Is happy hour hindering your weight loss efforts?

We all like to enjoy a cocktail, especially after a long week. I know I look forward to my Friday happy hour but ever wonder why you have trouble losing weight or keeping it off, alcohol may be the main culprit…

All forms of alcohol, even liquor such as vodka (64 calories per ounce) contains calories, maybe not as much as beer (150 calories per 12 ounce can) and wine (85-125 calories per glass – 5 ounces)  but these empty calories affect us more than we think. Empty calories is a tricky term. Alcohol does contain calories, there is 7 calories in every gram of alcohol. The empty part is it serves no nutritional value, but still needs to be metabolized or broken down by your body.

When consuming alcohol the body places metabolic priority to breaking down alcohol over the metabolism of fats, sugars, and other carbohydrates which can lead to a slower metabolism contributing to difficulty losing weight or even weight gain. Alcohol calories aren’t stored as fat, they are oxidized or metabolized before fat loss can occur and be used for energy.  There for fats are more readily stored since their breakdown is slowed and secondary to alcohol’s metabolism.

Another issue with alcohol is the impact it has on our blood sugar levels, causing an imbalance. Alcohol increases our appetite which leads to overeating. Coupled with alcohol’s ability to lower inhibitions, our beer goggles may impair our decisions on dietary choices which may include consumption of high fat, sugar laden, and processed junk food.

Alcohol lowers our body’s testosterone (fat burning, muscle building hormone) and increases the body’s estrogen (fat storing hormone). You men wonder why you are suddenly sporting those man boobs, this is the reason why. Not only does alcohol interfere with testosterone production, and indirectly lowering the body’s metabolic rate it also inhibits testosterone from producing it’s fat-burning duties. Combined with testosterone’s fat-burning capabilities and increased estrogen levels leading to increased fat storage, you end up with weight gain and increased body fat.

My advice: if you are trying to lose weight, abstain from alcohol until you have reached your fighting weight. Once you are in maintenance mode, having a cocktail here and there (2 at most) once in awhile can’t hurt. Make sure if you are tracking your calories you are counting the calories consumed in alcoholic beverages, one night of partying can easily add an additional 500-700 calories to your overall caloric intake for the day.