Hey folks, longest time! Na work cause am o! It has just been a herculean task to sit down and write a post these days. Competing priorities. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to share a little about today’s topic for a while, so I might as well do it tonight. By the way, I have surpassed my weight target – Finally, I hit 74kg last week and maintained it! Yipee! So I have reset the target again (*covering my face*). My new weight goal is 70kg, no more no less. You can take my word for it.

“I don’t know about this your weight loss thing anymore o! You have become very boring now! No drinks, no food, you are no more fun!” My friend said to me as I drank from my glass of water with lemon slices in it. We were at a nice lounge on a regular Thursday evening to unwind after a long day and I had refused to order any meal or drink. “Well, choose which you prefer – I drink and eat and grow fat or I continue to watch my weight and remain fit!”  I replied back, chuckling inside. Truth is, I could not understand this friend of mine. A couple of months ago, my friend had given up on me as never going to be able to drop the excess weight I had accumulated over time, and after successfully knocking off almost 20kgs from my weight, the same person was now complaining about my new habit and lifestyle. Nawah oh! Can you ever please human beings. “Please, leave me and my water jare. I have to run again tomorrow morning” I thought to myself.

So, this scenario played out a few weeks ago when I was out with a very good friend. Back in the days, we would drink it out, and I confess, I do like a good drink!  When I am talking drinks, I am referring to alcoholic drinks. On this particular day, my friend stepped out of the lounge where we had gone to chill and catch up, and on returning found me looking up the effects of alcohol on weight loss on the internet on my phone. LOL! Actually, I did that subconsciously. I had gotten into the routine of always double checking on the caloric and nutritional value of my food intake, and since I was out for the first time after so long, it was only normal to research what effect drinking would have on my many months of hard work! But my companion did not take it lightly. I understood where the person was coming from though – I used to be your fun ‘hang out’ person. I would have a good time ‘chilling’, mixing up the cocktails or the stout with soda, and after the party, go straight to bed. I also did drinks a lot more, perhaps I drank 4 nights out of 7 a week. So that was very high consumption.

Of course when I decided to take my weight seriously, mainly for health reasons, alcohol was one of the first things to go. I didn’t even think twice about it. I cut my alcohol intake and did not take another glass of wine or anything alcoholic for 2 months. I knew instinctively at the time that alcohol was definitely a contributor to my lack of fitness and weight gain. Although, it was more from the regular belief that alcohol consumption increases belly fat and that is why a lot of men who drink have pot bellies. However, I didn’t know all the other mechanisms by which alcohol affects weight gain or can hinder weight loss. When I got into the full mode of weight loss, I read more about the effect of alcohol and have learnt a lot about its effect and its mechanism of action.

So what is the big deal?

In a nutshell, like everything else, too much alcohol is not good. Not just for weight loss but for many other health reasons. You know that already, don’t you? That said, the problem with alcohol is that it is addictive, and the highness that comes with it can sometimes make it difficult to judge when it is enough and ensure you control intake. Two things about alcohol to note are: 1) Alcohol contains calories, so whenever you drink the wine or other, you are adding calories to whatever caloric intake you already had for the day, 2) Alcohol intake pauses metabolism thereby slowing down any fat burning process that was in place before drinking. When alcohol is consumed, it goes straight into the blood and then to the liver. In the liver, an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase coverts alcohol to acetaldehyde, which is rapidly converted to acetate by other enzymes. Unlike carbohydrates that get stored as fat when in excess, alcohol gets converted to acetate, which the body has to break down into carbon dioxide and water in order to eliminate it.  By the way, Acetaldehyde is also a known carcinogen. Basically, when you take alcohol, your body shifts its metabolic focus away from fat burning to elimination of acetate.

The second point to note is the effect post-drinking. Most drinks contain sugars which drive up blood sugar rapidly, which is then followed by a crash, and leaves you very hungry afterwards. Usually, the morning after, you want to eat a lot. Also, alcohol reduces self control and can lead to a loss of inhibitions which may mean eating a lot more than you would normally eat at a night out, or drinking more sugary drinks. If you are already physically inactive, this cannot be good for you. There are however some things you can do to mitigate the negative effect of drinking, one of which is to cut down on the number of drinks generally. It is advisable not to take more than one drink a day, so let this be your mantra. More advice can be found here.

Personally, I don’t drink as much as I used to. Every outing does not mean a drink anymore. For every 5 outings, I would opt for a drink once. I sometimes miss not being able to just drink and be light-headed for a few hours, but I am better off for not indulging anymore. It is also more fun these days to go dancing and not have alcohol in my blood stream. You are more observant and you notice a lot more than you normally would have if you were tipsy or drunk. I also have decided that every time I drink, I would have to double the number of runs or increase the distance run to compensate. The thought of running an extra mile cos of a cocktail, at this point, is strong enough demotivation for me! So there you have it, I don’t think it’s too much ado about nothing. Alcohol intake regulation is certainly key for any person trying to cut down on the weight, and from a medical perspective, is just much better for staying healthier, reducing the risk of cancer and preserving one’s liver. Have a great weekend. I am off to grab a drink with friends. TGIF!