Belly down! Lose the alcohol to lose the weight

BY IFEANYI OKOYE

What a waist: Chugging those brewskis - or any alcohol - will help pack on the pounds.

One of the most common goals shared by many in the new year is to finally lose some weight. You've probably changed what you're eating, started exercising more and might even be going to bed earlier, since studies have shown that sleep is essential to weight loss.
But have you taken a look at what you're drinking?
Alcohol can be a huge deterrent to weight loss. Alcohol contains seven calories per gram, second only to fat itself, which contains 9 calories per gram. That means that it will take 52 minutes of walking to burn off just two glasses of wine.
A single Long Island Ice Tea can contain upwards of 780 calories in it. It would take over two hours of vigorous exercise to work off that single drink!
It's not just the calories in the alcohol itself that can contribute to weight gain. A 2010 review published in Physiology & Behavior stated that drinking alcohol either before or during meals tends to increase the number of calories consumed during the meal. So you tend to overeat or make poorer food choices when drinking as well.
Alcohol causes weight gain in other ways as well. We know that alcohol is bad for your liver but we don't always understand why or how. The liver is where fat is metabolized by the body. Alcohol causes fat to build up in the liver contributing to weight gain and eventually even cancer.
New Scientist magazine had 14 staffers participate in a Dry January experiment. Participants saw their liver fat — a dangerous precursor to liver damage — drop almost 20%. Furthermore, a Swiss study published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that if you're on a 1,250 calorie diet and get just 250 of those calories from alcohol, it can slow your metabolism by 36%. Talk about putting the brakes on your weight loss!
There's also a trifecta related to alcohol that can really derail your weight loss efforts. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning that it causes water loss and dehydration, which leads to both water retention and fatigue — making you less likely to exercise.
Also, while it's a depressant so it helps induce sleep, the sleep you get is neither deep or restful. The resulting fatigue can trigger you to eat more calories the next day and once again keep you from exercising.
Tips for losing the alcohol to lose weight:
Plan ahead. If you're going to be out socially, be prepared. Eat a light snack before you go out so you aren't hungry. Try to arrive first so you already have a non-alcoholic drink in hand and you can just request a refill without announcing what you are drinking.
Drink smarter. To lose weight you have to burn more calories than you take in. If you replace your alcoholic beverages with low or no-calorie drinks — like water, unsweet tea or black coffee — you are already eliminating upwards of 500 calories a day. That's 3,500 calories a week or a pound a week by simply not drinking!
Harness the benefits. By eliminating alcohol you'll have more energy, better sleep and more money. Use that to your benefit with your weight-loss journey and invest in a gym membership, running shoes or whatever exercise plan suits your lifestyle. It will motivate you to keep going!
Annie Grace is the author of “This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life