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The holiday season is here and you may be planning to drink plenty of cocktails. If you're trying to burn fat and control weight gain, read on.....

Yes, too much alcohol consumption can slow down your fat loss efforts......


You should roughly account for all calories you eat during the day. If you're trying to burn fat and lose weight, you can't have calorie surpluses (eat more calories than you burn) day after day.

First, one gram of alcohol provides 7 calories. Only fat (9 cal/g) provides more calories than alcohol. So, when you are planning your food and drink consumption, don't forget the calories from alcohol. You also need to know how your body responds to alcohol when you do drink.

Here are 3 Ways Alcohol Consumption can Slow Your Fat Loss:

1. When you take a drink of alcohol, your body converts a small amount of it into fat and the rest is converted (by the liver) into a substance called acetate.

This acetate is then quickly released into the bloodstream and used as the body's main source of energy. So, your body is using the acetate as energy instead of the stored fat in your body. The more you drink, the more fat your body will store.

Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that fat metabolism can be reduced by as much as 73% after only two drinks of vodka and lemonade in a one hour time period. You can see how excess alcohol consumption can contribute to the dreaded "beer belly." So, this is just one more reason to drink alcohol in moderation.

2. Alcohol consumption can increase your appetite. Researchers from Denmark found that a group of men ate more when they were served beer or wine and they ate less when served a soft drink. Just think of all the high-calorie meals served with alcohol at a place like a sports bar.

3. One more thing: too much alcohol consumption can decrease your testosterone production. Decreased testosterone levels has a negative effect on muscle building.

One way to build more muscle mass (and speed up your metabolism) is through heavy weight lifting. “Heavy” is relative to your body weight and strength.

According to the research, doing this type of weight lifting will give you exercise-induced testosterone increases. Women can lift heavy weights without fear of getting too bulky.

How much weight is heavy enough? Your repetition range for exercises should be between 3-5 (you would have a difficult time lifting these repetitions). You would typically do 4-5 sets of each exercise.

If you choose to drink alcohol, one or two drinks once a week probably won't affect your weight loss and fat loss. But, if you consume several alcoholic drinks a day, your body is storing excess body fat. You will have a tough time keeping or achieving that lean and toned body you want.

Drinking water and unsweetened drinks will help you reach your goals sooner.

-Cathering Ebeling and Mike Geary are co-authors of the popular ebook, Fat-Burning Kitchen, which shows you how to totally revamp your kitchen to make your body a fat-burning machine!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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