Alcohol and Weight Loss a Good Mix? 

Alcohol plays a big party of our culture; we drink as a way to have fun, let loose, be social or just to unwind after a tough day at work. So what’s wrong with having a few drinks at happy hour with your buddies after work or just planning a fun night out with the girls? Unfortunately like many unhealthy habits alcohol impacts weight. Research shows people who drink in moderation are less likely to be obese. But on the flip side, more than moderate drinking is linked to a greater risk of being overweight or obese.

So what’s moderation?
For a woman 1 drink or less and 2 drinks or less for a man. One drink is considered 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounce bottle of beer, or 1.5 ounce shot of 80 proof distilled spirits (vodka, rum, gin, whiskey). And by the way, abstaining during the week and downing 7-14 drinks over the weekend doesn’t count as moderate drinking.

Alcohol is metabolized differently than other foods and beverages. Therefore, these calories are converted into body fat and carried away on your body for storage.

Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram and offer NO nutritional value. These empty calories can only add to your waistline, leading to extra poundage.

Shall I save my calories for later?
Many drinkers know they’ll be have some drinks later and decide to “bank” some calories by skipping meals. This is a bad idea and could result in a double whammy, because alcohol stimulates appetite. All those mouth-watering greasy fried foods on the appetizer menu sound awfully tempting. A little tipsy; you might just gobble up those yummy buffalo wings that you wouldn’t normally eat if you were sober.

Worry about calories or carbs?
You might think that drinking liquor is more diet-friendly because it has no carbs; while wine and beer are not carb-free. Hard liquor contains around 100 calories per shot, so if you are going to mix liquor with anything opt for a diet or club soda. A 100-calorie shot of tequila turns into a 500 calorie margarita once it’s swirled into a sugary mixer, and for this very reason this is why most weight loss plans nix alcohol.
On the other hand, if you’d rather cut back than cut out alcohol, order drinks that will help you take in less alcohol, like a wine spritzer instead of wine. But before thinking about drinking “light” beer it’s important to know the term “light” only means the calorie reduction is mostly coming in the amount of carbohydrates. Generally, 12-ounce light beer contains about 100 calories, 5 grams of carbohydrates and a regular beer contains about 140 calories and 13 grams carbohydrates. It might surprise you to learn the difference in carbohydrates between a regular beer and a light beer is usually no more than the equivalent to 1/5th cup of cornflakes or 1/6th cup of apple juice, not exactly what one would call significant quantities of food.

Bottom line
Let’s face it, alcohol can easily be the enemy when it comes to weight loss. It adds extra non-nutritive calories to your diet, encourages you to eat more and can add inches to your waistline. So if you’re watching your weight be smart about your alcohol choices and cut back whenever you can.