Taking too much alcohol can prevent you from reaping the rewards from all the work you have put into exercise. If you are aiming for weight loss and good overall health, you might want to consider drinking less and more wisely. Alcohol is one of the greatest sources of hidden calories in our diets, containing 7 calories per gram while a gram of protein or carbohydrate contains only 4 calories. Just one 440ml can of premium lager contains 260 calories.
You may have started your night out with the best of dietary intentions. After a couple of glasses of beer or wine and a tequila shot, you feel in need of a packet of crisps, chips or a kilogram of roasted meat to soak up some of the alcohol. Some drinks also come with mixers, sugary drinks like a tonic, ginger ale, and coke add roughly 50 calories per mini bottle.
Next time you are going out for a party, you might need to make the following considerations;
- Don’t go out thirsty. If you are thirsty when you start your night out, make sure your first drink is alcohol-free.
- Don’t drink on an empty stomach. It takes about an hour to metabolize a unit of alcohol. Eat before you go out because it takes much longer if your stomach is empty at the outset.
- If drinking soft drinks between alcoholic ones, be wary of high sugar content, consider diet drinks or fizzy water
- Drink lots of fluids and don’t push yourself into a workout the day after. Your body is working hard to process the alcohol and deal with the dehydration and possibly lack of sleep. Allow yourself to recover.
- After an event(race, obstacle race, game), replenish carbohydrates, restore fluid balance, stimulate muscle repair first and then enjoy a glass of wine or beer if you have to.
You may not be a big drinker or a great athlete but might just be attracted to the social aspects of sports or fitness events and inevitably there’s alcohol involved in these events. Aside from the caloric issue, excess alcohol consumption is linked to hypertension, stroke, heart and liver disease and some cancers of the digestive tract. We are all social animals and if we do choose to drink, let us all remember that apart from water, liquids do have calories. We kindly urge you to share out this information with others because the more knowledgeable we all are, the easier it will be to achieve the HEALTHY COMMUNITY we desire.