Does your weight loss plan have an alcohol problem?

 Does your weight loss plan have an alcohol problem?

"Can I have wine with dinner on the weekend?"

"I'm not giving up my vodka!"

"The weight I gained last summer was the from the alcohol.."

These are all real world quotes from clients as we work to demystify alcohol, weight loss, strength training, and living a healthy lifestyle.

There's lots of myth and confusion in the world about alcohol and how it is "fattening". Lots of this stems from the fact it shows up in most food tracking apps as a carbohydrate... BUT

Alcohol is actually its own macronutrient (mind blown yet?) and contains 7 calories per gram (yes 7 ... not 4 like carbs and protein, or 9 like fats).

Since it's not essential for survival (and a whole lot of other healthy reasons) it's not usually presented with the core 3 of protein, fat and carbs.

This is also why, if you do find an alcoholic beverage with a nutrition label, and for lots of drinks in food trackers, the math never works... while they are required to disclose the total calories in the serving, the carbohydrate, fat, and protein information will only relate to the other ingredients, so there will be "unaccounted for calories" that relate to the alcohol content.

Here's the good new: Alcohol doesn't "turn into fat" and glue itself to your waist line.

BUT

Alcohol can absolutely sabotage your weight loss goals:

• Alcohol has energy value (calories), but no nutritional value (vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc.) - so these calories are EMPTY calories - you get nothing from them - and they add up. A 5 oz glass of red wine (that's a restaurant pour y'all) is 125 calories. Have a glass each night? That's 875 calories per week. That's another whole cardio session for you unless you have your alcohol consumption planned carefully into your weekly consumption.

• Fancy cocktails and mixers bring even more calories to the party (often due to sugars) - so pick your preferred drink with care to avoid over indulging

• Alcohol inhibits fat burning - when the body senses alcohol, it stops doing everything else and works to process the alcohol and get it out of your system. Again - this is why it won't glue itself to you as fat - but the fat burning that you would be doing in a post-workout period, or from an overall calorie deficit will be negatively impacted. By suppressing fat burning, it also allow the body to to store fat consumed from your diet more easily. This impact is ONLY while the alcohol is being metabolized by the body.

• Alcohol is also a powerful appetite enhancer - you'll actually eat more food if your meal is served with an alcoholic drink. So you end up getting hit twice (once from the calories in the drink - and then from the increase in appetite and calorie intake)

So what does all this mean?

Alcohol isn't "a problem" in your weight loss plan - BUT if your consumption patterns aren't included carefully in your program, your weight loss plan could have an alcohol problem. When planned for appropriately, alcohol is not more likely to impact your weight loss goals than calories consumed from carbohydrates or fats.

Message me to discover how to plan a program to reach your goals - and incorporates all the elements of your lifestyle!

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