Alcohol

The purpose of this post is not to preach how bad alcohol is for your health, but to give some understanding to those people out there who want to loose weight or reduce body fat but can't understand why they are not getting the results due to keeping alcohol in their diet.

I love alcohol.  Am I a binge drinker? - Yes I guess I am for 2 reasons.

1. I only drink on a Special Occasion
2. When I do drink, I am usually highly intoxicated

I am in with the group of people who binge drink once a week (your Saturday Night / Social Event drinkers).  When you consume multiple drinks in such a short space of time it increases the amount of alcohol circulating in the blood and the time it spends there.  It is at this point that the liver cannot keep up and you start to experience  an increase in urination frequency as the body tries to rid itself to the alcohol faster from the body.  The more alcohol you put in your body, the more of a back log takes place as the alcohol can only metabolise a certain amount of alcohol per hour approx 8-10g.

When you consume alcohol it passes to the stomach where around 20% of it is absorbed immediately by the blood stream.  If you are drinking on an empty stomach this will pass through extremely fast, where as with food absorption is delayed.  The bodies main goal is to get it to the liver and detoxify the alcohol, however it will circulate in the blood stream first where it is delivered to various tissues in the body, for example your brain.  Once the alcohol reaches your liver it is metabolised like fat.  Your liver converts the metabolic by products of alcohol into fatty acids.  These may be stored in the liver or transported for storage into other tissues.  

Which brings me to another topic 'the beer belly'.  It is a misconception that only men get a 'beer belly'.  Women who drink in this manner are also subject to the 'beer belly' - just because you don't drink beer doesn't mean the alcohol source you choose won't give you one!  

When we ask our clients which area of the body are they least happy about, almost 90% of our female clients have said 'mid section'.  When we inspect their food diaries they provide us prior to going on plan we find they ARE eating the right foods but perhaps too little, but that they are consuming alcohol and it tends to be from the weekly binge drinking sessions.  

Helpful Tips when it comes to alcohol if you are reluctant to cut it out completely.

Ensure your potassium levels are high pre and post alcohol consumption.

• Consume food sources high in potassium post alcohol consumption, when you drink alcohol your body becomes depleted of potassium this is a contributing factor to a hangover.  
• Banana's will assist in ridding your hang over headaches and nausea.

Ensure you are well hydrated

• This is water not via alcohol) pre, intra and post alcohol consumption
• One Glass of wine for example causes the body to expel 800 to 1000ml of water!  This is 4 times as much liquid lost as gained.
• Do you really need that drink every time its someones round?  
• Is there any issue in having a pint of water along side that glass of wine?

Ensure you have hit your protein and fat macro targets as a minimum throughout the day 

• Ideally hit 3 macro nutrient targets
• Ensure you are not consuming alcohol on an empty stomach

Do NOT reach for that end of the night fast food take away

• Will only hinder your results even more by adding weight
• If you are hungry and must go for fast food at least opt for a Chicken Kebab - NO Sauce or Chips and even better if you choose to throw away the pitta!  Sticking to the chicken and salad.

The next morning DO NOT reach for your 'fry up'.

• Everyone continues their bad eating the next day by opting for a fry up or sweet and sugary things, get yourself back on track!  Which will reduce your hang over and fatigue.
• Bowl of Oats and Protein shake are a great way to re balance your insulin levels and prevent cravings.

As I state time and time again with my clients, I can give you the tools and advice to smash your goals, but its up to you to put them in practice.  If you choose alcohol when your on a deadline to achieve goals then your not necessarily going to achieve the results you could have if you had removed this completely.  

Although I am in the group of people mentioned above when I choose to drink, to clarify I do not drink when I am on plan for a competition or a personal goal.  I also never let anyone bully me into drinking to make them feel better because THEY feel awkward about someone being in THEIR company who is not drinking.  For me I can be at a social event and consume zero alcohol and have just as much of a good time as someone drinking!  

THE CHOICE IS YOURS.