How To Lose Belly Fat Caused By Alcohol
Your Secret Weapon: Moderation
So, how does someone get rid of belly fat thats caused by drinking too much wine? The good news is that you dont have to cut wine out of your life completely to eliminate a wine belly. Learn how to properly moderate your drinking, rather than completely cutting off wine or going cold turkey.
How To Avoid Making Even Unhealthier Choices
Alcohol also clouds your judgment about healthy food choices. This is a problem when youre watching your weight. Pairing a glass of wine with cheese and crackers, or chips and dip, can seem not only harmless but, when youre tipsy, can also seem like a great idea.
If you really want to cut down on liquid calories, Zumpano shares five tips for doing so:
How To Burn More Fat
Wine alone isnt the solution to getting leaner. As mentioned, you have to avoid snacking, but not only that. Controlling your diet overall will get you fewer calories and fattening foods so you absolutely need to focus on that. Also, being more physically active is a must.
You have to exercise common sense whenever you are trying to reduce your weight. What wine can really do for you, without the shadow of a doubt, is to give you key nutrients and regulate or boost certain processed within your body.
Thus, theres going to be a positive domino effect that will improve your overall health and possibly fitness too, if youre giving it the chance. Consider it like a precious elixir that can give you that extra in order to reset your inner mechanisms or power them up.
Regular wine drinking will get your body to function much better and thus fat burning will come naturally and with a lot less effort. Its a rich drink that may even be considered food. It will give a much needed boost in the case of overweight people who are also leading a sedentary life, so they can burn fat with more ease.
Losing weight is a complex matter and many factors go into it, therefore one ingredient alone may not get you there. Still, wine is very good to add to your diet and will never do any harm, unless its in excess or interferes with medication.
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Why Quitting Alcohol For Weight Loss Might Work
First, Id like to start with reasons you are highly likely to lose at least some weight if you stop drinking alcohol.
1. The reduction in alcohol calories
Perhaps the most obvious reason youre likely to lose weight if you lay off the booze is the reduction in alcohol calories.
With 150 calories in an average can of beer, 123 calories for a 5-ounce glass of wine, and around 100 for an average shot of vodka, its easy to see how the pounds stack up.
I dont know about you, but drink for me never meant just one glass of wine or one shot back in my drinking days.
I could put away an entire bottle of wine by myself on a moderate night 635 calories.
Boom.
Thats literally more than an entire meals worth of crappy calories.
Then Id still need to eat.
2. The reduction in poor food choices/hangover recovery meals
When I binge drank Id often forego eating. Id be ravenous after my hangover and would eat like crazy.
Fatty, greasy, unhealthy foods always pack on the pounds.
Its easy to see why if you are a regular drinker even just on the weekends then take away those drinking sessions you might naturally shed a few pounds.
3. Other physical improvements make you want to be more fit
Another reason you might expect some sober weight loss is you start to see other physical improvements that make you want to care for yourself a bit.
Your skin clears up and looks suppler, your eyes get a little brighter.
You also just feel better inside.
4. You have more time and energy
Quitting Alcohol For Weight Loss
Today, Id like to provide an in-depth discussion of the relationship between alcohol and weight loss, largely based on personal experience.
This post will be broken into three parts:
- Why Quitting Alcohol For Weight Loss Might Work
- Why Quitting Alcohol For Weight Loss May Not Work
- Tips To Help You Stop Drinking And Lose Weight
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The Belly Bulge Battle
It’s common for adults, especially women, to experience a widening waistline as they age. This usually coincides with overall weight gain and a reduction in lean muscle mass. According to Harvard Health Publications, you may notice an expanding waist even if you haven’t gained weight. Fat deep in the abdominal area is called visceral fat, and it can be associated with some serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. Where your body stores fat may be governed by genetics, but diet and alcohol consumption certainly play a role.
Drinking Wine Before Bed Could Help You Lose Weight
One;study is claiming;that wine and weight loss go hand-in-hand.;
Looking to shed;a few pounds? According to science, some nighttime wine might just;be the solution.
A study out of;Washington State University;from July 2015;showed that wine and weight loss go hand-in-hand, thanks to a substance called resveratrol.;;The compound, which is found in red wine, was shown to help convert “white fat” into “beige fat.”
As far as when it’s best to sip on that vino, a separate 2012 study concluded;that a late-night glass of wine;curbed snacking, which, in turn, aided in weight loss .;
So while this news may tempt you to keep a bottle of red;on your nightstand, not so fastdoctors are typically wary of recommending that people start drinking wine, since too much alcohol can obviously have harmful effects on the body. It’s also;worth noting that there are much more efficient ways of reaping the benefits of;resveratrol.;
“Many of the beneficial polyphenols are insoluble and get filtered out during the wine production process,” said;Professor Min Du of Washington State.;Instead, he suggests snacking on blueberries, grapes and strawberries, all of which are natural sources of;resveratrol.
Follow Woman’s Day on .;
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Why Quitting Alcohol For Weight Loss May Not Work
While you may lose a bit of weight without changing much else outside of quitting alcohol not so fast!
There are a few roadblocks that could get in your way.
You might even gain some weight if youre not careful.
1. Sugar cravings kick in
Sugar cravings after quitting alcohol are notoriously problematic.
When this happened to me, I let it flow.
Anything but alcohol in the beginning, was my motto. And it was fine for a while, but you have to understand this will prevent you from attaining losing weight even if you dont drink.
For me, I got lucky when I tried intermittent fasting for a month.
I dont know exactly why this happened, but my sugar addiction went away completely pretty much immediately and never really came back.
Now that Im farther down the line in my journey, Im back to eating sweets and sometimes still struggle, but meh! Lol.
Im not saying to try fasting if you have sugar cravings once you quit drinking.
Im just sharing my experience and how I overcame it.
But I want you to know that sugar cravings after you quit drinking are very much a real thing, and if you fall victim to them you may not lose the weight you think you will.
2. Emotional eating replaces alcohol as a pleasure activity
If youre reading this and dont have a;problem with alcohol, good for you! I hope thats the case!;
But, on the other hand, if youre truly addicted to alcohol, its not unlikely that youll stop drinking and just transfer the addiction.
How Alcohol Acts In Your Body
Think of alcohol as a barrel of monkeys. In your everyday life, you enjoy drinking your morning coffee, eating a healthy salad, and finishing the day with a well-balanced dinner. Your body knows exactly what to do with these things. The carbs, protein, and fat are filed away like animals into a corral.
Ok, we have some muscle damage, well lets send this steak protein over there for processing. Oh, we need some quick energy to run to catch the train, better process this sugar on the double!
Your body works like a well-oiled machine. Until the monkeys arrive. As you drink your alcohol, its like someone shook, rolled, and then broke open the barrel of monkeys. Now you have mischievous little critters running all around wreaking havoc and your body says, Woah! Who let this craziness in here? We better get this cleaned up before we do anything else!
Because alcohol is technically a toxin, your body stops everything its doing to collect and process the alcohol. Unlike carbs, protein, and fat, your body refuses to store alcohol, which means it has to burn it right away.
While your body is dealing with the crazed monkeys, the other nutrients in your body are pushed to the side and stored for later.
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Fitting Wine Into A Healthy Diet
A healthy, calorie-controlled diet combined with a regular exercise plan is a surefire way to slim your stomach. You can fit moderate drinking — defined as one 5-ounce glass of wine a day for women and two for men — into a weight-loss diet as long as you’re not exceeding your calorie goals for the day. Work with your doctor or a dietitian to figure out how many calories you need to consume each day to lose weight. Then, keep a journal and track your intake, including any wine you drink.
References
Red Wine Effects On Health
Red wine drunk regularly in small quantities is known to protect your cardiovascular system. It keeps your heart and arteries in good health. It also promotes better blood circulation. The Mediterranean diet involves drinking a few sips or red wine regularly with meals and everyone knows that it helps people stay healthier and live longer.
Antioxidants like Resveratrol become more active thanks to the fermentation process and are easier to absorb. These have a complex role. A recent Washington State University study showed that Resveratrol and similar compounds led mice to store 40% less fat.
As observed by professor Min Du, Resveratrol given to mice has changed the so-called white fat into beige fat, which is the kind thats used by the body to produce energy. This leads to weight loss. There is a significant metabolic advantage you could be getting from wine. The white variety doesnt have the same nutrient makeup.
In addition, the ellagic acid in dark grapes is known to slow down fat cell formation. Metabolic disorders like a fatty liver were alleviated more easily with surprise a little bit of wine, consumed regularly. If alcohol is a no-no for you, then consider dark grape juice or fresh grapes. However, the effects were only noticed on animals so far research on humans is still lagging.
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Bonus: Wine As An Aphrodisiac
A little wine could help get you into the mood. We are not doctors so dont take our word for it, instead, look at the facts:
- Wine increases blood flow and causes a warm tingling sensation on the skin.
- Ethanol is a glutamate inhibitor and slows down brain activity this will keep you from getting distracted!
You dont need that much for the effects, just a splash.
How Red Wine Might Help You Lose Weight
For starters, drinking moderate amounts of alcohol improves blood flow, which means not only are more nutrients being transported into cells but so is more oxygen-a necessary component of fat burning, Lockwood says.
A glass of red also increases your levels of two hormones-adiponectin and free testosterone, which help you burn fat and build muscle, respectively-while decreasing estrogen, which makes you retain fat, and serum hormone binding globulin , a hormone that prevents free T from acting on receptors. Together, this formula creates a more anabolic environment, releasing stored fat and increasing your metabolism, explains Lockwood.
Sounds great, right? The catch is there’s a threshold of when alcohol goes from harmless , into troublesome territory. All the positives already mentioned are limited to light to moderate drinking-that’s just one glass of wine, occasionally. So what happens when you pour yourself a second or third glass?
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It Improves Cholesterol Levels
There are two types on cholesterol: LDL and HDL . Research has shown that drinking a glass of red wine four to six nights a week can actually increase your HDL levels, which will benefit your body in the long term. Your body needs good cholesterol to maintain a healthy weight and fight bad cholesterol, so in the long term this could help you reach your weight loss goals.
Alcohol Belly Vs Hormonal Belly
What about the difference between gaining weight from drinking too much, and simply gaining weight because of changes in your hormones?
Its true that increased insulin resistance7 and reduced estrogen production, particularly as you get older, can cause abdominal gain weight. How can you know if its wine or your hormones causing the difference?
Try cutting out wine for a month, and see if it changes anything. This should also be paired with a generally healthy, well-balanced diet; if youre still eating a lot of sugar it may be hard to tell the difference.
But the truth is, even if your belly is affected by changing hormones, drinking less alcohol will probably help you keep it under control. No matter what, the answer is often to drink less alcohol.
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Does Red Wine Help You Lose Weight
Cabernet over cardio? Yes, please!
A good bottle of wine can sub in for a lot of things in life-a therapist, plans on a Friday night, cravings for a decadent dessert. And some studies suggest you might be able to add cardio to that list: Healthy women who drank one glass of wine regularly were 70 percent less likely to gain weight over 13 years than gals who abstain, according to an often-cited 2011 study out of Harvard on nearly 20,000 women.
Now, you’ve probably heard of red wine’s celebrity compound, resveratrol, a polyphenol found in the skin of grapes. We know that the antioxidant powerhouse can help mobilize fat and reduce the accumulation of triglycerides in both mice and humans. Studies on animals have even found resveratrol can help transform white fat into “beige fat,” which is easier for our bodies to burn off, and that the polyphenol may help suppress appetite.
There’s just one problem with all these fabulous findings: Not only are most of these studies on animals, but it’s also not possible to absorb the recommended therapeutic doses of the antioxidant just by drinking wine, according to research out of Germany.
But don’t give up on the grape just yet-red wine does help boost the body’s fat-burning abilities in a few ways, says Chris Lockwood, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., president of performance nutrition consulting and R&D firm Lockwood, LLC. Here, we break down the science.
Will I Lose Weight If I Quit Drinking Alcohol
So will you?
If you really want to, yes.
Maybe not immediately.
Or like me, may immediately you will, then youll gain some back, then lose it later.
Its just important to understand that while quitting drinking may make weight loss a bit easier in some ways, its not a magic bullet.
It will still take work and effort.
But quitting drinking does free you up to make consistent, sustainable changes to become the best version of yourself you possibly can be.
Losing the weight can definitely be part of that all in time.
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Dont Drink Before You Eat
Drinking wine before you eat has shown to increase appetite when consumed 30 minutes before eating, so save your wine for your meal. If you love to cook and drink at the same time, try splitting your glass of wine into 2 servings of 3 ounces each.
Also, having wine on a full stomach will make it so youll be less likely to feel the effects and more likely to absorb all of the associated calories.
It Contains A Substance Called Resveratrol
Red wine contains an antioxidant called resveratrol which does wonders for weight loss. Resveratrol works by converting white fat to beige fat. Beige fat is a type of fat that is easier to burn off. Not only that, but beige fat can actually actively help burn calories. So, a glass or two of red wine daily could definitely help you lose some weight.
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Can Drinking Red Wine Really Help You Lose Weight
Red wine is not only a natural and delicious beverage it is also a source of nutrients. There is extensive research surrounding it and plenty of evidence of how beneficial it can be to human health when consumed in moderation. A recent trend is also promoting red wine as an elixir for a supple figure. Is there any truth in such claim?
