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How to Drink Without Gaining Weight |
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Written by Robert Smith
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Wednesday, 18 November 2009 |
 Drinking is so commonplace in our society that it is the one thing many dieters struggle with the most. They can cut out junk food and sodas, but when it comes to saying no to the party juice, it becomes a bit of a struggle.
If you think about it, there’s always a reason to have a few drinks:
"It’s my buddy’s birthday!"
"I’m on vacation!"
"It’s Monday!"
It’s hard to keep track of how many drinks you’re consuming when there
are so many festivities involving people offering to fill your cup. We
already know that drinking too much alcohol is detrimental to your
health and your waistline, and many dietitians and personal trainers
would suggest cutting it out of your diet completely while doing any
weight-loss program. This doesn’t mean you have to start condemning
your social life to knitting at home with your pets just yet.
There is a way for you to drink socially but still maintain or lose
weight. It must be noted that drinking alcohol is not the only factor
that makes your waistline expand, but every extra sip and bite counts.
What exactly is drinking in moderation? According to Moderation
Management and numerous healthy drinking resources, this means having
no more then two drinks a day for a male.For a lot of social drinkers,
this is almost impossible to maintain for every occasion. That being
said, there is a way to keep alcohol in your life while at the same
time maintaining a healthy weight.
Calories and Alcohol
Alcohol is essentially empty calories as it provides nothing
nutritional that the body needs in order to function properly. It’s the
first fuel that is used before carbohydrates, fats and protein, which
delays the weight-loss process. It is estimated that alcohol slows down
a person’s ability to burn fat by up to 36 percent.
While protein and carbohydrates are about four calories per gram, one
gram of fat is worth nine and alcohol about seven. This demonstrates
how you’re not getting a lot of bang for your buck if you’re getting
your calories from alcohol as opposed to getting them from nutritious
and filling meals.
Alcohol also increases the appetite. You know the feeling: You’re at a
restaurant with friends, the wine is being poured, and everyone’s
having a great time. You don’t remember a time in your life when food
ever tasted that good. Your judgment is cloudy, to say the least, and
suddenly you’re inhaling everything in sight regardless of whatever
"plan" you’re supposed to be on. This can pack in an extra 1,000
calories during dinner, not taking into account the calories from all
the wine.
Let’s not forget how you feel the day after a night of drinking either:
You’re still dehydrated, hungry and much more likely to continue
indulging. The chances that you will want to work out when you feel
this way are slim, adding another con to the list.
Although not every calorie is created equal, and 100 calories worth of
fruit isn’t the same as a 100-calorie cookie, it all comes down to
reducing your total caloric intake if you want to lose weight. To lose
one pound of fat you have to burn 500 calories a day and 3,500 calories
a week.
Let’s see how that translates when we’re talking about alcohol. Take
your average social drinker who’s going to a bar on a Friday night and
having about five beers throughout the course of the evening. Maybe
later on that week he goes out to happy hour with some coworkers and
has three rum and Cokes. That’s 180x5=900 for the beers and 130x3=390
for the rum and Cokes. So that’s 1,290 calories a week just on booze.
Now you can see how cutting out alcohol from your diet is recommended
so frequently for those who want to slim down.
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