Can I Drink Alcohol?

by Steve
(Perth, WA)

When I conduct seminars around Perth one of the most common questions I get asked is whether or not people can drink alcohol if they want to lose weight.

My answer is that of course you can, it just depends on how much you drink and how often you drink. If you can limit yourself to one small glass of red wine a day, then I don't see a problem with having that a few times a week. However, most people find that when they open a bottle of wine they have to finish the whole thing and oftentimes a second bottle gets opened too!

It is the same as eating chocolate, a small amount is fine but most people simply have too much, too often!

If you really want to get the best possible results from your weight-loss efforts then you need to take the steps necessary in order to control your intake of these types of foods significantly.

Losing weight is like pushing a wheelbarrow full of bricks up a hill. It is hard work to get up the hill but once you're at the top (you have achieved your weight-loss goal) it is easy to push the barrow across the top of the hill and it is really easy to push the wheelbarrow down the other side (maintenance).

Therefore, it simply makes sense to put in extra effort in the early stages of your weight-loss efforts in order to 'get up the hill'. This of course means drinking less alcohol, eating less chocolate and perhaps exercising more than normal. Then, once you are at the top of the hill you can 'take your foot off the accelerator' so to speak and can be a little more relaxed in your lifestyle.

Of course, you can't stop doing the things that got you the results in the first place, but you can have a more relaxed lifestyle. This means you can reduce the amount and/ or frequency of your exercise sessions and you can perhaps have a little more wine or chocolate, but you certainly can't go back to your previous lifestyle habits entirely without expecting to put the weight you've lost back on.

In summary, I suggest that if you have a weight-loss goal to achieve, be willing to be stricter on yourself until you achieve your goal. Then, once you have achieved it, be a little more flexible in your lifestyle without returning to previous lifestyle habits entirely.

This way you'll be able to easily maintain the results you achieve.