| Lose Weight - Drink Beer by Elaina Alexandria Hello Bob and Friends - Before I really begin let me brag a bit. I've lost 25 pounds while drinking more beer than ever. It was all due to a diet change along with exercise. In fact the exercise program was the one recommended on the BeerNexus home page. It's Team Body Project It is amazingly effective and fun to do. But what I want to write you about is the bum rap that beer has when it comes to weight. I'm proof that beer is not the enemy of weight loss. Every study I've seen says that unequivocally beer (alcohol) itself does not directly lead to weight gain. The real culprit is the excess of trashy foods people tend to shove in their face when they’ve had a few. To put it another way, alcohol has a complex interaction with your body, one of which makes you want to eat even when you’re not hungry. Losing weight means you have to account for every morsel of food you’re putting in your mouth to make sure you’re taking in fewer calories than you expend. That's exactly what I did. Admittedly beer has a lot of calories—and to tell the truth it has a higher caloric content than other types of alcohol. For reference, 12 ounces of a light beer has about 150 calories. Of course there's no way I'm giving up craft beer for those watery lights from the big brewers. You can still enjoy great beer and lose wight by following these basic suggestions. Eat smart before you drink: Focus on eating lean protein sources like tuna or low-fat Greek yogurt, plenty of vegetables, and lower fat snacks like rice cakes. You might want to consider timing a meal to be a couple of hours before you start drinking. Calories still count: Remember that for every beer you consume it’s an extra cup of rice or a small baked potato you could’ve eaten so think about that when selecting your food. Remember that beers with higher ABV (alcohol by volume) tend to contain more calories, Chase your beer with water: One of the most amateur things you can do is drink one beer after another without water break in-between. The consequence of that is you potentially might end up facing dehydration and false hunger. Obviously, if drunk in huge quantities, beer will cause weight gain since it does have calories. However any type of alcohol or excessive food intake would have the same effect. That's especially since you tend to take very little exercise, but even then, it's nothing more than what, say, a strict bacon sandwich diet would do to you. As for my exercise routine I actually started with a program in one of the BeerNexus Special Reports called KO You Beer Belly. As I progressed I switched to the Team Body Project for total body workouts without ever having to leave my house. They had a beginners program which eventually got me to the intermediate level I'm now at. Next is the advanced program which will mean more weight loss. Now you might say you would lose also weight if you gave up all beer. True but then you'd be missing out on some real health benefits beer brings. Scientific studies have proven that just one pint can lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, can reduce the risk of osteoporosis, and even keep your hair, nails and skin looking radiant as it contains high levels of silicon. I hope that some of this might help anyone who really loves craft beer but also has to lose a few pounds (quite a few pounds in my case). This is one time you can have your cake, I mean beer, and drink it too! ---------- Many thanks Elaina for sending such an enlightening article. I especially endorse your call for healthy exercise for beer drinkers and non- drinkers too. And as a fellow craft beer drinker I'm pleased to see that you defended our favorite beverage from unjust criticism. Please write again. I'd like to invite everyone to send me their own columns about anything related to beer in any way just as Elania did. I select the best and publish them here. So join in and get writing! Cheers! Bob |
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