‘Tis the season to be jolly, so don’t panic… There are plenty of “good times” to be had this Christmas season. The trick is “how” to balance the act. Get the facts! And help yourself to a very merry fat-fighting party season. Because let’s face it…. No one wants to go into 2010 up on the scale from 2009. Let no gut deceive itself!

Alcohol calories

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the infamous “beer belly” is NOT caused by excess alcohol calories being stored as fat. In fact, less than five per cent of the alcohol calories you drink are turned into fat. Rather, the main effect of alcohol on your body is that it inhibits your body’s ability to burn fat as its primary fuel source for energy.

“Here’s the problem with all alcoholic beverages, and the reason I recommend refraining from alcohol consumption on the diet. Alcohol, whenever taken in, is the first fuel to burn. While that’s going on, your body will not burn fat. This does not stop the weight loss, it simply postpones it”

– Robert C Atkins

Some evidence for this comes from research carried in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Eight men were given two drinks of vodka and sugar-free lemonade separated by 30 minutes. Each drink contained just under 90 calories. Fat metabolism was measured before and after consumption of the drink. For several hours after drinking the vodka, whole body lipid oxidation (a measure of how much fat your body is burning) dropped by a massive 73%. So even if you do a monster workout after a night on the town, you are first burning off what you drank, you haven’t even scratched the surface of fat calories that are stored!

Rather than getting stored as fat, the main fate of alcohol is conversion into a substance called acetate. In fact, blood levels of acetate after drinking the vodka were 2.5 times higher than normal, and it appears this sharp rise in acetate puts the brakes on fat loss.

A car engine typically uses only one source of fuel. Your body, on the other hand, draws from a number of different energy sources, such as carbohydrates, fat, and protein. To a certain extent, the source of fuel your body uses is dictated by its availability.

In other words, your body tends to use whatever you feed it. Consequently, when acetate levels rise, your body simply burns more acetate, and less fat. In essence, acetate pushes fat to the back of the queue. Most alcoholic beverage types, by comparison, carry a similar caloric value of 7 calories per gram, so one drink’s calorie content is more or less the same as another. Rather, it’s the volume of alcohol consumed that takes advantage of fat losses.

So, to summarise and review, here’s what happens to fat metabolism after the odd drink or two.

. A small portion of the alcohol is converted into fat.

. Your liver then converts most of the alcohol into acetate.

. The acetate is then released into your bloodstream, and replaces fat as a source of fuel.

Appetite

The combination of alcohol and a high-calorie meal is especially fattening, mainly because alcohol acts as a potent appetiser. A Canadian study shows that an aperitif (an alcoholic drink taken before a meal to increase the appetite) increased calorie intake to a greater extent than a carbohydrate-based drink. When a group of men were given a meal and allowed to eat as much as they wanted, they ate more when the meal was served with beer or wine rather than a soft drink.

Drinking too much has a far more damaging effect on your weight loss than you can predict. Not only does it reduce the number of fat calories you burn, alcohol can increase your appetite and drastically lower your testosterone levels. Testosterone is vital for its anabolic effect on the body including growth of muscle mass and strength, putting a damper on all that hard work you put in at the gym. This also translates into: you’re eating more and burning less.

Just a single bout of heavy drinking raises levels of the muscle-wasting hormone cortisol and increases the breakdown of testosterone for up to 24 hours after you finish drinking. So now when you are nursing that hangover, you know why you feel so weak and what’s at stake.

Sentenced To Life

This doesn’t mean you need to avoid alcohol completely.

So, what’s the bottom line?

Drink in moderation. While the odd drink now and again isn’t going to hurt, the bottom line is that Excess alcohol and a lean body just don’t mix.

Some useful tips that you can structure into your social life are:

o Drink white wine spritzers instead of straight wine. A spritzer is 50% wine and 50% soda water, cutting the volume of alcohol in your drink by half. Throw in a lot of ice and some lime, and you’ve got yourself a party!

o After each alcoholic beverage, drink two full glasses of water. Not only does it prolong the time between each drink, it speeds up the elimination of alcohol from your system.

o Chew sugar-free gum during the event.

o Position yourself away from the bar so you don’t think about it.

o Sip your drinks slowly, savour the moment.

o Make a deal with yourself: I will not overconsume alcohol because it doesn’t meet my standards for optimum health. Always set standards high for the “fuel” that you put in your body!

o Cancel the long hangover mornings, and get up and walk instead.

o Take it one day, one party at a time. If you happen to overindulge (which you won’t!) once, then let that be and move on to the next day. Then regain your momentum for optimum choices.

o Keep in mind: it’s all about choices. Make the right choices so you don’t fall behind and have to play catch-up.

o A leaner, sexier body is so much better than a hangover!

So if you are saying “I hope I will be able to maintain my weight over Christmas”. … Lots of water, consistent moderate exercise, fair calorie restriction along with a couple of drinks, and the answer is…. “Yes, you can!”