Alcohol and Weight Loss

Here is the very fit Scooby guy, age 49, who lectures us about how much alcohol can hinder your effort to lose weight, get fit, and build a ripped body. He's funny, check him out;

Craving Sweets or Alcohol?

If you crave sweets this may mean you have a vitamin deficiency and that if you ate more of certain foods it would be easier to quell and drastically reduce your craving for sweets.

Naturopathic medical doctor Colleen Huber says that if you crave sweets, what you really need are nutrients such as chromium (so eat more broccoli, grapes, cheese, dried beans and chicken) or carbon (eat more fresh fruit) or phosphorus (eat more chicken, beef, liver, fish, eggs, nuts, legumes) or sulfur (eat more cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage) or lastly tryptophan (eat more cheese, lamb, raisins, sweet potato and spinach}.

If your particular sweet craving is usually about chocolate, you are probably craving magnesium. Curb your desire for chocolate by eating lots of raw nuts and seeds, legumes and fruits.

See a very interesting list about various food and alcohol cravings and how they are related to mineral or vitamin deficiencies.

The art print above is by Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin

Everyone is Starved for Something

The other day I was walking past a McDonalds and saw a young fat mother sitting by the window with her baby stroller beside her. Her eyes had a glazed look as she devoured her big ice cream sundae.

I had a flashback from the night before, where I had seen a man sitting at a bar, his eyes glazed from alcohol and gulping back another mug of beer.

I can't understand how people who abuse alcohol can be so critical of fat people. And vice versa, many fat people look down on alcoholics as being some kind of very weak and despicable people. Yet take away the one vice from the one group and you will often see them turn to the other. As an example, studies are now finding that people who undergo weight loss surgery often develop an alcohol addiction in place of food.

Then there are the other thirty percent of the population, who are not overweight and don't overdrink. The majority of these people have some other equally harmful behavioural patterns such as uncontrollable shopping or gambling, nasty treatment of their employees, spouses or children, sexual addictions, beauty and body image obsessions or various other bizarre and harmful ways of manifesting their neurosis.

It seems we're all very hungry for something greater out there. There's a really good book that addresses this problem at the very root. Though it's aimed at people who drink too much, I think it's applicable to all neurosis and to anyone who feels a compulsion to escape to a better place with food, drink or other obsessions.

The book is The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual PathIt's written by Christina Grof and the main premise is that addiction is really a search for wholeness. Grof is a pioneer in transpersonal psychology and the book discusses her own addictive past and 'the thirst' to know the true self.

Alcohol and Weight Loss

I came across this discussion about drinking alcohol and trying to lose weight at the Clubplanet forum;

I have come to the conclusion that my frequent drinking is the reason for the extra weight that I have. I eat very well for the most part and I try to do half an hour of light jogging a day, 5 days a week, but I feel like I'm not seeing any results. I know jogging isn't the most intense workout, but that in combination with my healthy eating habits should make a difference. So here's my question - if I completely stopped drinking for a month (which would mean eating a little better on the weekends too b/c when you're hungover all you want to eat is grease), could I see a major difference, say a loss of 10 to 20 pounds? I drink to get wasted 2-3 nights a week and just to have a few beers 1-2 nights a week, so I'm hoping it will get me somewhere. If and when I want to have a drink again - what's best as far as low calorie, maybe vodka and diet coke? Suggestions needed, so feel free to comment....

Thanks!

One person answered...

i think most ppl go through this...i was positive that my wieght gain was due to alcohol...and i was right.. i gave it up for 5 months but it worked amazingly ...i lost just about 50lbs and completely cut up ...got in the best shape of my life...the pics are floating around here somewhere...so i definitely suggest it. i don't know if ull lose 20lbs but I'm sure ull feel much healthier and definitely definitely be happy with the results....

good luck

Initial questioner wrote again;

I really do think that I will benefit from giving it up for awhile and then incorporating it back in slowly and much more healthy (i.e. 2-3 vodka or rums with diet soda vs. 6-10 beers per night.) Plus, it's time to stop putting my body (and my bank account) through so much in one weekend. I estimate that I drink anywhere from 2-30 beers a week and that is a lot of calories that my body will not be getting from now on, so I can't see it not making a difference. Plus, the only time I eat fast food or unhealthy stuff is when I'm drinking and/or hungover, so that should help too. I'm not looking at this as a diet per say, but as a healthy lifestyle change in the long run.

Another reader answered;

I hear ya, when you are hung over & starving, I just run to Mcdonalds & down #1 sup-A Sized w/ Hi c, 6 piece Mcnuggetts, extra big mac, extra fries...

THE last thing i want is chicken breast w/ vegetables in this condition.

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Photo above is by Tobes501 on Flickr.