Booze. It’s chock-full of empty calories and does our waistlines no favors, but this doesn’t stop the majority of us from partaking.
Oh, how we look forward to our evening glass (or bottle) of wine, our Happy Hour Lemon Drops, our Saturday afternoon pints of ale.
Now, I could spend this entire article bloviating about the benefits of eliminating alcohol from our diets, but we’ve heard it before, yet still choose to drink.
I’m no exception. Having spent younger years as a bar manager and bartender, I have a passion for creating and consuming quality cocktails, with no intention of stopping. (Should he outlive me, my husband is under strict orders to bury me with a bottle of high-end gin and a hand-painted martini glass.)
Being a fitness and health professional, does consuming liquor make me a hypocrite? I don’t think so. It all comes down to — you guessed it — moderation.
I skip the booze on work nights and allow myself a single martini (albeit a darn large one) on weekend evenings.
No easy feat, drinking only occasionally. We come to rely on alcohol to unwind, relieve stress, alleviate social awkwardness, but those empty calories add up and wreak havoc on our weight loss program. They set up camp right on the waistline, with no intention of budging. Make no mistake of it: Nothing stalls fat loss like regular alcohol consumption.
What to do? When my nutritional clients aren’t willing to give up the hooch but are open to cutting back, I advise them with the following:
Put in writing the reasons you want to reduce your drinking — you’ll likely lose weight, sleep better, have more energy for your workouts, be less inclined to eat poorly, etc. Look over this card several times a day. There is power in the written word.
Choose alcohol-free days. If you drink daily, start with two or three days per week that you will abstain. Mark them on your calendar. Get yourself down to a maximum of two drinking days per week.
If you are imbibing at home, purchase only the amount you are allotting yourself for the week. Example: If you are scheduling four glasses of wine per week, buy a single bottle and no more. (Note: If you pound the whole bottle Monday night, you are out of luck for the remainder of the week.)
When consuming a mixed drink, make it a tall beverage (vodka and soda, heavy on the soda). This helps slow down the rate of consumption. Stay with clear hard alcohol and sugar-free mixes. Opt for lighter beers over heavy ales. If drinking red wine, try cutting it with water — my sister swears by this. When drinking white wine, add club soda and ice and make it into a tall spritzer. Sip slowly.
Eat a meal before you drink. Being full tends to dull the desire for alcohol.
Exercise. Studies show regular exercise may reduce your risk of becoming dependent on booze. Working out triggers the release of dopamine and other feel-good chemicals, so you can enjoy a healthy buzz without quaffing down shots of Fireball.
Keep in mind, we all have different tolerance levels.
If you feel lousy the day after drinking, you’ve overdone it. It may have been just one drink, but if there are negative effects the following day, then the bad outweighs the buzz. Cut back to the point where you feel perfectly fine the next morning.
Consuming alcohol does not have to ruin your weight-loss efforts. Stay active, eat healthy, drink in careful moderation and enjoy that ice cold martini tonight, ya sot.
Note: This article is not intended to address alcohol abuse or addiction. If you feel you have a drinking problem, consult an experienced professional.
Catherine Bongiorno, info@lifttolose.com, is a Mukilteo personal trainer and nutritional therapist who owns Lift To Lose Fitness &Nutrition, www.lifttolose.com.
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