If a (female) client has been prescribed circa 1,600 calories to achieve a calorie deficit and their trending close to that number they will lose weight (as per previous post). HOWEVER, if they decide to treat themselves to a latte every morning the results could be very different.
Let's look at the numbers. According to Starbucks, a venti, whole-milk latte has 299 calories (the skinny version of the same stature has 174 calories). So if the client in question has just one latte each day, by the end of the week they would have consumed an extra 2,093 calories – well over an extra day’s worth of food in liquid calories. So forget any fat loss.
And according to Drink Aware, a small (175ml) glass of wine is 159 calories. Multiply that by a big night out and you can see where this is going… I’ve stopped short of telling clients they can’t have a drink, but if you’re asking yourself “why am I not losing weight?” then you need to consider all the variables. Once again, it comes down to calorie balance.