Re: Ever such a slight spoiler - Lillian's alcohol consumption

While spitting out some home-made cheese, I heard "ted msn"
<littlebearnetmail-news@xxxxxxxxxxx> say


"Tony Gardner" <invalid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:46002aa2.7339093@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A day or so ago, Lillian was boasting to Matt that she'd lost 10
pounds since giving up alcohol for lent. I was inspired to do a few
simple calculations. The results were interesting.

Lillian claims to have lost 10 pounds in a four-week period, that's
about 2.5 pounds or 1,130 grammes.
2.5 Kilos?

No - 2.5 pounds per week. I failed to make it clear that I was
converting 10 pounds over four weeks to an average weekly weight loss.

According to your friendly local internet, there are 9 calories in a
gramme of fat. In other words, to lose one gramme of fat, you need to
reduce your calorific intake by 9 grammes.
reduce intake by 9 calories

Correct - slip of the keyboard, on my part.

The same source tells me that a shot (25 ml) of gin or vodka
(Lillian's favourite tipple) contains 55 calories. So by leaving a
shot of gin in the bottle, instead of drinking it, you lose about 6
grammes of fat. To lose 1,130 grammes of fat, you need to reduce your
alcohol consumption by 188 shots. This is equivalent to more than 4.5
litres.

So, if Lillian is telling the truth, and she's lost 10 pounds in
weight, over four weeks, simply by abstaining from alcohol, she must
have been drinking more than four and a half litres, or six bottles
[1] a week.
over four weeks ie about litre a week not a huge amount (for those who
drink!)

No - I was calculating her weekly consumption, although I failed to
make that clear in my original post.

The calorific value of two and half pounds of fat is roughly the same
as the calorific value of six bottles of gin. So if Lillian's weight
loss is attributable solely to a fall in gin consumption, then in
order to lose two and a half pounds a week in weight, she must have
reduced her gin consumption by slighly more than six bottles a week.

Since I first posted, otherats have pointed out that giving up alcohol
can lead to giving up other unhealthy dietary habits (although I can't
see Lillian going for kebab and chips on her way home from the Bull).
If that's true in Lillian's case, her alcohol consumption was probably
less than a bottle a day. Even so, I think she's probably drinking
enough to be considered at least borderline alcoholic.


ted, who is doing a month of none apart from sundays! sofar 4lbs lost in 18
days. Drinking about 1.5l of water a day (its not the same!!)

Good for you! Stick with it. However, my experience (and I'm sure
others will confirm this) is that any sudden reduction in calorie
intake results in a very rapid initial loss of weight, owing to a
change in the body's fluid balance, after which the rate of weight
loss slows down. I doubt whether you'll have lost 8lb after 36 days.

Going back to Lillian, I have no doubt that some of her weight loss
can be attributed to this factor - but not all of it. I still think
the figures indicate that she has a serious problem with drink.



My e-mail address is invalid. Use "tony" "at" "gardner214" dot "freeserve" dot "co" dot "uk"
.

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