting nutrients. These polyphenols can reduce inflammation, lower appetite, promote fat burning, and even prevent storing extra fat.¹³

So now that you know small to moderate amounts of alcohol don’t make you gain weight let’s talk about how to lose belly fat without having to stop drinking wine every day.

How to Burn Off the Wine Belly

Now I’ll show you how you can drink wine every night and still lose weight…

One simple method is to lower the calories you consume the rest of the day to offset the calories from the alcohol. So, if you drink two glasses of wine per night (~250 calories), try eliminating those calories earlier in the day.

I advocate intermittent fasting, a super simple dieting method. Start a timer after you finish eating or drinking wine for the night. Then, 16 hours later, have your first meal at about lunchtime the next day.

Studies have found you can easily skip 550 calories just by using this fasting method.¹⁵ To curb hunger and boost your metabolism in the morning, drink:

• Water
• Coffee + C8-MCT coffee creamer
• Unsweetened green tea
• Zero calorie sparkling waters (like Zevia)
• Super greens powder

These will help crush the hunger pangs while speeding up your results by accelerating your fat-burning metabolism. You’ll also have an easier time burning off your dinner from the night before if you’re fasting throughout the night and the following morning.

Of course, this doesn’t entitle anyone to think they can drink more later in the day. This will only help with small to moderate drinking, and any benefits are almost all thrown out the window with heavy excessive drinking.

Adding C8-MCTs to black coffee can help kickstart fat-burning. These C8-MCTs won’t break your fast and are quickly converted into ketones via your liver. These ketones are what your body makes from fat stores when you’ve stopped eating carbs, sugars, and calories.

Limit Consumption

The next way to avoid the wine belly is to limit wine consumption. I’m not saying you have to give it up completely, but if you’re drinking a whole bottle of wine a night, it’s best to cut back.

Two glasses of wine (5 ounces) should be the hard nightly limit. If you have trouble cutting yourself off, try only buying smaller half-sized bottles. Most studies find drinking red wine 3-4 times per week has health benefits.¹⁶

Cutting back on your frequency can help flatten out the wine tummy.¹⁷ Instead of drinking every night, try skipping a few nights here and there. Limiting frequency can be easier for many since you won’t be tempted to keep drinking wine after having a glass.

The “all or nothing” approach reduces the amount of willpower you’ll need to monitor your intake. Completely abstaining on certain days during the week makes it easier to break habitual drinking patterns.

Binge drinking is really the worst, and heavy alcohol intake at once like this can cause weight gain. This is because your body has to work even harder to burn off those empty calories from excess alcohol. And then any other excess calories will end up being stored as fat.

Cut the Sugars & Carbs

Another tip is to drink low-sugar wines to keep your insulin from spiking with alcohol consumption. Higher-sugar wines can promote the wine belly, so it’s best to drink only dryer wines.

Red wine is usually the lowest in sugar, while white wine can have up to 65% more sugar. The best alcohol for weight loss will be low in sugar, carbs and fats.

The best lower-sugar red wine varietals include:

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Merlo
• Syrah
• Pinot Noir
• Malbec
• Tempranillo
• Zinfandel

The best white wines that are usually dryer include:

• Sauvignon Blanc
• Chardonnay
• Pinot Grigio
• Spanish Albariño

Avoid cheaper $10 wines since they usually contain added sugars to improve flavor. The wine producers also add artificial acids to balance the sugars, making it hard to tell.

Dessert wines higher in sugar, such as Riesling, Moscato, Gewurztraminer, and Chenin Blanc. Sparkling wines like champagne also tend to be sweeter than dryer varietals.

If you are going to eat or drink carbs and sugars then try taking a “carb blocker” to blunt the insulin response to keep your body from entering a fat-storing mode. IC-5 can also help your body better burn off the carbs and sugars for fuel rather than being stored as stomach fat.

Limit Food Eaten

Even if you stop drinking wine then there’s no guarantee you’ll lose belly fat. If you’re still consuming extra calories and excess carbs, then the weight scale won’t budge.

Early we talked about how alcohol can make anybody make poor food choices. So, instead of ordering an extra large pepperoni pizza from Domino’s, try having a healthy lower calorie and lower carbohydrate meal ready to go.

Having your healthy meal readily available to eat will be vital to preventing drunken munchies. Eating before drinking can also help keep you on track and avoid binge eating.

Keeping bad snacks out of the house is a big part of dieting. “Out of sight, out of mind” goes a long way in preventing snacking. So I have a rule that if it’s in the house, you will end up eating it.

If you wait until you’re starving and don’t have a ready-to-go healthy meal, then it’s far too easy and tempting to order fast food. If you’re going to drink wine then be sure to prepare yourself for success beforehand.

Wine Belly Before and After

So how long does it take for the wine belly to go away?

This will depend on how much you have to lose in the first place. For example, if your wine tummy is relatively large, it will take longer than someone with a smaller protrusion in the stomach area.

But simply by cutting back on your calories, preventing overeating with drinking, and making better wine choices, you could quickly start seeing results within a week or two.

You’ll notice inches coming off your stomach probably before the weight on the scale goes down. This is because you could be burning belly fat but offsetting some weight by gaining lean muscle. Be sure to use a tape measure to measure the circumference of your wine belly and to track your results.

Many middle-aged women struggle to lose the alcohol belly. This is due to a combination of hormonal changes, slower metabolism, and lifestyle factors such as:

• Hormonal Changes: Estrogen levels decline as women enter perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen plays a big role in body fat distribution.¹⁸ Its decline leads to shifting where fat is stored making it more likely to become hormonal belly fat.¹⁹ Increases of the “stress hormone” cortisol are also likely which is linked to abdominal fat stored.²⁰
• Slower Metabolism: As women age, their metabolism can naturally slow down.²¹ This causes women to burn fewer calories at rest and even during physical activity. This makes it easier to gain weight, especially if they’re still following a calorie intake from their younger years. Loss of muscle mass from aging is also a big cause of a slower metabolism.²²
• Lifestyle Factors: Many middle-aged women have reduced physical activity. Their busy schedules with work, family, and other commitments make it difficult to stay as physically active as they once were.

Muscle mass is essential for toning and tightening your overall body, including your stomach. The problem with just losing weight is that it will also result in muscle loss, making you “skinny fat.” This makes your body saggy, loose, and mushy.

Exercising and adding a strength training routine will help you get rid of the alcohol belly quicker. Strength training exercises will burn extra calories, and strength training will improve lean muscle mass.

Make sure you’re consuming enough protein to build muscle from these strength exercises. Protein is needed to build muscle and most aren’t getting enough. Add a low-carb protein shake to your daily routine to make sure you’re getting enough protein.

Wine Belly Fat Exercises

These are some of my favorite exercises for slimming down the waistline. They will crank your heart rate, so you burn fat, but also implement strength training to build lean muscle.

It’s best to combine these exercises with HIIT workouts. High-intensity exercises crank up your heart rate and burn more fat.²³ Then, adding in these strength exercises will tone and tighten the abdominal area.

An example would be to do 30 Jumping Jacks, then 20 Mountain Climbers, then 30 Bicycle & Rotates about five times for one circuit.

After these exercises, some cardio will help a lot. You’ll burn through glycogen in the first part of the workout, and your body will start burning fat stores. So, doing cardio afterward can burn even more stubborn belly fat.

Cross-Body Mountain Climbers

Do this exercise by starting in a push-up position. Bring one knee up to your chest, quickly switch legs and do the same thing.

Scissor Kick Crunches

Do this exercise by lying on your back. Bring one knee up to your chest, switch legs and do the same thing.

Planks

1. Lie down on your stomach and put your elbows on the ground.
2. Push yourself up so you are resting on your toes and elbows.
3. Hold this position for as long as you can.

Bicycle & Rotates

1. You will need to lie on your back to do the bicycle exercise. Place your hands by your head and bring one knee up to your chest.
2. Then switch legs and do the same thing with the other leg. You can also do this exercise by rotating your waist.
3. You will need to lie on your back and put your hands by your head.
4. Bring one knee up to your chest and rotate your waist so that the other knee comes up to meet it.

Squat Thrusts

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and squat down.
2. Place your hands on the ground and jump your legs out so you are in a plank position.
3. Jump your legs back in and stand up.

Plank to Push-Ups

1. To do the plank-to-push-up exercise, you must lie down on your stomach.
2. Put your elbows on the ground and push yourself up to rest on your toes and elbows.
3. Hold this position for as long as you can.
4. Next, go into a plank position by putting your hands on the ground and jumping your legs out to rest on your toes and elbows.
5. Hold this position for as long as you can.
6. Finally, jump your legs back in.

Summary

• While drinking wine in moderation may not be bad for you, overindulging can lead to weight gain – especially around your midsection.
• Drinking higher sugar wines and making poor food choices will also make it more likely you get a belly bulge. Limiting your consumption, having a healthy meal, and exercising can slim down that wine tummy fast.
• Cutting back on calories earlier in the day is usually the most straightforward method for slimming down the wine tummy. But I know eating less so you can drink more doesn’t sound the greatest and is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
• If you’re doing everything else right, you can easily afford to have a couple of small glasses of wine per night. Working out, eating healthy, getting enough sleep, etc., all afford you your chosen lifestyle.
• If you’re drinking responsibly, living an active lifestyle, and working out hard, you can still slim down the wine stomach while burning fat and gaining lean muscle.