I have been known to be a pretty big drinker, usually beer, but I deal with it in a much different way... I dont do it. I used to have at least 2 beers a day when I got home from work/school. But, I had to make a choice, drink all that beer and try and make up for it in excercise (which I dont have much time for), eating less food or stop drinking. I basically stopped drinking.

Are you sure?

Im pretty sure I read somewhere that alcohol just CANT be processed as fat, it's like fibre (but not you know) that just passes through you.

I could be very very wrong, but I always thought it was what you ATE with alcohol not the alcohol itself.

I was trying to find an answer to this. The best I saw was that alcohol doesn't get processed like other calories, so they don't really count. No place did it talk about what kind of alcohol they were referring to. Beer contains a lot of things other then alcohol that contains real calories. Beer makers call them adjuncts. Same with wine (residual sugars). I think that distilled spirits only contain trace amounts, but since this was left out it makes me think that the studies are suspect.

How do you explain fibre then? Fibre wont ever be processed as fat because it is part of the plant that is indigestable.

What I've heard regarding alcohol is that is produces certain toxins that are your body's first priority to get rid of. Since your body is busy getting rid of these toxins, it doesn't burn as much fat therefore more fat is stored. Overall, it significantly reduces one's ability to burn fat. I don't know all the nitty gritty details and I honestly don't feel like looking them up right now. I'd definitely look into this theory though.

Is alcohol consumption a risk factor for weight ga...[Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 2005] - PubMed Result
"Alcohol-induced thermogenesis is approximately 20% in healthy nonalcoholic subjects, i.e., moderate alcohol consumers, which is higher than for other energy substrates but considerably lower than in heavy alcohol consumers. This would suggest that a major fraction of the alcohol energy represents an available energy source for ATP synthesis in moderate non-daily alcohol consumers. [...] Accordingly the question is not "Whether alcohol calories do count" but "How much do alcohol calories count?". There seems to be a large individual variability according to the absolute amount of alcohol consumed, the drinking frequency as well as genetic factors. Presently it can be said that alcohol calories count more in moderate nondaily consumers than in daily (heavy) consumers. Further, they count more in combination with a high-fat diet and in overweight and obese subjects."

Oh, and fiber has usable calories, too. Blackwell Synergy - J Food Science, Volume 58 Issue 5 Page 1176-1178, September 1993 (Article Abstract)
"Four bulking agents—white wheat fiber, polydextrose, isomalt and oligofructose—were evaluated for usable energy values using young rats as the test model. The net increase observed in their carcass energy due to bulking agents fed over a 3-wk period was evaluated. Wheat fiber contained 0.9, polydextrose 0.8, isomalt 1.6, and oligofructose 1.5 calories/g." Fewer calories than "regular" carbs, but usable calories nonetheless.

ethanol is a hydrocarbon. It should be used by your body as a source of energy just like any other carb I think

Edit:

I was wrong in the above assumption. Ethanol is not metabolized the same way as carbs. It's a source of dietary fuel nonetheless