Alcohol (1)

Empty calories

Alcohol provides no nutritional value and can ruin an otherwise perfectly adequate diet-and-exercise program. The main problem is that alcohol provides energy and little else, so you still need to find your nutrition elsewhere: from your food. Effectively, calories taken from alcohol displace calories you could otherwise include elsewhere in your diet.

It also has a double-whammy of lowering your inhibitions and therefore making it more difficult to stick to your regime. You are much more likely to be tempted into further drinks and takeaways. Even if you manage to resist the additional calories from takeaways, blood sugar levels will crash the next day, making it extremely difficult to ultimately avoid that binge, both physically and emotionally.

Beer, wine or vodka?

Which is the 'best' thing to drink? Well, since the energy is contained within the alcohol itself, it is simply not possible to intoxicate yourself without consuming a (fairly large) number of calories. Depending on your size and tolerance for alcohol, by the time you feel drunk, you may have consumed 1000 calories worth of alcohol or more.

So really the answer is “water or nothing”. If that doesn’t sound very appealing, skip to the last of this post (Can't I drink at all?). Since your aim is to reduce your overall calorie intake, it's best not to give yourself a handicap before you start. 

While a vodka and diet-coke may contain relatively fewer calories than beer for example, don’t kid yourself. You are taking in empty calories, which will make your weight loss goals that much harder to achieve.

The easiest substitution is to replace alcohol with diet sodas whenever possible, and think about how much weight you aren’t putting on. Regular coca-cola or orange juice and lemonade aren’t really valid alternatives. This will simply mean you are swapping calories-from-alcohol and replacing them with calories-from-sugar (although they do contain fewer calories, with the bonus that you are likely to drink less of them). You may find it difficult initially to be the only sober one in a group, but after a while it will become the norm.

What about low-carb beers?

As explained above, since the energy is contained within the alcohol, low-carb beers are a gimmick. They may contain fewer calories, but it's the alcohol that has the effect, and that’s where the vast majority of calories are hidden.

And low-alcohol beers?

These do contain significantly fewer calories overall. If you enjoy the taste, then by all means use them as a substitute. Beers that contain 2% alcohol compared to 4-5% will have roughly half the calories. Just remember not to confuse “better for you” with “good for you”. It would still be best to drink water, or nothing at all.

Is there any good news?

On the plus side, if you are already a drinker, chances are you can greatly reduce your calorie intake and therefore your weight without any additional exercise or changing your diet. You may be able to shed a few pounds simply by quitting drinking for a month or two, changing nothing else.

Binge drinking

If you can, try to limit your drinking to one night a week. But remember, if you consume say 16 units on that night, you could take as much as 16 x 125 = 2000 calories for the week. That’s a lot of food you need to cut out from elsewhere, for one night of (heavy) drinking. It is worth reminding yourself that all alcohol types count the same, so however you get your units, you will be getting a minimum of 56 calories per unit. (one unit = 8 grams of alcohol @ 7 calories per gram). The 125 calorie assumption is for wine and beer. 

It is a question of priorities. If you drink 16 units a week and stop drinking for a month you should lose 2lbs. You may prefer to continue drinking, that is up to you.

Can’t I drink at all?

Put simply your body does not need alcohol, ever. It is probably the only energy source you can do without. All alcoholic drinks contain lots of calories, and all calories count pretty much the same. So to lose weight you need to cut back on your drinking, or ideally stop altogether.

If you enjoy drinking socially, then by all means continue to do so. Just be informed about the amount of calories each drink contains, and don’t lie to yourself. You should practice the principle of “flexible restraint” to allow yourself to drink socially, something we shall look into later on.

If you really cannot go without a drink, or once you do the calculations, you realise you are taking in a large amount of calories from alcohol, then you may need to look at the reasons why you drink and whether this is really serving your best interests. This is not meant to sound judgemental; it may be that you choose to drink, even that you choose to drink a lot. Go ahead. It just won’t help you from a weight-loss perspective. And ultimately it is up to you to find your own balance.