It's true. I haven't had a beer all year - but the year is less that 48 hours old.
I'm pretty sure that alcohol had a lot to do with my gaining so much weight. Alcohol is a killer for losing or maintaining weight.
1 - Alcohol is very high calorie. Carbs and protein have 4 cals/gram, Fat has 9cals/gram and Alcohol has 7 cals/gram. An Australian standard drink has 10 grams of alcohol - so 70 calories just for the alcohol content. That doesn't take into account the rest of the ingredients in the drink you are having. If like me you are fond of throwing back the odd stubby of boutique beer, you'll be sinking about 170 cals per beer. Puts the idea of a few sly beers into context.
2 - Alcohol might make you feel sleepy but it ruins your sleep. You just wont have good quality sleep after drinking. You'll feel dodgy the next day and likely turn to high sugar energy hits to keep you going.
3 - Alcohol disables your ability to say no to hot chips. Or nachos or pizza or whatever else is around. Fatty and salty foods often taste great with alcohol. Don't believe me? Ever wanted to have a salad sandwich with your gin and tonic or would you prefer some of those little crackers with salami and cheese? Mmmmm - nomnomnom. Not only does the delicious combination of alcohol and fat do you in, but the alcohol destroys your resolve to stick to healthy eating. So you crave the fatty delights and lose the ability to say no to them.
4 - Alcohol is a poison and a carcinogen. It's not good for your body whichever way you slice it. We live in a society where we do a lot of things that are not good for us and we get to decide how to balance these things out. Prosciutto can give you oesophageal cancer if you eat enough of it but you get to decide whether the tiny risk of having it every few weeks outweighs the deliciousness. Driving a car is a risk but you get to decide whether walking 200km is a better option.
So I'm not saying don't ever drink, I'm just saying be aware of what you are choosing to do. And I'm DEFINITELY NOT saying don't eat prosciutto - that's just too awful to think about.
5 - Alcohol makes you do stupid things. I'll leave it there.
So in light of all these things I'm going to have an alcohol free month. I don't drink a lot by Australian standards - six drinks a week probably? Still that's six times 170 calories I can live without (1,020 calories over a week).
Alcohol free January is on. If anyone wants to join me please do. Even if you know you have a major event coming up (someones wedding or birthday etc) you can have an alcohol free January with a day off in the middle.
It will be interesting to see the impact this has on the scales and my general well being.
Great post!
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago, after a big night, I decided to have alcohol free January. My trainer is on holidays and I figured I need all the help I can get.
So, I am two days in, feeling great and not even grumpy yet about not having a glass of wine! ha
Look forward to hearing your updates.
I am with you on this one.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am not a big drinker, normally.... Well, I was in the past. At uni, I was borderline having a real issue, drunk for 5/7 nights a week, and more than enough to contribute to my weight gain!! And the fact that beer was free at uni functions... if I ever see another Carlton Draught again I think I might cry.
I moved to Melbourne about 4 years ago now, and made a decision that I didn't want to drink any more. If I did, it was a max of two at a time, and even that was rare.
Over the last two weeks, I have been stumbling drunk at least 4 times, which is more than I have been in the last 4 years. Pretty worrysome, eh? (Even though I did make the low cal alcohol choices, and stumbling drunk for me is probably 10 drinks or less...)
I am going to roll with a pretty alcohol free YEAR to be perfectly honest, but I am definitely in for the alcohol free January before I take another sip in celebration!!