Best Alcohol for Fat Loss

Not only is it my birthday tomorrow (Happy Birthday to Me!) but I have 6 clients whose celebrations are also fast approaching. Hence, I have been dealing with the question regarding alcohol and fat loss (in some form or another) for several weeks now. So, let’s get the facts out and get this question out of the way.

Firstly, I am noticing that whenever the subject is approached, clients keep asking the same question over and over in different ways because in essence they would like to get a different answer. Unfortunately, no matter how you look at it… it is a philosophical argument. Simply put:

THERE IS NO AMOUNT OR TYPE OF ALCOHOL THAT IS BENEFICIAL TO YOUR WEIGHT LOSS EFFORTS.

You wanna lose weight? You have to skip the cocktails! It is that simple!
“Is white wine better for me than hard liquor when I am trying to lose weight?” sounds the same as “Are jelly beans better than candy bars?”. Bottom line: Cut all of them out if you are serious about losing weight!

But clearly this is easier said than done, so for now, we are going to deal with “if you have to drink, what can you chose”. So, we are going to assume that:
a) you ARE going to drink and
b) there is a BETTER choice

Well, here are the basic rules:
o Do not drink alcohol while trying to lose weight. Alcohol suppresses fat oxidisation not to mention the calorie punch it packs up.
o When trying to maintain your weight, you may consume alcohol in moderation. “Moderation” means 1-2 drinks on some days of the week, but definitely not more than 3-4 days a week.
o Always consider the amount of calories you consume in a glass and ensure they are traded off in your daily plan. In other words, if you are going to drink an extra 300 calories, either reduce the amount you eat at other meals, or break up a bit of a sweat on the treadmill, or both.

If you absolutely have to have a drink:
o Chose light beer over regular
o Have white wine or champagne over liquor (or a spritzer made of ½ white wine and ½ soda)
o Avoid cocktails like the plague (even Bloody Mary’s)!

A glass of chardonnay is worth about 90 calories. A glass of champagne is roughly the same. A tot of whiskey – about 60, but that excludes the soda used to mix it. A double vodka and Red Bull can add about 300 calories to your intake and a Margarita – about 500! When you consider that you will probably have two or three drinks and there will be finger snacks around too, you will soon realise that a single “not-so-good” outing can knock back 3-4 days of good work. And if you do that more than once a week… you will sadly be less-than-successful in your weight loss endeavour.

Ciao!
Jeni