It is so easy to add excessive calories from alcohol into your daily/weekly intake without really realising.
Alcohol carries 7 Cals/Per Gram, which is only slightly behind fat which has 9 Cals/Per Gram.
In many ways though alcohol is far worse than fat as it isn’t required in the diet at all. Fat at least has its place in things like helping with hormone production, cell growth, healthier skin etc.
Alcohol calories are really empty calories and after drinking alcohol you often feel more hungry, whereas fat at least gives some feeling of fullness/satiety.
Therefore you should be cautious when consuming alcohol or at least have a bit of control around it if you are trying to lose body fat.
Some of the tips I would advise are:
1) Think about the alcohol you consume and whether you could consume something lower cal like gin and slimline tonic instead of beer, for example.
2) Try and eat as healthily as possible in the lead up to drinking and even trim back a few cals in the day to allow for some alcohol. Don’t turn up somewhere really hungry as you will inevitably eat lots of calorific pub food/snacks once you start drinking.
3) Try to keep hydrated in between drinks with water as this will help your body to process the alcohol a lot faster and may also make you drink less.
4) Try and drink less alcohol (this seems an obvious one but we often keep drinking for the sake of it). Having a few less can save a few hundred calories at least.
5) Try to track your calorie intake using a mobile app such as 'MyFitnessPal' so you can account for the extra calories consumed. You then have an online daily diary and accountability for what you have consumed. You can make adjustments as and where necessary and you are more in control.
Comments