Advice Please on Alcohol

Wait do you mean lose or loose?

Info I was sent before Christmas from my Pilates instructor, apparently from international fitness presenter Rachel Holmes, who runs Kick Start Fat Loss, its some interesting facts about alcohol and its affects on the body.

Today we are examining the effects of alcohol on the body and how you can still enjoy your favourite tipple from time to time without it taking permanent residence on your hard earned abs and 6 pack.
Let's quickly review how nutrients are stored and burned after food.

1. Carbs and protein suppress fat oxidation via an elevation in insulin. However, these macronutrients do not contribute to fat synthesis in any meaningful way by themselves.
2. Since fat oxidation is suppressed, dietary fat is stored in fat cells.
3. As the hours go by and insulin drops, fat is released from fat cells. Fat storage is an ongoing process and fatty acids are constantly entering and exiting fat cells throughout the day. Net gain or loss is more or less dictated by calorie input and output.
If we throw alcohol into the mix, it gets immediate priority in the substrata hierarchy: Alcohol puts the brakes on fat oxidation, but also suppresses carb and protein synthesis

This makes sense, considering that the metabolic by-product of alcohol, acetate, is toxic. Metabolising it takes precedence over everything else.

In a nutshell, if you want to maintain a lean body, avoiding alcohol is a good choice. It's not just the added calories (alcohol offers seven calories per gram compared to carbs and protein, which contain four each) but the effect alcohol has on fat burning and storage.

Alcohol affects metabolism because when you drink it your body puts all other metabolic processes on hold until it has processed the alcohol. Your body can't convert the calories from the alcohol to fat, meaning it needs to use them up, and will delay all other fat burning and energy use until the alcohol has been processed.

Drinking alcohol affects your hormones as well, increasing cortisol and modifying steroid metabolism in the liver. This results in lower androgens for both sexes. Women with higher levels of androgens and men with lower levels are equally at risk for belly fat gain, and for men, lower androgens mean less testosterone.
Not Good!

Drinking Alcohol - In a nutshell ( or a bombshell)

1. Greatly increases your daily calorie intake.
2. Massively spikes cortisol.
3. Greatly increases sugar consumption so you will crave carbs and sugar the following day.

But I'm going to a party on Saturday Night and I want to enjoy a drink?
Of course you do and why not.
Here are some strategies to help you.

1. Make the night of the party your cheat meal - and drink whatever you want!
Choose Dry White Wines - Dry being defined as less than 1.4 % residual sugar.
3. If you can choose between White and Red go for Red and the best Reds are Spanish Reds due to resveratol.
4. Triple distilled VODKA such as Grey Goose and slimline tonic is a great choice as is Gin (Bombay Saffehire)
5. Drink spritzers or follow every glass of red with a glass of water.
6. On the day of your party eat a protein rich breakfast, lunch and dinner.
7. Take your usual supplements - Greens Drinks / High Quality Fish Oils.
8. Eat a protein rich breakfast the following day to minimise carb and sugar cravings.

Avoid
BEER & CIDER

The body can't store alcohol, so it has to use it up first. All the other metabolic processes- i.e. the metabolizing of fat and glucose- have to be put on hold while the body gets rid of the alcohol.

Alcohol turns off fat burning at the cellular level.

If I track my alcohol and fit it into my calories, I still lose weight.

Personally my struggles are:
1. still wanting to get up and work out in the morning if I have a few the night before
and
2. it's much harder to resist cravings and mindless eating after I've had a few

If I can just have some drinks without those things happening, I still lose just fine.

In the same way that I am not eating sugary foods - because I know they will eventually muck up my diet, I am not drinking because I know that my weight loss will be much slower!

In the name of G*d - why would I want to jeopardise my weight loss for the sake of one or two lousy glasses of wine!

Stop drinking lousy wine.

I haven't read all of the responses, but a calorie is a calorie. However, if you drink INSTEAD of eat a sandwich, you are going to be hungry. Wine also isn't going to have as much nutrients as a sandwich; ie, protein/fat, etc., so again, you are going to be hungry.

Plus, I don't know about you, but when I've had too much too drink I make bad choices, which include drinking more AND then eating anyway.

It would be better to eat half a sandwich and have 1 glass of wine. Personally, I just drink one 9% beer (ok, maybe 2), and that does more for me than 4 or 5 cheap beers.

I'm a couple of years into the lifestyle of successful weight loss and maintenance, and I never gave up drinking wine, or eating chocolate, or any of the other delicious things that make life wonderful -- I just keep an eye on my portions and only consume them when I have room in my calorie goal for these treat drinks and food along with nutritious meals.

The thing that concerns me about the original post is the idea of giving up a sandwich in favor of wine. I know people who will skip meals in order to save their calories for alcohol, and this is a VERY unhealthy mindset.

Nothing personal at all, dude. Seriously. It's a discussion, nothing more, but one that should be complete. It's a matter of not cherry picking portions of articles. I'm certainly not advocating alcohol consumption, but let people draw conclusions based on complete information. That's really my only point.

Again, I didn't cherry pick.
I posted a portion of the article, relevant to the topic at hand....
Along with the link so the reader can see the article in its entirety, as well as do their own research.....

I didn't hide anything or do anything that would make my opinion or info more valid by hiding information.....

I just ain't gonna spoon feed people everything.....
I figure they made it here on this site, then they can do some research of their own and educate themselves, and then better draw their own conclusions.

Whatever makes you feel better

Oh I am not opposed to people drinking....
If you want to, go ahead....

I am just giving info regarding how the body handles alcohol....
To say the body treats alcohol the same as other macros.....is not true.....
It does handle it differently.
So I was just posting info for the OP to read and be informed about......

Me personally I don't drink....but that is me.
If you want to have wine, then have it.
Just make sure you count it.

You posted an article in which the author cautions not to draw conclusions until his follow up as evidence. Care to post the follow up?

I will have to look for it....
But the basic premise of his point will not change how the body handles alcohol....

Calm down brother....
Again, I am not saying don't drink....
I am just giving the OP information, so she can make an informed choice....

You posted half an article. That's not information. That is dishonesty.

I posted a portion of the article, with a link to the full article.
I excerpted the relevant info to this post....
But the reader can click the link and read the whole article....

Man dude, take a chill pill honestly.....
I am not sure what axe you have to grind against me, but I have done nothing to you nor told anyone here you can't have your alcohol....
All I posted was info....

Nothing personal at all, dude. Seriously. It's a discussion, nothing more, but one that should be complete. It's a matter of not cherry picking portions of articles. I'm certainly not advocating alcohol consumption, but let people draw conclusions based on complete information. That's really my only point.

tells someone he is being dishonest and then says "it's nothing personal"...

Oh I am not opposed to people drinking....
If you want to, go ahead....

I am just giving info regarding how the body handles alcohol....
To say the body treats alcohol the same as other macros.....is not true.....
It does handle it differently.
So I was just posting info for the OP to read and be informed about......

Me personally I don't drink....but that is me.
If you want to have wine, then have it.
Just make sure you count it.

You posted an article in which the author cautions not to draw conclusions until his follow up as evidence. Care to post the follow up?

I will have to look for it....
But the basic premise of his point will not change how the body handles alcohol....

Calm down brother....
Again, I am not saying don't drink....
I am just giving the OP information, so she can make an informed choice....

You posted half an article. That's not information. That is dishonesty.

I posted a portion of the article, with a link to the full article.
I excerpted the relevant info to this post....
But the reader can click the link and read the whole article....

Man dude, take a chill pill honestly.....
I am not sure what axe you have to grind against me, but I have done nothing to you nor told anyone here you can't have your alcohol....
All I posted was info....

Nothing personal at all, dude. Seriously. It's a discussion, nothing more, but one that should be complete. It's a matter of not cherry picking portions of articles. I'm certainly not advocating alcohol consumption, but let people draw conclusions based on complete information. That's really my only point.

tells someone he is being dishonest and then says "it's nothing personal"...

Intellectual dishonesty is something that happens and debate and discussions. I properly called it out. If that offends you then go learn to debate and discuss rather than throwing out ad hominems.

It's no different from other calories in that sense, but may affect your ability to choose healthy foods afterwards, and may exacerbate cravings for salty and fatty foods

My issue. When I start drinking my other calories go up. My food diary looks horrible the next day!