Weight loss at its simplest comes down to calories in versus calories out. By consuming fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. Alcohol calories are often overlooked because they are not food, so we don't always think about how many calories they contain. Also, once you've had a couple of drinks on a night out, your judgment is hampered, and you may not realize just how many you knock back.
Calories
Alcoholic beverages contain an average of between 90 and 160 calories per serving, meaning regularly consuming only one drink per night could result in 630 to 1,120 calories per week. Since 3,500 calories are roughly equal to a pound of body weight, these numbers suggest that you could gain between 0.75 to 1.34 lbs. each month. Conversely, if you are currently maintaining your weight, you could lose that amount of weight by cutting out alcohol consumption.
Fat Metabolism
The effect of alcohol on your weight-loss program is a bit more complex than that of your food calories. In addition to the simple impact that the calories in a glass of wine or bottle of beer have on your waist, there are metabolic effects. In the April 1992 "New England Journal of Medicine," Dr. Paolo Suter and others published their findings that alcohol depresses the metabolism of fats by 33 to 57 percent during the 24 hours following consumption. This reduction in ability to oxidize fats promotes higher levels of fat storage and limits your body's ability to use stored fats during workouts.
Strategy
With the support of a healthy diet and exercise plan, reducing alcohol intake will decrease your overall caloric intake, but eliminating it entirely on most days will have the additional impact of improving your body's ability to metabolize stored fat and will reduce the amount of lipids that your body stores in the first place. All this can cause you to lose weight fairly quickly, depending on the extent of the changes you make.
Small Steps
If you'd prefer not to completely eliminate alcohol, consider limiting your consumption to only one or two days per week and one or two drinks. You can also choose drinks with fewer calories, like light beer over regular beer and drinks mixed with club soda in place of sugary, fruity drinks. Remember that even small steps toward a healthier lifestyle make a difference.
Member Comments