Fat Loss Enemy…Alcohol!

Weight loss is not an easy task, especially if you are trying to lose a lot of weight quickly.  Your diet must be spot on and your training must be done properly, and with the right amount of effort.  It is well known that diet is the most important factor when it comes to weight loss, and as I have said many times before, that if you want to lose weight, do not expect to out train a bad diet.

A recurring problem that I get with a lot of people is getting them to stop consuming alcohol, this is especially more of a factor and concern with my younger clients.  After examining their previous diets it is safe to say that alcohol consumption is a major factor in being overweight for some people.

So why is alcohol so bad anyways?

• it causes your body to stop burning fat, to metabolize the alcohol.  So once the alcohol is metabolized  your body will start burning fat again.
• it is a source of empty calories
• a lot of alcoholic drinks are mixed with sweet fruit juices that contain a lot of sugar.  It is staggering to see the amount of calories and carbs in some of those fruity drinks and shots.
• it causes low blood sugar which is responsible for the extreme hunger after a night of drinking.  This usually results in eating foods that are horrible for losing weight such as: fast food, junk food, carb and fat loaded foods.
• many people will continue to eat bad the next day as they are craving salt/greasy foods due to electrolyte depletion.  This is why you will hear a lot of people swear  by a greasy burger as a hangover cure!

In today’s culture alcohol is everywhere and is tied to almost any social event.  So what can we do while we are dieting and don’t exactly want to give up alcohol totally?  Here are some tips that will help with some of the damage that alcohol does:

• try to drink red wine.  Red wine does not impact your hormones like other alcohols.  It also contains antioxidants and resveratrol which are both really good for you.
• try to mix alcohols with water and lemon/lime juice for flavor
• limit the amount of drinks to 5 or under
• have healthy food choices prepared at home so that you are less likely to binge on bad foods
• drink water periodically throughout the night
• continue with your diet the next day as you normally would.

I know its hard to totally give up alcohol but what I try to get most of my clients to do is give it up as much as they can until they reach their weight loss goal.  Of course do this within reason, if there is a big event then sure have few drinks, but if your life has a big event every weekend I suggest you re evaluate what your priorities are.  I personally know people who are perfect with their diets and workouts throughout the week, who still gain weight because they eat and drink very badly once the weekend comes.  So this would be my recommendation and what I tell my clients:  quit alcohol until you reach your weight loss goal.  Once you get to your goal you can drink again because it is actually fairly easy to maintain body weight once you get there.  Once a person gets there, I recommend the 80/20 rule which is: be good 80% of the time and you can do whatever you want the other 20% of the time.   Which basically means be good with exercise and diet throughout the week and take  the weekends off.  I find this approach works very well with everyone…including myself!

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