Learn
How to Drink Alcohol and Still Lose Fat
Alcohol isn't the villain. The behavior around the drinking usually is. Here's how to keep your wine, your margaritas and your progress.
I'm not writing about alcohol as a novelty, or to tell you "everything in moderation" like everyone else. I'm a firm believer in truly living your life as you see fit. I love my tequila and a good IPA. Of course, if you don't care for alcohol, you can skip this one.
From working with clients over the years, alcohol is the elephant in the room. It's what we tend to worry about most and understand the least. The truth is alcohol itself is not the main cause of fat gain. For most of us, a couple of drinks on the weekend or at happy hour are completely OK and can be built right into your plan.
It still comes down to calories
Getting lean is about total calories in vs. calories out. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, so there's no such thing as a zero calorie drink. But drinks fit inside your daily calorie limit like anything else. If you love a good margarita and want a couple, that's cool. We just stay mindful of the numbers.
And because fat loss runs on the law of averages, you can plan for it. Say your daily limit is 2,000 calories. That's 60,000 for the month. If you know Friday night is going to be a 4,000 calorie beer bomb, you can create lower calorie days leading up to it or following it. Four 1,500 calorie days would do the trick. (If you don't know your daily limit yet, find your two numbers here.)
The real problem is the behavior, not the drink
The real problem with drinking typically comes from the behavior around the drinking, not the drinking itself. As alcohol flows, inhibition goes. We tend to overeat, pick foods we normally wouldn't and forget to drink water.
There are simple ways to prevent all of that while still having a really good time and not feeling like you're sacrificing anything.
Pick your food before your first drink. Whenever you're going out, think ahead. Before you start drinking, look at the menu and decide what you'd like to eat. Always make sure you're choosing a solid, protein-based option. That way you've got a good choice in the bag that fits your numbers, and you can relax and enjoy yourself.
Match every drink with a glass of water. This one is very important. Staying hydrated acts as damage control, keeps headaches away and keeps you from waking up wrecked. Being hungover the next day can cut into your workout or activity and throw off your eating game too.
Keep lunch light and high in protein. A protein-packed, moderate fat lunch (a Cobb salad with light bacon and a vinaigrette, for example) leaves plenty of room for dinner and drinks.
Your best drink choices
Hard liquor with a zero calorie mixer. Think vodka sodas, whiskey and diet, martinis, or tequila with lime. These give you the most bang for your buck: calories low, overall volume low. A standard vodka soda with lime is only about 100 calories.
Dry wine. Red or white, whatever your preference. We tend to assume wine is loaded with sugar and calories. Luckily, that isn't the case. A dry white like a Sauvignon Blanc is about 110 calories a glass with only about 3 grams of sugar.
Beer. I personally love beer, but it's not the best choice, especially to start an evening. Chances are you're having more than one, and unless it's a super low calorie beer (most of those taste like water), you're coming in around 200 calories each. Two or three of those and you've put a considerable dent in your budget before you've even eaten. If I'm going to have a beer, I'll typically start with a mixed drink and finish the evening with a beer. I recommend you do the same.
Sweet cocktails aren't off limits. They just cost more. Count them, enjoy them, and plan around them.
When the last few pounds stall
If your goal is to get into tip top shape as fast as possible, having a few drinks every night may or may not get you there. When alcohol comes in, your body deals with it first and puts other work on hold for a while. Sometimes that consistent presence gets in the way of the last little bit of fat loss.
I have some clients who can have a couple glasses of wine most nights and see consistent movement. Others do better keeping drinks to the weekends or to events during the week. It's something you'll keep an eye on as you go. Watch your 30 day trend, not one morning on the scale.
Mind your sleep
More than about two drinks will almost certainly mess with your sleep, and sleep is where most of your recovery happens. Poor sleep shortchanges everything else you're doing. If you're going to drink, cutting back on drinks close to bedtime is an easy win.
Enjoy it
There's no other approach I know of that will actually tell you, "Go, friend. Go enjoy drinks and good dinners with your loved ones and do so often." The most important piece of the sustainability puzzle is peace of mind. Diets are stressful, which is most of the reason they never stick. If you're enjoying the process, guilt-free, you're not dieting. You're putting the numbers to work and redesigning your life.
Your takeaway
Next time you go out: pick your food before the first drink, go liquor with a zero calorie mixer or dry wine, and put a glass of water next to every drink. Then relax and have a great night.