Why does alcohol make you a fatty?

The difference between this:

and this:

May be what you are drinking!

Okay, so most of us have been know to throw back a few beers, have a little wine with dinner or celebrate with some shots. We are all human, and it's fun to party and socialize with a couple of drinks (I'm guilty as most of you all know). But unfortunately, there's a price to pay, and that's not including the headache the next morning. The purpose behind writing this blog entry isn't to preach and tell you to stop drinking all together, but rather give you some knowledge and insight. If you are trying to lean out, build muscle or lose weight, minimizing your alcohol consumption is key.

So how can alcohol contribute to weight gain? When you consume an alcoholic beverage, alcohol is split into two compounds, fat and acetate. The fat is stored, and the acetate is taken into the bloodstream and is your primary source of fuel. What this means, is that rather than burning carbohydrates, proteins or fats, your body is using the acetate from the alcohol as energy. That hamburger you just had with your beer, is basically just put on hold to digest, until the acetate is burned off. So you have this surplus of carbs, protein, and fat circulating in the body with nowhere to go. So where does it all end up? You guessed it...it's converted to fat and deposited on your pretty little waistline.

It takes about one hour for your body to metabolize .5 oz to 1 oz of alcohol. So if you have 5 beers in one sitting, that means your body's digestive system will be put on hold for 5 hours, until the acetate has been metabolized. What makes this even worse is if you are snacking while drinking... Which usually goes hand in hand right? Pretzels and beer, wine and cheese, nachos and margaritas. All that food is just sitting there, not moving... waiting next inline to be used for fuel.

Theres more unfortunately. Man, I sound like a real party pooper don't I? Alcohol is high in calorie content. Carbohydrates and proteins, have 4 calories per gram, and fat contains 9 calories per gram. Alcohol, which has no nutritional value, contains 7 calories per gram. A glass of wine has about the same amount of alcohol and calories as a 12 ounce light beer or a shot of 80 proof liquor. A regular, non-light beer, is even higher in calories, since it contains over twice as many carbohydrates as light beer. So, let's say you relax with a nice big glass of red wine every day, that's about 110 calories a day, about an extra 1000 calories per week, which turns into a lovely 12 pounds of fat per year!!! Below is a chart of the lowest calorie alcoholic beverages, to reference the next time you hit the bar.

Sorry guys, once again there's more. Not only does that hangover slow you down and keep you from getting off the couch, but just a single binge of heavy drinking will vastly increase the levels of the hormone cortisol, and significantly decrease the level of the hormone testosterone. So what does this have to do with your training? Cortisol causes the body to breakdown muscle and suppresses recovery from exercise, while low testosterone makes the body less likely build lean muscle or to burn fat as a fuel. So if you don't like the cute, bulging beer belly, with skinny little arms, legs and butt... think again before you slam those tequila shots!

So any tips when it comes to alcohol consumption and weight loss? Well, obviously we are not all saints, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying life and having fun. I don't expect you to cut alcohol completely from your diet, but if you are serious about leaning out and losing weight, keep it to a minimum. My advice is moderation. Moderation is key. Instead of having a few drinks every day after work, keep it to the weekends. Don't mix your liquor with soda pop, juice or any other sugary beverage. Mix liquor with soda water, a non-calorie beverage or drink it straight up or over ice. Try to drink light beer instead of regular beer. Indulge on top shelf liquor or a really nice wine, and sip it slowly, savoring it. I'm a pretty social person, so it's tough for me not to want to go out all the time, socialize and relax with a cocktail on a sunny afternoon. For me personally, I have to chose 1 or 2 days out of the week, and designate those days, as my "party" nights... the rest of the week I stay in, or stay away from alcohol. Sometimes it's hard to say no, but it's worth it when I wake up in the morning feeling great, look down at my tummy and breath a sigh of relief that I still have a waistline.

So now that I have you all excited about the weekend! Cheers and Good luck!

Squats

I incorporate squats into all my strength training workouts. It's one of the best ways to train and strengthen your lower body. Learning how to perform a squat correctly, will help prevent injuries, build muscle and strength, boost your metabolism and improve your overall look. To get a tight, round booty and shapely legs - you have to do your squats! I never get bored with squats, there are so many variations, it's one of those exercise that will always keep you challenged. By adding more weight, changing your foot stance, doing them on one leg, adding a jump to them... the possibilities are endless.

The squat is a compound, full body exercise that targets the muscles in your thighs, hips and butt. The primary muscles that the squat targets are your Erector Spinae (Lower back), Gluteus Maximus (glutes), Quadriceps (quads- front of thighs), and Hamstrings (back of thighs).

I'd recommend starting with a basic body weight squat, then once mastered, trying different variations. Some of my favorite variations are, one legged squats, squat jumps, sumo squats and overhead barbell squats.

Here are some tips for perfecting your squat that I got from the ACE exercise library:

Step 1
Starting Position: Begin standing with your feet slightly wider than hip-width, with the toes turned slightly outwards with your hands by your sides so the palms facing inwards. Depress and retract your scapulae (pull the shoulders down and back).

Step 2
Stiffen your core and abdominal muscles (“bracing”) to stabilize your spine. Hold your chest up and out, tilt your head slightly up, shift your weight back into your heels while pushing your hips towards the wall behind you.

Step 3
Downward Phase: Start the downward phase by first shifting your hips backwards then downwards to create a hinge-like movement at your hips and knees simultaneously. As you lower your hips the knees will then start to shift forward slowly, but try to control the amount of forward translation (movement) of the tibia (shinbone). Maintain tension in the core muscles (continue bracing) and attempt to keep your back flat.

Step 4
Continue to lower yourself until your thighs are parallel or almost parallel with the floor, until your heels begin to lift off the floor, or until your torso begins to round or flex forward. Monitor your feet, ankles and knees, ensuring that the feet don't move, the ankles do not collapse in or out and the knees remain aligned over the second toe.

Step 5
From the Lowered Position: the knees should continue to remain aligned over the second toe and body weight should be evenly distributed between the balls and heels of the feet. From the side, the position of the tibia (shinbone) and torso should be parallel with each other and the low back should appear flat or showing the beginning of some rounding.

Step 6
Upward Phase: While maintaining your back, chest and head-up position, exhale and extend the hips and knees by pushing your feet into the floor through your heels. The hips and torso need to rise together while keeping the heels flat on the floor and knees aligned over the second toe. Continue extending until you reach your starting position.


This is a great example of what a squat looks like in motion...



Remember, building muscle boosts your metabolism, thus helping lose fat. Don't get stuck in the cardio trap that I see a lot of people at the gym doing. They spend hours doing cardio, and don't see results. The more muscle you have, the faster you burn calories all day long.... So if you haven't already added squats and strength training to your routine.... DO IT!!!

Love it...