Alcohol and weight loss are probably one of the concerns that may not turn on the red lights for you. Try this;

A study published in 2016 indicated over 3million deaths in the world, 12% being men aged between 15 and 49, was attributed to alcohol consumption.

The same study sighted health risks linked to alcohol use, for instance, cancer, cardiovascular problems, weight gain, and many others.

Alcohol and weight loss are among the ways to expose and explore all the dangers associated with heavy drinking.

From impaired sleep, weight gain, liver problems, cancer, to death, and as well recommend ways to achieve weight loss without necessarily giving up on drinking.

How Alcohol Affects Weight Loss

(Calories and Carbs in Drinks)

The excessive consumption of alcohol has a negative effect on our digestion –distorts metabolism.

Most alcoholic drinks are very high in calories and can as well add to your weight instead of the reverse.

It’s of great significance to know how alcohol affects your weight loss efforts so that you can finally be in the know to make an informed decision.

Whether to continue drinking or cut down on the drinking or better yet to quit the habit.

Achieving personal or other goals comes with making some sacrifices and sticking with the decision.

With weight loss and alcohol, you have to make some adjustments to achieve a healthy body.

Ways drinking alcohol slows weight loss

Weight loss is achievable and maintaining a healthy weight too.

Our lifestyle and habits at times step a bigfoot in the weight loss efforts, for instance, alcohol consumption.

Alcohol drinking takes on a major role in losing weight, and here are some of the ways alcohol consumption can hold back on weight loss.

Alcohol as Fuel Source

For everybody, his/her body will resort to stored fat to amass the energy it needs to perform and this is common without carbohydrates.

The order of priority is changed when we drink alcohol. The body will change its source of energy or fuel to operate on alcohol.

Alcohol is burned first before anything else. When this happens, the unused fats, proteins, and carbohydrates end up as stored fat hence weight gain.

Empty Calories from Alcohol

Alcoholic beverages are actually calorically dense with more calories per gram than carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

The sad bit; those calories have very little or no nutrient value to our bodies. For that reason, the term EMPTY CALORIES.

These empty calories from the drinks add absolutely nothing to your weight loss efforts.

Effect on the Sleep patterns

We all know people who use alcohol as their sleep pill which may sound like a wise solution, but this is not proper at all.

The times you get to bed intoxicated, no matter after a night out, or just casual drinking at home, this disturbs the sleep cycles and comfort during sleep.

A disruption or deprivation of sleep can cause a hormonal imbalance thus hunger. This will affect the efforts to lose weight.

Effects on decisions relating to eating

It becomes more like a compulsion when intoxicated to make all wrong decisions especially on what to eat.

This doesn’t exclude the hard focused diet guys you know.

Whenever you drink, more so past your limit, inhibition is lowered to the level –the drink starts making the decisions.

This affects your social drinking etiquette, and with the alcohol triggered hunger, you are prone to eating high-calorie foods –weight again.

General Health Concerns

The excess drinking of alcohol can damage the liver which filters all we take into the body.

With a liver problem, this can affect digestion and obviously weight loss.

Studies have associated alcohol drinking to affect testosterone, a sex hormone, which aids metabolism.

With an effect on metabolism then weight loss is next in the line.

People nowadays feel stylish with their “beer belly”. When did this become a thing?

Read about cutting out sugar for weight loss. Here

It’s common with the body to store or accumulate the excess fat from your drinking in the abdominal area. This is weight gained.

With the continued excess drinking of alcohol, the stomach and intestines are overwhelmed and decrease digestive secretions.

This weakens digestion and absorption of nutrients which play a major role in weight management.

How much weight can you lose by not drinking alcohol?

Losing weight uses a simple principle where you burn 500 (or even more) more calories than you consume or take in.

Quitting or reducing drinking alcohol can make this reality.

Cutting down on your drinks will boost your weight loss, but this is only possible if you don’t substitute alcohol with other high-calorie foods and soft beverages.

When this happens, it’s possible to lose between 0.5kg and 1kg per week but remember we all have different bodies, and there could be variances.

How to Make Alcohol and Weight Loss Work Together

As psychology may have it, the abrupt and sudden change of behavior may not be long-lasting.

We take it that you are not in the weight loss plan for a short term gain, right?

For most who enjoy a glass or two of wine, a bottle or more of beer, or whiskey every after dinner, here is the part you read more carefully.

Alcohol consumption has more negative effects than positives, most especially to weight loss.

Although the effects would differ from one individual to another, it doesn’t make it any easier.

However, with a proper strategy and plan, you can have your drink and lose weight as well.

Can I drink alcohol and lose weight?

Let’s face it, the real fact you are reading this far, you want a smooth landing in which you lose weight and keep enjoying your drink.

We all like the good results without its inconveniences in the due process. No worries, there’s a way out.

Absolutely yes, it’s very much possible to lose weight while you keep enjoying your favorite drink.

The weight loss plans, diets, or programs will not be any fun if you deprived yourself of alcohol

The chances are high that you can not sustain keeping up with the restrictions –ending up drinking more alcohol and gaining a lot more weight.

When drinking how much weight can you lose?

Its human nature to find out how far the road you are when on a journey.

All alcoholic beverages have got a bunch of calories but moderate and regulated drinking can win the battle with weight loss for you.

Depending on your daily, or weekly consumption rate of alcoholic drinks –and other factors, it could range between 0.5kg to 1kg in 7days.

Although weight loss may change from one person to another depending on what you are eating, drinking, and physical exercise.

Which alcohol beverage is best for weight loss

You can win the battle on weight loss, but the choice of which alcoholic drink to take will be the standing block in your way.

Here are some of the low-calorie alcoholic drinks that you should drink;

• Red Wine (with 123 calories)
• Gin (can go with Tonic for 115 calories)
• Whiskey (with 105 calories)
• Rum (with 97 calories)
• Tequila (with an average of 100 calories)
• Vodka (with 96 calories)
• Brandy (with close 100 calories)
• Champagne (90 calories)

The ways to drink alcohol while dieting

You can have that beach-like body for a bikini, and also fit well in the clothes.

You don’t have to completely stay away from alcohol, but instead, adjust on your lifestyle to suit your health journey and goal.

To achieve all this, you need to have your body burn fat for fuel. Here are ways to moderate your lifestyle and still lose weight;

Regulate the drinking

If we are going to achieve our goal at the end of this weight loss journey, then we are going to change.

Start keeping a keen eye on the quantity of whatever we drink whenever we drink.

Therefore, it’s very important not to go overboard or drink excessively when we take some wine or whatever else you drink.

For a sustainable lifestyle, don’t completely cut out drinking, but instead, plan in advance.

Know your limit in mind and stay committed to it when you have your favorite alcoholic drink.

Know the Calorie count of the Drink

The whole process of weight loss works on the fact that the body burns more calories than you take in –caloric deficit.

This simply points our focus now onto the calorie count of whatever we drink.

However much those cocktails are so delicious to you, they contain sugars that are loaded a number of calories.

We don’t have to take in this during this journey of weight loss.

Therefore, it’s vital to know the calories count of all the contents in your drink and be strict with this.

You may want to substitute the cocktail with a glass of wine, or that beer for a light beer if not a glass of wine to achieve our weight loss.

Don’t eat foods when drinking

There’s a common feeling of persuasion to eat when tipsy during a night out with friends.

Alcoholic drinks will cause this craving for food. This is simply due to the carbohydrates in the drinks.

Therefore we need to prevent this kind of scenario by either having something to eat before drinking anything.

Resisting the cravings and not eating is another option even if it’s a difficult one hence it’s better to stick to the first one.

Physical Exercises is Key (Work out)

Commit to your routine daily work out plan especially if done in the mornings –this could hold you back from drinking too much in the night.

Exercising could be among the things you don’t like about losing weight, but you have got to make love with it because it completes the weight loss equation.

Hence then put it in mind to turn up for the gym, dance class, or any other activity when having that favorite alcoholic drink at night.

Don’t skip meals

Losing weight doesn’t mean you starve yourself and this is the one thing you ought not to do if drinking later on.

The digestive system is disturbed when you drink on an empty stomach.

Not to end up eating a lot, later on, to compensate instead eat lean proteins, fats, and vegetables for most of your meals during the course of the day.

A healthy meal or eating the right foods remember is part of the journey.

Read about the most filling foods for weight loss. Here

Drink water (hydration)

Drinking water is one of the things every nutritionist or exercise trainer will take you to do during weight loss.

Drinking water is associated with health benefits.

However, drinking a glass of water could aid you to limit over-drinking during a night out.

Therefore when out with friends or on a social event, try substituting the drinks with water and that need to have an extra drink will fade away.

You could probably have “those friends”, simply take soda water with lime and tell everyone its vodka. Your weight loss is more important!

In a Nutshell

A number of people have come out to approve that they could not sustain a sudden total lifestyle change and ended up turning back to their old ways.

Moderating the consumption of alcohol could be the missing link in your weight loss efforts.

However, to have a more foreseeable future with a healthy body, i.e. better sleep, better digestion, and fewer excuses for not making it to the gym, then you can consider a gradual quitting process from alcoholic drinks.

Otherwise, whenever you plan to have a drink, please opt for vodka, rum or whiskey on the rocks –don’t add soda. Cheers!!

 

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