booze – Every Step Fitness

Tuesday Tips: Alcohol Truths 🍷

I covered carbs last week so here are a few facts and truths about alcohol and its impact on the body.

# Beneficial?

Alcohol intake in moderation has been claimed to have health benefits e.g. red wine consumption and heart disease. However this largely depends on the individual and their health status. ‘Moderation’ is also interpreted differently by everyone which makes it a hard claim to justify – what does moderation actually entail in real terms? Whilst some studies do show that there may be some protective effects from low levels of alcohol consumption for some diseases, as the WHO states, the potential risk reduction for some diseases is outweighed by the increased risk of cancers linked to alcohol consumption.

# It aids sleep?

Although alcohol may help us get to sleep as it is a sedative, it doesn’t allow good quality sleep and actually disrupts sleep. This is mainly due to aldehydes and ketone production during its’ processing in the body.

# Muscle impact

Alcohol intake reduces anabolic signaling (i.e. it reduces muscle growth) and inhibits muscle recovery. Whilst a couple of drinks won’t have a massive impact over the long term it can affect muscle growth so if that’s a fitness goal then you’d be wise to reduce consumption.

# Performance

I think everyone knows that alcohol consumption impacts performance – both during and the next day. Alcohol intake dehydrates, impairs glycogen metabolism and disrupts cognitive and neurological function so impacts both physical and mental performance.

# Binge drinking

Binge drinking is classified as more than 4-5 units of alcohol in a single sitting (women 4 drinks, Men 5). That’s not actually a huge amount for many people and would probably mean many social occasions would be classified as ‘binge drinking’ when perhaps you viewed them as ‘moderate’ . So once again the term ‘moderation’ actually constitutes far less alcohol consumption than we realise.

# Weight loss

When it comes to weight loss the main issues with alcohol consumption are the additional calories (7 cals per gram) and the decisions we make around food when under the influence or hung over the next day. If you can opt for lighter calorie and/or smaller drinks and make goal-orientated food decisions when consuming alcohol, there is no reason you can’t include it in your diet and lose weight but it does require an awareness of the impact it could have .

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Enjoying a few drinks …. 🍷

Whilst I never tell clients cut out any foods/drinks totally from their diet If you are trying to lose weight/fat then alcohol is often one of the ‘easier’ things to cut down on to save calories. When I say easier I mean it’s an easily identifiable part of your diet which you can choose to either consume or avoid, not that it’s necessarily an easy habit to change!

There’s no reason you have to give up alcohol to lose weight as it ultimately comes down to whether you’re in a calorie deficit. However it’s very easy to rack up several hundred calories in alcoholic drinks with little or no nutritional benefit. Meaning you will usually have the booze on top of whatever food you’re eating. In addition alcohol consumption can lead to poorer choices when it comes to food and you’re far more likely to end up eating more calories if you’re drinking or hung over.

So if you do want to still enjoy a drink but stay within your calories then there are 3 main things you can do. You can adjust the type and quantity of booze, and the frequency with which you drink it. So in this example swapping the thursday night work drinks 2 low cal beers and a gin and tonic saves over 300 cals. Cutting those Friday ‘end of the week’ glasses of wine from large to small glasses saves a further 264 cals. Saturday – just relax and enjoy them, then cut Sunday night out and swap the dregs of the bottles for a lime and soda. These simple swaps shouldn’t impact too greatly on your enjoyment but could make a big difference on your calorie intake.

So you can still go out and enjoy yourself and have that drink without worrying it’s going to derail your progress!

Cheers! 🥂

Tag: booze

Tuesday Tips: Alcohol Truths

Enjoying a few drinks…