16 May Episode 11: Party Smarter
Summer in St. Louis is synonymous with drinking and partying. We’re the home of Anheuser Busch, the best beer in the world! But as you know, alcohol can neutralize all of your hard work in a hurry.
1) It increases abdominal fat.
2) It shuts off fat burning, testosterone/growth hormone production and messes up sleep cycles for up to 72 hours! This will greatly decrease the effectiveness of your workouts, your energy, health fat loss efforts and overall make you feel like crap!
3) It’s empty calories that often come from high sugar, a recipe for the freshman 15.
4) Alcohol is very toxic, and negatively effects almost every function in the body.
So obviously, completely abstaining from alcohol is the best solution. But since that’s not going to happen lets go over some tips to help you party smarter:
1) Drink red wine. While relatively higher in alcohol, it is also lower in carbs (2-3 per 4 ounce). It is also very high in reversatrol, one of the best nutrients you can ingest. Pinot, Spanish and Cabernet are the top 3. White wine usually has 3 times as much sugar as red wine and virtually no health benefits. I also like wine because its easy to quantify how much you are taking in. If you have 12 ounces of wine you know you had 3 glasses.That can’t be said for the following…
2) Drink hard alcohol in moderation. I say this because a “drink” could be a true 1 shot or a home made 50/50 Red Bull/Vodka (aka RBV) in a 44 oz QT cup. Its a lot easier to go over board with hard alcohol, but it is true that they are generally carb free. Even flavored vodkas have only 1-2 carbs per serving. Also, if you are going gluten free your best options are Ciroc (or other grape/potato vodkas), whiskey, tequilla, rum, wine, brandy, and ciders but they are high in sugar. The key to drinking smart is…
3) Low to no carb mixers. There is absolutely no excuse for using sodas, juices or anything like that. When at home or a friends, you can get stevia mixed drinks (kool aid and stevia 🙂 that mix good. Water is ideal, with Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Vodka and water being a popular example. I don’t encourage diet sodas, but if this is the best available, then go with it. If you simply can’t handle flavored vodka/water, adding a splash of cranberry/OJ/sprite will help take the bite away, but it is adding additional sugar. Regardless, you must…
4) Have a cutoff. Set a limit that you will hit and stick with it. There are a lot of variables, but typically, 2 for women and 3 for men is plenty. It could be a combination of drinks and time to go home. This will help give you time to sober up and avoid DWIs. You will save a lot of money on drinks, dwis, lawyers, cabs, etc and look/feel SO much better! There are countless reasons to…
5) Make the lifestyle change. I’ve been known to have a few crazy nights, so it was an adjustment for me to go from college partier to health nut. But its really not that hard. If feeling good is important to you, challenge yourself to not drink certain nights. Prove to yourself in small dosages that you have complete control of yourself in any situation. I swear you can still a blast with a 0.00 BAC level. Although dancing does seem to decrease. Drinking should be kept to 1 or 2 days max a week, the lower the better. But for those occasions when you do decide to cut loose…
6) Reduce hangovers and performance drops by going at least1:1 water to alcohol. So for every weed and water, double fist it with 100% water. Also, adding an electrolyte like Poliquin’s will help you bounce right back the next day!
7) If you’re going to drink beer, make it AB and go with Bud Select. That’s just to support the local (and global) economy. But Select or other low carb beers aren’t as bad as people think. They have roughly 50% more calories (90 to 60) than an equivalent shot, so if your only having 3 that’s a difference of 90 calories. In the grand scheme, that’s not that bad. I like the portion control of beer but personally won’t touch it anymore because its pure gluten. And since 83% of Americans have a predisposition to Gluten allergies, you might want to change your selection the next time you walk down the alcohol aisle.
For elaboration on the effect of alcohol on your health, read my favorite nutritionist Dr. Jonny Bowden’s thoughts on Alcohol in the following series: Part 1 and 2.
