It’s Friday night, and you want to hit the pub. You’ve been working hard all week, so why not treat yourself? But what about that workout you were supposed to do? And how long will it take for any alcohol that you consume to leave your system? Is it even possible to drink without sabotaging your diet and fitness goals? In this article, we'll cover all the ways that alcohol affects your body and ways to manage those effects in harmony with your health and fitness goals.
Alcohol can play a huge part in people’s lives and unless someone is going to give it up forever, they need to find a way to fit it into their life, without it interfering with their health and goals.
Which is in fact higher than protein and carbohydrates but not quite as high as dietary fats. This just means that we should be aware that alcohol contained in drinks is actually quite calorific. On top of this, alcoholic drinks tend to contain further calories, most likely from carbohydrates. Generally speaking, clearer alcohol tends to be lower in overall calories, whilst the darker and sweeter the drink, the more carbohydrate and calorie dense it tends to be.
When you're at a bar, it can be hard to know exactly what you're drinking. The bartender might to tell you the nutritional values of everything you drink but knowing the basics can help you make better choices when ordering alcoholic beverages; from cocktails to beer and everything in between.
Know What's In Your Drink: If you haven’t tried this before, consider tracking your drink on an app, such as MyFitnessPal for a night and see how much alcohol and how many calories you’re consuming either on a night out, or just in general across the week.
If tracking isn’t your thing, then just have a glance on the nutritional labels on the back of the bottles and do some quick maths in your head.
The more calories you take in from alcohol, the less room there is for healthy foods like fruits and veggies and to get your much needed protein in. So if your goal is to be fit, whilst still enjoying a drink or two every now and then, it's important to keep track of how much booze you're consuming.
Another issue is that, as we all know, alcohol tends to lead to a lowering of inhibitions generally but specifically in this article I want to note that alcohol lowers our inhibitions around our food consumption, i.e. we tend to see increased snacking, people making poorer food choices and thus they end up eating more calories on top of the alcohol they consume. Therefore we need to be mindful of the effect alcohol consumption has on our health, performance and our physique.
Following on from that, depending upon how much we consume, it can also have a knock on effect over the following day(s). It can affect the quality of our sleep, mess with our digestion and can often lead to a reduction in our daily activity the next day… and let’s face it, if we’re hungover, we’re probably less likely to go to the gym!
However, that being said, alcohol can play a large part in people's social lives, it can be a nice way to relax and unwind at the end of the day and importantly it tastes great... so with that being said I have two ways to look at alcohol consumption:
Firstly, if you are someone like me, who doesn't really drink very often, then when I do drink... I'd rather just drink what I like, live with the consequences and accept that even though alcohol isn't very conducive toward my health and fitness goals, I know that the overall impact is going to be negligible, as I drink so rarely.
However, if you are someone who enjoys drinking alcohol fairly regularly and wants to find a way to integrate it into their life, then you may benefit from monitoring your alcohol consumption and if it’s interfering with how you’re feeling, performing and looking in the mirror, then here are some small changes to make.
Next is the ‘smart swaps’, opting for lower alcohol or lower calorie options. This could mean choosing clearer spirits, with diet mixers to help limit the impact on calorie consumption, or simply reducing your serving sizes... from a large glass to a small glass, maybe as a spritzer... or from a double to a single. Additionally low alcohol and low calorie beers and spirits are more commonplace now so as long as you enjoy these they can be a really good option for some people.
Finally, people who wish to drink regularly should look to set up their next day for success to ensure that consuming alcohol doesn’t knock you off track. If you’re out having a drink, eat before you go out or prepare a snack to eat when you get home, prepare your meals for the next day, pack your gym bag the night before and book a gym session with a friend the following morning.
If you want to drink and be healthy, there's no reason not to; alcohol and fitness can coexist believe it or not!! Alcohol consumption is often linked with a social setting, where if managed correctly can help people stay on track with their goals. Being able to go out with your friends and family to let your hair down will make you feel less restricted within your diet and help with adherence long term.
Just follow the tips above and keep your workouts and weekly consumption in mind while planning your night out. You'll be able to enjoy yourself without worrying as much about the alcohol you're consuming or how it will impact your fitness goals!