People like to drink alcohol. It’s practically a social lubricant for most; a necessity on parties and on night outs, even on casual end of day get-togethers. This is a fact. This is why it is a billion dollar industry. This is also why many people are fat and overweight. Thus, if you usually drink a little too much at social events, you just might be able to eliminate that unsightly fat by eliminating the alcohol.
The calories that you get from alcohol can quickly add up. If you include the calories that are in mixed drinks, it will add up even faster. The calories in alcohol per shot are approximately 150. The calories on a mix (for example the coca-cola in your jack and coke mix) are also approximately 150. Thus, one round of jack and cola is already 300 calories! In comparison, a regular beer has approximately 150 calories, lite beer has 110 calories, and wine has 150 calories. Additionally, getting drunk and full of alcohol usually leads to unhealthy food choices. When you are drunk, you will probably not care much about what you eat. This will also contribute greatly to the amount of calories that will wind up becoming your excess fat.
Just think, if you have several rounds of mixed drinks and really awful food selection in one night, you could easily pack in 5000 calories (just 10 rounds of mixed drinks already add up to 3000 calories). This is more than enough to ruin all of the good eating and healthy, active exercise that you have faithfully adhered to for the past week. This will even get worse if it becomes a weekly or nightly habit.
The best way to prevent alcohol from keeping you fat is of course to not take it in. But then, this is a lot easier said than done. (This article only refers to casual and social drinkers. If you already have a drinking problem, you should seek professional help.)
The first thing you can do is to make sure you stick to your food plans even when you are going to a party. The best way to do this is to eat ahead before going to the party. This way, you won’t have to worry about eating unhealthy food once you get there or after you leave. Once you are there, make smart choices about what you drink. If you are beer drinker, try switching to lite beer. As mentioned earlier, lite beer only has 110 calories compare to regular beer which has 150. If you like mixed drinks, go for “diet” versions of cola rather than the regular versions. Just like beer, the “diet” versions contain much less calories than the regular versions.
Again, if you can’t just stay away from the alcohol immediately, the key is to drink less and less until you get there. A good tip to help you drink less is to remember to drink from the bottle if you are a beer drinker. Drinking from the bottle is harder therefore it will help you drink less. It will also make you feel fuller faster and make you feel bloated even when you have not yet consumed that much calories. If you are drinking from a glass, choose a tall one rather than a short one. Just like a bottle, a tall glass is harder to drink from than a short one.
