How Does Alcohol Affect Weight Loss?

Image via Wikipedia

Alcohol is considered part of almost any grown-up party. People talk over wine, shoot pool while drinking beer, and of course, lounge by the pool while sipping cocktails. If you have been trying to lose weight, however, these carefree drinks are not helping you attain your goal.

Any alcoholic beverage will have a certain amount of calories and carbs to it. People who are using the Atkins diet to lose weight will be very upset to hear that there are no such things as carb-free beers. Calorie counters will also be shocked to hear that some margarita drinks can run as many as 700 calories. It comes as no surprise to hear that many alcoholics are overweight. After all, people don’t call it a “beer gut” without reason.

If you are dieting, keep your alcohol to one drink per day. Low calorie beer (try the 64 calorie kind) will still have flavor, but won’t put on the pounds. Red wine and white wine are both low calorie options at around 80 calories per glass. Keep away from mixed drinks and sugary cocktails, since it’s hard to drink just one, and they often can be 200-400 calories per drink.

Your body processes alcohol before it processes carbs, fat, or protein. This means that fat burning will take a back seat to sobering up. Vodka drinks, though they do not have any carbs, still have calories and will still impede in fat burning. The bottom line is that drinkers will need to allow some “wiggle space” for the occasional drink, or just not drink at all. Your weight loss depends on it.

What do you drink when you’re trying to lose weight?