Alcohol and Weight Loss
When it comes to the issue of weight loss this topic is very common. You could say people want to have their rum and drink it too! This article deals specifically with drinking alcohol and weight loss.
To be honest, if you are very serious about losing weight you might want to consider stopping altogether. At least for the duration of your program and you meet your goals.
Besides increased risk of cancer, strokes and heart damage alcohol can also affect weight loss. Here are a few things that you should consider…
Make no mistake about it. Alcohol is a poison and your liver must deal with it. Therefore your body’s ability to burn fat will be slowed down to a great extent.
With drinking often comes food! Alcohol can really make you hungry for the wrong types of foods. Not only that, there is also mix to consider if you are drinking hard liquor. A lot of these mixes are high in sugar and will really promote fat storage.
This is also counterproductive to fat loss because testosterone helps you to build lean muscle tissue. Lean muscle tissue is active tissue which helps to burn calories!
The average beer has 150 calories but absolutely zero nutrition. You would be better off having a high quality protein source or healthy carbohydrates. They contain vitamins and minerals that will help you lose fat.
Alcohol sucks the water right out of you making you weaker and dehydrated. The more you drink the worse it becomes. That is what often gives the feeling of a hangover. It is because of dehydration.
And if you are going to be exercising hard and being at your best you want to have optimal sleep levels. Alcohol can also interfere with this.
Some will argue about the health properties of red wine stating the benefit of antioxidants. The benefit has nothing to do with the alcohol however. Studies show you can get the same effect with grape juice!
No medical professional would ever recommend drinking alcohol to someone who doesn’t drink. And besides, if you are exercising and eating well to begin with your risk of heart disease will be reduced as a benefit of it.
There are definitely more cons than pros when it comes to drinking alcohol and weight loss. Once in awhile might be okay if you absolutely must but daily drinking (more than two) and binge drinking on the weekends will only set you back.
You can often set back your progress for an entire week because you will feel so lousy in addition to all the calories you consumed.
In summary, if you are serious about making fast progress I would stay away from it altogether and save it for a cheat day if you must. Or better yet, not having it at all for the duration of your program.
