To Drink Or To Lose... (What's Your Answer)

I very seldom drink anything alchoholic, so I'll substitute chocolate for my answer. Love it? Don't give it up, you'll feel deprived. Have it moderation, count it as part of your daily calories, and make it fit, do more exercise if needed to balance out.

It's better for you to not drink alcohol with meals or even within a few hours of meals (so your liver can focus on the food instead of the alcohol)

I'd love to see the reference for this view. Never heard it before, and it doesn't sound likely to be true. My liver doesn't seem to have any trouble "focusing" on both food and alcohol. What about food cooked with alcohol?

Forget that. I LOVE drinking LOL and I am NOT an elkie by any means. ( I enjoy about 6 drinks per week! )
I fit it into my calories

http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html


"How to lose fat or prevent fat gain when drinking

Now that you understand the effect of alcohol on substrate metabolism, it's time for me to reveal how you can make alcohol work for fat loss. Alternatively, how you can drink on a regular basis without any fat gain. Without having to count calories and while drinking as much as you want.

Apply this method exactly as I have laid it out. If you've paid attention, you'll understand the rationale behind it. I've tested this on myself and on numerous clients. Rest assured that I'm not testing out some large-scale bizarre experiment here.

The rules are as follows:

* For this day, restrict your intake of dietary fat to 0.3 g/kg body weight (or as close to this figure as possible).

* Limit carbs to 1.5 g/kg body weight. Get all carbs from veggies and the tag-along carbs in some protein sources. You'll also want to limit carbohydrate-rich alcohol sources such as drinks made with fruit juices and beer. A 33 cl/12 fl oz of beer contains about 12 g carbs, while a regular Cosmopolitan is about 13 g.

* Good choices of alcohol include dry wines which are very low carb, clocking in at about 0.5-1 g per glass (4 fl oz/115ml). Sweet wines are much higher at 4-6 g per glass. Cognac, gin, rum, scotch, tequila, vodka and whiskey are all basically zero carbs. Dry wines and spirits is what you should be drinking, ideally. Take them straight or mixed with diet soda. (No need to be super-neurotic about this stuff. Drinks should be enjoyed after all. Just be aware that there are better and worse choices out there).

* Eat as much protein as you want. Yes, that's right. Ad libitum. Due to the limit on dietary fat, you need to get your protein from lean sources. Protein sources such as low fat cottage cheese, protein powder, chicken, turkey, tuna, pork and egg whites are good sources of protein this day.

* For effective fat loss, this should be limited to one evening per week. Apply the protocol and you will lose fat on a weekly basis as long as your diet is on point for the rest of the week.

Basically, the nutritional strategy I have outlined here is all about focusing on substrates that are least likely to cause net synthesis of fat during hypercaloric conditions. Alcohol and protein, your main macronutrients this day, are extremely poor precursors for de novo lipogenesis. Alcohol suppresses fat oxidation, but by depriving yourself of dietary fat during alcohol consumption, you won't be storing anything. Nor will protein cause any measurable de novo lipogenesis. High protein intake will also compensate for the weak effect of alcohol on satiety and make you less likely to blow your diet when you're drinking.

By the way, a nice bonus after a night of drinking is that it effectively rids you of water retention. You may experience the "whoosh"-effect, which I've talked about in my two-part series about water retention. That in itself can be motivating for folks who've been experiencing a plateau in their weight loss.

Apply this with good judgement and don't go out and do something stupid now. Remember, this a short-term strategy for those that want to be able to drink freely* without significantly impacting fat loss progress or causing unwanted fat gain. It's not something I encourage people to do on a daily basis, but it's one of the strategies that I apply for maintaining low body fat for myself and my clients.

* Now of course...you can always drink in moderation and make sure to not go over your calorie budget for the day. But what fun is there in that? I'd rather cheat the system with the kind metabolic mischief I've layed out above."

It's better for you to not drink alcohol with meals or even within a few hours of meals (so your liver can focus on the food instead of the alcohol)

I'd love to see the reference for this view. Never heard it before, and it doesn't sound likely to be true. My liver doesn't seem to have any trouble "focusing" on both food and alcohol. What about food cooked with alcohol?

almost all alcohol is cooked off when preparing such foods. See my last post for references on the matter of "focus".

Just makes your weight loss results slower to achieve ....wine is high in sugar as well isn't it? Alcohol destroys your metabolism,hurts your kidneys and liver....I love to drink,but all my hard work goes in the trash every time I do which sucks...Thats like saying if I eat fast food but stay in my calorie goal will I still get what I want...UMMM?Huh...NO...Sucks but it's reality.

find out the calories in the wine and count it in your daily total and see if you can total it in. that is all there is to it.

I most certainly have not given up any of my beer, wine, or booze. When I was losing, I set my goal to lose roughly 1 Lb per week...I did exactly that while still enjoying my adult beverages....40 Lbs down in total. Just have to fit the calories in...

Alcohol destroys your metabolism

Alcohohl temporarily impairs your metabolism while it is metabolising the alcohol sugars. Your body cannot store those calories, so they must be metabolized immediately...while you body is busy doing this, it can't metabolize the other **** that tends to go into your body when you're drunk...but once you've metabolized the booze then it's back to business as usual...and if you're at a calorie deficit then it doesn't matter...you're in a catabolic state...any temporarily stored fat is going to get oxidized once your body resumes that function.

Thats like saying if I eat fast food but stay in my calorie goal will I still get what I want...UMMM?Huh...NO...Sucks but it's reality

Actually, it really is about calories in/out. You can infact eat fast food and still lose weight...so...UMMM...yes

Since I know I'm not going to give up drinking entirely when I reach my goal, I decided it's better to learn how to incorporate it into a healthy lifestyle. I measure my wine, but have certainly cut down--not every night, and only when it fits in to my calories for the day. I limit my mixed drinks to one a week at most. I love my mixed martinis which tend to have 2-3 shots of alcohol and can run 300-400 calories. I definitely have cut down on those, and I've tried to come up with some different drink combos that aren't as high in calories. When we go out, I abide by the motto "bread, alcohol, dessert-- pick one". Alcohol wins every time!

Thank you ladies. (and Sir! ) lol After reading my post again, I Obviously had "bad" critics before. And I know there's a "line", and I live on the other side of the line where I don't want to give up absolutely everything. I still have my life to live. 3 Boys under the age of 4 stress me out. :explode: :happy: Its true. Everything in moderation,And I usually count every calorie (depending how many glasses I've had that night. lol)

You certainly can work some wine into your plan, I drink wine or a cosmo a couple times a week and have lost 45 lbs in 4 months. Logging everything and increasing activity, in addition to drinking alot of water is the key for me!