So you joined the gym, maybe even signed up for 1 on 1 coaching because you wanted to get into shape and lose some weight.
Great! That is incredible!
Congrats!
Now you know you probably had to make some changes in your food choices, or maybe you didn't have to make any changes at all.
However, you were wondering about alcohol and your weight loss goal...
Can drinking get in the way of your weight loss goal?
Do you need to quit drinking to change your body composition?
How does alcohol fit into your life now?
How big of a change will you have to make?
Of course, you still want to go out with friends on the weekends. And you know you don't always have to drink when you go out however you still want to at times. And you like to enjoy a glass of wine for dinner a couple of times a week.
So you might avoid these questions for the first couple of weeks as you get acclimated to your new schedule of training sessions and making healthier food choices.
Well, I'm here to hopefully simplify things for you!
There are a few things to consider when it comes to health, fitness, alcohol and your weight loss goal.
First I want you to know I'm not telling you not to drink!
Phweee, now that we got that out of the way, let's continue.
The Truth About Alcohol, Your Health, Your Fitness, And Your Weight Loss Goal
There’s a lot of confusion about whether drinking is good for you or not. That’s mainly because the news media likes to play up new studies revealing the possible benefits of alcohol.
But the truth is, no one really knows who will benefit. Even light to moderate drinking can affect sleep, appetite, and decision making — which absolutely can slow down your health and fitness goals.
Now, I understand that drinking is an undeniable part of culture, and when enjoyed reasonably it can be quite tasty and a lot of fun. We want and like to drink because it helps us relax, socialize, and have a good time.
My job is to help you figure out how and if this fits into your health and fitness goals.
I know it may seem pretty easy to justify drinking because you know, "I'm working out.", "I'm watching what I'm eating now.", "Wine comes from grapes, which is healthy, right? And has antioxidants or something like that, blah, blah, blah", "It must balance out somehow, right?!? I hope!"
Now, I'm not here telling you that drinking is bad for you. Like I mentioned, drinking can be fun!
However, lately, you've been focusing on your nutrition and training, you want a healthier body and to overall better your life.
You know fitness is important...
But do you have to totally give up drinking?
Is it always going to have to be one or the other?
NO!
It's not!
The best part is, you get to decide. Especially once you have the knowledge, you get to choose. By the time you are done reading this, I want you to be equiped with the knowledge you need to make the best-educated choice for yourself.
What you should eat if you decide to drink...
If your goal is fat loss and you decide that you want to consume alcohol.
I want you to remember, that if you consistently eat more calories than you burn, you will gain fat. These calories can come from protein, fat, carbs, or alcohol.
1 gram protein: 4 calories
1 gram carbs: 4 calories
1 gram fat: 9 calories
1 gram alcohol: 7 calories
Now keeping this in mind, you can adjust your calories and macronutrient intake on the day you plan on drinking, to keep you on track.
First, it will help if you decide on how many drinks you will be having. If it's 1-2 drinks, that will be between 100-300 calories. If you are familiar with calorie counting, this shouldn't be a big deal to adjust your calories to fit in a drink or 2, and this won't have much of an effect on your physique.
Now if you're planning on consuming 3 or more drinks, you will have to keep in to account the excessive caloric surplus and the cravings that come with it. Like late-night Taco Bell cravings, or just wanting to devour a whole bag of chips.
Here are a couple of tips that will help on days you are planning to drink:
1) Meet your daily protein target for the day. Stick with it, especially on the day you decide you will be drinking.
Why:
Adequate protein helps prevent muscle loss. And as you will be eating in a caloric deficit during the day, adequate-protein will help you stay satiated.
2) If your goal is fat loss you should already be in a calorie deficit. By reducing your carb and fat intake, it will allow you to consume those calories through alcohol later on that day. (If that's what you choose.)
3) Drink lots of water, (you should already be doing this). However, this is super important on the days you plan to drink.
Why:
Drinking water helps curb your hunger and drinking tends to dehydrate you.
The amount of water needed is different for everybody however, a good rule of thumb is to drink a minimum of 1/2 your body weight in oz.
4) Depending on your drink of choice, you will probably be consuming added carbs, if your drink is mixed with juice or soda. So it will be safe to avoid those for now. Now keep in mind your total calories and macros at the end of the day are still what counts. So if you love Dauquiri's, who am I to tell you you can't drink them. You can definitely adjust your calories and macros to fit any drink you choose to enjoy and have fun with.
5) Drunk Food... Remember I mentioned earlier about cravings. Especially if you were in a calorie deficit all day and you haven't eaten in hours. I know how those cravings go (Taco Bell, an entire pizza, chinese food, and or a whole case of Oreos) will be calling your name, late at night, when those cravings hit.
It's easy to say, "DON'T DO IT!" and you know you probably shouldn't.
You know you should probably just drink some water and go to bed.
If you make this decision before you even go out, it might be easier for you to stick with it when you get these cravings.
With that being said, please don't try to justify it, by telling yourself, "You worked out today", "You deserve it", and "blah, blah, blah".
If your primary goal is to lose body fat, which is why you've been working so hard. These are things you will have to take into consideration!
Now, what if you don't want to count calories...
You'd want to closely stick with these 2 Rules:
1) Eat high protein sources and lots of vegetables, non-starchy ones preferably.
2) Stick with hard alcohol, with zero-calorie chasers or a dry wine.
Why:
The protein and extra veggies will help you feel satiated throughout the day, while still being in a deficit, and the calories from your drink choices will be minimized.
Now let's talk about how to recover...
After you wake up from a night out of drinking, you should go about your day the best you can. Get rehydrated, you might even need to take a nap, and if you were planning on working out, workout later in the day. This will give your body a better chance at a more productive training session. Jump right back on your program, just like nothing happened. This includes both your training and nutrition program.
Conclusion
If you stop and evaluate your drinking habits, you might decide that cutting back makes you feel better, or it may not.
I would suggest keeping track of the alcohol you drink for a week or two.
Don't feel like you need to change anything. You're just collecting info here, gathering the data, and see how alcohol is — or isn’t — working for you.
Notice how alcohol affects your body.
Here are some simple questions to ask yourself:
Do I generally feel good?
How is my recovery? How’s my physical performance after drinking? If I were to go to the gym on Saturday morning after going out on Friday night, how would I feel and perform?
How does the extra energy (calories) intake work for my goals? Am I able to track these calories accurately? Is alcohol adding extra calories that I don’t want? Is it affecting my weight loss goal? Is it making me gain weight?
Only you know what you are, or aren’t, willing to do.
This may be as simple as asking yourself “yes” or “no” questions.
When and if you say yes to drinking:
What will you be saying “yes” to?
What will you be saying “no” to?
Is this something you are willing to say “yes” to?
What are you willing to say “no” to?
There are no right or wrong answers. These are your own choices and compromises.
Maybe you'd like to consider drinking a little less if you’re trying to lose weight. Like maybe instead of 3 beers you decide you'll only have 2, however, you don't want to stop completely.
You’re a grown-up, an adult and whether you decide to drink or not it's your call.
I hope you learned something here. I want you to be able to go out and have some fun and still hit your health and fitness goals, whether that's weight loss or not. I provided optimal strategies and you should apply whatever principals you find is most useful to you.
After all, the reason you care about this stuff is to better your body and your life overall.
With this in mind, If you’re going to drink, drink because you genuinely enjoy it. Drink if it truly adds value and enjoyment to your life.
Alcohol is just one factor among many that affect physical performance, health, and fitness. Whether to keep drinking or cut back depends on how much you drink, what your goals are, and how you want to prioritize those things.
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