Summer in Macomb County is here and the many events that involved alcohol will make weight loss a lot harder. Enjoying alcohol on the boat, at the beach, or in the backyard is part of that "summer life".
For many of us, drinking derails us from achieving our goals.
It prevents us from losing weight or from recovering from training.
What if I told you that you can still reach your goals even with the drink or two this summer?
Well, today that is what we are going to cover.
Here are 5 ways to ensure you make progress if you are consuming alcohol this summer.
KEY NOTE: You do not need to do all of these to make progress. Decide which one you can do easily or allows you to feel in control of your weight loss
1) Make a choice on whether you want to sacrifice some things for weight loss or maintain your weight during the season.
The first thing to understand is that you have a choice when it comes to fat loss or just maintaining your weight. Both are great goals and should be put into your yearly plan. If you want fat loss, you need to understand that you will need to sacrifice some things (especially alcohol). If you think that all the summer parties and drinks are going to make it too hard to lose weight or you do not want to give them up, then maintaining your weight may be a better goal for right now. This is why we always have this conversation during the summer months with our clients at Strive Fitness and Performance
Understand that neither of these paths are the wrong path. Most are always trying to lose weight year round and is one of the main reasons why most do not actually achieve their goals. If you decide that maintaining is best for you right, try focusing on other things, like performance in the gym or your relationship with food and going to parties. If you focus on this instead of weight loss, you will be better for it and ready for when you have to adjust these things when it is time to lose weight.
2) Make sure you account for it in your calories.
Weight loss is fundamentally about energy balance. If you want to lose weight or gain weight, you have to ensure that you take energy balance into account, which includes alcohol consumption.
Tracking your alcohol intake is a great way to account for your alcohol intake and ensuring that you are hitting your caloric needs.
Here are a few tips on how to track alcohol:
Let’s look at an example of all of these. For this example, let’s say your drink has 200 calories from alcohol in it.
Now, this only pertains to the alcohol in a drink alone. Make sure that you account for the drink calories as well. For example, if you have a rum and Coke mixed drink, make sure you don’t forget to track the 4-6 fluid oz of Coke.
I break this down more in depth in our Free Nutrition Group
2) Don't let alcohol influence your food choices.
Most are very, very guilty of this part...Even if they have the best intentions.
I have a few drinks and all of a sudden that plate of nachos I wasn't planning on touching has now vanished.
Consuming alcohol lowers your inhibitions and your ability to control food intake. Most research shows that as alcohol consumption goes up, so does your calorie intake.
3) Keep your drinks simple.
Simply put, the more complicated and more ingredients in your drink, the more calories it probably has.
For example, the average Pina Colada has around ~300 calories in a single drink while a Long Island Iced Tea has ~800 calories.
Conversely, a vodka-soda or rum and Diet Coke has <100 calories.
4) Make a plan and stick to the plan.
You can have a drink or two and still make progress.
You can't have 10 drinks and still make progress.
Set yourself up with a plan of having a moderate and sensible intake over the span of a month and stick with that plan.
A few drinks a week won't "break the calorie bank".
In the end it is all about choices. If you want to lose weight you WILL NEED to limit your alcohol (not get rid of it completely). If it is something you enjoy in the summer and you frequent places like Freddy's Bar and Grill then maybe you should evaluate whether or not it is a good time to lose weight. Use the above tactics to still keep your results and maintain your weight.
Committed to your success,
Derek
