I haven’t blogged in a couple of days due to the holiday schedule.  It is important that I talk about drinking since it is almost New Years Eve.

DRINKING and STAYING THIN DOESN’T GO TOGETHER

People tend to think that they can drink on a diet if they are careful, but not only does alcohol give you carbs to deal with, it slows your ability to burn calories.

Robert Atkins of the Atkins Diet has stated that the problem with all alcoholic beverages, and the reason he recommends refraining from alcohol consumption on a diet because when you first take it in, it is the first fuel to burn. So, while that’s going on, your body will not burn fat. This does not stop the weight loss, it simply postpones it, since the alcohol does not store as glycogen, you immediately go back into ketosis/lipolysis after the alcohol is used up.  You could consume less food, but this is not healthy for your body, as is over-exercise.

If you must drink alcohol, wine is an acceptable.  Watch the amount.  The table I list here has a small glass. If wine does not suit your taste, straight liquor such as scotch, rye, vodka, and gin would be appropriate, as long as the mixer is sugarless; this means no juice, tonic water; or non-diet soda. Seltzer and diet soda are appropriate.”

Distilled spirits (vodka, rum, whiskey, etc.) do not have anything left but the alcohol, so might be zero carb. However, mixers in many cases are sugary, so watch out for this. Just two ounces (1/4 cup) of “sweet and sour mix,” often employed for whiskey sours, daiquiris and margaritas, has 17 grams of carbohydrate. As a substitute, you can ask for lime or lemon juice, and add your personal sweetener.

While losing my 40 pounds, I didn’t drink at all.  I had one small drink since then and it is rare for me to drink because I want to maintain my weight.  If I do have a drink, I make sure I exercised earlier in the day and had lower carbs that day.  You have to plan every day if you want to be skinny and stay skinny.

A margarita has anywhere from 7 to 15g of carbs per glass.  There are low cal versions.  Here is one at 5g of carbs:  http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/beverages/r/locarbmargarita.htm

Try to be aware of what you are drinking, how much and how often.

FROM A HEALTH PERSPECTIVE:

It is best not to consume alcohol at all. Alcohol is a by-product of yeast digestion (the yeast equivalent of urine) and is known to damage the stomach, kidneys, and liver. Alcohol adds fat principally by producing cravings for both itself and other carbohydrates, and even other addictive substances. It is almost impossible to drink alcohol and follow the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. If you must drink, do so only on special occasions (once or twice a year) and stick to alcohols derived from fruit (wine and champagne.)