Alcohol, sweet alcohol!!! Can you guys relate to this? Friday night and you’re super pumped for the weekend because it means fun time! Friends, mountains, drinks, laughs, you name it! Every Friday I get texts from clients asking about what cocktails they can have and how much alcohol is ok while they’re trying to lose weight.” Calm down people!! I promise I’m not going to take your precious alcohol away!

Let’s talk alcohol: how does it affect the body? Simply put, alcohol is absorbed into your body through the stomach and small intestines. Alcohol will then flow through the bloodstream throughout the body, reaching all muscles and tissues.

Your body cannot store alcohol, so it is broken down and metabolized in your liver. The rest through blood, sweat, and urine. Guess what peeps? Fat is also metabolized and broken down in your liver!

So I know after reading that sentence you may be like Julia, hurry up…what the heck does that mean for me and my happy hours! Right? When you drink alcohol, it postpones the process of fat burning. Why? Your liver cannot focus on metabolizing alcohol and fat at the same time. As soon as the alcohol goes in, our body burns that for fuel first before anything else. As soon as the alcohol is out of your system, you’re back to burnin that fat baby!

So, go ahead and enjoy a few drinks! We need to be able to live a social life and still lose weight at the same time, because if not, the “diet” is too strict and we get annoyed and eventually give up! The weight loss journey is just that, a journey. It’s not a 30 day fix. Once you understand that and make the mindset shift, you will feel so much better!

Denver Sportas Recovery - Nutrition

So the next question I know you’re bursting with is how much and what kinds of drinks are the best for weight loss. The answer to the “how much” is specific to each client. However, what I can tell you is this: look at it like a budget. If you decide you’re going to allow yourself 4 drinks a week….and you know you have plans on Friday and Saturday, and will want to drink at both events, then abstain from the alcohol Monday-Thursday. Make sense?

What drinks are best for weight loss? Well obviously avoiding alcohol is the best option. However, we all know that’s not sustainable for most people. I mean, ya’ll know I like me some drinks! When I was losing weight, I was in college. I hate to admit I drank Thursday-Sunday, ahh!! Here is what worked best: red wine, liquor (vodka, tequila, whiskey, scotch etc), neat or on the rocks, or mixed with club soda and lemon/lime/orange slices. You can even throw in some herbs like the photo! No juice or sugary mixers. Some fun substitutes: I love tequila with soda water, a ton of lime, a wedge of grapefruit squeezed in, and salt! Oh and you’ll probably love blueberry vodka, soda water and orange slices, AMAZING! There ya have it! Now, I am going to go have me some red wine! Catch ya soon!