Losing Weight And Drinking Alcohol: Is It Possible?
Drinking alcohol makes weight loss difficult especially in the popular HCG diet. Alcohol causes far more significant problems than might appear by looking at the number of calories in a drink. After all, a glass of wine is only 90 calories. Here are some of the many reasons that drinking alcohol can interfer in any weight loss program and especially in the HCG diet.
• Alcohol has empty calories; it has no nutritional benefit
• Alcohol has almost the same calories as fat (7 calories per gram).
• Alcohol is accompanied by high calorie snack foods
• Alcohol lowers inhibitions making portion control difficult
• Alcohol mixes are often higher calories than the alcohol itself
• Alcohol stimulates appetite
• Alcohol often interferes with sleep
All of these effects, especially the unplanned calories that often accompany alcohol, causes weight gain. Studies in the journal Angiology in 2008 found few problems with small amounts of alcohol, but significant increases in weight and medical complications with heavy drinking.
HOW DRINKING ALCOHOL STOPS FAT BURNING:
When we eat protein, fat, or carbs, some of the food is burned immediately and some of it is stored for future use. However, this does not occur when drinking alcohol. Alcohol is used for metabolism first, and is used for energy until all of the alcohol is gone from the blood stream. As this is happening, the body cannot use protein, fat or carbs for metabolism. Less than 5 percent of the alcohol calories you drink are turned into fat. The beer belly occurs not because alcohol is turned into fat but because for long periods of time the alcohol, instead of the stored fat, is being used for energy. The HCG diet and alcohol drinking can be done together if the right choices are made.
ALCOHOL STIMULATES APPETITE
Alcohol suppresses control, the brain's ability to say it has had enough—of both alcohol and food. At the same time it makes people more hungry. The combination of more hunger with less control is very dangerous for some dieters
ALCOHOL DRINKS CAUSE POOR SLEEP
Small amounts of alcohol make you feel sleepy but too much alcohol results in poor sleeping-- often the result of falls in blood sugar in the middle of the night. Some people wake up and eat. Poor sleeping in itself contributes to weight gain. As we all age, our metabolism slowly decreases. Most of us don't need to further decrease it by daily alcohol!
ALCOHOL LOWERS INHIBITIONS TO EATING BAD SNACKS AND LARGER PORTIONS
This is the big difference between Western Europe and the U.S. Few Europeans eat chicken wings with bleu cheese dressing, cans of nuts, chips, popcorn, trail mix, pretzels, crackers and cheese, dips and candy. They drink their wine slowly and with no snacks. When the main course comes the portions are small, so that portion control is easy -they are small from the beginning and there are no "seconds."
If You do Chose to Drink, What Are the Real Secrets to Not Gaining Weight?
HOW OFTEN TO DRINK ALCOHOL AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT
It's usually not the calories of the alcohol that are the problem in a diet plan, but the other effects that make weight loss difficult. A good plan is to limit drinking to no more than 3 days per week, usually the weekends and special events at the most. Drinking every night, especially for relief of stress, often alone, should be avoided. Most individuals, especially those with slow metabolism due to age or a sedentary occupation, simply cannot afford to further lower their metabolism every day of the week by the nightly consumption of alcoholic beverages.
CHOSING THE 'RIGHT' ALCHOLIC BEVERAGES
Deciding to drink alcohol is a very personal choice. The secret, similar to the key to selecting foods, is to make the best choice among all of the many possibilities. Similar to the process of choosing foods, the smart dieter keeps the calories as low as possible and avoids high-calorie mixes, often containing lots of carbs that cause hunger, such as juices or tonic. At the same time, he seeks drinks where there is possible "dilution" with zero-calorie fillers. Examples of the latter are soda water mixed with scotch, vodka, or whiskey; tomato juice mixed with vodka; and diet cola with rum. Using these zero-calorie "fillers" results in larger volumes of beverages, each having fewer calories.
ALCOHOL AND THE HCG DIET
Its possible to do the HCG diet properly and still drink a few alcholic beverages a week. Of course, beer and mixed drinks are off limits, but a few glasses of wine or straight alchol with zero calorie mixes is acceptable.
About the Author
Weight loss expert, board certified endocrinologist and internist, Dr Richard Lipman has Treated thousands of patients on the HCG diet. He has published four books on weight loss and metabolism. he relates his experience in his new book, NEW Pounds & Inches. He offers his experience with his new 800 calorie a day HCG food plan and the strongest, safest HCG available at http://www.bestbuyhcg.com
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