You've probably heard stories of people getting shredded while drinking alcohol, just as often as you've heard stories of someone cutting alcohol out of their diet and immediately losing a significant amount of excess bodyfat. So, which one is it? Can we truly have our cake (iced cake vodka, whipped cream vodka and half and half-- you're welcome) and eat it too when it comes to meeting our goals without compromising on what we really enjoy?
The short answer: No. Some of you might be thinking, hey John/Everyday J.O.E., you've said not to remove entire groups of foods from your diet, or not to entirely give up on things you enjoy. You'd be absolutely correct! And I don't want you to give up alcohol entirely if you don't want to! But keep in mind that alcohol is not an essential macronutrient like fat, carbohydrates and protein are. It's also not an essential micronutrient or mineral. It does, however, pack about 7 calories per gram. The only macronutrient that's more calorically-dense than alcohol is fat. What makes it worse than fat, significantly, is that your body has to prioritize metabolizing alcohol first, but it has no immediate benefits to your metabolic system and instead gets into your bloodstream, impacting the function of your brain, kidneys, lungs and liver, relatively quickly. These are organs that we need for our successful fat loss journey!
At the same time, happiness is a food group. If you can cut alcohol out of your life entirely during your journey and not miss it, that would be ideal. If you'd like to indulge, do so reasonably, where you assign yourself a 1 or 2 drink limit before the fun begins, and you stick to it! Check out the website getdrunknotfat.com for a great list of somewhat low-calorie drinks for the individual who wants to feel a buzz and minimize the caloric impact on their diet. Another cheat code: day drinking. Yes, the majority of the negative effects are still there EXCEPT for a big one: there will be no negative impact on your sleep quality. Under normal circumstances, when we drink in the evening, it impacts our sleep architecture, the amount of REM sleep we get, and can increase our odds of having sleep apnea by around 25%. All of that equals poor sleep quality, and sleep is the second most important element of fat loss (second only to diet). Conversely, enjoying 1 or 2 drinks earlier in your day gives enough time for your body to recover from the deleterious effects and go to bed without alcohol in your system. You should still consider that day of drinking to essentially be a "wash" or a mulligan with regards to reaching your goals, but you can jump right back on your train to success the following day!
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