For the majority of people following a weight loss programme, alcohol is the main reason they struggle to lose weight, in fact for a lot of people, alcohol is the cause of weight gain in the first place.
Alcohol, at 7 calories per gram is the 2nd most calorie dense nutrient behind fat. Not only that, it almost completely stops the body using fat for fuel. Whilst your liver is detoxing alcohol from the body it struggles to carry out its other jobs including breaking down fat.
Unlike the macronutrients and micronutrients we intake through our diet, our body has no need or storage capacity within the body for alcohol. Alcohol is a toxin and is essentially a poison, which means it has to be detoxified from the body as quickly as possible.
The detoxification of alcohol takes top priority, which results in the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates being temporarily suppressed. Because your body can’t metabolise your food into usable energy properly as it’s too busy trying to get rid of the alcohol, then your food is more likely to be stored as fat. When trying to lose weight the last thing you want is your body storing excess fat rather than breaking down your current fat stores for energy.
A big mistake people make when drinking alcohol whilst following a weight loss programme is trying to balance their calorie intake by not eating. Doing this is a recipe for disaster.
Alcoholic drinks provide very little to no nutritional value and are basically empty calories. There are trace amounts of some vitamins and minerals but they’re present in such tiny quantities that their nutritional value is insignificant. Basically when you drink alcohol you are feeding your body lots of sugar and calories with no nutrition whatsoever.
If you don’t eat food to try and balance your calorie intake then your body won’t be getting any of the nutrition it needs to function optimally and instead will just be getting lots of calories and sugar to store as fat. By not eating food you might intake less calories, but your body will be getting absolutely no nutrition. Not giving your body nutrition in the form of vitamins and minerals is the fastest way to make your body sick and unhealthy whilst also increasing the likelihood degenerative disease.
If the lack of nutritional value isn’t bad enough, alcohol actually depletes the body of vitamins and minerals obtained from other foods you eat. This is because alcohol irritates the lining of the stomach and intestinal tract and interferes with proper digestion and absorption of vital nutrients.
When drinking alcohol you may also lose minerals you already have in your body because alcohol is a potent diuretic. The effects of dehydration from drinking alcohol can be so severe that sometimes it can make people look thinner the next day. If you do look thinner the next day from drinking alcohol then don’t get excited and think alcohol helps you lose fat. It definitely doesn’t help you lose fat, but you should be extremely worried that your body has lost so much water that you look like you have lost weight. If you do look thinner after drinking alcohol then make sure you drink lots of water to rehydrate your body.
If you still aren’t convinced that you should stay away from alcohol when trying to lose weight then the fact alcohol has been associated with the development of numerous health problems and degenerative diseases may change your mind. The list of health problems alcohol has been associated with includes heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cardiomyopathy, abnormal heart rhythms, liver disease, cancer, decreased resistance to infections, gout, and hypoglycaemia.
If you are looking to lose weight fast and improve your health then you must avoid alcohol completely. Even one glass of wine can slow down fat loss. If you like to party and find it difficult to stop drinking alcohol then visualise all the attention you will get when you achieve the body you want and you start going out again after your body transformation. A very good excuse to use to make sure you aren’t pressured into drinking alcohol when on a diet is to say that you’re taking medication. This will stop your friends trying to persuade you to drink.
If you don’t take my advice and you do drink when trying to lose weight, even if it’s just once per week, then don’t expect to lose vast amounts of body fat quickly because even 1 alcoholic drink can have huge effects on preventing fat loss. Don’t get me wrong, you can still lose some weight if you are drinking alcohol regularly, it’s is not impossible to lose weight when drinking alcohol, but if you want to lose weight fast and completely transform your body then alcohol is definitely on the banned list.
Once you reach your weight loss goal you can go back to drinking alcohol sensibly if you wish, but whilst you are embarking on a body transformation then definitely stay away from alcohol for best results. Everyone loves a good drink once in a while but drinking and transforming your body do not go together. Save the drinking for once you have achieved your dream body rather than whilst you are trying to achieve it.
Get fit, get healthy, get happy
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