Can I drink alcohol if I'm trying to lose weight?

Here’s a scenario for you. A 60 year old woman, let’s call her Dee, visits her doctor for a check-up. The doctor asks, "Dee, you're in excellent health. What are you doing?"

"Well doctor, I have one wine every night." She said.

Dee was convinced that one drink every night was good for her health.

Dees' husband Bill also had the same conviction, but he drank 3-4 wines a night and weighed 135 kgs.

Dee wasn't concerned much about weight loss, but the question is still highly relevant for all of us.

Let's face it, most of us love a cheeky wine and some of us love MANY cheeky wines LOL. So when we're trying to lose weight is it good to cut out drinking altogether?

OK here comes the science….read it though.

Alcohol can cause issues for your weight-loss and metabolism-balancing efforts because it is high in calories (second only to fat), and, like fats and carbs, is metabolized to acetyl CoA. When acetyl CoA is around in high amounts, the body sees no reason to burn other fuels.

So, when you drink, you are more likely to store your calories as fat rather than burn them.

You may be wise to choose to avoid alcohol when you're trying to lose weight, however I have also seen people have wine almost nightly and be able to attain and maintain a lean, healthy body. Not common I will add, so don’t get your hope up too high LOL

The trick is to know what does and does not work for you.

The truth is, small amounts of alcohol, (note: I said small) can certainly be a part of some people's fat-loss formula and whether it is for you or not will take some detective work.

If you want a glass of wine with dinner, here's a tip...

Don't eat starch and fat with your meal and drink alcohol together. Make an effort to never combine the three.

For instance, have a piece of fish, a plate of veggies and either a glass of wine or half a sweet potato, but not both.

Experimenting is key and my goal is to provide you with structured flexibility.

Now I am really curious to learn from all of you.

What have you discovered about alcohol?

Comment below, or if you’re a little shy, DM me. Your privacy is respected.