 |
QUESTION:
Tom, what about alcohol? How
does that fit into your burning fat program? I am not
talking binge drinking, just one or two a day.
John.
ANSWER:
Hi John. A couple drinks on
the weekend and or on special occasions probably won't have
any major impact on your fat loss results (although I would
encourage you to consider the mindset that EVERYTHING you do
either helps or hurts).
A drink or two on occasion is
a part of enjoying life for many people, and it's important
to find lifestyle balance for the sake of your long term
happiness and success. |
However, I do not recommend drinking
every day.
"A couple every day" adds a
LOT of extra calories to your daily diet. If you're talking about
two 150-calorie beers, that's 300 calories extra a day or 2100 extra
calories a week.
Multiply that out for a year and you
have 109,200 extra calories! WOW! That's potentially 31.2 pounds of
fat in a year.
If you DO account for the calories in
those drinks, then you have another conundrum - the alcohol calories
displace good valuable food calories...
Drinking gives you empty alcohol
calories with virtually no nutritional value (and some negative
value in more way than one), while pushing out important vitamins,
minerals, phytochemicals essential amino acids, essential fatty
acids, fiber and other good stuff.
Alcohol also inhibits fat burning.
While your liver is busy metabolizing alcohol, it puts your fat
metabolism on hold. That's why I do NOT recommend any drinking when
you are on a fat loss program (at least if you are serious about
it).
When you are on a regular, year-round
lifestyle/maintenance program I recommend that if you drink, you do
so in moderation, keep it to special occasions or weekends and
remember to factor in those calories to your daily intake.
By the way, there's a major risk to
drinking every day - even just one or two - that most people don't
even think about:
Daily drinking is habit forming.
Anything you do every day easily becomes a habit that is difficult
to break later.
On the other hand, if you could
establish the habit of eating 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables
and getting some exercise every single day, those would be habits
worth forming! :-)
let me know how else I can help. This
question comes up often, so I did cover alcohol and fat loss in much
greater detail in chapter 13 of the Burn the Fat book: www.burnthefat.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom
Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning
specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the
author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you
how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the
world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid
of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.BurnTheFat.com
|
