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Why That One Little Drink May be Ruining Your Weight Loss

It’s the one thing you do for yourself each day. After managing to deal with everything that comes your way and still keep a smile on your face (until no one’s looking!) and making sure everyone around you, at work and home, has everything they need, all you ask for is that one moment at the end of the day where you can enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail and simply unwind.

That said, we really, honestly don’t want to be the bearer of bad news. We know the simple relaxation that can come from a ‘night cap’. Yes, it can help your mood and keep your ‘sanity’.

But the inconvenient truth is that the occasional alcoholic beverage might actually contribute to some of the stresses you have each day, including those you use it to relieve, including your inability to reach your weight loss goals.

Here’s how the one thing that gets you through your day can make it more difficult to get through the day, and lose weight.

1. It’s a Depressant

Sure, it relaxes you and seems like a good idea at the time, but, as a depressant, alcohol can make it more difficult to effectively deal with your weight and other issues that may be contributing to weight gain.

2. It’s Easy to for ‘Just One’ to Become Two, or Three, or More

There are a lot of forces working against you having ‘just one’. First, alcohol is ‘energy dense’. That means you get lots of calories from just a small amount; and the fact that you had only a ‘small one’ increases your chances of having another – and consuming all the calories it delivers too.

The second thing working against you limiting your drinks is the misguided thinking that, if one makes you feel so much more relaxed, two will make you twice as relaxed. It just doesn’t work that way. In fact, it can have the opposite effect as the depressant side of alcohol kicks in.

Finally, the alcohol might not take full effect by the time you finish your first drink, so it’s easy to think a second won’t hurt.

All of this without to say, as you have your second and third drinks, your willpower decreases as the effect of the alcohol increases.

3. It’s All Empty Calories

You might see comparisons of the calories in alcohol to other foods and drinks, like the number of calories in a bottle of wine is the same as in a half a loaf of bread.

But the problem with those comparisons is that they don’t account for the other ingredients in the different foods. Bread, especially whole wheat breads, has lots of fibre and nutrients that alcoholic drinks don’t have.

That means you absorb the calories of energy in alcohol much faster than the calories in half a loaf of bread, and those calories get stored as excess fat when they aren’t used.

4. It Contributes to Overeating

Just like you use the drink at the end of the day to relax and unwind, it can make you relax your healthy eating habits. Alcohol can make you crave high-fat foods and not pay enough attention to how much of them you’re eating.

5. It Lowers Your Activity Levels

You can get the same stress-relieving effects from a little exercise, like a walk around the neighbourhood, as you do from a glass of wine. But if you have the glass of wine, you’ll probably just sit down. And, if you end up having two or three, you’ll probably be a little slower the next day too.

It’s never easy giving up a habit you seem to enjoy. But you can take motivation from the fact that, if you at least lower how much you drink, you’ll make it easier to lower your weight. And if you need any help, you can call or visit your closest Herbal One Centre and talk about it with a nutritional consultant.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, stop by, call, or email your Herbal One centre and our qualified counsellors will be happy to give you tips and some great ideas that will help reach your weight loss goals.

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