Drink, Drink, not Drunk...

With Saint Patrick's Day coming up this weekend, I thought I'd post a little on alcohol.  For a drinker, even just a social drinker, it's nearly impossible to completely cut drinking altogether. For me, I was able to stop drinking but my boyfriend was always wanting to have a few and eventually after a few weeks I decided to have a few. I've been perfect about only drinking once a week at most and I never have more that a 4-5 beers which is double what someone trying to lose weight should have, but I'm trying! Most times so far I've managed to stick to 2-2.5 beers but I few times I had 4 or 5.  But, as a reminder:
"I drink beer. I drink wine. I like to drink beer and wine, and gin and tonics on a hot summer day, and a lot of other things. There are health benefits to having one or two drinks a day, but there are many ways that alcohol can get you into trouble. Most important, alcohol - just like soda - adds calories that you don't need right now. These calories are empty calories because they don't actually help make you full or decrease the amount of food you'll eat. When Swiss researchers gave 8 healthy people enough alcohol to exceed their daily calorie requirements by 25% (5 beers for someone who eats 3000 calories a day) they found that booze actually impaired their ability to burn fat by as much as 36%. Booze also makes you store fat. Your body sees alcohol as a poison and tries to get rid of it. So your liver stops processing all other calories until it has dealt with the alcohol. Anything else you eat while you're drinking most likely will end up as fat. In some more indirect ways, alcohol can inhibit your body's production of hormones that help burn fat and muscle." (89). -- The Abs Diet for Women.

"Booze makes you fat. It's very high in empty calories, and except for red wine and beer, it has little or no nutrient content. Alcohol also destroys willpower, often leading you to overeat. Worse, studies have shown that alcohol suppresses fat metabolism by as much as 70%. It contributes to unwanted fat storage, too, because when you drink alcohol, it's broken down into something called acetate, which your body will burn before anything else. All other extra calories will be stored as fat. Now I know you aren't going to give up booze entirely, so let's talk about how to do it intelligently and successfully. The first rule of thumb is to limit your intake to two drinks a week. Pick a night, make it your wild one, and have up to two drinks. If you're thinking you won't 'catch a buzz' you're wrong. The less you drink, the lower your tolerance. . . When you do drink, choose the following: Red Wine (it's moderate on the calorie count and loaded with antioxidants and health benefits). Dark Beer (it's moderate on the calorie scale and loaded with antioxidants and flavonoids.) Clear alcohol (must be consumed straight, on the rocks, or with calorie-free mixers).
" (31) -- Slim for Life

My favorite beer is Victory brand India Pale Ale. I prefer the Golden Monkey (9.5%) which has 270 calories but mostly I drink the Prima Pils (5.3%) which has 165 calories. The Hop Devil (6.7%) is really good too and falls somewhere in the middle of the other two with 215 calories. I used to be a light beer drinker but it got to the point that I'd drink 10-15 every time I drank which is 1000-1500 calories! Now I drink maybe one Golden Monkey and then one or two Prima Pils which get me a lot more buzzed than a light beer, and the calorie total is 435- 600. One cocktail could contain that many calories! I just go to Mariano's and create my own 6-pack for $8.99 once a week usually so I can get 2-3 beers and my boyfriend has the rest.

For meals this week I had: steamed quinoa, chickpea, amaranth, kale, carrots, red pepper, flax seed, cumin, onion, and whole wheat tortilla. And the other one is steamed sweet potato (plain) with organic pineapple juice, Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, Chia Seeds and Lime Juice.

I have a question: For people trying to lose weight, is it more important to get more nutrients or to cut calories? When I was cutting calories and eating egg whites/celery/chicken mostly, I lost weight but now that I've added broccoli, green beans, kale, quinoa, flax seed, omega 3's, etc... I haven't been losing weight. My calorie count has increased 200-300 each day by adding these superfoods. I'm starting to think they're ideal for people who want to maintain their weight but maybe not ideal for people trying to lose. My portion sizes get smaller and smaller because I add more ingredients to make it healthy. I'm already cutting back on these great foods because I want to lose weight. If I eat them at the time being I think it will only be a few times a week at most, not everyday, and just a small side to my meal instead of the whole meal.

I would encourage anyone to get more nutrients through superfoods in their diets but right now I feel it's holding me back from the weight loss I need so I need to cool it on the superfoods and be more diligent about my caloric intake. Also, I need to stop making excuses about why not to work out. Yes, it's extremely hard to work overnight and have the energy to workout but it has to get done! I'm not going to reach my goal this week for weight loss and at this rate, I'll still be at last weeks number at the end of this week. :/ Gotta keep pushing! More cardio, less eating! Spring is a week away!