re: Alcohol & Fitness

quote:

---

cutting it out this year almost completely has helped me drop about 30 lbs coupled with other improvements in lifestyle 

Now I'm more of a once a month drinker and keep it to about 3 drinks 

Too many empty calories and not good for fat loss if that's one of your goals

---

This is in keeping w my experience. If it's a couple beers here and there w meals and I'm in the shape I'm in now then there is no difference at all. But I'm talking under 5 a week.

Anything else and I can feel it in performance and I tend to slump back into even higher volume.

Basically with v. without alcohol as a major component of my life is the difference of about 10lbs regardless of activity level. I sit at 170 without and in my top fitness state. Change to beer everyday boom I'm pushing 180 fast.

And sleep is worse w alcohol, leading to increased cortisol leading to body fat retention.

Then there's the mental state. I find in my 40s it really messes w brain chemicals worse than it used to. The only positive to that is long exercise is what fixes it. But that's harder on the body due to the inflammatory nature of alcohol.

And in ketosis, man it does some whacky stuff. It's easier to become dehydrated in ketosis so there's that. And I think beta-hydroxybuterate and ethanol must have a strange interaction.

In short, it just isn't worth it to drink much. I basically abstain. I keep a few good beers in the downstairs fridge so I have to make a trip to get one, and I try to get really hydrated before I drink a need [eta: typo for beer--Freudian slip?], so I'm not downing it out of thirst and then streaking through the quad.

Dear Diary, my name is McLemore, hi McLemore.