Which Alcohol Is Good For Weight Loss?
Lowest calorie alcohol drinks: weight loss and drinking alcohol
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m talking about weight loss and drinking alcohol, in particular, which alcohol is good for weight loss?
First of all, one of the main things that prevents you from living a healthy lifestyle, is your mindset towards all the things, you think, you have to give up.
For instance.
If you’ve set a weight loss goal or a muscle building goal, does this mean you can never have another drink of alcohol again?
Advertisement
Well, like most things in life, that all depends on you.
Ask yourself this simple question.
Which of these 3 lifestyle situations are you currently in?
1. Your body is your job:
If this is you, you’re preparing to enter a fitness or modeling competition, or you make a living by being a professional fitness model, or are an in season professional athlete.
2. You have serious existing health problems:
If this is you, you are faced with a life threatening health problem, such as cancer or disease that requires you to change your lifestyle.
3. You are looking to lose a few pounds, build some muscle, and improve your overall health:
If this is you, you’re looking to feel better about your body, while incorporating a more balanced healthy lifestyle.
95% of you that are reading this, probably fall into this category.
However, each of these 3 lifestyle situations, would get a different answer regarding weight loss and drinking alcohol.
The fact is, you have to weigh the pros and cons of every decision you make in your life.
Remember, life is all about the choices that YOU make.
There’s no doubt, that frequently drinking a lot of alcohol will negatively affect your health and weight loss goals.
Alcohol can negatively affect your testosterone levels
Not only is testosterone an important sex hormone, it’s also one of the most important muscle building hormones.
This is important, because a body with more lean muscle, boosts your metabolism, thus allows you to burn more calories and fat, even while at rest.
Unfortunately, excessive consumption of alcohol can negatively affect the production of testosterone.
Even with just a few drinks of alcohol a day, you can lower levels of testosterone, making it much harder for you to build muscle, and ultimately lose weight.
Drinking alcohol quickly increases your calorie consumption
As you know, drinking your calories is one of the no-no’s when it comes to weight loss.
Drinking a lot of alcohol adds a lot of empty calories to your diet.
Empty calories simply means calories that do not provide the body with any nutrients or health benefits.
Typically alcohol contains 7 calories for every gram.
Plus, this 7 calories per gram doesn’t include whatever you’re mixing with the alcohol with.
6 pack of beer example:
Most beer contains approximately 150 calories per bottle.
So drinking a 6 pack of beer during the game adds approximately 900 extra empty calories to your diet.
4 rum and cokes example:
Drinking 4 single rum and cokes adds approximately 1,200 extra empty calories to your diet.
And it gets worse:
On top of these empty alcohol calories, the majority of time when you’re drinking alcohol, you’re probably not snacking out of a vegetable tray.
Alcohol and processed junk food like chips, crackers, and cookies go hand and hand.
Think about all the extra calories gone wild the next time you’re pounding back a few socials!
Alcohol’s affect on your energy levels
Whether you feel hungover or not, the next day you always pay the price for drinking too much alcohol.
If you’re like most people you would skip the gym, and go out to your favorite fast food restaurant for some greasy hangover food to make yourself feel better.
Or even if go to the gym, your strength, energy, and overall performance just seems off, even if you aren’t hungover.
This is not a good combination, especially when your goal is weight loss, meaning you can’t give a 100% effort during your workout.
So do you need to completely give up alcohol, forever?
Well it depends on which of the 3 lifestyle scenarios you are currently living.
1. Your body is your job
If your body is your job, you’ve probably already decreased your alcohol consumption and probably don’t need my advice.
Advertisement
However, if you’re networking with photographers and editors of fitness magazines, a few occasional glasses of red wine won’t significantly hinder your progress.
2. You have serious existing health problems:
I’d recommend you avoid alcohol completely.
You only have one life to live.
Is it really worth giving up your life, your family, and your friends for alcohol?
3. You are looking to lose a few pounds, build some muscle, and improve your overall health:
If you’re looking to improve your physique, but have no aspirations to be on a cover of a magazine, and don’t have any severe health problems, you can safely enjoy 2-4 drinks of alcohol per week.
Just remember, alcohol calories do count, so don’t forget to account from them if you’re counting calories.
Also, if you’re like me, and are just looking to maintain your current physique, then simply maintain your current alcohol consumption.
I don’t party on the weekends like I used too, but I do still enjoy a few drinks of alcohol per week.
My go-to alcoholic preferences include:
- Red wine (I prefer pinot noir)
- Vodka water with lemon or lime
- Tequila on the rocks with lime
- An occasional beer if I’m watching sports
However if your goal is weight loss I recommend you stick to the following.
Which Alcohol Is Good For Weight Loss?
When it comes to alcohol that is good for weight loss, the simpler the better.
Most of these spirits contain approximately the same amount of calories:
- Vodka (97 calories)
- Rum (97 calories)
- Tequila (105 calories)
- Whiskey (105 calories)
- Bourbon (105 calories)
- Scotch (105 calories)
- Gin (110 calories)
What you mix these shots with is the make or break for weight loss.
Always choose a zero calorie mixer like water and club soda, then add a splash of flavor by adding the juice of a lemon or lime.
Stay away from sugar bombs such as frozen cocktails, sugary juices, syrups, tonic, and soda as the carbohydrates will not only quickly rack up the calorie count, but the sugar crashes will also make you attack the snack tray.
Conclusion
Living Lean is not a diet, nor is it an all or nothing situation.
As discussed, it all depends on what your current lifestyle situation is, and how serious you are about reaching your fitness goals faster.
If you want faster results, you will have to be more strict.
However if you comfortable with the journey of Living Lean, you can still enjoy the occasional drinks of alcohol, without ruining all your efforts in the kitchen and gym.
So if you’re ready to commit to the journey of Living Lean, without giving up all the fun things in life, I invite you to join TeamLiveLean.com.
This is our group coaching service where our members get access to me and Jessica, as well as hundreds of other members who are on the same journey as you.
Every month we provide you with a new workout program that can be done in the gym, or at home, as well as weekly meal plans, cooking recipe videos, and grocery lists.
You’re just one program away from starting your journey of Living Lean.
Thanks for watching and keep, Living Lean.
[wd_hustle_cc id=”team-live-lean”]
READY TO BEGIN YOUR LIVE LEAN JOURNEY?
Start by taking our FREE Live Lean Body Quiz to get access to the best program specific to your goals!
Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
10 responses to “Which Alcohol Is Good For Weight Loss?”