A good time gal’s biggest worry might be: how to enjoy a drink or two while looking great in my little black dress and watching my waistline? What is a glamorous party girl to do? Give up drinking altogether just to look good while she’s shaking her booty? What if she can’t shake that booty without at least two or three drinks in her system? Is it an insufferable catch-22 situation?
Possibly not.
Yes, alcohol does have a calorie value per gram (seven, if you’re wondering) and no the body can’t use it the way it uses fat or protein, because it is in fact, toxic. Surprise! But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all bad news for alcohol or that the body will instantly store this extra energy as fat. It does take the body more energy to digest alcohol than your regular old-fashioned macro nutrient… So let’s go nuts on the beverages! Right? Right?!?
Okay, let’s ease up a little here.
Have you heard of drunkorexia? Is drinking really worth sacrafising food? Sarah explains the impact binge drinking can have on your waist line.
The fatty truth about alcohol
One study showed evidence that a test group who obtained 10% of their daily calorie intake from white wine lost a kilogram more weight over a three month period than a group who obtained 10% of their daily calorie intake from grape juice. And that’s despite eating the same total number of calories. However, alcohol is known to inhibit the body’s ability to burn fat even though it burns more calories. This raises a question about alcohol’s effect on our body’s composition.
What’s the answer then?
You can drink… in moderation. I know, that’s the boring answer, but it’s also tried and tested, and therefore pretty likely to be true. Low to moderate drinking has been shown to be beneficial for both a person’s physical and social health, but containing your drinking is the key component. Alcohol is obviously not one of those ‘a little is good and more is better’ kind of remedies. If you consume alcohol well over your daily energy intake it’ll definitely cause weight gain. So the question is, what is the best kind of alcohol to drink?
If you’re looking for straight up health benefits then red wine is the most widely recommended alcohol, but I’m not going to pretend that is everybody’s beverage of choice. So here are some other good options if you are especially concerned about your waistline:
-
Champagne or wine
-
Vodka with soda (or a diet soft drink)
-
Sugarfree pre mixed (e.g. cruisers)
-
Straights, taken with ice or low cal mixers
You should stay away from sugary drinks and cocktails if you don’t want the energy intake creeping up on you. Remember that one standard drink contains ten grams of ethanol (alcohol) in Australia and that alone contains 70 calories. Multiply that by the three you need to reach acceptable levels of dance floor confidence and you’re over 200 calories before adding mixers! So choose your beverages carefully or keep the drinking to a minimum if you don’t want those ‘good times’ to become more trouble than they are worth where your weight is concerned.
Have you noticed the effects of alcohol on your lifestyle? Help your sisters out and share your stories below!
You may also like...
It's not easy to get your fake tan looking good, let alone keep it up long term. Luckily for you Sarah has 10 tips for tanning at home!
There is a new diet trend every few months. Whether it's a no carb diet or eating chia seeds with everything. But are these trends actually beneficial?
