Boozin’ & Losin’ – Can It Be Done?
We hear a lot of people say that you can never drink alcohol if you’re trying to lose fat, otherwise, all your effort goes to waste.
Sure, you can do that.
But is that really realistic and sustainable?
It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t drink if you want to lose weight because that’s not realistic and it’s not sustainable. Hence, you have to decide for yourself whether you can keep alcohol in your life during the goal process, and do so in moderation.
What you want to be doing instead is to understand this alcohol conversation in relation to fat loss so you can make the best decisions in the event you choose to drink. That way, it doesn’t completely sabotage all the hard work and investment you’re putting into your fat loss process.
Using Alcohol as Your Fuel Source
When you consume alcohol, alcohol calories take priority as fuel and this is another concern.
Alcohol isn’t turned into fat any more than other nutrients aren’t turned into fat. But the process by which they’re broken down and metabolized in the body slows our body’s prioritization of other nutrients for fuel sources. So we’re not utilizing the fat, the carbs, and the protein, we’re utilizing the alcohol.
Therefore, we’re not utilizing other sources and they can be stored if we don’t efficiently get out of that alcohol metabolism through activity or spacing or timing.
Ways to Enjoy Alcohol Without Sabotaging Your Fat Loss Process
- Space it out and drink slowly.
Space out your drinking in an hour, drink slowly and have water in between. That way, your body’s going to break that down so the body can metabolize it and utilize it instead of storing it. But if the volume gets so much and the speed and rate at which consumption is fast, you’re never getting into fat utilization.
- Keep fat intake low and eat lean meat.
Ditch the dressings, mayonnaise, sauces, and eggs. Avoid dairy oily foods. Again, you are inevitably going to be in a calorie surplus if you drink some alcohol. So if you can minimize the food calories that are going to take you into a surplus, then you can at least keep yourself close to maintenance.
- Try to hit protein targets for the day.
Protein is very hard to convert into fat on a typical day, so you’re at least at less risk. Now, that doesn’t mean you can eat as much protein as you want. It’s still calories so you can’t just eat a massive amount of protein but hit your goals.
- Be mindful of what you drink.
Try to drink shots. Dry red wines tend to be low in carbs. Choose anything that doesn’t have high-sugar high-calorie mixers. Be careful with seltzers since most carbonated alcohol beverages have sugar.
At the end of the day, whether or not you could drink during your fat loss process is a matter of personal choice and preference. You want to find whatever works for you and make sure you can adhere to it long-term.
If you want to learn more about alcohol consumption in relation to fat loss, check out https://workwithdrtiff.com/episode-009.
