The short answer
Yes. Nikkiey explains that alcohol may help you fall asleep faster, but it disrupts deep and REM sleep later in the night, raises your heart rate and body temperature, and wakes you up. That poor sleep then raises cortisol, shifts hunger hormones, increases cravings and hurts your next workout for 24 to 48 hours.
Hear it from the show
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Nikkiey on why alcohol wrecks deep and REM sleep and the next day's cravings
Plays from 7:08 · Ep. 359: Does Alcohol Stop Fat Loss? What Women Over 40 Should Know
Nikkiey's Oura ring data: heart rate up and HRV down after one drink
Plays from 20:42 · Ep. 166: How Alcohol Affects Fat Loss and Muscle After 40
Deep sleep dropping from hours to 30 minutes, and the junk-food cravings that follow
Plays from 24:01 · Ep. 107: Does Alcohol Stop Fat Loss and Muscle Gain After 40?
How alcohol blocks deep sleep, raises body temperature and wakes you at night
Plays from 11:41 · Ep. 12: Does Alcohol Stop Fat Loss and Muscle Growth?
Michelle, 67, on how her sleep scores improved after quitting nightly wine
Plays from 23:17 · Ep. 349: Can Eating More Help You Lose Weight After 60?
The full answer
The nightcap myth is the first thing to let go of. On Ep. 166, Nikkiey says the idea that a drink helps you sleep better is far from the truth. Her Oura ring shows the damage: her overnight heart rate, normally in the low 40s, climbs into the 60s or 70s after drinking, and her HRV drops from around 120 to 130 down to about 20. On Ep. 107 she describes deep sleep falling from two to three hours a night to roughly 30 minutes after a couple of drinks, and on Ep. 12 she says no deep sleep shows up at all. She also explains that alcohol affects body temperature regulation, which is why you can wake up hot, sweaty and tossing and turning.
That matters because deep sleep is when muscle repair and recovery happen. On Ep. 359 and Ep. 166, Nikkiey connects the poor sleep to the next day:
She says these effects can last 24 to 48 hours, and none of it shows up in your tracking app. That is why simply logging the drinks is not the whole picture.
- Cortisol goes up
- Ghrelin, your hunger hormone, rises and leptin, your fullness hormone, gets thrown off
- Cravings for high-calorie, greasy food increase
- Your workout performance suffers
The flip side shows up on Ep. 349. Michelle, 67, stopped drinking wine every night and says her sleep got much better, with her bed's sleep scores rising into the nineties after nights of constant movement.
Nikkiey is not saying never drink. She has a drink every six to 12 months and calls that fine. What she does not recommend is drinking on a consistent basis if you are working toward fat loss and muscle. If you have been doing everything right and still waking up tired and hungry, your weekend drinks may be part of the plan worth adjusting.
From The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.
Women also ask
More questions →
Sleep, Recovery & Lifestyle
How can I improve my sleep?
Start with the basics Nikkiey returns to again and again: cut screens and bright light before bed, keep your room cool and pitch black with the phone out, and go to bed and wake at the same times. Then try Dr. Stephen Cabral's 3-2-1 rule: no food three hours before bed, no liquids two hours, no screens one hour.
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Sleep, Recovery & Lifestyle
How do I recover from muscle soreness faster?
Recover faster by fixing your recovery inputs, not by pushing harder. Nikkiey points to sleep, eating enough (especially protein), and hydration, plus not hammering the same muscles over and over. She recommends spreading leg work across full-body sessions instead of one brutal leg day, and treating soreness past 72 hours as a sign to reassess.
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Sleep, Recovery & Lifestyle
How does poor sleep affect weight loss?
Poor sleep works against fat loss on several fronts. Nikkiey explains that it raises your hunger hormone ghrelin, lowers your fullness hormone leptin, and raises cortisol, which she says signals your body to hold fat, break down muscle and become more insulin resistant. That means you can be in a calorie deficit and still stall.
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Watch the full episodes
More episodes →
29 minDoes Alcohol Stop Fat Loss and Muscle Gain After 40?
Episode 107 · Nov 27, 2023
27 minDoes Alcohol Stop Fat Loss? What Women Over 40 Should Know
Episode 359 · May 8, 2026
16 minDoes Alcohol Stop Fat Loss and Muscle Growth?
Episode 12 · Feb 3, 2023